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The only "Philips" you'll see at CES 2009 will be at the Funai booth.

(Credit: CNET)

Philips will not be exhibiting at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. The Philips brand, however, will still be on display at the Las Vegas Convention Center, thanks to the expanded presence of Funai--the Japanese company that will be producing TVs sold in North America under the Philips name starting later this year.

A Philips representative confirmed to CNET that the Dutch electronics giant will not have a presence on the show floor at the mammoth Las Vegas trade show, verifying rumors that had surfaced earlier this year.

Traditionally, the Consumer Electronics Association's massive January event is used by industry stalwarts to highlight emerging trends and key products that will be introduced over the course of the subsequent year and beyond. Philips' exit from that high-profile showcase comes in the wake of its recent announcement that it's outsourcing TV production to Funai for Philips- and Magnavox-branded sets sold in the North American market.

Indeed, Funai is doing its part to fill the void left by Philips' exit from the show. A spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association, the industry group that runs CES, had this to say:

Philips has been a pioneer in the consumer technology industry, and a well-known brand for consumers in the U.S. and around the world. The recent license agreement between Philips and Funai was a strategic business decision between two consumer technology companies. CEA respects the strategic decisions that all of our 2,700 exhibitors make regarding their business model and the International CES. We look forward to welcoming the Philips brand back to the 2009 CES in a new way, through its partnership with Funai, which has significantly increased exhibit space for the 2009 show to approximately 10,000 net square feet.

Keep in mind that 10,000 square feet may sound like a lot, but it's small potatoes compared with the megabooths that house major manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, and--up through last year--Philips.

While not having to pay for all that space on the show floor will undoubtedly save Philips considerable expense, it will also mean forfeiting the publicity and intangible buzz that comes from being at the center of the industry's biggest annual event. Just last year, for instance, the company snagged the Best of CES award for its energy-efficient Eco TV (though its admittedly impressive low power consumption couldn't overshadow the middling picture quality evident when we reviewed the final product).

The company could still use the show as a springboard for new product announcements, however: it's all but certain Philips will still have some personnel on hand at CES for meetings with journalists, analysts, retailers, and other industry insiders. And plenty of CES no-shows still crank out the press releases during that week--with the seemingly endless list of gadget blogs and tech sites covering the show, all a company really needs is a product photo and a descriptive blurb to get some virtual ink.

To be sure, skipping CES doesn't necessarily confine a company to also-ran status. Nintendo and Apple, two of the hottest names in the industry, have long since spurned the Vegas show. Likewise, Onkyo and Yamaha have opted out in recent years. Furthermore, Philips is quick to point out that the company is still producing, selling, and marketing all of its own non-TV products for North America. And it will continue to produce TVs for other global territories--most notably Europe--where its brand remains stronger.

Still, when one considers that Funai already produces electronics that are sold under the labels Sylvania and Emerson, you have to wonder: is Philips on the road to joining those once hoary companies as a ghost brand--a holding company that just licenses its Western name to give better brand cachet on store shelves to an anonymous Asian manufacturer? Maybe, maybe not. But skipping the world's biggest consumer electronics show doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

What do you think: Is the Philips brand in decline? Does Philips' no-show mean CES is losing some of its luster as the consumer electronics industry's ultimate sneak preview? Or is this just more "inside baseball" industry gossip that will have little impact on the future of consumer electronics? Share your thoughts below.

Electronic Arts announced Tuesday it was extending its tender offer for rival game developer Take-Two Interactive Software to July 18, marking its third extension since launching its hostile bid in March.

EA, which is currently offering Take-Two investors $25.74 a share, said nearly 6.14 million shares have been tendered in, representing approximately 8 percent of Take-Two's shares.

In early morning trading, Take-Two's stock hovered at $26.35 per share.

EA's previous deadline for its tender offer was June 16, which came roughly a week after Take-Two reported better than expected quarterly earnings, thanks to its record-breaking launch of Grand Theft Auto IV.

"We congratulate Rockstar on the successful launch of GTA IV but believe our offer reflects a full and fair price based on the long-term value of Take-Two's entire operation," Owen Mahoney, EA senior vice president of corporate development, said in a statement.

Mahoney said its offer price is a "substantial premium" to where Take-Two's stock traded at prior to its offer. Prior to going hostile with a tender offer directly to investors, EA had given Take-Two a bear hug by publicly announcing its unsolicited offer in February. Take-Two had closed at $17.36 a share, prior to EA's public announcement of its unsolicited bid.

EA, should it keep its tender offer alive, may have to add another extension beyond its July 18 deadline. That's because it's working on supplying the FTC with its requested information, at which point the FTC will then have 45 days to review it. If the FTC takes all 45 days, that would surpass EA's new extension deadline which is now set to expire in 32 days.

Video game maker Take-Two Interactive Software announced better-than-expected earnings on Thursday thanks to recording-setting sales of Grand Theft Auto IV.

For the second quarter ended April 30, net profit was $98.2 million, or $1.29 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $51.3 million, or 71 cents per share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2007. Sales were up more than 160 percent to $539.8 million for the period, blowing away analyst estimates of $499.1 million.

The company also raised its forecast for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Take-Two said it expects to earn 45 cents to 55 cents per share, excluding special items, on revenue of between $325 million and $375 million in its current, third fiscal quarter.

In May, Take-Two announced that the new game had raked in all-time records of $310 million on its launch day of April 29 and $500 million during its first week. The single-day figure shattered the previous record, set last September by Halo 3, of $170 million.

The company, which has rejected a $2 billion buyout offer from rival game maker Electronic Arts, is also having " formal discussions" with other parties about strategic alternatives, Chief Executive Ben Feder told Reuters.

"The board remains committed to exploring strategic alternatives and we're actively engaged in that process now," Feder said. "We have had and are having formal discussions with a number of interested parties."

EA, which offered $25.74 a share for Take-Two in April, is undaunted in its takeover bid. The company recently announced another extension of its merger offer.

Shares of Take-Two were up 34 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $27.65 in after-hours trading.

If you live near one of 117 Best Buy stores and are desperately in need of unloading your rusty, broken-down gadgets, you're in luck.

Beginning Sunday, Best Buy began allowing customers to bring two items per household per day into some stores in Baltimore, San Francisco, and Minnesota for free. But if you're looking to unload that mammoth front-projection TV--not so fast, there are some restrictions.

Unclutter your life--for free--courtesy of Best Buy.

(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET Networks)

Best Buy says they will take computers, phones, cameras, PC peripherals, and more, but only TVs and monitors smaller than 32 inches diagonal. TVs larger than that, as well as air conditioners, microwaves, and large household appliances, aren't eligible.

Cost is often an issue for recycling programs. Almost all states have electronic waste recycling laws, and most of them put the cost burden on the manufacturer or retailer that actually does the recycling. That's why though other electronics retailers have programs to take back undesired electronics and PCs, there's often a fee for their trouble.

Computer scientists have pressed for e-voting paper trails for years, in peer reports and in testimony on Capitol Hill. Now it looks like Congress is poised to ignore this idea: forthcoming legislation will say that a backup "electronic" record is OK too.

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah), who lead a Senate committee charged with overseeing election law, said they plan to introduce a bill in the next few weeks that would require voters casting ballots on touch-screen or so-called "direct recording electronic" machines to have the ability to verify their selections through "an independent paper, electronic, audio, video, or pictorial record." That's according to a press release that came out Thursday--a copy of the bill's text is not yet available because it's still being drafted, a Feinstein aide said.

Groups like the Association for Computing Machinery have long advocated for use of "hybrid" systems containing both electronic and paper components, which are designed to enable independent audits and provide a backup record in the event of buggy or hacked voting machine software. Princeton University computer science professor Edward Felten, an ACM advisory committee member who studies e-voting security, said Friday that he couldn't comment on the new bill without seeing more details.

The bill's approach seems to indicate that the senators feel some sympathy toward arguments that paper trails aren't the only option for independently verifying a voter's pick and that other innovative alternatives could emerge down the line. Michael Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and consultant to the Pennsylvania government, is one such skeptic who has argued that paper ballots are susceptible to problems and rigging of their own.

The decision may also be a nod to state and local election officials who have complained about the costs associated with outfitting their machines with paper trails.

The new voting machine requirements would take effect on January 1, 2012, unless a state requested a waiver, which, if granted, would give it until the beginning of 2014.

That new deadline represents yet another delay in getting new federal electronic voting machine rules off the ground. Last year, Feinstein introduced a bill that would have required states to scrap paperless voting machines by this year's presidential election, but at a hearing last summer, she said she'd decided 2010 would be a safer bet, giving voting reform advocates and election officials more time to reach a compromise.

In addition to the new voting machine obligations, the bill would require states to do public audits of their election results. It would also establish certain security requirements for the voting machines and their software and would set up a research grant program designed to encourage development and testing of new technologies for verifying votes.

Feinstein said in a statement that the bill is necessary because "we now have a patchwork of voting systems throughout the country, including five states that use electronic voting systems but have no independent records to help ensure the accuracy and reliability of the vote, and eleven others in which large sections of their states use electronic systems that have no such independent records."

Meanwhile, 30 states already have legislation on their books requiring use of paper ballots in some fashion, according to Verified Voting, a group that advocates for use of paper trails. But other state officials have balked at the potential costs of upgrading their systems, particularly since some subscribe to the belief that providing paper trails isn't a panacea to ballot-tampering, anyway.

Sony's CEO Howard Stringer is bringing new meaning to the term "anger management."

Howard Stringer

He wants Sony managers to get mad, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Anger-passion, combined with energy, innovation, imagination, and bold steps, is the ticket to get Sony back on track as it sets out its next three-year growth plan, Stringer is cited as having told the company's staff of more than 1,000 managers during a closed-door annual management meeting in Japan.

"I'm asking you to get mad," Stringer said, according to the Journal report.

The electronics giant is facing greater pricing competition on the TV front, while Apple is giving it a run for its money on the innovation front.

To fight back, Sony has unveiled such products as an ultrathin TV screen that resembles a flat-screen computer monitor and a plethora of devices in February at its electronics open house in Las Vegas.

MENLO PARK, Calif.--The practice of playing up a company's green policies for show was the new black for the past few years. But now actually making and selling green products is what's hot because of its potential to put a business in the black.

At the 2008 Consumer Electronics Emerging Technologies Summit held here in Silicon Valley, venture capitalists, business consultants, entrepreneurs, and representatives of some of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world discussed the new wave of innovation in a rapidly commoditizing industry. It basically comes down to two words: energy efficiency.

And the reason it's important? Because it can make a product stand out. And if consumers can see a real benefit to using products that are environmentally conscious, they'll buy it. And that's potential profit for vendors and manufacturers.

"Before it was something (consumer electronics companies) just said to make themselves look good. Now it's a business imperative," said George Bailey, general manager of IBM Microelectronics.

That's because flashy, visible new breakthroughs in technology in the CE space aren't providing the same profitable bump for as long as it used to. High-definition televisions are a prime example.

"TV manufacturers are troubled in terms of profit," said Bailey. "They're asking, 'How can I add value, recapture profit?' Before it was larger format LCD screen. If yours was bigger you'd make more money. Now we know that's not true."

When the big TV manufacturers come to his division of IBM he says they are all looking for greener, more energy-efficient chips that will make their TVs consume less power because that's a way they can differentiate their product from others on the shelf. New technologies include High-K Metal Gate chips that IBM is working on that "leak" less power and can power smaller devices for longer.

But green-friendly products can be more expensive, which can deter certain types of consumers. A representative from Samsung in the audience said the company has yet to see that consumers are willing to pay for products just because they are "green."

That's why you have to give them a real benefit, not an imagined one that makes them feel good, said Steve Westly, who runs the clean tech venture capital firm The Westly Group.

"You have to give customers a real value proposition. A 'green' truck that gets 16 miles per gallon? Consumers will see through that," he said. A green product "has to have an added benefit."

Even if energy efficiency doesn't attract consumers in the numbers that these manufacturers and investors hope, businesses will be forced to green their products one way or another, Westly said.

"You'll see (environmental standards) dialed up in a government-mandated way," he said. "Government regulations and mandates are only going to increase. Not just here, but globally."

Electronic Arts announced Monday that it is extending its tender offer for Take-Two Interactive Software to mid-June, marking its third extension in its hostile buyout attempt of its rival game maker.

Shortly after EA failed to make an attractive-enough offer, Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto IV shattered all-time launch sales records, lending support to Chairman Zelnick's argument that the bid undervalued the company.

(Credit: Rockstar Games)

EA, which, to date, has received commitments from Take-Two investors to tender roughly 6.2 million shares, or 8 percent of the company, has extended its deadline to June 16. Previously, the deadline was set for May 16.

Taking a jab at its rival, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick issued a statement: "This is the same highly conditional proposal that EA offered Take-Two stockholders on March 13, 2008, which our board of directors thoroughly reviewed, and unanimously determined to be inadequate and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders."

He further noted that Take-Two, in an effort to maximize shareholder value, has begun exploring strategic alternatives with interested parties, now that its record-breaking launch of Grand Theft Auto IV has wrapped up.

EA, which launched its hostile bid valued at $2 billion for Take-Two in late February, said despite the extension, its current offer remains the same.

"EA's offer price remains unchanged at $25.74 per share, and our offer is still subject to conditions that include regulatory approval. As stated earlier, we retain the right to terminate the offer, if the conditions are not satisfied," Owen Mahoney, senior vice president of EA corporate development, said in a statement.

Take-Two shares traded down 1.14 percent in Monday morning trading to $26.79 a share.

Electronic Arts' hostile bid for Grand Theft Auto producer Take-Two Interactive appears to have ended quietly this week.

Shortly after EA failed to make an attractive-enough offer, Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto IV shattered all-time launch sales records, lending support to Chairman Zelnick's argument that the bid undervalued the company.

(Credit: Rockstar Games)

The game maker, whose reduced acquisition bid of $25.74 a share was rejected as inadequate last month, had set Friday as the extended deadline for it to buy up Take-Two's shares. The day came and went without action regarding the takeover from either company.

The updated offer, rejected by Take-Two on April 18, continued to be inadequate and undesirable, according to Chairman Strauss Zelnick at the time. "It undervalued the company at $26 per share, and it certainly undervalues Take-Two at $25.74."

Since then, the record-breaking launch of Grand Theft Auto IV has likely proven Zelnick correct, with first-week sales of $500 million. The game sold 3.6 million copies its first day on the market, shattering the previous all-time launch sales record held by Microsoft's Halo 3.

Take-Two shares were priced slightly above $27 in after-hours trading Saturday morning.

"There is nothing going on right now," Take-Two spokeswoman Meg Maise told AFP on Friday afternoon. "It is in (EA's) court."