Posted 04/10/09 at 10:13:15 AM by Paul Lilly

Citing un-named "sources in the channel," DigiTimes reports that second-tier motherboard maker Abit has decided to quit  the consumer electronics branding business. Among the products affected are digital photo frames and digital speakers, neither of which have been prominent sellers in the U.S. market, if at all.

Still, the news comes as another reminder of Abit's fall from grace as a premier motherboard maker who once catered to overclockers. At one time on the level of the likes of Asus, questionable management decisions proved fatal for the Abit of old, who hit hard times financially and sold its brand name to Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) in 2006. Since then, the company has shifted its focus to becoming a second-tier mobo maker, with its latest Abit-brand motherboard being the Intel X48-based IX48 GT3.

Read More

Posted 01/16/09 at 07:14:21 PM by Pulkit Chandna

If Mobile Today is to believed, all those rumors about the PSP phone were indeed true. According to a report, which cites anonymous sources, Sony disallowed Sony Ericsson’s request to use the Playstation brand in December.

Sources have revealed that Sony told the mobile phone manufacturer that the only way the Playstation brand can appear on a cellphone is when it independently makes such a device.

It is claimed that Sony is reluctant to license the Playstation brand for a product that doesn’t conform to the lofty technological standards the brand is associated with.

Read More

Posted 12/18/08 at 01:57:12 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Speculation has been rife about the possible use Microsoft might make of the “Kumo” name. The general consensus amongst the speculators has been that Kumo would be the new name of Microsoft’s Live Search service. But a new trademark application filed by Microsoft hints that the new name might be used for a few other MS services as well.

The Kumo trademark is intended for use in sundry segments, including advertising, telecommunications, education, training and entertainment, and not just for online search. Microsoft has also registered quite a few domains with the name Kumo in them. Maybe Microsoft believes that a brand new name might just turn the tide in its favor as far as the high-stakes online search market goes.

Read More