After an attempt to regroup under Chapter 11 Reorganization, Circuit City, the nation's 2nd largest Consumer Electronics Retailers is calling it quits. Read the Official Announcement from Circuit City. For details to follow as they become available.

My perspective: Although this is not a surprise, it does not bode well for the consumer electronics retail market as the loss of Circuit City means less price competition and less product choice in the marketplace. Best Buy is now in a stronger position to shore up its top position, while Wal-Mart, Target, Fry's, and COSTCO now have a bigger share of the overall pie. This may make it difficult for upstarts to enter the market when the economy bounces back, unless they can offer a different type of shopping experience and/or lower prices that consumers will warm to. Of course, the saddest part to all this is the up to 30,000+ jobs that will be lost.

Are you looking for a Blu-ray Disc player but think that the prices are still too high? If so, then check out the affordable, and flexible, Panasonic DMP-BD35K as a possible choice. The DMP-BD35K plays Blu-ray discs at full 720p, 1080i, or 1080p resolution via its HDMI output. This player is compatible with standard DVDs and most recordable DVD formats, as well as standard music CDs and CD-Rs/RWs. Standard DVDs are upscaled up to 1080p via the HDMI output. This player also outputs Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD in bitstream form via HDMI which allows audio decoding by home theater receivers equipped with Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoders. The DMP-BD35 complies with Blu-ray Profile 2.0 specifications, which provide access to improved interactive features available on many newer Blu-ray Disc releases. This player is a great value for $299.

As of today (January 15, 2009) at Noon (5pm EST) the state of Hawaii has switched over to digital-only television broadcasting, a full month before the rest of the United States. The official U.S. DTV transition is currently scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 (pending any action by Obama and the Congress). For details and perspective on Hawaii's early DTV Transition, check out the online reports from KITV, Channel 4 (ABC) in Honolulu and About.com's own TV/Video Guide, Matt Torres.

Noting the incorporation of Netflix video streaming access by the new crop of Blu-ray Disc players and standalone set-top boxes, Blockbuster is partnering with Sonic to provide a similar video streaming service to consumers. For more details, check out the article from the Hollywood Reporter.