Following the introduction of a new membership agreement, CIH has opened its doors to new members from within the independent electrical retail trade. Currently with around 700 members and approximately 1,500 stores, the buying and marketing group, is part of Euronics, Europe's biggest buying group.

Consumer electronics distributor Armour Home Electronics has published its comprehensive trade catalogue. Armour produces the catalogue twice a year as a sales aid for their 2,000- strong customer base.

IN an open letter to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Sony's managing director, Steve Dowdle, warned that the Government plans with regard to the provision of HD television services will create a two tier TV society, in which the well-off will have HD technology and the rest will be forced to watch an inferior quality service.

ALPHASON Designs, leading AV furniture manufacturer, has announced exciting prizes for its third annual Window Display Competition.

This year the first prize is a trip for two on either the sumptuous Orient-Express to Venice or the equally luxurious Queen Mary 2 cruise liner across the Atlantic to New York. Second prize is a romantic weekend for two in Paris and the third prize is accommodation and registration at the 2008 retra Conference in Portugal.

In the opinion of store staff, the HD DVD format leads the race for the high definition player market – as indicated by the research conducted by a marketing agency Gekko. 60% of retail staff predicted the HD DVD technology would be the enduring format, with Blu-ray receiving 38% of the votes and 2% of respondents being unsure.

FagorBrandt UK has appointed Mark Scott as national account and business development manager to work across both the Fagor and De Dietrich brands. Mark has worked in the kitchen appliance industry for over 12 years.

In my recent conversation with John Graham of Sovereign Appliances he remarked that many products on the market are undersold because people are not aware of their benefits.

THE Home-tek logo will be appearing on some super fast vehicles for the next 12 months, including a racing Ferrari 360, a SL90 Race Fighter Powerboat which will appear at several televised international events during 2007, and the Wheelie Stingray (pictured).

With 68 years of heritage in developing shavers, Philips Shavers has just produced its 500 millionth electric shaver. As part of Royal Philips Electronics Group, Philips Shavers are sold in over 56 countries worldwide.

IN 2006, Sovereign Appliance Marketing Limited launched its own range of home appliances, initially cooling, cooking and home laundry. Sovereign has been the exclusive distributor in the UK for Haier domestic appliances for eight years. However, Haier's decision to increase prices and move the brand further up-market was the catalyst for the launch of the Sovereign brand to fill the gap in the market vacated by Haier.

For those that don't have the space for a full size American-style side-byside, Amana has introduced an undercounter fridge and freezer pairing.

Creative is set to take on Apple's iPod Shuffle with the introduction of its latest MP3 player, the Zen Stone.

The gadget has a 1GB storage capacity, allowing the user to store up to 500 songs, and boasts up to 10 hours of playback time from its built-in rechargeable battery.

The Tefal Aquaspeed iron has been designed to avoid the electrical cord interfering with and rucking the garment being ironed. The new iron is equipped with a spring-assisted rear cord holder than can simply be unlocked to move the cord out of the way during ironing and locked in position when placed on its heel rest for stability.

The Tranquillity jug kettle from Morphy Richards has been designed for quieter operation. The kettle, which has a 1.7 litre capacity and cordless base, also illuminates once boiled.

The latest noise cancelling headphones from Maxell reduce ambient noise by up to 90%, says the manufacturer.

The headphones feature a powerful neodymium magnet which reduces magnetic distortion to offer greater definition, along with the active equalisation feature.

Maytag UK has unveiled the latest Admiral refrigeration range, comprising eight new models.

The range includes the fully clad stainless steel SA2027GB (pictured) which includes an integrated ice and water dispenser and is complemented by steel bar handles. The SAF2027GB is the same, but with black accents on the handles. The range also includes a collection of smooth finishes in black, white or silver.

The Dyson Motorhead is equipped with a powered brush bar for deeper cleaning and it has been designed to fold down to a compact size for easy storage. As with all Dyson cleaners, the Motorhead uses cyclone technology to separate dirt from the air so that it doesn't lose suctions, says the maker.

LG has unveiled its latest range of plasma TVs, including two models which have been inspired by the design of LG's popular Chocolate mobile phone.

IN the opulent setting of the Paris Opera, Samsung unveiled to its trade partners and European press, its premium refrigeration and oven range – the J-Series – authored by Jasper Morrison, the awardwinning British designer. Jasper Morrison, who has also designed appliances and furniture for Canon, Rowenta and Olivetti, inspired Samsung with his “super normal” approach to design, the trademark of which is understated simplicity and functionality.

Bissell, the originator of deep cleaning, is still a privately owned, family-run enterprise, with a heritage that spans over 130 years in the US and 115 in the UK. Now Bissell is making plans and preparations to expand into Europe.

Climate change poses a serious threat to the world in which we live. There is now a broad consensus about this. However, recognising a problem is one thing. Doing something about it is another matter entirely.

Discussions are currently underway in Brussels and in London about reviewing current EU rules applicable to consumer transactions. In Euro-jargon, this is known as the review of the 'consumer acquis', ie the body of existing legislation in this field.

The floorcare market certainly experienced a squeeze on pricing in recent seasons, with some sectors falling out of favour and seeing sales dip accordingly. But the signs are that consumer’s – and retailer’s – confidence has picked up, with total value and volume both rising by around 9% in the early part of 2007, with sales worth over £515 million and around 6.5 million units.

The manufacturer claims that it has 50% more suction power than leading models on the market. This results in unrivalled suction power, achieved by the short distance dust and dirt has to travel - there is just a 3in air path from nozzle to dust bag. Appearance and compact design are other key selling points.

Appearing on several upright and cylinder models, Reel Clean uses an auto cord rewind to filter automatically, ensuring the filter doesn't clog up. Pictured is the bagless MC-CL673, a 2010 watt model with Cleanstream Gore-tex HEPA filter and twostep floor nozzle (combining 'parquet' and 'turbine' nozzles).

This cleaner is designed for all floor types. The 'all-round' nature of the product means it is ideal for deep cleaning carpets and washing and drying hard floors - tiles, wood, even unsealed laminates. A 2400 watt vacuum, it has different heads for different surfaces and its other features include: water filtration for a wet vac, onboard heater, integrated hose, turbo cleaning head, quickdry hard floor tool and tool caddie.

The Pet Cyclonic range features a 'Dalamatian dog' style print, which carries through on all PoS literature and advertising. The range comprises two bagless cylinders, a bagged cylinder and a bagless upright (pictured). It caters for the needs of pet owners, with functions including a turbo brush for quick and easy pet hair removal and a HEPA filter.

These days a kitchen hood evokes images of modern styling and flamboyant design which steal the attention from many other domestic appliances in the kitchen. This shows how far the extractor hood has travelled from the times when chimney hoods were installed above the cookers often disguised by the overhead cupboard to keep them out of sight once they performed their utilitarian function.

The portable CD market has rapidly declined due to the combination of huge growth and falling costs in the MP3 sector. MP3 now has substantial coverage at all price points, with HDD driving the value sales and flash memory driving volume.

AV furniture has certainly come a long way in recent years. The humble AV stand was once more or less limited to a cheap and cheerful flat-packed item picked up on the high street, taken home (then usually taken back after realising that there was an essential piece missing), then taken home again before the inevitable grappling with the instructions to make a unit capable of supporting an enormous CRT set.

In February 2006, PRG, the New Zealand-based owner of PowerHouse, believed it had come up with an ingenious device to keep its ailing UK business alive. It closed thirty five PowerHouse stores, filed a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors and continued trading from the remaining fifty three stores.