In order to help retailers take part in shaping local transport policies and to minimise the potential damage to their business, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) is preparing new ‘rules of engagement', the Retail Toolkit for Improving Town Centre Accessibility.

Alphason Designs has re-launched its newly redesigned website which has increased functionality, including a section helping consumers to find their nearest Alphason stockist.

The process of selecting the nominees for this year's Independent Marketing Awards has begun. The manufacturers in all sectors of the electrical industry have been asked to put forward their brands for one or more of the six awards categories, ie consumer advertising, impactful product, best training, best accessory company, best floorcare product and best personal care product - female and male. 

The UK IT market will remain strong in the first quarter of 2008, predicts GfK.  In December 2007, almost 50% more laptops were sold than December 2006. This means that for the first time laptop sales are nearing 1 million units per month.

Dear Editor,

Barry Street, as always, is right. Junk equipment, in particular very low cost DVDs and digital boxes, LCD and Plasma TVs, have become a real problem for almost all of us who offer a repair service.

Chris Bowen has joined Sony UK to head up its Digital Imaging business. Chris has a wealth of experience in the business gained at Kodak while in charge of its Digital Portfolio and at Olympus where he worked for 15 years.

On a recent press trip I encountered a dilemma that is very representative of our times and increasingly common, although contrary to current political sensitivities. The problem arises from the fact that we live in an era when 'time is new money' and we are expected to achieve twice as much in half of the time - and this often comes at a greater, not lesser, cost to the environment.

Whirlpool and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has announced that up and coming tennis star Agnes Szavay will join forces with Nadia Petrova to help front the 'Aces for Homes' initiative, now in its third consecutive year.  The 'Aces for Homes' initiative will run throughout the course of the 2008 Tour season and is designed to raise money for the international housing charity, Habitat for Humanity.  For every ace served, Whirlpool and the Tour will donate v10 to Habitat.

Responding to the needs of a growing number of people who live in city apartments and increasingly smaller houses, Dyson engineers have developed two new compact vacuum cleaners, Dyson Baby (DC22) and Dyson Ball (DC24). "They have advantages of big machines but in a smaller package," commented Tom Crawford, Dyson senior engineer, the designer of DC24.

Home-tek has acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute the Safe-T-Light, a self-contained nightlight and torch, devised by British inventor Chris Haines. The inspiration for it came about when Chris' mother nearly fell down stairs one night when the electricity failed.

Electra has expanded its retro-styled range with the introduction of a washing machine.

Sporting a cream finish, the E6720 machine has been designed to complement the manufacturer's '50s style cream fridge freezer.

Those with big families will welcome Fisher & Paykel's new Three Door Ice & Water refrigerator.

The 900mm wide appliance offers a generous 541 litres of usable storage capacity, making it the largest the manufacturer has to offer.

Panasonic has expanded its range of compact digital cameras to include its first 10.1-megapixel camera.

The LumixDMC-FX35 boasts a 25mm ultra-wide angle LEICA DC lens, along with a 4x optical zoom. The manufacturer claims that it can capture almost double the viewing space at the same shooting distance compared to ordinary 35mm cameras.

The latest TV wall mounts from IXOS can be installed, from box to wall, in just 15 minutes, claims the maker.

The large XHM468 is designed to accommodate screens measuring 65in or weighing up to 90kg, while the medium XHM464 is suitable for 48in screens or those weighing up to 70kg.

As the popularity of home-made bread continues to grow, Morphy has unveiled its new Accents bread maker.

Capable of preparing several different loaf sizes - 1, 1.5 or 2lb - the maker can also be set to produce a light, medium or dark crust.

The latest iPod dock from Intempo has been designed to match the new pink iPod nano.

The iDS-01NRX boasts 12W speakers and is very simple to use, thanks to its touch volume controls and credit card-sized remote control.

The latest gadget from Archos enables users to stream content from a PC to their TV, as well as download movies and surf the web.

Archos TV+, available in 80 and 250GB versions, acts as a home entertainment hub which can be connected to the user's computer via Wi-Fi or LAN.

Team UKI has added to its product range a new kettle with an integrated water filter.

The new WKF1 78W kettle from the Birmingham-based small domestic appliance brand has been designed to remove impurities from water using a five-step filtration process.

Andy is one of the domestic appliance industry's veterans whose considerable knowledge of the market and its mechanics guided Electrolux strategies for almost twenty years. He is now applying his analytical approach to the management of the LG white goods portfolio.

In Dubai, the super rich city-state, which takes what's the best in the world and develops it on a bigger scale, Sony held its 2008 Key Dealer Conference. As expected, we were given a preview of Sony's latest technology applications, and a few product concepts with a real 'wow' factor, but the event will be remembered by the clear turnaround in the company's consumer strategy.

As usual, JVC's Key Dealer Meeting (KDM) offered a chance to get an exclusive preview of the manufacturer's new products for the year. The 2008 meeting saw JVC building on its existing ranges as well as introducing some market exclusives.

The last month for Amdea can be summarized by one word: consultations.

Every year presents new challenges and new opportunities to our industry.  It is therefore vitally important that independent electrical retailers stay one step ahead of the game. 

Specialist appliances are becoming increasingly popular, particularly at the top end of the market. These enable the customer to complete their dream kitchen while enhancing the entertaining at home experience. Although it's still a niche market at present, there is certainly plenty of scope for retailers to see good returns simply by offering this add-on opportunity.

"Day after day we are seeing stories about how the high street is struggling.  In light of this, it is astonishing that the market hasn't yet woken up to or connected with the opportunity of an ageing society. We have an ageing population which is increasingly diverse in its wants and needs.  Yet, our research has revealed that half of the population think that business and retailers have little interest in older consumers," said David Sinclair, policy manager for Help the Aged, at the conference organised by the 'engage' membership network which associate such companies as BT, B&Q or M&S.

The Scart lead is dead, long live HDMI! Or is it that simple? HDMI is not just a higher-quality digital version of the Scart lead, it is a multimedia interface format devised to support some of the most robust data-protection technology outside of military applications. The fact that it actually produces a reasonable picture and supports multi-channel audio is almost a side-line.

The dishwasher has never been an aspirational product. This to a great extent determines its place in the house and is linked to the lack of popular appreciation of its role.  A comparison with a servant in a Victorian household would not be out of place. People need its contribution to the domestic chores, but don't want to see or hear it. The dishwasher is usually the last thing they are prepared to make room for in their increasingly smaller kitchens.

The USP of this dishwasher is its water efficiency - it uses only nine litres of water for a full load - an achievement recognised with the Waterwise Marque given to the most water efficient products. It also features a half load option which can be used on both the upper and lower basket, height adjustable baskets, and an auto option for assessing the level of soiling on the dishwasher load.  It is AAA rated for energy efficiency.

The KitchenAid In-Sink dishwasher is a stainless steel structure integrated into a double sink which washes dishes up to 29cm in diameter and has five different washing programmes. It was designed to give the user dishwashing support whilst they are cooking.  Small loads such as glasses, cutlery, cooking utensils, pots and pans, can all be washed and dried in the appliance, that fits inside the sink, in considerably less time than a normal dishwasher.

Whirlpool's PowerClean functionality was devised in response to consumers' requirements for a dishwasher that can clean burnt-on food from pots and pans and still care for delicate china. 32 high pressure jet sprays can clean burnt-on soil without pre-rinsing. The new loading area in the back of the lower rack gives 30% extra space and allows pots and pans to be angled to face the jet sprays. It comes as a freestanding model and semi-integrated and integrated model.

The De Dietrich 'Hybrid' is a fully integrated dishwasher, which combines the design aesthetic of a semi-integrated model with the applications of a fully integrated machine. The dishwasher features touch controls on the door of the machine with an LCD display both on the control panel and on the external fascia, offering the easiest way to view programme times and details. It operates at just 41db (the manufacturer claims it is the quietest dishwasher on the market) and its water consumption is only 10 litres.

The remote control is the most common accessory of them all; virtually every home entertainment box has one. They work by emitting pulses of infra-red light, variations in pulse timing and duration conveying specific commands to the control processor of the TV, video recorder or whatever.