Digital Shot

You know you’ve heard it from two lovebirds in junior high: “we’re not going out, we’re just talking.” In a completely bizarre way, that’s about the best way we can sum up what’s apparently going on between Panasonic and Sanyo Electric. According to an unnamed company official “familiar with the negotiations,” Panny is already in talks with Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking about snapping up a “controlling stake in its smaller rival.” Reportedly, these “talks” are at the so-called preliminary stage, and dialog regarding dollars and cents (and yen, probably) has yet to officially occur. Still, the insider asserts that a formal acquisition proposal will be submitted soon, potentially enabling Panasonic to quickly grab a “world-class” (wait, really?) battery operation and give it a leg-up in the exploding solar energy market. Stay tuned for more — you know the unpredictable always happens on Saturday nights.

[Via Bloomberg]

Panasonic and Sanyo change status to “it’s complicated” originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Panasonic had us fooled with that press release dating its micro Four Thirds camera, the Lumix DMC-G1, for mid-November. We’re not sure what Panny was trying to pull, but when we took a gander at its online store today we discovered that the G1 has already started shipping. The price is $799.95 as expected, so your time has come if you’ve been dying to try this slim and sexy micro Four Thirds thing out — though we might wait for a few reviews to drop to confirm that the performance matches the price.

Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-G1 ninja-ships to consumers originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.