Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. Pricing for Sharp's sexiest, freshest and altogether loveliest HDTVs has arrived. As stated at CEATEC in Japan, the 65-inch LC-65XS1U-S will sell for a whopping ¥1.28 million ($12,225), while the 52-inch LC-52XS1U-S goes for ¥980,000 ($9,243). We'd expect those figures to be a touch lower whenever they come stateside, but rest assured, you'll be breaking into the piggy bank if either of these is to be your next set.

Who says there are too many players in the HDTV realm? With current mainstays partnering up like it's going out of style, we've found two firms that see something no one else does. General Electric has just announced a joint venture with Taiwan-based Tatung in which the pair plans on making two million HDTVs annually when production gets going in 2009. The two hope to capture at least 5% to 10% of the global TV market in due time, and according to Peter Weedfald, president of North America and global chief marketing officer for the JV, the resulting product will be a "premium brand" that will be "very competitive with current leadership brands." We'll be interested to see what all becomes of this, and hopefully we'll have some prototypes to gawk at come CES / IFA / CEDIA 2009.

[Image courtesy of VintageTVSets]

What's this? A little standardization in the TV realm? Announced today at IBC2008, Microsoft has launched its Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture (PBDA), a new worldwide platform that was made possible by the recent release of Windows Media Center TV Pack. In short, this system enables the "PC-TV hardware ecosystem to integrate virtually any free or premium TV service into Windows Media Center," which keeps content guardians ultra-stoked while giving consumers more choice when it comes to TV tuning. Essentially, PBDA gives OEMs and tuner-makers the ability to develop and ship wares for WMC "regardless of geographic location or television standard." The initiative is being backed by some serious players, too -- Hauppauge, AVerMedia, NEC, and NXP just to name a few -- and a couple have already shipped PBDA-based solutions overseas. Hit the read link for more... if you dare.

It's round, white, and floats in the tub and goes by the name XDV-W600 -- the latest Bravia TV to numb the mind. The little 1-Seg set features a 4-inch, 16.7-million color, 272 x 480 pixel LCD; AM/FM tuner; 2GB of internal memory to record up to 10-hours of 1-Seg television broadcasts; and up to 23-hours of viewing off the internal rechargeable + 2x AA alkaline batteries. It also carries an IPX7 and IPX6 waterproof rating making it submersible for up to 30 minutes at a depth of 1-meter and capable of withstanding penetration by your Jacuzzi's water jets. Although it would likely distort the video into a fisheye view, we really wish that advances in curved and circular LCDs had progressed to the point of mass production -- that square display kills the aesthetic on these ovular TVs. Ships in Japan on October 30th for an expected ¥39,800 (about $368).

[Via Impress]

Just because you haven't been remotely interested in seen a mirror TV in, oh, years, doesn't mean that companies aren't still interested in exploiting the niche. Take Pantel, for instance, who is totally stoked about debuting a trio of 'em at CEDIA 2008. Set to launch in 20-, 32- and 42-inch flavors, the Mirror TV line is aimed at folks looking to add a multipurpose display in their bathroom, shower or sauna. The 20- and 32-inch editions arrive with a 720p panel, while the 42-incher checks in with a full 1080p resolution. Price wise, you're looking at $1,200 for the little guy, $2,755 for the 32-inch sibling and $5,800 for the mack daddy.

Forget schools, forget lighting, forget easy access to drinking water... it's that sweet TV goodness that people living off the grid really need. Well, that and laptops. You're looking at Sharp's 26-inch LCD prototype which uses just a quarter of the power (or a third measured annually) of a conventional CRT with the same screen size. That's low enough to be suitably powered by a Sharp, triple-junction thin-film solar cell module whose surface area is roughly equivalent to that of the LCD screen. Sharp hopes to market the two items as a pair in a bid to "contribute to the environment." Good thing too, 'cause nothing fills a billion empty bellies like an eye-full of boob-candy.

[Via Impress]

What else can we say? The concept here is pure genius, and it totally makes those pricey security systems seem way pointless (okay, slightly less critical). The FakeTV is a strobe that sets up in an occupied room at night and flashes up beams of light. From the inside, we can imagine it looks fairly curious, but from the outside, it gives prospective burglars the idea that someone is actually awake and watching a television program. It promises to produce the effects of "scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion and color changes," just like they were generated by a bona fide set. We can't speak for how well (or not) this thing actually works, but at just $49, we'd say it's a solid buy if you're the paranoid type.

[Via BoingBoing]

While we're still waiting for the early year flirtations of NBC and Apple to sprout into a renewed relationship, it looks like Microsoft is picking up the ball and running with it. The new Zune Marketplace TV lineup includes NBC favorites "The Office, "Heroes" and "30 Rock," in addition to popular shows from Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and Sci Fi Channel. Over 800 episodes in total are available at the moment, and all of them are going for 160 Microsoft Points -- about $2.00. A more complete list is after the break.

Oh, shoplifters of the world -- you're not going to unite and take over with these kinds of tactics. A Kirksville, MO. man was arrested on Thursday for trying to boost a $517 Viore (yeah) LCD television by swapping the UPC tag with one from a $3.16 bottle of water. Apparently, cashiers weren't fooled by the admittedly paper-thin maneuver, and after four swipe attempts, a replaced paper spool, and one PA announcement for a store manager to come to register 14, they had the super-genius switcher thrown in the big house. If convicted, the man faces up to seven years in prison plus a hefty fine... and the lifelong shame of having tried to pull this stunt off.

[Via Fark]

Got yourself an Archos TV+? How's about a WiFi-enabled 605 / 705 PMP? Even if you're sadly answering "no" to the latter question, folks with a Windows or Windows Mobile-based machine can still get in on the placeshifting action, as Archos has just announced a swank new TV+ plug-in that brings Slingbox capabilities to those devices. The May-bound TVportation application, which will be available gratis for those who register their Archos TV+ on the firm's website (it's $49.99 otherwise), simply enables users to control their set-top-box from anywhere where WiFi is accessible, giving users the ability to watch live TV on their handheld. Sure, it's more of the same, but for the Archos faithful who refuse to trade in their 605 / 705, it's a dream come true. Check out a lengthy demonstration vid after the break. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Thanks, Charbax]

During the first episode of the new season of Criminal Minds, FBI agent and resident neat-freak David Rossi just couldn't shake the unsolved double homicide that he never could close a score ago. Oddly enough, that wasn't the only mystery involved, as we're still scratching our heads trying to figure out what's so important on the lid of Mr. Rossi's RAZR2. Maybe a super-secret 4G icon? Tommy Tutone's most favorite dame's number? The infamous Sad Moto face? Whatever it was, we're fairly certain a highly concealed RAZR2 is superior to the lowly RAZR Derek Morgan is still getting issued. What's a man got to do to get a leg-up, anyway?

If you're fortunate enough to be living in Japan then this new Kodak ELiTe Vision KTEL-30W AMOLED TV can be yours sometime later this month. Measuring just 8-mm thick, this 3-inch 1Seg TV features a mono speaker, headphone jack (naturally), and a lithium polymer battery good for about 3.5 hours of continuous TV playback. Thing is, It'll cost you about ¥29,800 or about $287 for functionality already integrated into many Japanese phones.

[Via Impress]

For Wii owners not located in Japan, get ready to weep. Why? Because users in the aforementioned nation now have access to an incredibly fascinating new channel and you, well, don't. Details on the TV Guide Channel are still a bit fuzzy (read: lost in machine translation), but based on what we've pieced together, users can surf through shows on the EPG, share their favorites with friends, see how popular a program is (using demographic data, too) and even receive an e-mail / SMS alert 30 minutes prior to a flagged show's start time. Best of all, however, is the ability to use your Wiimote as a television remote. You heard right -- owners can use their Wii controller (via the sensor bar) to dictate volume, switch channels and flip back and forth between their shows and the TV Guide Channel. Now, how long must the rest of the free world wait? Check out the gallery for a few more looks at what you're (probably) missing out on.

[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]

Last October, not much was known about Lumenlab's elusive "Q," but now it seems the firm's all geared up to dish out the deets and accept obscenely large checks. The Qmax still maintains a 42-inch 1080p LCD display, but we now know that you'll find an overclocked Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor (humming along at 3.3GHz), 768MB GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics card by PNY (also overclocked), 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a trio of 1TB hard drives, the company's own Hotwire powerline networking technology, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and a fairly swank cooling system for good measure. Additionally, you'll find HDMI, component and VGA inputs, 8.1-channel audio, optional HD DVD / Blu-ray drives and an optional $1,500 touch screen for those with plenty of cash to burn. Reportedly, this beast is handmade in Asheville, North Carolina and can be tweaked to your heart's content, but the general configuration will set you back around $10,000. The only question left, it seems, is why?

We're still not quite sure whether to file Westinghouse Digital's PumpTop TV network under "because there were a few square inches of advertising-free modern life left" or "because Western civilization demands the right to watch TV absolutely anywhere," but either way we thought it fitting to remind our US readers that these things will start becoming more ubiquitous in major cities this year. The technology isn't new but, much like bell-bottoms, seems to keep coming back unexpectedly despite antipathy from the sane.