Matsushita
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Nintendo near Sony's worth in market value
Nintendo has made a huge stride recently, overtaking electronics firm Matsushita to take second place in market value for electronics firms. Nintendo's current market value sits at 6.30 trillion yen ($51 billion USD), which is alarmingly close to first place Sony, who currently enjoys a 6.64 trillion yen ($53 billion USD) market share.Also, take into account that Matsushita and Sony make all sorts of electronic devices, not just video games. This makes Nintendo's strides that much more impressive.
Nintendo is worth almost as much as Sony
Nintendo has surpassed the enormous electronics firm (and unfortunate 3DO M2 owner) Matsushita to take second place in market value for electronics firms. Nintendo's market value (the value of all of its shares) is currently at 6.30 trillion yen ($51 billion), which is not that far off from first-place Sony's 6.64 trillion yen.The really remarkable thing for us is that Sony and Matsushita make all sorts of things, like computers and radios, and their revenues are currently over eight times those of Nintendo. Nintendo just makes video games and their shares are eclipsing Matsushita's.
Matsushita to sell Power Pedal robotic legs
Matsushita's already given us a robotic suit to aid in rehabilitation, but it's now taking its robo-upgrades even further, busting out a pair of "Power Pedal" robotic legs to give us humans a fighting chance in the inevitable robot uprising... and help disabled and elderly people walk again. Supposedly, the Power Pedals will give you seven times more strength, and be able to maneuver through difficult terrain without tipping over, thanks to their six directions of movement. Matsushita thinks that'll also make the legs particularly well-suited for use in disaster areas, which would seem to be a likely first test bed, given that they'll cost a cool 20 million yen ($167k) when they're available in August. According to Matsushita, however, that'll come down to just $30,000 by 2015, so start saving up.[Via Slash Gear]
Matsushita, Hitachi collaborate to take on shaky plasma market
While LG is shutting down plasma manufacturing plants and other manufacturers are scrambling to figure out precisely what happened to the once lucrative PDP market, Hitachi is doing more than just looking overseas. The firm has now inked a deal with Panasonic maker Matsushita to "start supplying Hitachi with 103-inch panels in the current business year to March 2008, while Hitachi will begin providing Matsushita with 85-inch panels next business year." Aside from the natural flow of give 'n take, the motives here center around joining forces to battle competition rather than facing the brutal marketplace alone, and this news comes not too long after whispers of LG and Samsung forming a similar alliance. Of course, only time will tell what sorts of revenue (if any) this will actually generate, but with LCD HDTV prices like they are, we can't blame these guys for giving it a go.
Panasonic's high-end F-Class in-car navigation units
Shortly after launching its first US in-car navigation system, Panasonic is doing it big yet again across the seas with its "highest-end" F-Class lineup. This well-spec'd trifecta sports a seven-inch VGA touchscreen, a PEAKS processor, an integrated TV tuner, boosted sensitivity compared to prior models, a built-in graphics processor, hard drive, SD card slot, and the ability to map your route online via the Odekake Strada website and transfer the guidance via SD. Additionally, you'll find an SD Link function that nicely interfaces with your iPod, CD / DVD playback abilities, and the flagship CN-HDS965TD can even handle the ill-fated MD format. Users interested in adding Bluetooth streaming abilities can snap up the CY-BT200D module for a stiff ¥21,000 ($175), which actually pales in comparison to the ¥344,400 ($2,861) to ¥354,900 ($2,949) pricetags that you'll find on these luxurious devices.[Via Nikkei]
TMD announces 7 new LED backlit panels for laptops
While you patiently wait for your favorite [insert brand] laptop to move to LED backlighting, there's no crime in checking out some nekkid panels, eh? Toshiba Matsushita Display (TMD) announced 7 new LED backlit LCDs today ranging in size from 8.9- to 13.3-inches. That 13.3-incher will need 4W to power its 1280x800 (WXGA) resolution and 300cd/m2 brightness. These panels join similar glass already shown off by Samsung and LG.Philips earlier in the year. With LED backlit laptops already trickling in, can we please crank this up to a flood already dear vendors? Thanks. [Via Impress]
Matsushita demonstrates data beaming with visible light
Infrared hasn't exactly taken the wireless data transfer world by storm, and while it seems to still flank the sides of modern smartphones and the occasional laptop, we can't exactly recall the last time we found it particularly useful in a public setting. Matsushita is out to solve the data beaming quandary, and it's looking to add a little light to the situation all the while with a visible twist. The technology allows data to be beamed from transmitter to receiver via visible light, and aside from purportedly streaming information along at "optical fiber speeds," it can also pull double duty as an indoor lighting source if you're short on lamps. The firm is hoping to get the standard ratified soon, and ideally, would like to see kiosks set up to beam information onto consumer / client receivers by just walking up to the light source, pairing up their device, and walking away happy. Additionally, this system could have a leg up on other wireless alternatives in sensitive areas such as hospitals, as the Visible Light Communications (VLC) creation won't interfere with pulse-makers and other medical equipment. Now, how long before this stuff hits the handset market?[Via Gearfuse]
Matsushita recalls 68,000 potentially fiery massage chairs
We're all very aware of how often Li-ion batteries have been on the literal hot seat over the past year or so, but now it looks like Matsushita has yet another recall to deal with outside of those overheating laptop batteries. The company best known for its Panasonic brand has recalled 68,762 of its electric massage chairs after two cases were reported of the "internal motor burning out" and sparking fires. Thankfully, no one was injured while getting all the kinks worked out of their spine, but considering there are much safer ways to heat your bottom while kicked back in a recliner, we doubt the unadvertised warming functions were appreciated. So if you just so happen to own one of these vibrating chairs, you should probably make haste in pulling the plug and phoning Matsushita for an RMA number.[Via Fark]
Panasonic develops more capacious Li-ion laptop battery
While the IEEE is "hard at work" revising the laptop battery standard so these explosive cells permanently become a thing of the past, Panasonic has developed a new rechargeable battery pack with increased capacity and energy density, hopefully working on previous heat issues as well. The prototype, which is being shown here at CES, reportedly boasts a "20- to 40-percent" increase in capacity by using "an alloy material for the negative electrode instead of a commonly used carbon material" such as graphite carbon. Additionally, energy density per volume is increased to 740 Wh/L, which is 40-percent higher than that of the company's existing product. Notably, Panasonic claims that this newfangled Li-ion pack will tout a "heat-resistant layer made of insulating metal oxide," which purportedly "ensures improved safety while maintaining a current capacity as high as 3.6 Ah." As expected, there was no word on if (or when) this prototype would actually hit production, but the firm did state that it would like to commercialize it "within a few years" if everything progressed nicely.
DTS licenses DTS HD Master Audio technology to ten IC producers
Although Dolby's TrueHD may be a more well-known moniker, it looks like you'll be hearing (quite literally) a lot more of DTS in the coming months. The firm has landed a deal with no less than ten integrated circuit (IC) manufacturers to incorporate its DTS HD Master Audio and / or DTS HD High Resolution Audio technology (not to mention the DTS HD LBR and encoder / transcoder jazz) into forthcoming chips. These microchips -- designed by Analog Devices, Broadcom, Cheertek, LSI, Matsushita, MediaTek, NEC, Renesas, Sigma Designs, and Sunplus Technology -- will contain DTS's high definition audio standards and will eventually find their way into next-generation HD DVD and Blu-ray players, AV receivers, and pre-packaged home theater systems. Additionally, the technology could even slither into the PC and automobile markets. While neither specific end products nor release dates were mentioned, we do know that devices coming out "in 2007" will be sporting the new protocols, and hey, we've got no qualms when it comes to options in audio (or video).
Matsushita to sell JVC to Kenwood?
Dizamn, chalk this up to buyouts we didn't see coming; reports are starting to hit the wires that Matushita (aka Panasonic), which owns the controlling share (52.4%) of Victor Company of Japan (aka JVC) is apparently considering selling the unit to Kenwood. Although talks have supposedly been ongoing since earlier this month, Matsushita is apparently refusing to comment. Naw, probably won't affect you and your general buying habits -- it's not like JVC would be going to D&M to be dismantled for its IP -- we just thought you might like to know.Read - Matsushita reportedly in talks with KenwoodRead - "No comment."
Matsushita to begin production of new, non-explosive Li-ion batteries
Apparently Matsushita isn't waiting around for the (notoriously slow) IEEE task force to settle on a new Li-ion battery standard, as the company has announced that it will soon begin "mass production of a new lithium-ion battery that is safe from the overheating problems" we're all too familiar with. These batteries in particular will be built to replace those that prompted a massive recall of Sony cells earlier this year, and should be available en masse "by the end of the year." Sony's global recall affected "around 9.6 million cells" used on nearly every laptop under the sun, so we're sure Matsushita's conveyor belts will be approaching record speeds to crank out these replacements. Notably, the company asserted that while actual pricing would depend on the quantity ordered, it would be "higher than existing models" regardless -- which makes sense considering all the loot Sony is losing from this fiasco.[Via Laptoping, thanks Kaztm]
Matsushita Electric Works intros blood-toting HOSPI robot
Although Matsushita usually spends its toiling hours crafting gigantic televisions and ultrathin LCDs, the hard hat-wearing Matsushita Electric Works is busting out a blood-transporting robot to waltz the long, white halls in medical facilities everywhere. Designed specifically for "research institutes" which deal with blood inspections, the HOSPI droids are designed to work in groups which transport vials of blood from one workstation to another, while it "automatically analyzes" the containers on board. The self-proclaimed "sample conveyance robot" can wheel around at a blistering 2.2 mph to various destinations sans the need for tracks or human guidance, as it relies on programmable maps to understand the proper routes it should take. Sporting dual CPUs, the 'bot can presumably continue to operate (albeit less quickly) if one processor fails, and it also boasts the ability to dock itself in a recharge station if its battery is running low. Moreover, it sports a "highly precise laser radar" to avoid crashing into its blood-running brethren, walls, stray wheelchairs, and unmonitored patients. No word yet on how HOSPI reacts to EMMA's incessant requests for a date, however.[Via Digital World Tokyo]
Matsushita Electric Works busts out remote-controlled garden
Even if you've got the greenest thumb in your neighborhood, sometimes exerting all that effort to hydrate your flora just doesn't seem worthwhile. Presumably satisfying the couch dweller in us all, Matsushita Electric Works has remarkably created yet another invention that keeps us firmly planted on that oh-so-comfortable couch, all while giving the utmost attention to those needy azaleas. The remote-controlled Aiterrarium is an indoor gardening system in which the florescent lighting, temperature, humidity, and food / water supply is all controlled via the internet; with just a few clicks, you can make critical tweaks to the environment of your indoor greenhouse, and thanks to an "optional camera system," you don't even have to be home to watch your plant life blossom (or perish). While these are being primarily aimed at universities and agricultural research centers, there's just two things stopping you from snapping up your own -- scrounging up the ¥600,000 ($5,017) required to purchase one, and finding the motivation to actually dial up Matsushita.[Via Far East Gizmos]
Japanese companies ally to create acTVila.com
Last week, there was more to come out of the recent CEATEC expo than just droolworthy gadgets. Half a dozen major Japanese television manufacturers -- Matsushita (Panasonic), Sony, Sony Communication Network, Toshiba, Sharp, and Hitachi -- have banded together to form a company called "TV Portal Service Corporation," which we're hoping sounds a little less like a mafia front in Japanese. The new partnership seeks to launch a website on February 1, 2007 called acTVila.com, which would be accessible through each company's net-enabled TV. The site aims to provide "basic information services" at first, and later will move to video-on-demand, "content downloading services" and "payment transactions" by 2008. Business talk aside, we hope that Apple doesn't mind that acTVila's logo looks very inspired by the Picasso-esque MacOS smiley face logo.[Via EETimes]
Matsushita and Activelink unveil rehabilitating robotic suit
If tossing on a HAL cyborg suit and ascending a mountain seems a bit intimidating to you, Japanese firms Matsushita (producer of Panasonic) and Activelink have partnered with Kobe Gakuin University to develop a robotic jacket that helps rehabilitate paralyzed individuals with slightly less "lofty" goals. The vest, which slips over an individual's upper body and arms (no leg support just yet), allows the person to move their unaffected arm as they please, while it mimics the muscles in the paralyzed area(s) to help the patient recall the feelings of maneuvering that limb. By teaching the person to take over for the motorized "stretching and bending compressors" within the device, the 1.8-pound suit can gradually help someone to regain stimulation in a previously motionless area of their upper body. Activelink reportedly plans to "start testing" the unit at a Hyogo hospital soon, and make it commercially available by March 2009. The only kicker is the price -- at ¥2,000,000 ($17,159), customers best ensure their insurance plan is mighty stout before suiting up in this.
Panasonic displays DMR-BW200 and BR100 Blu-ray recorders
For the technically-inclined Japanese household looking to back up HD episodes of Desire and Fashion House (or their Japanese equivalents) the Panasonic DMR-BW200 and DMR-BR100 Blu-ray recorders may just fit the bill, and are due out November 15th. With 500GB and 200GB HDDs respectively you've got plenty of space to save important telenovelas prior to burning them to 25GB or 50GB BD-R/REs at 4x speed. Tuners for terrestrial, BS, 110-degree CS digital broadcasts and analog TV are included, as well as all the usual ins and outs like 1080p HDMI. The high-end BW200 adds dual tuners for digital broadcasts, an i.Link port for D-VHS dubbing and Ethernet connectivity. Both have Panasonic's Viera Link technology and HD Optimizer for cleaning up noise in digital broadcasts and upconverting SD content. As our friends at Engadget point out, unlike the Sony Blu-ray recorder these have a release date, specs and price -- ¥300,000 (about $2,550) for the BW200 and ¥200,000 (about $1,700) for the BR100 -- and their slim design seems to carry less pet-crushing risk than the Toshiba RD-A1.[Via Engadget]
Panasonic's DMR-BW200 and BR100 Blu-ray and hard disk recorders
We peeped a mock-up Sony Blu-ray Disc and Hard Disk recorder just the other day which may or may not see the light of the rising sun. Now Panny brings it for realz with their new DIGA DMR-BW200 (pictured up top) and BR100 Blu-ray Disc and fatty hard drive recorders. Both drives support DL BD-R/BD-RE (50GB) at 4x speeds and healthy dose of the ol' in and outs including 1080p-capable HDMI. The BW200 is the high-ender and brings a 2x digital (terrestrial and satellite) and 1x terrestrial analog TV tuners, 500GB disk, Firewire to bring an external hard drive to the show or to connect your video cam, and Ethernet for easy EPG G-Guide access. The lower-end BR100 is limited to 1x digital (terrestrial and satellite) and 1x terrestrial analog TV tuners and 200GB of disk. Both should pop for retail on November 15th in Japan with an expected price of about ¥300,000 (about $2,550) for the BW200 and ¥200,000 (about $1,700) for the BR100. Sure, neither measure up to the HD DVD recorder with 1TB disk from Toshiba, but then again, you don't have to worry about 'em tipping over and crushing the pet either.[Thanks, ccthoo]
Panasonic's EU3002 computerized mattress
Here you go folks, a computerized mattress for your computer bed from none other than that Japanese consumer electronics powerhouse, Panasonic. While it's not the strangest thing to come from Japan, it ranks. To protect your nightly crash, the EU3002 delivers eight programable airbags which change in size and shape as you snooze through the different phases of sleep. The airbags around your waist and shoulders begin to inflate when it's time to awake, hopefully before you slide out the other end like a flacid burrito expulsion. And yeah, the mattress can be heated at the feet or along its entirety if that's your issue. Still, for $2,200, you'd think they could integrate a wireless remote, right? Then again, maybe that top-center graphic is a clue to the value-add. Dropping 10th October in fulfillment of all your sick inflatable fantasies.[Via The Raw Feed]
Sony, Matsushita and others plan to create standard for Internet TVs
Exact deets are still a bit scarce, but the AP recently reported that Sony, Matsushita, Sharp, Toshiba, and Hitachi have joined forces to create a standard for Internet-connected televisions. The alliance has come together under the TV Portal Service Corp banner which, as far as we can tell, is still operating in stealth mode without so much as a website. Sony and Matsushita look to be the major players in the new consortium, with a 35% share each. What we do know is that the Internet TVs will be Linux-based and will be operated just with a remote control instead of a keyboard, although we're guessing that'll still be an option. Despite the lack of details, it appears that things are progressing pretty quickly, with the first Internet TVs expected to go on sale as early as next year, and with sales projected to reach 10 to 20 million units by the year 2011. All of this is in Japan only, of course -- hope you didn't get your hopes up too much.
