As Westinghouse realizes that the digital photo frame market is about as over-saturated as possible right now, not to mention just how boring the whole notion has become, it has resorted to pulling in a "world renowned" name in photography in order to help push its forthcoming line. But it doesn't end with just a namedrop -- oh no, Westy's latest release has completely and entirely failed to divulge any information whatsoever on the specifications of any of its impending frames. No screen sizes, no resolutions, no capacities, nothing. Just paragraph after paragraph of how awesome it will be to have some of Anne Geddes' photographs mixed in with your own lame attempts at capturing life's most precious moments when you buy one of these elusive units this winter (at undisclosed price points, no less). Nice going, Westinghouse.

Bargain alert! No need to liquidate every asset you own to bring home (wherever "home" would end up being) one of Sharp's 108-inch LCD HDTVs, as Westinghouse has just announced that its 56-inch D56QX1 Quad HD display will be on sale as of this month for half of that. Yeah, we've seen it (along with its 52-inch sibling) around forever, but we're thrilled to hear that a handful of affluent aficionados will finally have the pleasure of watching one in their 4,800 square foot den.

[Via TG Daily]

Remember Green Plug? That universal connector we detailed last month which aims to replace wall warts and help Mother Earth out in the process? Turns out, said outfit has just landed its first real believer as Westinghouse committed to using the smart power technology. Even Darwin Chang, Westy's CTO, admitted that his firm "wasn't the largest, but somebody has to be the first." Chang is hoping that utilizing said tech will help it cut costs by eliminating the need to ship power adapters with its wares, but we'd say that's being pretty optimistic. Really, the only way that will go over well is if hordes of other firms jump on the (currently desolate) bandwagon in short order -- any takers?

[Via PCWorld]

Westinghouse continues their habit of releasing well-spec'd but average-performing displays today with a slew of new LCD HDTVs. On the 1080p front, the TX Series comes in 42, 47, and 52-inch flavors along with the 40-inch VK-40F580D -- a 1080P DVD combo player that's (aside from the $1,099 price) ironically missing Blu-ray. The less-expensive 720p LCDs in the SK, PT, and W series come in anything from 16 to 32-inch screen sizes, the PT series being portable. So what's the big deal? The 1080p TX-52F480S 52-inch display retails at only $1,999 US, a tough number to beat in that spec range. Meanwhile, their respectably-sized 26-inch SK-26H730S is priced at just $599. So, hooray for affordable HDTV, and stuff.

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.

We promise this post isn't just a cheap excuse to drool over Halo 3 -- no, no -- this post is a cheap excuse to drool over Crysis running at native resolution. Westinghouse got smarter this year and made its two Quad HD LCDs on display a more prominent attraction in the booth, showing off 47-inch and 56-inch models. For those who haven't been keeping score, the 56-inch display is running at 3840 x 2160 Quad Full HD resolution (think 8.3 million pixels is enough for ya?) -- its little brother runs at 2560 x 1440 Quad HD and 3.7 million pixels. Both of these units are going to be released this year in Q2 ("March or April"), but you'll have to part with $10,000 to pick up the 47-inch and a whopping $50k to take home the 56-inch. The rep we spoke with mentioned they obviously weren't targeting consumers with these things so much as engineers, architects, visual imaging and editing professionals and production studios, and medical and geological professionals, as well as mining companies who've shown interest in the technology. We fully concede there's no rational way to justify shelling out 50 grand for one of these things but damn, it doesn't stop us from wanting one at Engadget HQ.

We've seen firms let loose entire clans of HDTVs before, and apparently Westinghouse is aiming to be the next to direct you straight to overload. Without further ado, let's get to the VK Series. The 40-inch VK-40F530S sports a 1080p resolution, a pair of HDMI inputs and a 6.5-millisecond response time, while the 42-inch VK-42F130S / VK-42F240S shares the same resolution and response time while adding an NTSC / ATSC / Clear-QAM tuner. Rounding things up is the 47-inch VK-47F130S, which looks to sport the exactly same specs as the 42-inch siblings. For the rest of the gang, head on past the jump.

Just in case you haven't seen enough from Westinghouse of late, it's got a whole slew of new LCD monitors comin' your way. Up first is the 19-inch L1975NW, which features a 1,440 x 900 resolution, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 170- / 160-degree viewing angles and DVI / VGA / audio-in ports. Moving on, we've got the 22-inch L2270NW, which steps up to a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution but maintains the rest of the specs on its aforementioned siblings. Ready for the rest? Check 'em out after the jump!

This CES, Westinghouse isn't doling anything by its lonesome, and the trend's not changing with its new family of digital photo frames. Kicking things off is the DPF-1561, which rocks a 15.6-inch panel with a 1,366 x 768 resolution, a 16:9 aspect ratio, a wooden frame, built-in stereo speakers and a remote. Coming up next, we've got the 14.1-inch DPF-1412, which features a 1,280 x 800 resolution and 256MB of built-in storage and the 10.2-inch DPF-1022 for those down with a 1,024 x 600 resolution, 128MB of memory and a LED-backlit panel. Still not satisfied? Check out the rest after the jump.

We're not exactly sure what constitutes a "portable LCD," but apparently, Westinghouse figures a 16- to 19-incher fits the bill. The new PT Series is curiously aimed as "consumers who are on the go," but realistically, we envision these bad boys sticking pretty close to the countertop. Getting us started is the 16-inch PT-16H120S, which features a 720p resolution, a "Super Thin Profile," 500:1 contrast ratio, eight-millisecond response time and a pretty standard assortment of ports. Interested in hearing more? Click on through, it's all there.

Pulse-Link and Westinghouse displayed their UWB-equipped wireless HDMI LCD, streaming 1080p goodness from an attached Blu-ray player. The JPEG2000 compression showed no trace of artifacting as the video passed three, shoot, maybe four feet without the aid of such antiquated devices as cables. Due for B2B applications soon, they still hope to make this available for consumers by year-end with a minimal cost premium over wired devices (read: a few hundred dollars), until then just check out these pics and dream of the future.

We didn't have to wait for CES to begin to find out the UWB camp's response to WirelessHD 1.0, Westinghouse and Pulse-Link plan to demo the first "fully-integrated" wireless HDTV Saturday. The Westinghouse Digital Wireless HDMI HDTV should hit the B2B digital signage marketplace in the second quarter, and could see release to consumers by the end of the year. If wired HDMI is just too complicated, Pulse-Link's CWave Wireless HDMI promises 40 foot range with no loss of quality. No word yet on exact price, or what kind of Monster accessories we can expect to enhance our wireless viewing experience, but this seems a lot more tangible than the Philips wireless HDTV technology vaporware from CES '07.

Hot on the heels of the SSD shootout comes a five-man competition stocked with some of the most prolific digital photo frames on the market, and now that prices on these bad boys are dipping down from the stratosphere, there's a good chance you'd like to know which would look best in your den. Thankfully, GearDigest has taken the task upon itself to pit Kodak's EasyShare SV710, Pandigital's 7-inch Photo Frame, Philips' 7FF1CM1, Smartpart's Portable Picture And Video Player, and Westinghouse's DPF-702 against each other to see who's really the champ. After hours of viewing countless relatives and vacations of yesteryear, the group found that the obvious assumptions of "you get what you pay for" proved completely true. The four frames not labeled by Philips all featured a similar 16:9 display with a paltry 480 x 234 resolution, and while a few offered niceties not found elsewhere (Kodak's PictBridge, for instance), all of the devices were decent at best in terms of image quality -- and they all ranged from $119 to $129.95 in price. Handily snagging the gold was the $199 7FF1CM1, which upped the ante with a 720 x 480 panel and proved worthwhile if you actually want your photos to shine. But hey, it's still your dough, so do your duty and dive into the full review below before swaying one way or another.

[Via DigitalMediaThoughts]

Westinghouse Digital looks to be giving the fledgling PumpTop TV network a big shot in the arm, joining with PumpTop purveyor AdtekMedia to significantly speed up the roll-out of the network to gas stations across the United States. All told, Westinghouse plans to bring the service to some 75,000 gas station pumps, which it says would make it one of the largest out-of-home digital media networks in the U.S. The service itself delivers news, weather, and other programming in easily-digestible five minute chunks, with an ample supply of advertising thrown in for good measure, of course. Drivers in Los Angeles will apparently be the first to get the added distraction as they fill up their vehicles, with those in the the Bay Area, Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston set to get their fix follow shortly thereafter

[Via Gearlog]