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Sharp announces first TVs with Moth-Eye technology: the AQUOS XL series
Sharp may look like it's in trouble, but that's not stopping it bringing new displays to the market, including today's announcement of the AQUOS Quattron 3D XL TV line. Behind the mouthful of acronyms, these LED-backlit LCD panels are the first to feature Sharp's Moth-Eye technology, designed to reduce glare and pump out bright colors, as well as a deep black. The company's 'four primary color' tech is partly responsible for the rich output, which squeezes a yellow sub-pixel in with the standard R, G and B. All the panels run at 1,920 x 1,080, as you'd expect, sport a 10 million to 1 contrast ratio and use five speakers to deliver audio. Prices aren't fixed, but the 46-, 52- and 80-inch models will be released in Japan on December 15th, while the 60- and 70-inch variants will come slightly earlier, on November 30th. You're going to have to be quick on launch day, though -- only 10,000 units are expected to be available in the first month.
Fujitsu demos ad transmission technology, sends info from TV to handset via smartphone camera (video)
Another easter egg at Fujitsu's CEATEC booth was a system for transmitting coupons, URLs and other digital information from a TV screen to a user's smartphone. We'll back up a bit: the data ends up on-screen in the first place thanks to information embedded in light flashing at various levels of brightness (the frame rate is too quick to be detected by the human eye). Theoretically, when a viewer is watching a commercial, they'll see a prompt to hold up their phone's camera to the screen, and doing so will bring up a corresponding coupon or website on their handset -- it takes about two to three seconds here for the recognition. The embedded information covers the entire panel, so users don't need to point their device at a particular section of the screen. In Fujitsu's demo, pointing a smartphone at the TV pulled up a website on the phone. It only took about a second for the URL to pop up on the device, and there was no noticeable flickering on the TV itself (essentially, the picture looks identical to what you'd see on a non-equipped model, since your eye won't notice the code appearing at such a high frequency). The company says this technology works at a distance of up to two or three meters. Head past the break to take a look at the prototype in action.
Toshiba Regza J7 and Z7 TVs pack built-in DVR with recommendation feature, we go eyes-on (video)
Toshiba had its new lineup of Regza HDTVs on hand at CEATEC today, showing sets from both the J7 Series and Z7 series. The J7 Series offers 32-, 40, 50- and 65-inch options, all of which boast 1080p resolutions save for the 32-incher. Pricing starts at ¥75,000 (about $961) and tops off at ¥370,000 for the largest model. The slightly higher-end Z7 Series includes 42-, 47- and 55-inch models, with pricing ranging from ¥180,000 to ¥370,000. The Z7 Series also boats Toshiba's "time-shift machine" feature, which automatically records up to 40 hours of content on primary channels and suggests programs based on your viewing habits. We spent a few minutes staring into the high-def abyss at the company's rather dim booth, and all of the displays looked quite stunning. Unfortunately, we weren't able to test out the time-shift feature, so we'll have to take the company on its word there. The premium Z7 models include a thinner bezel and an overall sleeker look, while the J7 featured a more rounded design, with a beefier border around the panel. All of the TVs are expected to debut in time for the holiday season. For now, you can get a sneak peek from our hands-on video below.
Tencent and TCL unveil Ice Screen: a 26-inch Android-based smart TV
Chinese web titan Tencent and TCL Multimedia have torn the wraps off the Ice Screen, a jointly developed 26-inch smart TV with a 1,366 x 768 display that allows users to browse the web, access videos, music and games through QQ services. Under the hood, the Android-powered television houses a dual-core Cortex A9 1GHz processor, a Mali 400 GPU, 4GB of RAM and support for a memory card of up to 32GB in size. An IR remote and an app for devices sporting version 2.2 or higher of Google's OS can be used to control the tube, which can sit horizontally or vertically in its stand. On the connectivity front, the panel packs Wi-Fi, a pair of USB ports, HDMI and a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can plunk down ¥1,999 (roughly $315) for an online pre-order before its September 3rd launch. More details await in the press release after the jump.
Sony releases Q1 2012 financial results, eats $312 million loss
Sony's first-quarter figures for 2012 show that despite the company's optimism three months ago, it's made a net loss of $312 million. It pulled in a whopping $19.2 billion in sales for the three months ending June 30th, partly credited to bringing Sony Mobile fully into the family. However, the cost of restructuring the Mobile Products and Communications Division (of which Sony Mobile is a part) came to $143 million, wiping out the additional gains to record a loss of $356 million. Gaming-wise, the PlayStation maker suffered a $45 million loss as falling sales of the PSP and PS3 were only partially offset by the sales of the PS Vita. There was better news in its imaging division, while sales of compact cameras fell, DSLRs and "Professional" products took up the slack, resulting in a profit of $160 million. In a trend we've seen across the Home Entertainment industry, sales of LCD televisions continued to fall, forcing the company to eat a loss of $126 million. Movie and TV recorded a loss of $62 million, although that's primarily due to a dip in advertising sales in India and the cost of marketing (but not producing) The Amazing Spider-Man, the profits of which won't be recognized until September. Finally, while it spent big to purchase EMI this quarter, big-ticket albums like Usher's Looking 4 Myself and One Direction's Up All Night helped the division make a profit of $92 million. While Sony's treading water to execute Kaz Hirai's "One" Strategy, it's still got $8.4 billion stashed under the mattress, and in the face of lower sales, is hoping that reduced costs will help it make $1.6 billion in profit by the end of March 2013.
Samsung 75-inch ES9000 smart TV makes stateside debut: on sale in August for $9,999
The mammoth 75-inch ES9000 LED smart TV that Samsung recently unveiled for the Korean market is making its way stateside. Today the 3D-capable, LED-backlit set was on display in New York as part of the Sammy-sponsored SpaceFest marking the Space Shuttle Enterprise's arrival at the Intrepid. How smart TVs relate to Space Shuttle orbiters is beyond us, but the ES9000's US debut is welcome news for those with a massive living room to fill, and were disappointed after the ES8000 75-incher shown at CES and even given a price tag earlier this year failed to materialize. Detailed specs are currently MIA, but as we noted before in our hands-on, the 75-incher's bezel measures just 0.31 inches, and the frame sports a rose-gold finish. There's also a built-in web camera that retracts when not in use, and the TV comes with four pairs of 3D glasses. Being a smart TV, this guy also includes the full suite of Smart TV features, such as Smart Interaction for enabling gesture and voice controls and Smart Content for sharing media across several devices. Samsung also used today's occasion to introduce a new Angry Birds app for its smart TVs, which lets users play the game entirely with gesture controls. The app will be available for a free download later this month, and the ES9000 will go on sale in August for a super-sized price of $9.999. Check out the PR below for more info.
Winscape virtual window makes the leap to Kinect in 4K-capable, 6-screen glory (video)
RationalCraft brought its surreal Winscape virtual window to market when the Wii was virtually the only game in town for affordable motion tracking. Microsoft's Kinect has certainly changed the rules of the game since then, so it's almost natural that a fourth-generation Winscape has just launched to make use of the much more sophisticated sensor. For a start, there's no need to dress like Flavor Flav anymore: the camera can recognize anyone, even passers-by, without an oversized necklace. The larger-than-life footage used to generate the window effect has been given its own bump, too, and the app can now handle 4K video as long as the Mac underneath (sorry, Windows folks) is powerful enough to drive it. For those who truly want to be disconnected from reality, there's even six-display support provided it's all hooked up to a Mac Pro and a pair of three-output Radeon HD 5770 video cards. RationalCraft's software is free to try out now, although the requirement for at least two big TVs, a Kinect controller and a fast Mac should say all there is to know about the practical cost of pretending the Golden Gate Bridge is visible from inside a living room in Cleveland.
Lenovo's ICS, 42-inch K71 smart TV going on sale by month's end in China
Similar to that K91 TV we saw Lenovo tease back in January, its K71 brethren's also stuffed with Ice Cream Sandwich, and according to the outfit's online shop it's ready to hit Chinese shelves by the end of the month. Along with running a flavor of Android four-dot-oh, this 42-inch smart TV is also packing an undisclosed 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, WiFi and 3D capabilities, plus a gaming remote control (you know, to use while playing TurboFly 3D). The K71's said to be carrying a 6499 yuan (around $1,030) price tag once pre-orders go live on April 10th, while pricing and availability for the other expected models still remains unknown. Mum's the word on when, or if, these ICS, LED TVs will ever come to US shores, but we'll keep you in the loop if any news pops up.
NPD: Hardware sales hit $144 billion in 2011, PCs lead the moneymaking pack
Canalys recently announced that smartphone shipments surpassed those of PCs for the whole of 2011. Well, NPD's just released its own set of hardware numbers, this time focused on revenue shares, and it appears PCs (that's laptops and desktops for NPD's purposes) are still far and away the biggest moneymakers around, bringing in about 19 percent (or $28 billion) of the reported $144 billion in hardware sales last year. TVs, PCs and gaming hardware each saw a decline in revenue share while smartphone and tablet sales grew -- slates and e-readers experienced a five percent increase, taking up nearly 11 percent of the hardware pie and raking in $15 billion. Unsurprisingly, Apple topped the chart for sales by manufacturer, seeing a 36 percent increase over 2010, while HP, Samsung, Sony and Dell rounded out the top five with varying levels of sales declines. For more number crunching and statistical whatnots, check out the full PR after the break.
TouchTV comes to LG Smart TV, iPads: catch news clips at home, on the go
If you swing past your local Best Buy and pick up one of those new-fangled LG Smart TVs, you'll find TouchTV's news-clip collection platform available inside. That way you'll be able to watch the trendiest (or at least the most watched) current-affairs clips without having to wait the twenty seconds or so before your rolling news channel of choice displays similar. TouchTV also announced today an iPad app that'll let you grab those newsy clips from your Apple-based slate of choice. The app's available gratis from the store (link below) and we've got the official words and pictures from the company about both products after the interval. Jose Andrade contributed to this report.
Sony divisions to elope in Vegas, celebrate the marriage of Television and Internet at CES 2012
Well, we can't decide if this is one of the cheesiest or most clever event invites in CE history. Sony's PR arm just sent us an e-vite to the marriage of Sony Electronics Home Division and Sony Entertainment Network, simplified to "Television and Internet" on the company's appropriately generic Wedsite wedding page. Now this won't be a cheap Vegas wedding by any means -- the ceremony will take place at the Bellagio Wedding Chapel on the evening of January 11th, with a "Reception Immediately Following." Since this is technically a marriage between cousins, we've spent time with both the bride (Bravia) and the groom (Sony Entertainment Network -- or SEN, when among friends), so we mean no offense if forced to choose sides in the chapel. Coincidentally, we'll already be in town, so we may pop in to greet the likes of family members "Al Gore, Father of the Internet" and HMZ-T1, aka "Aunt Madge." Care to come along? The couple-to-be's site appears to be open to all, so hit up the source link to sign the guest book and send in your RSVP.
Samsung releases CES 2012 teaser, hints at upcoming Smart TV products (video)
It's certainly not much, but with just a few words at the end of a YouTube clip, Samsung hopes to grab your interest. The Korean electronics giant has just released a "through the years" style clip that encapsulates over 50 years of advances with its television systems (i.e., the switch to color, rabbit ears, higher resolutions, DVR, 3D TVs, etc.). The clip concludes with the words "Experience the Future of Smart TV" and highlights the company's upcoming presence at CES next month. And yes, we'll be there too. Take a gander for yourself after the break.
Myriad Alien Vue brings Google TV apps to existing HDTVs, set-top boxes (video)
Couch potatoes may soon be able to get a more complete Android app experience without leaving the living room, or picking up a tablet or smartphone. Myriad's new Alien Vue is a customizable OEM platform that enables TV and set-top box manufacturers to bring Android to their existing products, adding support for apps designed for Google TV and HTML5. Myriad is the developer behind Alien Dalvik, which allows you to run Android apps on non-Android devices, including iOS and MeeGo. Alien Vue brings that concept to the living room, and includes a branded app store, web browser and portable device control, letting you control your TV and other home theater devices using a phone or tablet. But unlike Dalvik, it'll be up to manufacturers to add support for Vue -- you won't be hacking your TV and installing the software yourself. We'll be bringing you a full hands-on from CES, but jump past the break for a quick video demo.
Sharp nearing 1 million big-screen TV sales in North America, expanding global market
Sharp Corporation claims they may top 1 million big-screen televisions (60 inches or above) sold in North America alone by March of next year, and expects growth the next fiscal year. With a stronger hold on the Japanese market then its competitors, the company is expanding overseas to bolster competition and avoid Asia's current market forecast -- a projected $6 billion decline in LCD sales by 2015. According to Kozo Takahashi, head of the American operations division, big-screen purchases in the United States are set to triple this upcoming year despite a declining trend in the North American market. While audio visual equipment accounts for more than half of Sharp's revenue, the company sees the need to market its other products more aggressively in the Americas to remain globally competitive.
Sony to divide TV division into three-headed monster, looks to bounce back
Looking to make a rebound in the ailing TV business, Sony has announced that it will split its television division into three. According to Reuters, the company is looking to keep operations in check with separate departments for LCD TVs, outsourcing and next-gen TVs. The company is wasting no time, as the move will take place on November 1st. The announcement also comes in advance of Sony's quarterly earnings report this Wednesday which is predicted to be a quite a few eggs short of the full basket that was hoped for -- due in part to its inability to compete against Vizio and Samsung. There are also rumblings that the company could be looking to sell off its almost 50-percent share of a liquid-crystal display collaboration with the aforementioned Sammy. It appears moves are being made to stay in the TV game, but the real question is will Sony be able to stop the bleeding (or, perhaps more appropriately, melting)?
Scientists prove that active exploration isn't required to create memories, +1 for 2D learning
In a small victory for gamers and TV junkies everywhere, scientists found that viewing 2D images helped create long-term memories, meaning that visual media can help your learn. To form lasting memories, nerve cells normally experience "long-term potentiation" and "long-term depression" -- both essential for learning. Researchers found that long-term depression was achieved when they let rats actively wander around a new environment. When they replaced the explorable area with a computer screen, the same memory-making phenomenon still occurred. The study's conclusion? Video games and TV shows can help us learn, similarly to traditional non-electronic methods. Of course, there are concerns that visual media overload could lead to shorter attention spans, interfere with lessons taught at school and... oh look! A cat! Check out the full findings by hitting the source link below.
LG, Sharp and Philips to build developer's kit, create Smart TV app standard
A triumvirate of television titans -- LG, Sharp and Philips -- are joining forces to create a development kit, defining a common standard for their Smart TV apps. The power play addresses the problem of fragmentation, since developers will only need to make one version of an app for it to work across all three of the 'tubes operating systems. Based on open standards like HTML5, CE-HTML and HbbTV, developers should get their hands on a beta version by early October, with the finalized version due by the end of the year. The better question now is whether the Romanesque trio can drum up enough developer support to beat out competitors in an app-tastic coup d'etat, or if the likes of Vizio, Sony and Samsung will eventually join in. Needless to say, we'll be digging for more at CEDIA later this month.
AUO VP says large OLED TVs won't be feasible for commercial use until 2014
Eager to get your hands on a big-screen OLED TV? Then it looks like you may still have to wait a few more years -- at least according to Paul Peng, the executive vice president of display manufacturer AU Optronics (otherwise known as AUO). While the technology has been getting cheaper and more efficient as of late, he says that the production costs are still too high and yield rates too low for large OLED TVs to be feasible for commercial use any time before 2014. Of course, we suppose that all depends on your definition of "feasible." Last we heard, LG was still planning on releasing a 55-inch OLED TV by mid-2012 -- for a yet-to-be-disclosed price.
Panasonic's Viera Connect developer portal opens to eager TV app creators
Panasonic has already lured some big names to its Viera Connect platform, like MLB and Hulu, now the company is opening up to smaller devs who want to see their creations blown up for the big screen without the aid of additional hardware. The SDK went live back in January, but now the company is providing an easy path from creation to release for its smart TV ecosystem. Of course, Panasonic still maintains final control over what apps make it to the Viera market, but expect new games and streaming video sources to start popping up soon. Check out the PR after the break.
LG says it will mass produce large OLED panels by 2013, aims for market domination
LG has plucked our heart strings once again by announcing on its Q4 earnings call that its mass production of large OLED panels will ramp up at the end of 2013. In other words, the schedule it laid out a little less than a year ago to triple OLED production via a $226 million facility expansion is still on track -- which is pretty amazing given that other OLED schedules we've seen have been 90 percent fantasy and 10 percent hype. On the same call, vice president of LG Display Jung Ho also took the opportunity to share the company's goal of becoming the market leader in OLED TV. Considering LG has already announced plans to release a 31-inch 3D OLED set in the US and Europe this year with a 55-inch prototype following in 2012 -- it seems Samsung may now have a real fight on its hands for OLED dominance that it can't dance its way out of. No matter who wins, though, the possibility of ultra-thin TVs gracing our walls is definitely getting brighter.
