Tag: Panasonic

Consumer Electronics Show 2013-Part 1

Introduction

By the end of Christmas and, in some cases, even through Advent, manufacturers are starting to run teaser press releases about what technologies and products they will release or exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

TV technology

A major part of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was TV and video technology.

4K ultra-high-definition TV

Every TV manufacturer ran with a flatscreen TV set capable of displaying images at the new 4K ultra-high-definition resolution. This yields an image of 3840×2160 pixels, equivalent to an image captured by an 8 megapixel digital camera.

Some of these were 84” or 110” sets which wouldn’t fit in to most peoples’ living rooms and would be out of most peoples’ price ranges. But manufacturers like Sony are launching 4K TV models at 55” and 65” screen sizes. These are exploiting the high-pixel-density trend which is encompassing display design, in a similar effect to what the Apple Retina display has brought about.

At the moment, these sets upscale standard definition and high-definition images from broadcast and other video sources. But Sony is working on a hard-disk-based media player to play content that has been turned out in this form. This is part of a 4K media distribution network that they expect to launch by the end of the Northern-Hemisphere summer.

It is also reckoned that it will take a few years for the 4K UHDTV technology to mature and manufacturers to release models at a price that most of us can afford. This is something that will typically happen with most technology.

OLED and Display technology

Another trend that LG, Samsung and Sony are working on is the OLED display for the large-screen TV set. This is something most of us would experience with an HTC or Samsung smartphone and yields a high contrast ration and very deep colours.

Sony is wanting to apply it to a 4K ultra-high-definition display, but LG and Samsung are advancing the OLED screens at the 55” HD formats. For that matter, Panasonic was also showing a 56” 4K OLED screen as a prototype. Samsung also advanced a curved 55” HD prototype along with a curved 5” prototype for handheld applications.

On the other hand, LG has demonstrated a laser projection TV setup called the HECTO. This unit can show a 100” 16:9 image with a 22” throw using a special screen and yield this as a very bright image. The projection unit has what is expected of a flat-screen TV, including an integrated TV tuner.

Smart TV technologies

The TV is now more sophisticated and smart than it ever was. This is where it is not just a display device or just to pick up broadcast content. Here, the set effectively works as a computer with an app-driven ecosystem.

Panasonic has also now become part of the Smart TV Alliance which was started off by LG and Philips. On the other hand, Google TV had gained some more traction as a platform with LG with the GA6400 and GA7900 “main viewing area” sets.

As for Samsung, they have improved their Smart Hub user-interface and shown the Evolution Kit which is an upgrade kit for most of their current-issue flat-screen TVs and the sets to be introduced over subsequent years. This will add on improved processor performance as well as access to the new user interface; and is an example of what they have done to satisfy the reality that TVs do perform many years of service even as they are “pushed down” to other viewing areas.

The software that is being driven with the Smart TV environment is primarily content searching, TV Everywhere and “second-screen” applications. It is also leading to various “virtual cable box” applications where the TV is its own cable box with the content delivered via the Internet using end-to-end content-protection / subscription-management technology.

Audio and Video Technology

NFC “Touch & Go” operation

A strong trend that is showing up this year is NFC-driven “Touch & Go” operation. Here, you touch your NFC-capable Android smartphone or tablet to the device to have it pair up and connect via Bluetooth or set up via Wi-Fi for music playback. This avoids many confusing processes to get that wireless speaker going. As far as music systems and similar products go, it would also have the unit select the “Bluetooth” or “Network Audio” source automatically.

Sony had made a “big thing” of this feature with their wireless speakers and headsets through their press conference. As well, most of the manufacturers who are running wireless speakers, music systems or home-theatre-in-box systems are integrating this function in their products.

LG has implemented this further with their newer Blu-Ray home theatre. Here, the Android device can be set to throw its display on to the connected TV screen which would come in handy for viewing videos or playing games held on this device. Similarly the Android device can be set up to work as an “earphone” for the home theatre so you can use it late at night without scrambling around for the headset jack on the TV or home theatre central unit.

AV receivers

So far, Harman have fielded two new network AV receivers for that main audio-video system. Here, they can pull in Internet radio or content from a DLNA media source and have content “thrown” to them via the home network from your computer or mobile device using DLNA or AirPlay. The AVR-2700 has 8 HDMI connections with 4K image scale-up and a 7.1 audio output with 100W per channel while the more expensive AVR-3700 adds integrated Wi-Fi wireless and has a 7.2 audio output with a more powerful 125W per channel.

Smart video peripherals

There is an increase in the number of Blu-Ray players, home-theatre units and network media players that provide smart-TV functionality without you needing a smart TV.

For example, HiSense, ASUS and TCL were intending to sell Google-TV-based network media devices while Roku was providing a small but highly-strung network media receiver. This was eve to be able to work as a full-bore cable box for one on f the cable-TV companies in the US. Netgear also launched a new range of NeoTV network media players including some that had SlingPlayer clients and one driven by the Google TV platform.

But Archos are also fielding an Android-based network media box which is also showing that the Android platform associated with a lot of the smartphones is also appearing on the TVs as a low-cost option.

4K technology

At the moment, most video peripherals that connect to the new 4K ultra-high-definition TVs will upscale the standard-definition and high-definition images to the very high resolutions  offered by these sets. This is because there isn’t a common broadcast, on-demand or packaged-media distribution platform for distributing the content that is in this resolution.

Sony are using a hard-disk-based network media player with integrated BD-ROM drive, along with the content passed around on BD-ROM (Blu-Ray data) discs as a way of distributing the content. But they are working on an improved distribution method to go live by the middle of the year. As well, they said that consumer 4K will take some time to mature as equipment becomes more affordable.

Of course, Sony outlined that the 4K ultra-high-definition technology will be used in the video-production workflow, telecine (film-to-video) and video mastering applications. It is in a similar vein to the early days of digital audio recording before the arrival of the CD. This was where audio recordings were produced using at least a digital master-recording and this recording was used to turn out the records and tapes that were for public sale.

This will also involve films having their master negatives transferred to 4K video using equipment that scans the master negative at this resolution, then a 1080p scaled-down copy of this 4K master would be used for Blu-Ray distribution or HDTV broadcast. Sony also stated that they would implement the 4K production workflow into short-form video work like TV drama and commercials.

Broadcast-LAN cable TV setups

The FCC has recently laid down a pro-competition pro-consumer requirement for pay-TV providers to implement a broadcast-LAN strategy to work with most DLNA-compliant smart TVs and video peripherals. This is to drop the need to equip every TV in the house with a set-top box as is commonly the case with providing pay-TV to each set.

Intel has shown a broadcast-LAN gateway with 6 tuners and support for the DLNA content-protection requirements. This device is being positioned as being for use with Comcast’s cable-TV setups; while there are similar devices including cable boxes with this function being provided for other cable-TV systems.

Speakers and soundbars

There has been an increase in the number of wireless speakers and soundbars that are to work with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (AirPlay / DLNA) setups.

Samsung has furthered the hybrid valve (vacuum tube) / transistor design that they used in a few wireless speakers of theirs in to their latest TV soundbar. This unit uses an accelerometer to allow it to self-adjust for lying flat or standing on its edge in respect to how it sounds and where it displays its status.

Video gaming

The console gaming market has undergone a shakeup over this year with NVIDIA and Valve fielding their TV-based gaming systems – the Shield portable and the Steam Box TV-based unit . This is alongside the Ouya Android-based TV console and a Kickstarter-funded portable showing up as Android-powered alternatives.

Here, the Steam Box would have access to the Valve Steam game store while the Shield would have access to the NVIDIA TegraZone games store alongside the Google Play app store. This is showing up to be an “uh-oh” moment for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo who have thought of themselves in a position to “call the shots” for console gaming, especially when it comes to what titles can surface. I also suspect that this will also be a time for smaller independent studios to surface with some interesting games titles that are away from the norm.

Conclusion

Stay tuned for the next part of this series which will cover PC and home-network technology which will help in bringing the increasingly-connected home together from the CES.

OLED to become another display option for large TVs

Articles

Samsung to sell world first 55-inch OLED TV

Panasonic, Sony purportedly entering into OLED TV team-up, torrid love affair | Engadget

My Comments

If you have a Samsung or HTC smartphone, you will most likely be using a phone that is equipped with an OLED display. Similarly you may have seen this technology in use with some upmarket car stereos.

These displays work on a self-illuminating method in a similar vein to the legacy cathode-ray-tube screens, the fluorescent displays used on most consumer-electronics equipment and the plasma display screens used in some larger flatscreen TVs. This is compared to the common LCD display technology used in most display applications that requires a backlight for the display to work.

They are known to offer an advantage of improved contrast as well as improved power efficiency for portable devices. The monochrome variants have been used effectively as a low-power equivalent to the previously-mentioned fluorescent displays, thus providing the same display look on battery-operated equipment.

Sony had previously launched an OLED-based TV in the form of the XEL-1 but this set used a screen that was eqivalent in size to most desktop computer monitors yet was very expensive compared to its peers. Now Panasonic, Samsung and Sony are taking this further by implementing OLED display technology in larger TVs that are fit for group-viewing in lounge rooms or family rooms.

Panasonic and Sony are pooling technical know-how to allow the creation of the large-area OLED displays necessary for the creation of these sets at prices affordable for most people.

What I see about this is it could be an effort in creating a large vivid high-contrast self-illuminating display that doesn’t consume lots of energy and is affordable for most users.

Consumer Electronics Show 2012–Part 2

Audio and VIdeo

Smart TV

There is still intense interest in the smart-TV platforms where your TV is effectively a computer connected to the Internet. This is more so with the idea of integrating multiple viewing screens ie the large TV screen, one or more computer screens, and the screens on tablets and smartphones.

Sony have been dabbling with the Google TV platform, mainly in the form of network video peripherals rather than a TV, which I will mention below. Of course, they are still maintaining their Bravia platform. They were also to promote this concept in a Las Vegas wedding at the Bellagio Wedding Chapel between “Bravia” (Sony’s Internet TV platform) and “Sony Entertainment Network” (Sony’s online content entity).

As far as the interactive-TV lineup goes, Sony have focused this function across their HX and EX “lounge-room” models with the HX series being ready for Skype once the user purchases an optional camera.

Samsung have devoted most of their press event to the TV being the “smart hub” of the connected home. This is with the use of a connected TV chassis that has a dual-core CPU, as well as building up the “Smart TV” platform around an app store and a video-content-distribution platform. They even are using an Android app as the TV’s remote rather than supplying the remote with the TV set. They even ran a competition for the development of a multi-screen app which makes best use of the TV screen alongside a smartphone or tablet screen.

As well, Samsung put forward an “open-frame” design for TV sets with a user-upgradable computer processor. This is in a similar way to how the desktop computer has been designed and is underscoring the fact that these smart TVs are really large-screen computers in their own right and are expected to last for in the order of ten or more years.

Even Lenovo had come to the fore with a 55” LCD set that is driven by the Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” operating system. This would link to their own app store and cloud services and have the usual “smart-TV” features like Wi-Fi connectivity and ability to use an SD card as storage.

Similarly, a “fork” of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, which was targeted at the Internet-enabled TV set, had been launched at this show.

Ultra-high-definition TV

Another main trend surfacing this year at the Consumer Electronics Show is ultra-high-definition TV, also known as UDTV or 4DTV. This is where images have a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels and is pitched at the very large screens of 103” and bigger.

LG is intending to demonstrate an 84” prototype set which works at this resolution while Sony even had the idea of having some of their Blu-Ray players upscale the 1080p video to the higher resolution offered by this newer technology.

3D TV

The main trends affecting this technology are glasses-free 3D screens where you don’t need to wear glasses to watch the 3D effect; use of cheaper cinema-style passive 3D glasses which don’t need to link to the set or require batteries; as well as standards-based active glasses systems.

Toshiba is launching a glasses-free QFHD 3D TV 

OLED as a TV display technology

LG and Samsung have made efforts to bring the OLED display technology to the living-room TV size. Here, they have proven it by demonstrating 55” TV sets that use this technology rather than the LCD or plasma technologies for their screens.

There were rumours that Sony was to dump OLED technology for TV displays but they wanted to refine it to a cost-effective point for professional and consumer users. They have also shown a “Crystal LED” screen prototype which works in a similar vein to LED screens used in public places but implemented on 55” displays.

Other TV news

Some classic names of respect are using this fair to strengthen themselves in the American market. Westinghouse have launched a 3D TV but none of their sets came with Internet-enabled TV functionality. This was to keep their sets at an affordable price point.

RCA had rebuilt their name on a large run of TVs for the North American market as well as fielding a 55” Internet-enabled TV for the Latin-American market. They were using this show to launch some Android-powered mobile TV sets for the up-and-coming “Dyle” mobile / handheld terrestrial TV platform in North America.

Speaking of Dyle, Belkin and MCV were launching an array of equipment and accessories so that people can benefit from this mobile TV platform.

Home-theatre and Hi-Fi

Samsung had used this show to launch two soundbars with iPod / Galaxy S / Allshare (DLNA) integration with one being based on hybrid valve / digital amplification technology. They also ran with two Blu-Ray-based home-theatre-in-box setups with “Disc-Digital” which is Samsung’s implementation of the UltraViolet “digital video locker” service as well as the 7.1 channel unit being based on the above-mentioned valve-digital hybrid amplification technology. The other 5.1 channel version implements a wireless link for the back speakers and both systems use Wi-Fi to link to the home network.

Samsung even launched a home-theatre soundbar which can become two speakers and could link to sources via HDMI ARC (audio return path from HDMI 1.4-compliant TVs) or Bluetooth A2DP. RCA also launched a similar soundbar that connected to the home network and worked as a network media player for Netflix and similar services.

They are also implementing the “DIsc-Digital” UltraViolet implementation across the Blu-Ray player lineup at this year’s CES. One of the players is a similar size to a Discman and accepts discs through a slot while another of the players is a slimline form factor with HDMI inputs for TVs that don’t have enough HDMI sockets.

Sony have shown two Google-TV-based network video peripherals, the NSZ-GS7 which is a network media adaptor and the NSZ-GP9 which is a Blu-Ray player. As well, they have released two DLNA-capable Blu-Ray home theatre systems with full access to the Bravia Internet TV platform as well as a home-theatre receiver. Sony also released a few “HomeShare” DLNA speakers that connect to the Wi-Fi home network and have audio content pushed to them.

Panasonic have run with a large lineup of Blu-Ray players and Blu-Ray home-theatre systems. All of these connect to the home network and support DLNA functionality but the 3D-capable models and the home-theatre systems provide full access to Panasonic’s Viera Connect smart-TV platform including Skype and the Social Web for your existing TV.

These latest releases by Sony and Panasonic mean that you can use the cheaper and older TVs and have full access to the Internet-provisioned “smart TV” content and applications out there. In the case of the Panasonic 3D Blu-Ray players and home-theatres, add the Skype camera and you have just enabled a Skype-based video-conference setup,

Pioneer also used this show to launch the N-30 and N-50 audio-focused network media adaptors which work with DLNA 1.5 and Airplay network-media setups and the vTuner Internet-radio directory. They can handle 24-bit 192-kHz WAV or FLAC high-grade audio files and are Wi-Fi / Bluetooth ready with optional modules. The N-50 can also work as a high-grade digital-analogue converter for a CD player or MiniDisc deck.

Cameras

Samsung, Sony and Toshiba had launched cameras that were capable of uploading images to cloud-based photo-sharing services without the need for a computer. In the case of Sony, their Bloggie Live and Bloggie Sports cameras were being pitched as an alternative to the smartphone’s camera for Internet work.

Toshiba also exhibited a 3D camcorder with a built-in glasses-free 3D LCD screen so you can preview your 3D images properly. As well, Polaroid demonstrated a smartphone-style digital camera with a “proper” optical zoom lens – something that could be considered a bridge between a smartphone or digital camera.

Personal Lifestyle

Appliances

This show still hasn’t become a North-American showground for domestic appliances in a similar vein to the Internationaler Funkaustellung in Berlin. But LG was using this show to promote their “SmarThing” range of network-connected “white goods” which could be monitored from a computer.

Of course, Samsung also demonstrated a washing machine and clothes dryer that used a colour LCD touchscreen but was able to be controlled via an app on a smartphone. This means that you could track your washing from your phone’s screen.

Home Automation and Security

There has been some activity on this front mainly in the form of network-hardware vendors offering IP-enabled surveillance cameras, with TRENDNet offering a lineup of 12 units with varying features.

Other than that, the “Next Learning Thermostat” which learns your heating / cooling settings through the day was premiered at this show. Belkin also premiered the WeeMo home-automation system which is effectively an appliance-control module that responds to your smartphone.

Personal Health Care

There has been some more effort in developing online personal-health-care equipment which interacts with your smartphone or home network.

Withings, previously known for their Wi-Fi-connected bathroom scales, have released a baby scales which also links with the same network enablement and online health-monitoring setup as these bathroom scales. Similarly iHealth have released a wireless body-fat scales along with a wireless blood-pressure monitor and a “Smart GlucoMeter” glucose sensor for your iOS device. As well, FitBits released the Aria Wi-Fi Scale which is bathroom scales that link to your home network and measure weight, body-mass index and body-fat percentage.

IP Telephony

There has been some activity concerning voice and video Internet-based telephony. This is primarily with Skype being part of most of the “big-name” smart TVs and able to be added on to existing TVs through the use of this year’s Panasonic 3D Blu-Ray players and home-theatre systems. But Samsung also launched a Skype HD videophone unit for TVs and Biscotti launched a similar device for their own service.

RCA had demonstrated their voice-based IP telephony systems for business use while Ooma launched a cordless VoIP phone which has a colour LCD screen and can sync to Facebook for “picture caller-ID” images. $10 a month with the Ooma service provides for conferencing, second-line service and advanced call forwarding.

Tomorrow, in the last of the series, I will be talking about the network technologies that are to link these devices to the home network and the Internet.

IFA Internationaler Funkaustellung 2010 Comments

IFA LogoI have previously published a separate article about the Internationaler Funkaustellung, celebrating the 50th edition of this show and “positioning” it as a pillar when it comes to consumer-electronics technology in Europe. In that article, I have also positioned it alongside the Consumer Electronics Show hosted in Las Vegas every January as a key consumer-technology event, especially whenever new technologies are being launched or commercialised. 

From the various press reports that I have read, it appears that the industry sees the European consumer-electronics and domestic appliance market as being very stable even through the Financial Crisis. 

Appliances

Since 2008, the IFA have been exhibiting domestic appliances and there is still the desire for energy efficient appliances that are easy to use and make less noise during use. 

Again, there hasn’t been any innovations concerning home-automation or security equipment shown at this exhibition. Nor has there been any activity concerning “backbone” heating or domestic-hot-water equipment. This may also be due to such equipment being provided by building owners rather than by householders. 

White-goods

There have been a few innovations concerning large appliances. This is mainly in the form of an automatic “as-needed” detergent dispensing mechanism for washing machines. 

But the main technology that this site is looking forward to is for Miele and Liebherr to release appliances that work tightly with the “smart grid”. The “smart grid” uses automatic meter reading and “time-of-use” pricing to encourage optimum use of electricity. It also integrates “demand-side load management” so that certain loads can be run with less power drain during peak power-usage times as well as support for “reverse metering” for client-managed power-generation installations like solar panels. 

In Miele’s case, their washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers can be set to commence their cycle during the time that the electricity rates are lowest. In Liebherr’s case, their refrigerator can run the freezer at a colder temperature during the time that the electricity rates are lowest so that the freezer becomes an “ice-block” thus avoiding the need to run as much during the day. 

Small-goods

This class of appliance has been mainly focused on lifestyle but there haven’t been any major innovations here. Still, the coffee machine is considered integral to most people’s lifestyle and there is still two different platforms (Nespresso and Senseo) existing for capsule-based espresso machines. 

Now this is where the real activity starts. 

Real competition to the Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and iTunes

This year, IFA 2010 has taken the shine off Apple’s face with the arrival of effective competition to the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iTunes. This has mainly come in the form of Android-powered smartphones and tablet-style computers being supplied by different manufacturers. 

The event organisers even created a special show area for companies involved in the tablet-computing market to show their wares, whether through hardware, software or accessories. 

Samsung used this year’s IFA to launch the Galaxy Tab device which has an AMOLED display, Wi-Fi networking capability, 3G wireless broadband and has integrated memory capacity of 16Gb. They are also putting more effort behind the Android platform even though they have their hands in other smartphone platforms like Bada and Windows Phone 7. This is while other manufacturers like Lenovo and Toshiba presented devices for launch at a later time. Hanspree also fielded an LED-backlit LCD tablet computer which, like most of iPad’s competitors, is Android-powered. As well, ViewSonic had offered the ViewPad 100 which the first dual-boot tablet computer to run Android or Windows 7. 

As far as smartphones go, there is an increase in the number of Android-powered touchscreen smartphones even though Microsoft took Windows Phone 7 to the final “gold” stage where manufacturers can roll with phones based on that platform. But on September 5, LG had exhibited the Optimus 7 smartphone prototype which was powered by Windows Phone 7 and was demoing it working as a DLNA media control point application that was used to differentiate the phone from other handsets running the same platform. 

At the same time, the Apple iPod Touch has found a legitimate competitor in the form of the Philips GoGear Connect. This is a touchscreen-operated multifunction Internet device that runs on the Android platform. Similarly, Samsung have provided an iPod Touch competitor with their Galaxy Player 50. This device is styled similarly to their Galaxy-series Android smartphones in a similar vein to how the iPod Touch and the iPhone were styled. 

Sony has also answered iTunes as a content store by offering Qriocity as an online-content-retail platform. 

Apple tried to answer this competitive environment by staging their own product-launch event that was ran concurrent with the IFA. This is where they launched iTunes 10 which was a major revision featuring their own social network and extending the AirTunes concept which worked with AirPort Express to select AV-device manufacturers like Denon and rebranding it AirPlay. They also launched a revised iPod Touch which has many of the traits of the iPhone 4 and rolled out a major refresh of iOS 4. 

There has been a fair bit of activity in the “dedicated” e-reader market mainly from Acer, who were fielding their Lumiread e-reader and Sony who were fielding three readers. 

3D and network action in the TV market

2010 is the year of TV innovations 

2010 ist Jahr der Fernsehinnovationen 

 

Der Standard (Austria) described this year’s IFA 2010 as “2010 is the year of TV innovations” (“2010 ist Jahr der Fernsehinnovationen” – original German language). 

This year is also a major technological-improvement year for the main-lounge-area TV. Here, there has been a major effort in commercialising 3D TV and Internet-enabled TV. Most manufacturers are running at least one 3DTV range and running two or three TV ranges with network and Internet functionality. This is because the market is demanding 3D playback and / or online video functionality out of main-lounge-area TV sets or video peripherals. 

There is even the possibility of MSI introducing a 3D-capable laptop computer. As well,Viewsonic is to use the show to launch a 3D photo frame, camera, camcorder and portable TV as part of cashing in on the 3D craze. As well, Sony had launched a 3D home-cinema projector but would this unit need a special screen and Panasonic has also fielded a high-end camcorders capable of 3D when used with an optional attachment lens. 

At the moment, most 3D TVs and active-shutter glasses only work together if they are from the same manufacturer, but what needs to happen is for a standard communications protocol to be established so that it becomes feasible for 3D screens from one manufacturer to work with active-shutter glasses from another manufacturer. This can allow for concepts like glasses that “look the part” for the wearer or the ability to make active-shutter glasses to an optical prescription so you don’t have to wear them over your prescription glasses. 

The Internet-TV function is based upon the TVs having an Ethernet socket and, dependent on the set, 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless network functionality whether integrated or as a plug-in dongle. They will work on a manufacturer-driven platform to provide streamed or on-demand local content via the Internet infrastructure, although some manufacturers, namely Sony, are implementing Google as an Internet-TV platform. Of course, most of these sets will support DLNA media streaming from the home network if you use your home network’s NAS device to store TV shows. 

This has been augmented by the HbbTV “broadcast-broadband” hybrid TV standard being set in stone by the European standards bodies. This will also lead to Internet content and broadcast TV content being delivered to the same screen at the same time and can cater for highly-interactive viewing setups. It has also been encouraged by most of the European ISPs and telecoms carriers offering IPTV services as part of their triple-play Internet services. 

Philips have released a DLNA-capable 3D-Blu-Ray “home-theatre-in-box” system that has 5 satellite speakers and 1 subwoofer but is able reproduce a sound-field of 9.1 channels. This has been achieved through the satellite speakers being equipped with diffuse drivers to make the sound envelope the listeners.  They hava also made sure that this year’s range of 3D Blu-Ray players are DLNA capable with the BDP9600 being equipped with integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi. 

Other AV technology

Acer have achieved the slimmest desktop monitors around with their 13mm thick LED-backlit LCD units. As well, South Korea’s LG had shown the EL9500 which is a 31” OLED TV and are releasing a DLNA-ready 3DTV which uses nano-LED backlighting. 

Samsung have also continued to push out another compact digital camera which can submit photos to DLNA home networks. 

For Denon, this show marks their 100th anniversary and they were using it to launch a set of limited-edition hi-fi components. 

Telefunken have come back to the hi-fi scene with a handful of component-style systems. One of these systems, designed like the legendary Telefunken units of the 1970s, is designed to be part of the home network and also picks up Internet radio. They are also offering an Android-powered set-top box for the German market. 

Fraunhofer IIS had previewed their TA2 (Together Anywhere Together Anytime) technology. This technology allows for  HD-grade pictures and CD-grade sound for videoconferencing with H.264 video codec and AAC-ELD (Enhanced Low Delay AAC) audio codec. It could be supportive of large-screen TVs with integrated camera and microphone for videoconferencing like the recent Skype-enabled TVs that Panasonic, LG and Samsung had released. 

Conclusion

At least this year has become one of those big years that has concerned consumer technology and yielded many innovations. It has encouraged real competition against Apple when it comes to handheld computing devices and has provided a standard level playing field when it comes to Internet-assisted interactive TV.

Tweet this on your lounge-room TV with Panasonic

 

Panasonic Adds A Twitter App To Its Viera Cast Plasma HDTVS

My Comments

First, they did it by enabling video conferencing with Skype, now Panasonic are allowing you to Tweet a comment about that show you are watching or follow your Twitter friends on your lounge-room TV. Who knows not if but when Facebook will become the next add-on for Panasonic’s Viera-Cast TVs and Blu-Ray players. These sets will also need to work with a remote control that has a QWERTY alphanumeric keyboard so you you can get those Tweets or status updates out as that show progresses.

This happens to be highly relevant as an increasing number of television shows, mainly sports, talk shows, current-event broadcasts, reality TV and the like integrate Twitter in to their content and have set up a particular hashtag associated with that show. This typically includes the use of a “Twitter crawl” that appears at the bottom of the screen and / or the show’s compere or anchor citing selected Tweets directed at the show.

It is becoming the direction for manufacturers to extend the common social-Web and Internet-driven-communications platforms to a “10-foot” experience on the lounge-room TV or video peripheral (Blu-Ray player or “personal-TV service”) either by providing the function as an “app” that you choose from an “app-menu” or “app-store”; or as part of a firmware update that is rolled out to the device.

This may require a change in the direction on how the remote control for the TV set is designed. This may be in the form of a handset that mimics the Nokia N97 Mini smartphone where the top of the remote swings away to reveal a QWERTY keypad; a handset that looks like a BlackBerry or Nokia E-Series smartphone or simply an app for the common smartphone platforms which provides TV control as well as a link between the phone’s text-entry keyboard and the TV. It may also mean that the infra-red remote control will go the way of the ultrasonic remote control and be replaced by a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi remote control. Other solutions may also include support for standards-based Bluetooth keyboards like the Logitech diNovo Mini or Microsoft’s Media Center keyboards.

In this case, there will need to be an interest in designing more of the multimedia keyboards that appeal to being operated while you are slouching on the couch. This will mean keyboards that are backlit when they are used, small keyboards that can be worked with two thumbs; keyboards resistant to damage from crisps (US: chips) and sweet drinks that are often consumed in front of the telly and elegant-design keyboards.

Now it will certainly mean that the TV isn’t just for watching your favourite shows any more. It will also be about integrating the social Web with the experience.