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BusinessWire: Consumers worldwide will increase spending on digital home devices by 32 percent to $159 Billion (€127 Billion) in 2006, according to a report from research from Strategy Analytics. The report predicts that digital cameras, DVD players and MP3 players will be the most popular items this year. In terms of revenue, however, LCD and plasma TVs are the star performers. Consumers around the world will spend nearly $70 Billion (€56 Billion) on flat panel TVs during 2006, representing 44 percent of total digital home market revenues.

This report identifies a trend towards IP-connected devices as the next important wave in the migration toward digital homes. Fourteen percent of digital home devices sold this year will be IP-enabled, which allows them to access digital media websites on the Internet, or stored on the home network. Examples of such devices include games consoles and set-top boxes. IP devices will become more and more popular as the popularity of digital media services, such as YouTube and iTunes, continues to grow.

Europe will be the world’s largest market this year, with revenues of $51.5 Billion (€41 Billion) and a growth rate of 38%.

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EETimes: Claiming to offer the first middleware product that simplifies the design process for in-car multimedia devices, QNX Software Systems is introducing the QNX Multimedia Solution at the Convergence 2006 Automotive Electronics Conference in Detroit, Michigan this week.The middleware solution includes an embeddable media player and supporting multimedia software that allows automakers and suppliers to build digital information and entertainment platforms. The product claims intelligent connectivity, full customization, and automotive-grade control.

The middleware includes audio and video playback and audio record features. It can also extend the functionality of an in-dash stereo to connected devices such as iPods. To personalize the user experience, the QNX Multimedia Solution can identify any CD, DVD, USB flash disk, or audio/video stream, and automatically synchronize the content on that media source with a customizable database.

The QNX technology also supports multiple independent users with multiple device types, and with multiple playback and record paths. It supports such features as time shifting, trick play (fast forward), and multi-view content presentation on a shared screen.

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Gizmodo: Siemens VDO has developed a new system that ‘reads’ traffic signs whilst you’re driving.

A camera scans the field ahead while an onboard computer searches for patterns.

In the case that a speed limit sign is detected, a windshield display will place the new speed limit next to your current rate of travel.

The system can also be configured to automatically adjust your cruise control accordingly.

The system will be commercially available in 2008.

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Yahoo: Samsung Electronics gave a bullish fourth-quarter outlook after delivering a forecast-beating 16 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, boosted by gains from its overseas plants and its flat screen joint venture with Japan’s Sony. But its operating profit fell 13 percent as margins in its mainstay businesses — chips, flat screens and mobile phones — slipped from a year ago, despite improvement in performance from the previous quarter.

Samsung, the world’s top memory chip maker and third largest mobile phone producer, lifted its 2006 capital spending plan by 11 percent due to strong chip demand expected in 2007 and forecast another record handset sales in the fourth quarter.

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NewLaunches.com: The Playstation 3 is just a month away from its US launch and Sony has started generating the buzz by airing the first North American commercial “The Wait“.

See it here.

Will they also air “The Wait” commercial in Europe? Commerce immitates life? Perhaps not. According to a source at Sony, news of further European delays is “totally untrue”.

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Dutch car navigation system maker TomTom will sue U.S. rival Garmin.  According to TomTom, Garmin has launched products which resemble too much of TomTom’s first navigation tools launched in 2004.

In February 2006 Garmin announced it would sue TomTom over patent infringement. The patent infringement lawsuit, which is not yet over, was filed with the Western District Court of Wisconsin and involves claims for alleged infringement of five Garmin patents in the United States.

Source: De Financiele Telegraaf

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Gizmodo: Is the iPod still the best MP3 player on the market, or is it just the device that everyone knows about? Here is a nice list of 29 alternatives to an iPod that should all be available for the holiday season.

In the meanwhile, Steve Jobs (Apple’s CEO) lets the world know he doesn’t see threats to iPod.

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AVZombie: Sony UK says it will not launch a Blu-ray player to compete with first generation decks from Samsung and Panasonic.
“It’s a question of later rather than sooner, when it comes to Blu-ray for us,” admits the brand’s Eric Kingdon. “We won’t be talking about any product introduction until March 2007 at the earliest.”
Sony says there’s little point in promoting Blu-ray until PlayStation 3 is launched in Europe. “Sure we’ll be using Japanese Blu-ray players at our high definition industry events but we’re not going to be talking up the format. When we launch it will be a product similar to the BDP-S1, but not exactly the same.”

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AV Zombie: October sees the 30th anniversary of VHS, and to mark the occasion, JVC has been awarded the prestigious IEEE Milestone Award in recognition of their development of the legendary home video format.

The award acknowledges the innovative design and technology of VHS, and the status it attained as a global standard. Since its introduction back in 1976, an amazing 900 million VHS video recorders have been manufactured.

The Milestones program is run by the US-based Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

JVC developed the VHS video standard to accomodate long recording times, while maintaining a (relatively) compact size and ease of manufacture. Despite a bruising battle with Sony’s Betamax format, it went on to become the global de facto video tape standard.

Previous IEEE Milestone winners comprise the directive short wave or Yagi antenna (recognized in 1995), the Mount Fuji radar system (2000), Tokaido Shinkansen or bullet train (2000), Seiko’s electronic quartz wristwatch (2004) and Sharp’s electronic calculator (2005).

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HDTV UK: The DVD Forum has confirmed that China will get its own HD DVD format which will be incompatible with the standard the rest of the world has adopted.  It’s supposedly a bid to stop piracy and to provide a lower cost system and discs for the Chinese population.

The only difference is the modulation scheme. The Chinese version will use Four to Six Modulation instead of Eight to Twelve Modulation.

The financial motivation is that China’s consumers have lower purchasing power compared to those in the US and Europe.

Supposedly the anti-piracy measures will primarily stop trade of counterfeit discs between China and the rest of the world, as ‘internal piracy’ could still continue whatever format is adopted.

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US Newswire: New research indicates that during the first year or two of use, LCD and plasma TVs have been just as reliable as cathode ray TVs, which historically require very few repairs.

The latest ‘Consumer Reports’ product reliability survey shows no repair issues during the first year or two of use for LCD TVs from JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba. Dell LCD sets have had higher than average repairs.

In plasma, there have been no repair issues for Fujitsu, Hitachi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony or Toshiba. The repair rate for Philips and Vizio plasma sets has been higher than average.

According to the report, long-term reliability for flat-panel sets is not known, and cannot be estimated, at this time.

“With more and better TVs now available from an ever-growing list of brands, it’s a great time to purchase a new high definition LCD or plasma set,” according to Paul Reynolds, electronics editor of the report.

See the full report at Consumer Reports.

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An update on Bond’s gadgets for the upcoming movie Casino Royale…

T3: Ian Fleming’s famous spy gets his hands on the Sony Ericsson K800 and K790 Cyber-shot camera phones, while no doubt annoying Q in the meantime.

In honour of its starring gadget role, Sony Ericsson has released two limited edition models. The Casino Royale silver versions of the 3G phones will be available for just three months.

Both the K800 and K790 phones offer a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus, xenon flash for lowlight conditions and the ability to take nine pictures of a moving object simultaneously and choose to keep the best shot.

The two limited edition phones will also come stacked with a host of Bond-related content, including wallpapers, music ringtones and the full video movie trailer.

Casino Royale is released globally on 17 November 2006, with Daniel Craig making his debut as the new Bond.

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