Bloomberg: Ken Kutaragi, the developer of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation game console, stepped aside from day-to-day management of the unit after production delays forced the company to slash shipment targets.

Kaz Hirai, head of the U.S. game division, will take over as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., the Tokyo-based company said in a statement today. Kutaragi, 56, will become chairman of the unit.

Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer is counting on the PlayStation 3 to revive a company that has lost almost half its market value in the past six years. Kutaragi, a 30-year Sony veteran, in September cut 2006 shipment targets by half because of parts shortages.

Kutaragi PlayStation 3 Sony

ElectronicsWeekly: The UK’s four major broadcasters have called for HDTV to be run on the terrestrial TV ahead of the region’s analogue switch off in 2012.

Trials of HDTV on terrestrial by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five have just finished in London, and nearly all (86%) of trialists expected to see HD services within three years, well before analogue switch-off. Nine out of ten believed that the four broadcasters should be at the forefront of HD developments.

“It’s clear even from this small trial that audiences increasingly expect us and the other major broadcasters to offer high quality HD programming on Freeview in the future,” said Seetha Kumar, head of HDTV at the BBC.

The problem is that HDTV takes four to five times the bandwidth of existing standard definition digital TV. The BBC has demonstrated terrestrial HD at 10Mbit/s with MPEG4, and the trial used standard MPEG4 HDTV boxes from Humax and ADB with digital terrestrial TV (DTT) front ends.

The Digital TV Group (DTG) is investigating the use of a polarising approach that could be used to deliver HD services alongside existing broadcasts. This is one of the options or the second generation of the DTT specification by the international DVB standards group, but would require a new radio receiver chip. This is not likely until 2009 at the earliest.

“Technically, the trial has more than fulfilled our expectations. All major technical hurdles are behind us,” said Simon Fell, director of technology at ITV Consumer.

However, the likelihood of HD services before switch-off is low. “We have previously said that the spectrum allocation [after analogue switch-off] will be market led so if there is a demand for HD then that will be what it is used for,” said a Government spokeswoman.

bbc dvb t freeview hdtv

TG Daily:  Philips yesterday announced that it has sent its one millionth Ambilight TV off the production line. Compared to regular LCD TVs, Ambilight devices emit ambient light out of the sides of the TV frame.

In harmony with the 10th anniversary of its first flat-panel TV, the one million milestone for Ambilight TVs shows that there is consumer demand for a TV that sets itself apart from the rest of the market, said Philips.

Rudy Provoost, the company’s CEO, remarked, “This demonstrates that Ambilight has clearly become a hit with consumers - it not only enhances the overall viewing experience but it also makes watching TV easier on the eyes.”

Ambilight lcd lcd tv Philips

Engadget: iPod car integration has long since gone from being mythic desire to nearly stock feature, but plugging an iPod in via USB and it works - that’s still a pretty fresh experience.

Alpine’s forthcoming iDA-X001 iPod / media-ready receiver promises just that having been “designed and developed with input from Apple.”

alpine ida x001 iPod media receiver usb

DigiTimes: Sony will increase its global LCD TV shipments to over six million units for fiscal year of 2006 (ended in March 31, 2007), up from an original forecast of six million units, amid strong worldwide sales.

For more info, please visit Digitimes.com

lcd lcd tv Sony

T3: Check out Nokia’s latest offspring – four fun-sized phones packed to the gills features.

First up, the 6300 (pictured below), packing all of Nokia’s standard mobile gubbins in a shell just over 13mm thick. Clad in chic stainless steel, its “organic curves” make it the “evolution of the modern monoblock” according to Nokia. So there.

The 6290 is an altogether different beast. Crammed inside its clamshell are the guts of a true smart phone, running Nokia’s S60 3rd Edition and hopping on 3G networks with ease. Smartly designed quick keys on the cover mean you needn’t fiddle with its flip action for the most common queries.

The all new 6086 is a slight disappointment specs wise. Nokia’s touting it as a cameraphone, but with a measly VGA camera it’s hardly a challenge to megapixel mobiles. It’s a slick little number on the outside though, clad in an all metal case and it’s quad band too, so the perfect partner for frequent travellers.

Last is the 2626, a budget blower with a colourful exterior. Nokia’s slipped in an FM radio, and slapped a range of coloured shells on for good measure, there’s anything from “Fiery Red” to “Spatial Blue”, as well as the obligatory pink. Something for everyone then.

Nokia 2626 Nokia 6086 Nokia 6290 Nokia 6300