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Navigadget: Back at CES2007 Navigon was also promoting a new GPS navigation system called P9611, a colloboration between Navigon and Porsche. This system uses Navigon’s MobileNavigator Premium software which in our opinion looks better than any of the Garmin interfaces.

The hardware on the P9611 is also pretty impressive. It features a 4.3″ screen, bluetooth hands free communication support, 1400mAh Li-Ion battery. (…)

AE: the Navigon Porsche P9611 should be available for Europe in Spring 2007.

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Gizmodo: If you’re looking for a pair of speakers that can do the same thing five speakers normally do, KEF‘s fivetwo series can surround you with sound with just two swanky-looking audio towers. Their cool euro design and the fact that you only need two of them instead of a roomful of speakers appealed to a lot of the ladies at the 2006 IFA in Berlin.The surround sound effect is achieved by using side-facing SurfaceSound panels by NXT, coupled with drivers that KEF calls Uni-Q. Those side-firing SurfaceSound panels create left and right ambient effects, while the Uni-Q drivers deliver the left, center and right channels up front.

Available this fall, the seven-driver Model 7 will be 600 £/pair (about 900 eur), and the eleven-speaker Model 11 pictured here will be 1,100£/pair (about 1660 eur)

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ZDnet: It looks as if plasma is losing ground in the high end of the TV market. Shipments of plasma panels -sheets of glass placed inside plasma televisions- rose only 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 over the same period the year before and actually declined 4 percent from the third quarter of 2006, according to research firm DisplaySearch.

It was the first quarter that plasma panel shipments grew less than 47 percent on a year-to-year basis and only the second time since the first quarter of 2003 that there has been a sequential decline. Plasma panel shipments were 15 percent lower than the suppliers’ aggregate forecast and 9 percent below DisplaySearch’s forecast.

The shortcomings can largely be attributed to a loss of global market share to LCD, or liquid crystal display, TVs smaller than 50 inches across diagonally, as well as to limited North American sales of LCDs larger than 50 inches across, the firm said. The shift resulted in an increase in channel inventories and reduced plasma panel demand.

The slide in plasma display demand came despite substantial price cuts during the holiday season. Chances are, more plasma price cuts are on the way: historically, inventory overhangs lead to price cuts, so consumers could benefit.

DisplaySearch’s research provides data for one of the lingering debates of the Consumer Electronics Show. Namely, what happens to plasma? Executives at Samsung Electronics and Royal Philips Electronics at the conference said the industry is at a point in which consumers really wouldn’t care anymore.

Technologically, the two flat-screen TV types are about equal, said Lucas Covers, chief marketing officer at Philips. The real debate for consumers would be over aesthetics–how the TV looks–said John Revie, senior vice president of visual displays at Samsung.

Executives from LCD companies such as Sharp Electronics and Westinghouse Electric, however, said LCDs are already winning the 42-inch to 49-inch battle and that they would start to challenge plasma in TVs larger than 50 inches.

Even with the decline, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic in the United States) and Pioneer Electronics saw panel shipments grow in the fourth quarter at the expense of other competitors.

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T3: Satnav specialist Garmin has unveiled a pair of nuvis GPS devices, both of which come jam packed with maps: you get the lowdown on 30 European countries, plus the USA, Canada and, er, Puerto Rico.

The nuvi 670 has a crisp 4.3-inch touchscreen and the aforementioned maps. It also has 1.25GB flash memory, which can be used to store MP3 music; fill it up and you can shove in an SD card with yet more tunes on.

You also get Bluetooth, allowing you to hook up your mobile for hands-free calls, but the most impressive feature is the FM transmitter, which pushes navigation instructions, music and phone calls to your car stereo, taking advantage of the better speakers.

The nuvi 370 is a more straightforward satnav. It has a 3.5-inch screen and not much else of note (apart from the globetrotter-friendly map selection).

Both models should be available in the next few weeks.

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Home Cinema Choice: Hitachi will upgrade its entire lineup of plasma TVs to 1080 resolution in 2007. Their plasmas will feature integrated personal video recorders (PVR) and a host of new picture processing technologies.

Due in the Autumn, the flagship X and XR series, available in 1920 x 1080 resolution, will ship in 42, 50 and 60in sizes. The larger two will sport 250GB hard drives, able to make recordings direct from a Freeview EPG.

This built-in PVR allows the viewer to record one channel while watching another, comes with a 28-event timer and features audio playback of recordings during slow (x0.8) and fast (x1.5) trick replay.

The PVR plasmas can even have their recording capacity enlarged through slot-in iVDR (information Versatile Disk for Removable storage) drives. This removable caddy may become a common standard for all hard drives used with consumer electronics kit.

All feature three HDMI inputs (two rear, one front-facing).

Preceding these models will be two more affordable 1080 interlaced plasmas. The T-series 42in and 50in models will feature 1024 x 1080 and 1280 x 1080 resolution respectively.

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Slashgear: I’ve a shudder-inducing feeling that my own personal purgatory will be a nightmarish bombardment of acronyms and abbreviations.  Seriously, is there any other industry so in love with initials and oddly-constructed names?  Well, the latest to offend my eyes is USBTV, basically a USB memory stick with built-in video encoder and video line-out.

Tech-shy users slap the key into their PC, drag’n’drop a load of content onto it (which get DRM-encrypted as it transfers) and then either slot it into an LCD or Plasma TV which has a compatible USBTV USB port, or use the cradle and a bog-standard video-out cable.

It might sound bland – and compared to wireless media streamers, it is – but it’s obviously caught the attention of LG, Mitsubishi, Philips, Pioneer and Zoran who have all jumped into bed with Sandisk. Expect to see USBTV products later this year, after some trial testing starts at the beginning of February.

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DigiTimes: Nokia expanded its leadership position in the mobile handset market in 2006, shipping more units than its next two closest competitors combined, according to research firm iSuppli.

However, the biggest waves made by Sony Ericsson, which in the fourth quarter posted the largest on quarter growth of all mobile-phone makers, with shipments rising 61.5% to 26 million units, up from 16.1 million units during the same period in 2005.

The joint venture between consumer electronics giant Sony and telecommunications specialist Ericsson enjoyed a great 2006, achieving more than 15% growth in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2006.

Sony Ericsson’s shipments increased to 74.8 million units in 2006, up 46.4% from 51.1 million units in 2005.

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Engadget: Here are the new iPod shuffles; this time with colour. Breaking free from their bleak battleship-grey origins, the $79 (€60) iPod shuffle now hits in your choice of pink, green, blue, and even a new tasty orange flavor.

Still 1GB, still 12 hours of battery, and yes… available with free laser engraving just in time for Valentines Day.

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Yahoo: The majority of consumers have not yet accepted the subscription model to rent rather than buy music but this is likely to change over the next year, according to the head of the online service Napster Inc.Once synonymous with piracy in online music, Napster now offers music via a subscription service but it is hindered by the dominance of Apple Computer’s iPod which, due to a rights management issue, cannot play Napster music. Napster Chief Executive Chris Gorog told Reuters that Apple’s approach was “anti-consumer” and had held the subscription model back.

But Gorog expects the picture to change as consumers turn to mobile phones that also operate as MP3 players. He believes this access to a wider market will introduce more music fans to the concept of unlimited subscription services.

“The key obstacle to date to moving into mass adoption for the subscription model has been the iPod which has had the very large majority of market share with MP3 players. But the dynamic that will be happening … in this calendar year is the phenomenon of music-enabled cell phones,” he told Reuters in an interview.

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DigiTimes: LG has said it plans to roll out a limited edition of a 60-inch plasma TV with a wooden frame in March at the earliest.

Only 1,000 units are available for sale and the wooden plasmas will first hit the South Korea market, the company noted.

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NaviGadget: JVC’s new navigation system for Europe, KV-PX70, got official today. The new navigation system features a wide 4.3″wide touch screen, built-in TMC receiver, bluetooth support for hands-free phone calls and finally SD/MMC slot to bring and play your favorite photos or videos.The KV-PX70 is not available in most online stores just yet (…).

For more info, see the KV-PX70 productpage.

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T3: If you’re disappointed with the Microsoft Zune’s slightly fussy restricted music sharing, it might be worth checking out the Blu-Sens G14. This little-known Spanish mini media player lets you share as many files as you like wirelessly via Bluetooth and WiFi.

The compact player is compatible with MP3, WMA and OGG audio files, as well as JPEG photos and MPEG4 videos, including DivX-encoded stuff, which you can gawp at on the 2-inch screen. There’s an FM tuner too.

It’ll be launched in 1GB and 2GB editions, probably priced at around £120 (180 euro) and £150 (225 euro) respectively, but as with the Zune, there’s no word as yet on a UK launch.

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