Monthly Archives: November 2008

LG insists it will launch 3D TVs in 2009

Techradar: LG will release 3D televisions in one or two markets in 2009 according to the company’s television vice-president Choon Lee.

Choon Lee told T3 Online that television shopping may well be the first channels to broadcast the special pictures to allow people to better view their wares, adding that producing 3D animations was already fairly easy.

“3D TVs are the next big step for us,” said Choon Lee, Vice President Director at the Digital TV Research Lab.

“We will try with one or two markets in 2009,” he said, without specifying which ones.

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Super HD on the horizon

HD News: Aiming to make the technology a reality for consumers within 12 years, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK along with the BBC, Cable & Wireless and Italy’s RAI recently demonstrated ‘Super Hi-Vision’ (SHV) technology.

The SHV technology on show demonstrated images with an incredibly lifelike 7680 x 4320 resolution. Around 4000 scanning lines reveal around 16 times the detail of existing HDTV.

Equally impressive is the accompanying 22.2 three dimensional surround sound which makes even the latest high definition sound formats sound rather lacklustre.

Unfortunately, domestic use for SHV is at least ten years away, one of the main stumbling blocks being the storage requirements of the new format. 

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Cheap Blu-ray players for Europe in short supply

HDTV UK: Cheap Blu-ray players will be difficult to find across Europe this Christmastime, potentially affecting sales and success of the format, according to the latest report from media analyst Screen Digest.

In the report the company wrote, “Hardware supply constraints earlier in the year meant that the anticipated European BD promotional campaigns had to be reined in. Rather ironically, the unexpectedly rapid withdrawal of rival format HD DVD from the market in early 2008 caused a problem for Blu-ray by stimulating retailer demand for BD players when a severe shortage of an essential component meant that manufacturing could not keep up.”

The report implies that the more expensive Blu-ray players will be available, presumably because they have lower demand over all.

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Medion unveils wallet friendly, feature packed GPS

Trusted Reviews: Looking for a fully featured sat nav that won’t cost the earth or cause you eye strain?

Then ever resourceful Germans Medion could well have the answer with the ‘GoPal P5430′ a unit which does away with the traditional 3.5in and 4.3in LCDs to fit a more substantial five incher along with full Western and Eastern European mapping, free lifetime traffic master with integrated TMC antenna and SiRF InstantFix II technology.

That’s just the half of it though since the P5430 also bundles in voice control, a rip roaring 600MHz Titan CPU (a good 200MHz above the norm), pre-loaded speed camera locations, lane and speed advisory and a whopping 3GB of memory (1GB external card, 2GB internal). Bluetooth is also thrown in for making handsfree phone calls.

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LG KB770 TV-toting touchscreen phone hits Europe

Stuff.tv: Mobile phones packing TV tuners are still rarer than hens’ teeth in the UK – we can think of the Nokia N96 and, er, that’s it – but LG has just unleashed a new model in Europe.

The KB770 sports a big 3in touchscreen and a DVB-T digital tuner for accessing live TV broadcasts.

Also on board are HSDPA for speedy downloads, a 3MP camera with auto focus, Bluetooth and a microSD slot. There’s no Wi-Fi or GPS.

The phone is only launching in Germany at the moment, priced at €449.

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Android T-Mobile G1 turns white as of now

Phones Review: For those prospective G1-ers who have been holding out for the Google Android T-Mobile G1 in white, your wait is over as T-Mobile is now selling the white version along with the bronze and black versions.

The T-Mobile white G1 will still command the same pricing as the G1 black and G1 bronze and is available online and in store now.

The word is HTC, the manufacturer of the Google Android G1 expects to now ship one million of the Android powered G1 by year’s end which is a rise of 67 percent on the original sales target.

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Sharp announces BD-PH21H Blu-ray player

Techradar: Sharp has announced the launch of its latest Blu-ray player, the BD-PH21H. Branded as a premium player by Sharp, the player is Profile 1.1 and produces 1080p picture quality at a 24-hertz frame rate.

Being Profile 1.1 means that users will be able to view any BonusView content on a Blu-ray disc – Picture-in-Picture quality and the like – but falls short of Profile 2.0 compatibility.

One of the more impressive features is the 10-second quickstart function. As many Blu-ray machines take an age to warm up, this feature is much-welcomed.

The player also features Aquos Link. Hook it up to an Aquos TV and you’ll only need the one remote to control both pieces of kit.

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Loewe sticking with LCD, will have Blu-ray built in by 2010

Electricpig: German engineering maestro Loewe was promoting its new chain of Gallery shops in the UK and we took the chance to talk to the company’s CEO, Frieder Löhrer, on his plans for the future.

Currently, all of Loewe’s line use LCD screens, so we asked him if there were plans to make use of OLED, as Sony has in its recent XEL-1 TV, but Löhrer was reticent, only stating that “we watch all the techniques that are on the market, almost on a daily basis. We believe that in 2-3 years, this technique could become part of the future.”

Löhrer was much more optimistic though when we quizzed him on the prospect of Blu-ray built into Loewe’s boxes. “I cannot say no,” he said. “Its a technique that we forsee not for the year 2008, but I would assume for early 2010.”

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Garmin Nuvifone still on track for a 2009 release

Electronista: The Nuvifone from Garmin is still due for an early 2009 release despite being delayed earlier this year.

As Garmin is traditionally a portable navigation device manufacturer, the Nuvifone will bring many of the company’s technologies to its GPS mapping functionality, as well as access to high-speed 3G data networks.

When it launches, the 3.5-inch touchscreen will be responsive and simple to use, as per a hands-on report from those who had a chance to review the device. A windshield mount will be available for use in vehicles, which will turn the Nuvifone horizontally and allow it to be used as a conventional portable GPS device.

The Nuvifone’s exclusive UK carrier and other information is due to be released in the coming months.

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Microsoft rumoured to be working on Zune “Pink” smartphone

Stuff.tv: The online rumour mill is churning up some more news about Microsoft’s oft-predicted Zune smartphone. According to MSNBC’s resident tech columnist Jim Goldman, the software giant is beavering away on a highly evolved Zune codenamed “Pink”.

Goldman’s source says the device will combine the functionality of the current range of Zune music players (still unavailable in the UK) with phone technology from Danger Inc., the firm responsible for the T-Mobile Sidekick. Danger Inc. was recently acquired by Microsoft.

Sadly the source didn’t furnish Goldman with any feature or spec info, but he did say that the device could be unveiled as soon as CES in January 2009, with a possible release in February.

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Aiptek creates funky mini projector / PMP hybrid

Trusted Reviews: Aiptek has decided to step into the mini projector market and show us how its done…

So following on the likes of the Pico Projector and Microvision SHOW plus numerous other concept models such as the 1.3cm 3M and Foxconn prototype is the ‘Pocket Cinema V10′ which breaks away from the pack with an integrated media player.

Raw facts are it measures just 125 x 55 x 23mm yet projects a 42in screen from just 21cm at VGA resolution and comes with tripod and remote control bundled.

Connections are via AV-out too so it will play nice with everything from iPods to DV, DSC, games consoles or mobile phones while an SD/MMC memory card slot allows it to display pictures or playback audio and video.  

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Nokia develops home control tech for phones

Register Hardware: Nokia has inked in plans to take over your home. It’s announced development of an in-home gadget management platform called Home Control Centre (HCC).

The Finnish phone giant said that HCC will ultimately let you control your home’s entire collection of electrical appliances, from from your fridge and heating to digital cameras and TVs.

For example, HCC will enable you to manage electricity usage, switch devices on and off, and monitor various appliances’ stats, such as the oven’s temperature.

HCC will be accessed locally or remotely through a mobile phone or PC. The platform will also be open so that other manufacturers can integrate their products and services into HCC infrastructure.

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