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CrunchGear: Samsung has shown off some incredible OLED advancements over the last few months but the best might soon be revealed at CES.

The company might bring a 50-inch display to next year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Previously, the largest OLED screen shown to the general public was a 40-inch with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio so this 50-inch would be a good step forward.

The display technology still has a ways to go before it hits a cost-friendly alternative to LCD or plasma.

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SlashGear: Given the ratio of DVD player owners to Blu-ray player owners, you could argue that any of the high-definition decks are “high end”; however Denon have announced what they’re claiming is the world’s first high end Blu-ray universal player. 

The posh title is to take into account that the DVD-A1UD is capable not only of playing the usual Blu-ray and DVD video discs, but also DVD-audio, SACD and standard CDs.  It also comes with the company’s DENON Link 4th technology, which apparently improves performance even from standard-definition sources.

Connectivity includes two HDMI 1.3 ports, component video, S-video, composite video, optical digital audio, coaxial digital, balanced two-channel stereo analog audio, ethernet, an SD card slot and a serial port, together with a DENON LINK port. 

The Blu-ray player will be launched in Europe in March 2009, priced at €4,000.

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The Inquirer: Having won a critical patent appeal in its native Japan, Canon is well on the way to being the first electronics manufacturer to make displays based on surface-conduction electron emitters.

Canon had previously sub-licensed the patent technology to make SEDs and had started designing TVs using the technology, displaying prototypes as long ago as 2006. But patent-holder Applied Nanotech took Canon to court, claiming that this sub-licensing was illegal.

The US circuit court ruled in July that it was wrong, and Applied has today announced that it won’t be pursuing the matter further. Canon now plans to start working SEDs into a line of TVs to complete with rival OLED technology, pushed hard by Samsung and Sony. But the technology may be put on the back burner for now due to the current economic climate.

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T3: Like a long soak in the bath, but don’t want to miss your favourite TV shows? Well, the Aquavision S4 is just for you.

It’s claimed to be the first full HD TV waterproof TV, offering 40 inches of viewing, along with an integrated Freeview tuner and all the connectivity you’ll ever need, including component video, S-Video and analogue PC input, twin HDMI inputs and scart.

The TV itself does come custom fitted for safety, complete with a waterproof remote and best of all, a ‘Mirrorvision’ finish, which means you can use your premium telly as a shaving mirror.

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Electronista: Nikon has launched the GP-1 GPS Unit that connects to its digital SLR cameras’ hotshoe and allows each captured image to be geo-tagged.

The GP-1 uses two LEDs to indicate connection status with satellites.

Nikon’s new hotshoe-mount GPS module will let photographers save latitude, longitude, altitude and time information on each photo they capture.

It takes the GP-1 either 5 seconds or 45 seconds to obtain satellite information, depending on whether the is hot- or cold-started.

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Techradar: Yes, you read the title right, Pioneer has indicated that it is currently developing a 1TB Blu-ray Disc.

According to DigiTimes, the company hinted that it was working on the capacious 1TB Blu-ray disc, but won’t be releasing it until a 400GB version and 500GB version hits the shops.

The news was delivered at the IT Month Fair in Taipei, where Pioneer showcased its much-anticipated 400GB Blu-ray Disc.

Not only did they have a lovely lady to show off the 16-layer BD, the company also released come interesting specifications. Firstly, you will be glad to hear that the 400GB disc WILL be compatible with existing players, so when it does eventually hit shelves, your current machine of choice will be able to spin it.

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Guardian: Nokia says it has unveiled “the world’s most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other.”

The N97 has a 640 x 360 pixel 3.5 inch touch screen and a slide-out qwerty keyboard. As expected, it runs Symbian S60, and is Ovi- and N-Gage-compatible.

The N97′s key innovation is the introduction of So-Lo. Nokia says: “The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of ‘social location’. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is”.

The N97 will be released next year with 32GB of memory at an estimated €550.

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Camera Core: Mio Technology – brand name of Mitec International – has revealed plans to launch its first ever Windows Mobile-based 3.5G GPS smartphone in the first quarter of 2009.

The yet to be named device will feature a touch screen interface with a specially designed GUI called Spirit. Connectivity will be powered by Qualcomm’s high speed 3.5G mobile chipset.

Additional features include a standard 12 button keypad and 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus.

Mio – a self proclaimed ‘leading player’ in the mobile GPS industry – is also planning to release a Mobile Internet Device (MID) in the first quarter of 2009.

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Electricpig: Nokia yesterday took a step into the home entertainment sector, with Nokia Home Music.

It’s a neat, all-in-one music streamer capable of tuning into internet radio and FM broadcasts, but that’s just half the story. It’ll also stream songs from a PC elsewhere in the house.

Of course, it’ll easily hook up to a mobile phone or MP3 player, and play podcasts on demand from the web.

There are outputs to connect it to a Hi-Fi too, although there’s a built-in 10 watt speaker so it’ll function as a stand-alone device as well.

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Register Hardware: If you’ve got a stack of photographs at home and not enough wall space to hang them from, then check out this digital photo frame with integrated picture scanner.

Skyla, manufactured by storage firm LiteOn, has a built-in scanner that lets pictures measuring up to 4 x 6in be run through it and digitised. The frame then converts these into digital images which are displayed, in colour, on the 8in screen.   
  
The frame can store up to 200 4 x 6in images, but if you choose to scan in smaller, 3 x 5in prints then about 400 pictures can be shown. The frame also has two USB ports through which you can feed images from a Flash drive.

The Skyla frame will be displayed in stores across the US for around $220. When Europe will follow is yet unknown.

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SlipperyBrick: One of the ways for fans of mobile multimedia like movies and personal video on the go can view content on a larger screen is with a small projector. Some day mobile phones will have projectors built-in, but until then 3M has a perfect projector for someone looking for a very portable unit.

The projector is called the 3M MPro110 and is one of the tiniest projectors ever made. It measures in at a mere 115mm x 50mm x 22mm (L x W x H) and weighs 152g. Despite the small size, the projector offers a resolution of 640 x 480.

The projector uses LCOS technology and energy efficient LED backlighting. The efficiency of the projector allows the battery to last for 60 minutes of use.

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TechRadar: Microsoft’s new Jasper-based versions of its Xbox 360 have finally arrived, with the hope that the 65-nanometer version of the console’s graphics chip will not suffer the overheating ‘Red Ring of Death’ problems that have dogged past versions of the 360.

US tech journalist Dean Takahashi has chronicled the 360′s Red Ring of Death problems in depth and claims that Jasper-based Xbox 360s,”logically… should be a lot better.”

This is because the”graphics chip will likely consume less power than previous versions, allowing it to fit snugly into its motherboard socket. That should lead to fewer system failures due to the graphics chips coming loose.”

The new 360 graphics chip is also notably cheaper, which has allowed Microsoft to slash the costs of the console to the consumer right back for Christmas 2008.

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