Engadget: LG isn’t dishing out many details about this one just yet, but company exec KW Kim (head of LG’s Middle East and Africa Operations) has told Emirates Business that LG will soon be launching a product — “maybe by April” — that “will compete with Apple and Amazon.”

And, well, that’s about it. As you may recall, however, LG has been showing off various bits of technology for e-book readers over the past little while, including a solar-powered system designed specifically for e-readers and, of course, some flexible e-paper displays that have already turned up in the Skiff Reader. In other LG news, Kim also dropped word that the company is talking with Etisalat about a new line of “notebooks” (possibly netbooks) that would use “Google’s operating system,” although it’s not clear if he was referring to Chrome or Android.

ipad LG tablet

Engadget: Over the last several months complaints that Panasonic’s plasma HDTVs experience sudden adverse changes in their black levels after a certain number of viewing hours have been piling up in an AVSForum thread, and now that behavior has been confirmed, though not very well explained, in a response the company sent to CNET today:
“In order to achieve the optimal picture performance throughout the life of the set, Panasonic Viera plasma HDTVs incorporate an automatic control which adjusts an internal driving voltage at predetermined intervals of operational hours.

As a result of this automatic voltage adjustment, background brightness will increase from its initial value … The newest Viera plasma HDTVs incorporate an improved automatic control which applies the voltage adjustments in smaller increments. This results in a more gradual change in the Black Level over time.
Especially considering many buyers purchased their televisions specifically for those deep black levels, you can see why a TV suddenly going Sammy Sosa overnight would be upsetting.

One of the reigning theories in the thread indicated by poster & calibrator D-Nice has been that this is by design, but a flaw in the settings caused the large jumps (around double the brightness, as measured by several owners light meters) instead of a much more subtle change. So what now for owners or potential buyers?

Without more details about what is going on and whether or not anything can be done about it, like CNET’s David Katzmeier, it’s hard to see how we can continue to recommend these HDTVs for purchase without knowing what they will do months or years down the line.

The ball is in Panasonic’s court now, a speedy response could do a lot to assuage the concerns of current and potential owners.

panasonic plasma

Electronista: Shin Jong-kyun, head of Samsung’s mobile division, announced the company’s goal to ship more than 18 million smartphones this year.

Recognizing the shift away from hardware features, Samsung will change the way its smartphones are marketed by emphasizing content, applications, and services.

The company is the world’s second largest cellphone manufacturer with about 20 percent of the market but has only about 3 percent of the smartphone market, a deficit the executive feels Samsung needs to address.

The company’s goal of shipping a total of between 260 and 270 million phones this year would represent an increase in shipments of more than 14 percent from 2009 and require faster growth than the overall market.

Samsung actually increased its share of the overall cellphone market last year. The company’s dominant position has not carried over to the smartphone market, losing ground to newer offerings from Apple, Blackberry and Android-based devices.

Its launch of its Bada open development platform for smartphones late last year was partly ignored by handset vendors and developers, though the open OS is intended primarily for Samsung’s own devices.

Samsung

Engadget: Pretty good news for Nokia today as it announces its Q4 results. Net income jumped 65% to €948 million (on €12 billion in sales) or 26 eurocents per share, from €576 million euros, or 15 eurocents a share, earned in Q4 2008.

That handily beat the consensus forecast of 19 eurocents per share. Importantly, Nokia grew its smartphone (or “converged devices” in Nokia parlance) marketshare to a healthy 40%, up from 35% just last quarter.

Looking forward, Nokia cautioned that it expects its adjusted operating margin in Devices & Services in Q1 2010 will be at the low end of its 12% to 14% target. At the time of this posting, Nokia stock has jumped about 9% in recognition of these good times.

nokia smartphone

Electronista: Sony this week outlined a plan to fight back against Apple by opening its own flagship retail stores.

Starting with Sony Store Nagoya, the stores will imitate the multi-floor design of Apple flagships like Ginza and use large, spacious display areas divided by category.

The first floor of the Nagoya store will focus on portable devices like Cyber-shot and Handycam cameras, the PSP, Sony-Ericsson phones, Walkman players and VAIO PCs; a second floor will focus on home theater equipment such as Blu-ray players and TVs.

Staffing will also echo Apple’s and will include “Stylists” who, like Apple’s Specialists, will provide help on choosing devices in addition to actually handling purchases. They will be unique in that they’ll provide customer feedback to Sony itself, the company says.

While Sony already provides service at some of its stores, staffers on the second floor will take on more of an Apple Genius-like role and teach customers to use what they own. The Nagoya location will open on March 13th and should be accompanied by others in the future, though it’s not known if this will involve international locations. Existing Sony Style and Sony Store locations aren’t expected to close in at least the short term.

Apple Sony

Electronista: Amazon on Thursday released its fourth-quarter earnings report, indicating a net income increase of 75 percent to reach $9.5 billion.

CEO Jeff Bezos claims that “millions of people now own Kindles,” although the company has yet to release specific distribution numbers for the e-book reader.

The US Kindle Store now offers over 410,000 e-books, covering 100 of 112 New York Times bestsellers.

Customers can also choose from over 8,000 blogs and more than 130 domestic and international newspapers.

“When we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books,” said Bezos. “This is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher. It’s been an exciting 27 months.”

Amazon has reported a 28 percent increase in net sales for the full year of 2009, reaching approximately $24.5 billion. Net income rose to $902 million for the year, a 40 percent increase compared to 2008 profits.

The company recently changed its Kindle payouts to compete with Apple, now giving 70 percent of the purchase price back to the publishers. Apple has maintained its 30 percent cut, however publishers are not restricted to Amazon’s $10 price cap for e-books.

The iPad maker recommends that publishers charge $14 or $15 for hardcover bestsellers.

Amazon ipad kindle