about-electronics.eu

Engadget:Sharp have just launched their new 7.1 Blu-ray in a box home theatre kit in Japan.

The BD-MPC70 pumps 175W across 7.1 channels, with playback support for single-layer BD-R/RE media in addition to DVD video, DVD±R/RW, DVD-RAM, music CDs, and CD-RW/-R discs.

It delivers a 12bit/148.5MHz video DAC and 24bit/192kHz audio DAC with a healthy smattering of the ol’ in and outs including 2x digital and 2x analog audio inputs and 1080p video output over HDMI.

Available June 25th in Japan for ¥1,050,000 (around €6,600).

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Gizmodo: Looking for the right set up to match your 60-inch wooden plasma? Holland Electro’s new “Theatre” should complement it just fine.

Designed by Marcel Wanders, the theatre is a wooden side table with a built-in DVD player and integrated central speaker. Surround sound is achieved through the addition of 4 stone-like speakers. Not bad for $400, or around €310 (cat not included).

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Engadget: (…) Enter Whirlpool’s centralpark Connection, which boasts a built-in LCD to go along with the “interchangeable interface that allows you to plug in an MP3 player, cellphone, digital photo album or a DVD / CD player” to keep your kitchen guests entertained. Aside from all the party luxuries, it also boasts an obligatory brushed aluminum finish, automatic ice / water dispenser, and a vertical freezer compartment. Notably, Whirlpool also states that this unit can keep family members in touch with “an interactive message board, web tablet, or family calendar,” yet doesn’t give us the slightest clue about how these nifty features are actually pulled off. (…)

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TG Daily: Dolby promises to automatically control the volume of your TV. 

Dolby Volume technology will first be built into flat-panel television sets and will process digital audio signals to dynamically raise and lower levels, the company said. Incoming PCM audio is processed “psycho-acoustically” and PCM audio is exported.

According to Dolby engineers, Dolby Volume will work with all audio signals and won’t care about bitrates or sampling rates. In addition, the processing does not impact the audio signal.

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BornRich:Suzuki has unveiled its XL7 Flix concept car which is meant for movie-buffs. The concept offers ultimate mobile movie experience with an in-vehicle movie system.

The roadster features a clamshell roof which opens up to reveal a maximum-size moonroof that serves as a 40-inch movie screen. The car’s front roof panel vents, gives way to a high-density digital projection system to display a movie of your choice, anytime, anywhere from the side of a building, onto a billboard or almost any wall.

The Flix concept is also equipped with a next-generation, high-definition DVD player with integrated hard drive for maximum AV storage, a professional THX/SDS-theater quality sound system, pivoting quarter window speakers and red door/floor strip lighting to complete a professional theater like experience. The interiors of the car are equally fascinating with four individual bucket seats that pivot 180 degrees to view the elevated giant screen.

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Chris Crotty from isuppli expects some bold moves at CES:

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Engadget: This just in from our Tokyo bureau: according to an interview conducted by Japan’s Impress, Sony’s Ken Kutaragi has gone on record with a “promise” for what he’s calling an AV-centric PS3. In other words, audio and video capabilities first, gaming second (if at all), in a device built around the Cell-processor platform.

Ken says that the device would certainly be more expensive, reflecting the prices and margins expected on high-end consumer electronic devices such as TVs, Blu-ray personal video recorders, etc. — not the relatively cheap, but powerful gaming rigs sold at a loss under Sony’s Computer Entertainment division.

The new Sony-branded living room box would, in Ken’s (translated) words, “be a standard AV component sized box with a more powerful, power supply unit, anti-shake insulator, twice the main memory, and 2x HDMI to split sound and video output.”

More Cell-processor devices in the living room? We say bring it, Sony.

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DVguru: Here’s a more interesting iPod accessory: the iProjector is a special video projector with a docking station to directly connect your video iPod for screening videos and photos. It features a 800×600 native resolution, 24-bit color, 1000 ANSI lumens brightness, and a projection size of 30 inches by 90 inches. The device will be introduced at CES 2007 by manufacturer ION Audio. No word on the actual performance and quality of the device just yet. Intriguing.

(note by About-Electronics: thus far, no confirmation whatsoever to be found)

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Akihabara news: LG proudly announced this morning that 21 of their products won an iF Product Design Award 2007! Among the products, we have several TVs, LCDs, audio and video systems, phones, PCs…

Held annually, the iF product design award is one of the most highly regarded design-related honors in Europe. LG’s ‘Fantasy’ Monitor series, Virtual 5.1Ch Home Theater System and mobile handsets were among the products chosen for the recognition. Some details:

Virtual 5.1Ch Home Theater System (J10)
As a new concept, one can place the Mini Home Theater with built-in HDD in a wide variety of places. By applying Bio-Indicate Lighting, the user and the product converse each other by reacting to the user movement in through the touch sensor area to maintain a closer relationship. Its minimal shape also provides user with the high-end audio image. STAVAX mold and resin is applied, which show elegant finishing with anti-scratch function and high gloss finish.

Slim Card Phone (KE820)
KE820 is simple, minimal and slim which is proportional to the size of a card. 2.0” QCIF horizontal LCD screen has excellent openness which provides pleasant usability and function compared to the standard vertical screen. Central Jog-key processed with spin-hairline has sufficient element to attract attention to the front. Key pad of a chess shape is designed to the convenience of the user and to feel the firm sense of “click”.

Package Design for ‘Leo Phone’ (KG920)
Designed for the first mobile handset with 5 mega pixels digital camera, the combination of black and fine silver gives a minimal yet dynamic image of the product. To express the image of a digital camera phone we created a new frame structure that resembles the iris of the camera as well as a picture frame. (…) In order to reduce the unit cost during the production, this package only used paper and PET which is also easily recyclable and eco- friendly.

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Pioneer Europe announces the DVR-940HX-S. Or as they put it: A digital library in your living room.
“Your personal video recorder with extreme 500GB storage capacity. Record, play and store all your digital media in a single place in your living room: multi-format DVDs, CDs, digital photographs and music.
It’s an advanced media centre with integrated digital DVB-T tuner, high-end video processing and scaling to 1080p video format via HDMI. So you get the very best in full high definition picture, no matter the source.
With one touch recording and copying, it’s extremely easy to use. Download and edit your camcorder footage, rip CDs, and upload photographs and MP3 music. You can even print your photographs via a compatible printer.”

Recommended retail price: 1.999 euro

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Yahoo: It’s about as glamorous as wearing an old-style TV set on your head, but the dome-shaped headgear from Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. isn’t meant to be fashionable. It’s designed to show images in a 360-degree view — synched with the motion of the wearer’s head to deliver the illusion of being someplace else: a cityscape at night, for example, or outer space.

The still experimental 6-pound bubble-headed helmet has infrared sensors on top that detect which way the wearer’s head is moving. A projector in the back of the helmet displays corresponding images on a 16-inch screen right before the user’s eyes. Although the headgear looks bulky, it’s actually smaller than older versions of the same technology, Toshiba spokeswoman Kaori Hiraki said. But Toshiba has no plans yet to turn the helmet into a commercial virtual-reality product. Eventually, Toshiba believes, it will come in handy for computer games or enhancing the impact of movies.

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BusinessWire: Consumers worldwide will increase spending on digital home devices by 32 percent to $159 Billion (€127 Billion) in 2006, according to a report from research from Strategy Analytics. The report predicts that digital cameras, DVD players and MP3 players will be the most popular items this year. In terms of revenue, however, LCD and plasma TVs are the star performers. Consumers around the world will spend nearly $70 Billion (€56 Billion) on flat panel TVs during 2006, representing 44 percent of total digital home market revenues.

This report identifies a trend towards IP-connected devices as the next important wave in the migration toward digital homes. Fourteen percent of digital home devices sold this year will be IP-enabled, which allows them to access digital media websites on the Internet, or stored on the home network. Examples of such devices include games consoles and set-top boxes. IP devices will become more and more popular as the popularity of digital media services, such as YouTube and iTunes, continues to grow.

Europe will be the world’s largest market this year, with revenues of $51.5 Billion (€41 Billion) and a growth rate of 38%.

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