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Tech Digest & various sources: It’s the world’s largest consumer electronics show – and it will be open from today until 6th September. Here are some highlights from the manufacturers:

Philips: they’ll be announcing a new Skype VoIP phone, a new Windows XP Media Center for the living room with 250GB hard drive and Blu-Ray (again the product was first shown last year). See www.ifa.philips.com for more.

Pioneer: their latest line-up in Plasma, AV Receivers, DVD players and Sat Nav systems, plus a few surpises.  Expect samples of their Blu-ray player, the BDP-HD1, their new 60-inch Plasma TV – the PDP-607XD and a new HDMI DVD Recorder DVR-940H with huge 500GB hard disk.  See Pioneer’s news release for more.

LG: plan to launch new TVs with built in DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) following the success of the 43-inch plasma model launched in May.  Apparently LG has shifted two million handsets of its ‘hero product’, the chocolate phone, but no news on a successor yet.

Samsung: Among the new products will be the company’s Blu-Ray DVD players which are due to go on sale before the end of the year. Also showing off an LCD TV that uses LEDs as a backlighting source.

Grundig: Now part of the Alba Group, Grundig is showing off a pair of wireless stereo speakers which according to the blurb ‘have the potential to be design icons’.

Thomson: Unveiling a completely wireless (2.4GHz) system for linking up various devices in the home, including DVD player, set top box and TV screen.

Yamaha: The company plans to launch two new Sound Projector models (a single speaker mounted below the TV screen which replaces five or more surround speakers).

Daewoo: An interesting sounding GPS system with built in DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) system so you can listen to the radio and watch TV whilst navigating.

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DigiTimes: Worldwide plasma shipments rose 95% on year to 2.2 million units in the second quarter of 2006.  Plasma screens now hold 5% of worldwide TV shipments, according to DisplaySearch.

Panasonic was the top plasma brand for at least eighth consecutive quarters. Its share surged from 22% to 28% by growing more than 70% in shipments, which was nearly three times faster than any other top five PDP TV brands.

PDP TV revenues increased with a more modest 23% on quarter and 57% on year to US$4.9 billion last quarter, as the range of price reduction outpaced that of the increase in average size. PDP TVs accounted for 20% of the global TV revenues, up from 18% in the first quarter of 2006.

North America overtook Europe and became the top region in PDP TV shipments for the first time on stronger demand for larger-size models, resulting in a 32-34% share advantage. North America dominated the 50-inch PDP TV market, accounting for 63% of all 50-inch PDP TVs sold worldwide in the second quarter of 2006.

By size, the 42-43-inch category remained dominant although the share of the segment fell from 78% to 73% on gains by 37- and 50-inch PDP TVs.

Global Top 5 Plasma Suppliers: Unit Share and Growth, 2Q06

1. Panasonic: 28.3%
2. LGE: 17.1%
3. Samsung: 13.6%
4. Philips/Magnavox: 10.3%
5. Hitachi: 7.4%
6. Others: 23.2%

Source: DisplaySearch, August 2006.

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AV Zombie: Dutch giant Philips is looking to pull out of its joint venture LCD manufacturing deal with LG.

Volatility of the LCD panel market led Philips to post a huge loss over the last quarter and according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, they are now thought to be seeking a buyer for their stake, worth around 5 billion US dollars.  One possible buyer is Matsushita – parent of Panasonic.

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And here are the best gadgets in Europe – according to the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA).

EISA is Europe’s biggest multimedia press organisation. The winners are voted by Editors of the top leading speacialist magazines from 19 countries.

The competition is tough. If this were the Olympics (or Eurovision, if you like) of the Electronics Business, the winning companies would be ( based on the number single products awarded first place):

All the winners are here.

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In most of Europe, the Philips HTS6500 home cinema system is already out since June 2006. But recently the renowned people of Cnet wrote a favourable review. Time to have a closer look.

Bottom line: the unremarkable sound quality of the Philips HTS6500 is outweighed by its winning combination of slick aesthetics, impressive features, and affordable pricing.

Read the full review at Cnet.com
For pricing and availability, please contact your local distributor.

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Magnificent devices often come with an impressive price tag. We’d all like a home cinema system – but giving up this year’s holiday to our favourite Costa? No way.
So we took 200 euro out of our wallet and happily strolled down the internet, doing it the old-fashioned way. By screening retailers only and ignoring online shops.

We’ve already got a TV set, so our goal was simple: a set of speakers and a DVD player. Nothing fancy, as long as it was produced by a leading brand. Our road led to Belgium, since in July it’s end-of-season sales. And did we find anything? We sure did.

Presenting: the Philips HTS3100 for 179,99 euro at Eldi.
Finding a bargain, is good. Finding out it’s a good buy, is even better. But so far we have found very few reviews available. Bummer. Philips home cinema kits however get good reviews in general.

If by any chance you find a cheaper solution (at a retailer in Belgium, that is –we must play it fair) please let us know. For our readers in Belgium, it would mean some extra margheritas at the beach pool.

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First, disappointing LCD revenue had led panel producer LG.Philips to declare a net loss of 399 million dollars (approx. 315 million euro) for the second quarter, which ended June 30.

Now, Samsung Electronics – LG.Philips’ major competitor when it comes to LCD TVs – saw its profits halve this quarter.

The drop has mainly been caused by the worldwide price crash on LCD TVs. While sales have grown, albeit slower than anticipated, the average selling price has declined sharply. One man’s breath is another man’s death: flat TVs become affordable for the average consumer.

(sources: AvZombie.com & Tijd.be)

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This fall, Philips is to introduce a range of portable navigation devices. Three devices will compete with those of Dutch TomTom.

According to Philips, the PNS series – Personal Navigation System – will offer the safest and most practical GPS solution inside and outside the car. The devices are likely to appeal to first-time buyers, since user-friendliness (‘Sense and Simplicity’ being the brand’s tagline) was one of the main concerns during pre-production.

All 3 models (PNS 100, PNS 200, PNS 150) are supplied with special cradles with built-in amplifier and speaker with few control buttons. They all have small dimensions: 10 cm long and less than 2 cm thick, weighing only 160 grams.

Philips’ navigation devices will be priced at 399 euro to 599 euro.

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