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Gizmodo: Sharp is revamping their Aquos G Series first in Japan, then the world. 16 models going from a basic 26-incher to 52 inches of 120Hz Full HD glory.

According to Sharp, they have increase their color range adding a fourth wavelength lamp to the backlighting.

With a 176 degrees viewing angles and 450cd/m2 brightness, the sets have a 2000:1 dynamic contrast (absolute 900:1 according to Sharp) and come loaded with input ports: 3 HDMI, DVI, plus two FireWire, and surprisingly enough, Ethernet and RS-232C.

Prices in Japan will range from $1,460 (around €1,072)of the 26-inch model running at 1,366×768 pixels to $4,462 (around €3,270) for the best 52-inch Full HD model.

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Akihabara News: Sharp has officially entered the powerline networking market with the HN-VA40S and HN-VA10S network adapters.

With the help of the HomePlug v1.1 standard for high-speed transmission over power lines, these devices are designed for those of us who aren’t too keen on ethernet wires all over the house.

The HN-VA40S features four Ethernet ports while the other sports only 1. Even better, the devices are able to send signals around your home at a startling 85 Mbps.

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Tech-On: iSuppli has announced results of its survey on the worldwide LCD TV market in the first quarter (1Q) of 2007. Shipments declined 8.0% quarter-on-quarter to 13.992939 million units. According to iSuppli’s analysis, shipments usually decrease QoQ in the 1Q due to a seasonal factor of year-end sale, which takes place in the preceding quarter.

By brand, shipments decreased QoQ at top 5 brands across the board. Samsung Electronics, which topped for two quarters in a row, saw shipments drop 7.3% QoQ to 2.354978 million units.

Samsung Electronics’ favorable performance is attributed to its good management of manufacturing costs and positive attitude toward sales promotion, according to iSuppli.

Sony outperformed and took the position from the preceding quarter’s second Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands. The Dutch company marked the largest shipment decline among the top 5 brands with sales lowering 26.0% QoQ as well. Royal Philips’ slump partly stems from its bad management of LCD panel supply, iSuppli said. The company was also impacted by rival manufacturers.

Ranked fourth was Sharp, which marked an 8.8% QoQ shipment decline to 1.581963 million units, followed by LG Electronics, which posted an 8.3% QoQ decrease to 1.093636 million units. Their shipment shares were 11.31% and 7.82%, respectively.

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Engadget: Sharp just introduced the world’s smallest blue laser for current generation optical players. Right, as in Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats — your choice OEMs.

Measuring just 3.3-mm in diameter, the GH04020A4G semiconductor will be available starting June 13th before ramping up for mass production later in July.

The device will suck 10mW from your laptop’s battery while offering at least 10,000 hours of operation before giving up the ghost.

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Tech Digest: More places to park your iPod, this time from Sharp, which has launched the DK-A10H and DK-A1H docking stereo systems.

Available in pure white or piano lacquer black finishes, the DK-A1H and the DK-A10H both feature AM/FM radio with RDS, with the DK-A10H model also housing a built-in CD player.

And in terms of sound, they both carry two-way bass reflex speakers with built-in subwoofers, along with E-Sound technology and a digital signal processor (DSP) to enhance the sound quality of digital files.

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Mobile mentalism: Just when you thought every conceivable type of gadget had been squeezed into the confines of the ever-shrinking mobile phone, Sharp have thought of a new one – a scanner! To be more precise, they’ve developed a super-sharp 2.6″ VGA display that also comes equipped with an image-sensor.

The screen’s image sensor is designed to detect where a stylus or finger is to enable touchscreen input. However, it’s so sensitive, it can also be used for proper biometrics by scanning a user’s fingerprint when a finger placed on the screen.

As you can see from the pic (above), it doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to see how such a display can be used to scan documents as well. Granted you won’t be scanning the works of Shakespeare on a 2.6″ photocopier, but imagine the advantages of being able to scan in all your receipts for your expense account just by plopping them on your mobile phone.

No indication of when this display will be used in a real phone, but given the pace of mobile phone technology, we can probably expect it round about next week!

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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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ZDnet: It looks as if plasma is losing ground in the high end of the TV market. Shipments of plasma panels -sheets of glass placed inside plasma televisions- rose only 3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 over the same period the year before and actually declined 4 percent from the third quarter of 2006, according to research firm DisplaySearch.

It was the first quarter that plasma panel shipments grew less than 47 percent on a year-to-year basis and only the second time since the first quarter of 2003 that there has been a sequential decline. Plasma panel shipments were 15 percent lower than the suppliers’ aggregate forecast and 9 percent below DisplaySearch’s forecast.

The shortcomings can largely be attributed to a loss of global market share to LCD, or liquid crystal display, TVs smaller than 50 inches across diagonally, as well as to limited North American sales of LCDs larger than 50 inches across, the firm said. The shift resulted in an increase in channel inventories and reduced plasma panel demand.

The slide in plasma display demand came despite substantial price cuts during the holiday season. Chances are, more plasma price cuts are on the way: historically, inventory overhangs lead to price cuts, so consumers could benefit.

DisplaySearch’s research provides data for one of the lingering debates of the Consumer Electronics Show. Namely, what happens to plasma? Executives at Samsung Electronics and Royal Philips Electronics at the conference said the industry is at a point in which consumers really wouldn’t care anymore.

Technologically, the two flat-screen TV types are about equal, said Lucas Covers, chief marketing officer at Philips. The real debate for consumers would be over aesthetics–how the TV looks–said John Revie, senior vice president of visual displays at Samsung.

Executives from LCD companies such as Sharp Electronics and Westinghouse Electric, however, said LCDs are already winning the 42-inch to 49-inch battle and that they would start to challenge plasma in TVs larger than 50 inches.

Even with the decline, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic in the United States) and Pioneer Electronics saw panel shipments grow in the fourth quarter at the expense of other competitors.

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Forbes: Trying to regain its lead in the LCD TV market, Sharp has announced plans to boost output with a 8 billion yen (€51,2 million) factory in Mexico and a new production line at a domestic plant.

Sharp, once the undisputed global leader in LCD TVs, has fallen behind rivals as it struggled to meet surging global demand for flat-panel televisions.

It now holds about 12 percent of the global LCD TV market, putting it behind Sony, Samsung and Philips.

Sharp President Katsuhiko Machida told reporters in Tokyo that the new 8 billion yen ($66.3 million) Mexican factory will produce finished televisions in North America for the first time, greatly bolstering the company’s ability to feed the key U.S. market.

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About: The impact of Flat Panel Television is quite evident at CES 2007. With almost no traditional CRT televisions to be found anywhere on display, exhibitor real estate is now devoted to Plasma and LCD Flat Panel sets.On the LCD side, manufacturers, such as Sharp, JVC, and Toshiba are showing LCD sets with improved contrast ratios, 120Hz screen refresh rates (wihich eliminates motion lag), more 1080p models, and much larger screen sizes in the 47-inch and above category, in direct competition with large screen Plasma sets. With reference to screen size, Sharp has broken all records with a 108-inch prototype, which is larger than the largest Plasma set currently available (…).

However, Plasma is not sitting still. Pioneer is displaying pre-production Plasma units that have been redesigned from the ground up with almost unlimited contrast ratios, improved color consistency, and significant improvements in video processing and scaling.
Panasonic, on the other hand, is also taking LCD on by touting their improved eco-friendly Plasma sets that feature lower power consumption and the elimination of toxic elements used in internal components.
Lastly, Plasma may finally match its LCD competition in native resolution, as more 1080p Plasma sets were on display than seen before.

With LCD and Plasma finally competing on equal footing in both screen size and technology, the future for the consumer certainly looks good as quality goes up and prices keep coming down.

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AV zombie: Sharp has revealed a spectacular 108-inch AQUOS LCD TV TV, claimed to be the world’s largest, at the Las Vegas CES. The model, still at prototype stage, measures 93.9-inches high by 52.9-inches wide and features a Black Advanced Super View Full HD LCD panel manufactured at Sharp’s Kameyama Plant No. 2.

No price or on-sale date has been announced.

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Reuters: Japanese consumer electronics maker Sharp said on Tuesday it has started the commercial production of blue laser diodes, taking aim at a market with strong growth potential.Sharp in November began volume output of blue laser diodes, used to read and write data on high-definition optical discs, at 150,000 units a month at its existing plant in western Japan, Sharp spokesman Hiroshi Takenami said.

The diodes can be used in DVD players based on the Blu-ray format, championed by Sony, as well as competing HD DVD technology, promoted by Toshiba.

Sharp, which is entering the market dominated by Sony and unlisted Nichia, plans to bring the monthly capacity to 500,000 units by the end of 2007, spending several billion yen.

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