Isaiah's Tech

At IFA, Sharp has unveiled something that a couple of people might be interested. It's the company's first 3DTV using their own Quattron technology which adds yellow as a primary colour (in addition to red, green, and blue). The 3DTV is a 60-inch model which will feature Super Edge LED backlighting and Aquos Net Plus with access to Flickr and YouTube. Sadly, you'll need active shutter glasses to see the 3D content. In the UK, this will cost £3,500 ($5,385 USD) but the release date wasn't mentioned. This could be launched in the US but the price and release date are still TBA. We might see it again at CES though.

[Electronista]

Yesterday Sharp unveiled a couple of new HDTVs in their Aquos line-up. All of these HDTVs are LED in one way shape or form. The LE820 / 810 Series of HDTVs will come in 40 / 46 / 52 / 60-inch models and sport 120Hz technology with a 4ms response time. These will be available in March with a price tag somewhere between $1,800 and $4,000.

The higher-end LE920 Series will come in 52 / 60 / 68-inch models and sport Sharp's own Aquomotion 240Hz technology with an edge-lit display. These will be available later on - in May - but the prices haven't been mentioned yet. For everything you need to know, check out the presser below.



[Engadget, Gizmodo]

Earlier this year at CES, Samsung unveiled more from their AQUOS line-up. These new, different 3 models: 40-inch (LC-40AE6), 46-inch (LC-46AE6), and 52-inch (LC-52AE6) will be sporting a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. It also has a digital tuner, 120Hz technology, 15,000:1 contrast ratio, 450 nits of brightness, and 176-degree viewing angles. These LCD HDTVs will be available starting next month in Japan. The 40-inch model will be available on April 10 for ¥200,000 ($2,076 USD) and the other 2 larger models will be released on May 15. The 46-inch will be going for ¥260,000 ($2,698 USD) and the 52-inch will be going for ¥390,000 ($4,048 USD). Keep in mind that there is no word on whether it will be released to the US.

[Engadget]

For now, i am skipping the Casio press conference, so let's head over to Sharp.

Daisuke 'Doug' Koshima takes the stage first and mentions that they are confident that they will "weather the storm." He is talking about the economic crisis and Sharp plans to be a strong competitor in 2009. Doug Koshima mentions that their new facility in Sakai City is expected to be done by 2010. He mentions that they feel that LCD will remain dominant in flat-panel technology in the near-future. Their TV's will be in full HD (1080p), thin, use LED backlighting, while still remaining energy efficient. OLED technology is promising but is not completely ready yet. The Limited Edition Sharp Aquos LCD TV has an "unprecedented picture quality" and has a huge screen. It maintains these things, while still being ultra-thin and being 30% more energy efficient than before. He leaves the stage.

In comes, Michael Troetti. He told us that Sharp was one of the top 3 LCD manufacturers throughout December. In 2008, they had a 10% increase in unit growth. Michael mentions that LCD prices drop every year... I didn't know that... The Sharp Aquos LCD TV will have 1080p HD, while using the standard 120hz technology. "Sharp has the unique position of being a leader in both LCD and Blu-ray technology." The Aquos Advantage program was introduced in 2007 and is free for large-screen Aquos owners. So far, there are more than 150,000 members in the Aquos Advantage. He mentions that they are the "official HDTV of Major League Baseball." He ends his speech talking about recycling their products and about the environment. I started to yawn a bit. He leaves.

Bob Scaglione enters. He mentions that their 108 inch LCD TV is still the largest LCD display. Reveals the Sharp Aquos with a built-in Blu-ray player. I talked about that here. Their TV's will be using Superlucent Advanced Superview Panels over the standard Conventional Panels. Their Sharp E77U will have 1080p, use 120Hz and will have 5 HDMI inputs. The E77U will come in 4 different sizes: A 65, 52, 46 and 40 inch model. The Sharp E67U series will also have 1080p and will support 2 sizes of 40 and 32 inches. The 32 inch model will be projected towards video-gamers and it will have a new Vyper Drive technology, whatever that is. The E67U will also have 4 HDMI inputs. The Sharp Aquos Blu-ray players will have: a low power consumption, Aquos Pure mode and 2 models, the BD-HP22U and BD-HP16U. These players will support Bd-rom profile 2.0. The Sharp Aquos home theater system will have a built-in Blu-ray and will project sound using a 5.1 channel audio. He concluded by showing 2 new Sharp iPod docks.

Question time. They clarify that the release date on the Blu-ray players will be in February. Sharp mentioned that 32-inch displays may be benefiting from the economic crisis because it is a decent size for everyday use. I notice that everyone asking questions have weird accents and i understand why the Sharp representatives have a hard time understanding / answering the questions. Someone asks if there are going to be cheaper LED backlighting models. The obvious answer was, of course, yes, in the future. Another question was if Sharp will be releasing Blu-ray recorders in 2009. They answered no and said because of certain copyright protections, so they will be concentrating on Blu-ray players. Sharp predicts that in 2009, people will make the shift from 32 to 42 inch sets. They are, obviously, backing the Sharp Aquos 100%.

Sharp Press Conference: http://www.g4tv.com/ces2009/press_conf_detail.aspx?video_key=35865
Sharp pictures: http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/new-sharp-products-2009-press-conference/

CES 2009 news now.

 Thin is officially in, with pretty much everything at CES 2009. Samsung has just shown off their 2 new Blu-ray decks and they are extremely thin, as you can see in the picture, on the left side. One of them is "a wall-mountable 1.5-inches thin (BD-P4600) and the other is a low-profile, sleek tabletop deck (BD-P3600), and both stream Netflix and Pandora. These both look amazing and will be available in the "first half of 2009."

Asus has shown off, to the world, their new keyboard. A 5 inch touchscreen on the right side of the keyboard, signals to the user that this is not your regular keyboard. "The keyboard is powered by Intel's Atom processor and incorporates a selection of USB and video ports around the back. It has solid state storage and, or course, Wi-Fi connectivity." Did i mention that it also has "an Ultra-Wideband Wireless HDMI port." Wow. Right now, the keyboard is just a prototype and the battery lasts for only around 90 minutes. Asus mentioned that it will increase the battery life for up to 3 hours when it becomes publicly available. Who needs a laptop when you have the Asus Eee keyboard, built-in with everything you need. Although, if you don't use an external display you may look weird, seeing how the 5 inch screen is located in an awkward position. Currently, there is no price for this wonderful keyboard.

TV-time and Samsung is up first. They have shown 3 new LCD's with 240Hz technology, which is 2 times above the current standard. The LNXXB: 8000, 7000 and the 6000 are all extremely thin, measuring in at around an inch. This TV will have a "built-in ethernet for Netflix streaming." There is a small difference in the 3 new LCD's. The 8000 will be the only one that will use 240Hz. The 7000 is the same as the 8000, except for it being 120Hz, which is the standard. The 6000 will consume "40% less power, featuring an optimized energy savings mode and a power indicator menu." Now, if only we can fuse the 6000's energy-saver with the 8000's 240Hz power. Maybe next year. These 3 LCD's will also be available in the first half of this year.

Sharp's new BD series TV's will have a built-in Blu-ray player. There will be 5 different sizes ranging from 32 to 52 inches. They are going to be 1080p compatible and we will actually see the smaller versions (32, 37 and 42 inchers) around this month. Next month, we will see the larger, 46 and 52 inchers. Unlike most gadgets at CES, Sharp was not focusing on thinness when they created these TV's. The prices for the TV's are $1,099, $1,299, $1,899, $2,299 and $2,599 USD. I think you should know what costs what.

To round off the current CES news, LG has announced a dozen of new HDTV's. There are 9 LCD's in between the 19 and 60 inch size range, with LED and TruMotion (240Hz) technology and "the wireless capabilities that are becoming all the rage" says Engadget. The other 3 are the LH50, PS80 and the almighty LHX slim LED-backlit TV. Let's talk about the LG LHX now. So, the LG LHX LED-backlit LCD TV (lots of capitalizing there) is officially the thinnest LED-backlit TV on the market. I won't force you to say the long name again but this TV will be a massive 55 inches. So, this TV will sport the 240Hz techonlogy and will be only 0.97 inches thick. LG is looking to be a strong competitor this year. So far, it seems that they are one-step above everyone else. It'll be nice to see if LG's sales increase again this year, just like they did from 2007 to 2008.

Samsung Blu-ray Decks (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5124091/samsung-bd+p36004600-super+slim-fine+looking-wall+friendly-blu+ray-decks
Asus Eee Keyboard (and picture): http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01/07/asus_eee_keyboard/
Samsung's 3 LCD's (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5124124/samsung-goes-full-led-backlight-with-series-6000-7000-and-8000-high+end-ultra+thin-lcds
Sharp's New Aquos (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5124135/sharps-aquos-bd-series-hdtvs-include-built+in-blu+ray-players
LG's Dozen HDTV's: http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/07/lg-kicks-out-a-dozen-hdtv-product-lines-at-ces-2009/
LG' LHX LCD TV's (and picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5125345/lg-led-lcds-are-official-lhx-is-thinnest-lcd-with-led-backlight-240hz-wireless-hdmi