Sharp Bows 70-inch Quattron 3D TV, Plans Tablet PC for Second Half 2011
LAS VEGAS -- Sharp came to CES showing some of its largest and smallest LCD-based devices to date, bowing its first 70-inch LCD TV and a tablet PC that’s currently available in Japan in 5.5- and 10.8-inch screen sizes. Few details were available for the Galapagos tablet PC that will be introduced in the U.S. during second half 2011. The Japanese tablets operate on the Linux operating system but OS, processor, screen size, price and availability haven’t been set for the U.S. market, said Bob Scaglione, chief marketing officer.
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The company’s LCD manufacturing resources give it the ability to adapt other screen sizes for the U.S. market, Scaglione said. Current plans call for a Wi-Fi version and Sharp is still studying plans for 3G, he said. Sharp has a joint venture with aggregators in Japan for content including books, magazines newspapers and videos, he said, and the company plans the same strategy for the U.S. market.
The tablet uses Sharp’s XMDF (ever-eXtending Mobile Document Format), which the company says enables “easy viewing of digital content” in a variety of layouts. Content will be available in the e-Pub format. The company plans more categories in the future, including video and e-commerce, and to offer “enhanced connectivity” between Sharp TVs and smartphones. Users will be able to control content from the tablet and future applications will include home control, education, medical and e-commerce, Scaglione said.
Sharp’s first 70-inch LCD TV, due in stores in May, is a Quattron LED-based edge-lit model with a 120Hz refresh rate, the company said. Following the LC-70LE732U, additional 70-inch models, which are being manufactured at the company’s 10G Sakai City plant, will include a 2D-only backlit version due in spring and a 240Hz 3D model coming later in the year. John Herrington, president of Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America, said the five 70-inch models and six 60-inch models the company will roll out in 2011 represent the company’s “most comprehensive large-screen offering ever."
Additional Quattron TVs for 2011 include the LE835U series covering 60-, 52-, 46- and 40-inch screen sizes, the company said. Due in stores next month, the 835 series packs X-Gen LCD panels and Sharp’s Quad Pixel technology that’s said to allow more light to pass through to the panel for a brighter 3D picture. The 40-60-inch TVs use 240Hz refresh rates, the company said. All 835 models sport four HDMI inputs and built-in Wi-Fi for access to services including Pandora, Twitter, Flickr, Netflix, Vudu and CinemaNow, Sharp said. That’s along with Sharp’s Aquos Advantage Live customer service feature that lets technicians remotely access a customer’s TV.
Sharp also launched the Aquos Quattron LE830U series in 60-, 52-, 46- and 40-inch sizes, with built-in Wi-Fi, four HDMI inputs and access to Netflix, Vudu and CinemaNow, it said. The four models are slated for March. The company’s XV-Z17000 DLP projector, a 3D model first announced at CEDIA in September, will ship next month at $4,999, the company said. The projector comes with two pairs of active-shutter glasses that can be set for 2D or 3D viewing. Sharp’s other 2011 3D TVs, all active-shutter models, will not ship with glasses, said Bruce Tripido, associate vice president of marketing. He said all Sharp 3D TVs for 2011 will be active-shutter models, but the company is studying other 3D TV designs for the future including autostereoscopic and passive.