LAS VEGAS -- Samsung is taking its Internet TV menu to the next level with the addition of content from YouTube and Yahoo on its new Series 7000 and 8000 Luxia TVs. Last year’s InfoLink TVs, and the 2009 Series 6000 TVs offer text-based RSS feeds for news, weather and stock quotes. The new Internet@TV found in Series 7000 and 8000 builds on InfoLink by adding Web-based video to change the passive relationship consumers have with TV to an interactive one. Additional features include USB 2.0 movie and wireless DLNA capability. The Web content is powered by Yahoo’s widget platform that positions widgets across the bottom of the screen, including auction content from eBay, photosharing from Flickr and news from Yahoo. The content will be expanded to include social networking, streaming media and full-length movies, according to Tim Baxter, executive vice president of sales and marketing. The open-source platform will be available to third-party developers to create additional widgets. In Blu- ray, Samsung unveiled three standalone players and three home theater systems. The flagship BDP-4600 includes BD-Live compatibility, is Wi-Fi-ready and includes a wireless dongle that provides connectivity to Netflix and Pandora.
LAS VEGAS -- Netgear is hoping to steal some of TV makers’ Internet thunder with a videocassette-sized set-top box designed to bring Web-based TV to the mainstream market, the company said at a pre-CES news conference Wednesday. Netgear would “love to see” its $199 set top in the TV aisles of the top CE chains when it ships this summer, said Vivek Pathela, vice president and general manager of Netgear’s home and consumer products division.
LAS VEGAS -- After the market was teased with reports last month that Sharp would bow two 32- and 42-inch LCD TV/Blu-ray combos, Sharp used its pre-CES news conference Wednesday to take the wraps off a full range of products in that nascent category. Ranging in size from 32 to 52 inches, the TV portions of the combos boast Sharp’s latest 1080p LCD panel superlucent technology, called Advanced Super View (ASV), which is said to reduce screen reflections.
LAS VEGAS -- Netgear is hoping to steal some of TV makers’ Internet thunder with a videocassette-sized set-top box designed to bring Web-based TV to the mainstream market, the company said at a pre-CES news conference Wednesday. Netgear would “love to see” its $199 set top in the TV aisles of the top CE chains when it ships this summer, said Vivek Pathela, vice president and general manager of Netgear’s home and consumer products division.
When the annual Future of TV conference was held seven years ago, talk centered around reality TV, global issues and interactivity. At this year’s event, which opened Tuesday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan, the focus is on revenue challenges, Internet video, TiVo, and yes, interactivity.
When the annual Future of TV conference was held seven years ago, talk centered around reality TV, global issues and interactivity. At this year’s event, which opened Tuesday at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan, the focus is on revenue challenges, Internet video, TiVo, and yes, interactivity.
Sixty-plus members of the Polk Audio Internet Forum from all over trekked last week to the supplier’s home city of Baltimore for the fifth annual Polkfest, a celebration of all things Polk and audio. Polkfest began in 2003 as a Dallas event that 43,000-member online community Club Polk organized without the supplier’s knowledge. Russ Gates, who hosted the first Polkfest at his Dallas home, said the event is about “fellowship and the fun of seeing everybody.” Members bring speakers and electronics for impromptu demos. Sales and swaps often occur, but the event is mainly about face time with kindred spirits, Gates and others said. Bostonian Cathy Frizzel and her brother, Mark Poindexter, of Washington, used Polkfest for a mini-family reunion, though it was love of speakers that drew them to Baltimore for the weekend, they said. Founder Matthew Polk asked members for a show of hands to gauge their love of traditional audio equipment. About 10 said they own high-end turntables, with a few even owning tube preamps. “We're living in interesting times,” Polk said. “We've made it way too complicated as an industry. Our mission is to put good sound in the homes of anyone who loves music.”
DENVER -- Digeo, which underwent a shift in its Moxi set-top box platform earlier this year, will deploy a new HD DVR box through Charter Communications this month, executives said Friday at the CEDIA Expo. A second box is soon to follow, said Digeo CEO Greg Gudorf.
DENVER -- Panasonic will have tru2way TVs on the market before the holiday selling season, said Senior Vice President Robert Perry. Speaking Wednesday to reporters at CEDIA, he said the OCAP-compliant TVs will deliver all cable services without a set-top box. On-demand video, pay-per-view and the ability to order services will be among the offerings.
Panasonic will have tru2way TVs on the market before the holiday selling season, said Senior Vice President Robert Perry. Speaking Wednesday to reporters at CEDIA in Denver, he said the OCAP-compliant TVs will deliver all cable services without a set-top box. On-demand video, pay-per- view and the ability to order services will be among the offerings. Perry described tru2way as providing the “Holy Grail in the television business: TVs that connect directly to the cable system and make all content from cable system available on TV without a box.” Panasonic has worked with CableLabs on the technology. With tru2way, the cable industry is opening its digital video interface for innovation and development, said Dick Green, president of CableLabs. “It’s truly an open standard, is Java-based and uses the same API sets as Blu-ray,” he said. “All the cable operators in the U.S. have adopted this as their technology, which means all the cable systems throughout the country work on a common interface, and all the MSOs are upgrading their systems to support this.”