The latest R200 Notebook PC has been finally unveiled in India. This notebook PC is meant for use by the high-end home segment. The device sports a unique look and comprises of path-breaking technologies.

One of the innovations used in this PC is Sideshow. This lends greater convenience in listening to music, seeing slideshows or accessing e-mail in Windows. No extra booting of the system is required for the operation of Sideshow, thereby adding to its user-friendliness.

The R200 Notebook PC sports an original piano black design. Red touch sensitive buttons are provided on a black and glossy background, lending the PC a stylish and classy appearance. The users can also have the pleasure of playing the latest popular games ( featuring DirectX 10). HD movies can also be played in this notebook PC. The all-new audio technology for superior cinema-quality is provided in this device, along with the capability of virtual surround sound enhancement.

At the launch of the R200, the Head of the Business Group in IT Divison, R.Manikandan commented,

We strive to create new and innovative products that allow people to give the customer delight. We at LG believe that R200 model laptop will revolutionize the way people perceive technology.

The LG R200 Notebook PC has been launched in India at an introductory price of Rs. 79,990, and surely promises to be a device of unmatched utility and performance.

source:techgadgets

Dubbed as UBA 2074, the inverter controller IC is the first major fluorescent backlight controller. It can directly maintain upto 550V supplied full bridges on LCD TV integrated power boards.

NXP has also developed UBA 2074’s low-voltage twin, the UBA 2072. It can run over a wide low voltage inverter supply, say 9V to 30V. Thus, it can be highly useful in LCD monitors LIPS structures and 24Volt supplied LCD-TV backlight inverters. Its features are more or less similar to that of UBA 207A, which can be used for both medium and high-voltage applications.

The hard switch protection-enabled UBA207A is useful for 155V to 400V full bridge, high-voltage backlight applications, while the UBA207A that does not have hard switch protection system is useful for 60V full bridge or medium-voltage backlight applications.

The price of UBA2072 is around $ 0.65 per piece. It is $ 0.70 per piece for the UBA2074. Both are available now.

Image: Ecnmag

Via: Eetasia

The Wooo UT series announced in Japan on Tuesday morning has several outstanding features.

• It will have a pair of 1080p sets measuring 42 to 37 inches with lowly 32-incher throttling things back to a 1,366x 768-pixel resolution.
• A single HDMI input
• D-sub 15 analog in for your legacy PC
• At least a 450cd per square meter brightness
• 178 degree viewing angle
• 120Hz IPS panel wrapped in a bezel just 35 mm thick

If anybody wants to know why just a single HDMI then the answer is Hitachi has moved the tuner into an external Wooo Station box with 3 x HDMI inputs, SD slot, removable iVDR-s storage, LAN and optional UWB module for up to 9 meters of wireless delivery.

The V-42 priced at $3,753 is expected to be ready in April next year, the V-37 priced at $2,880 and V-32 priced at $2,007 is expected by February and mid-December respectively.

Source:engadget.com
Image:images.tomshardware.com

The plasma manufacturers are not doing well. With the recent boom in LCD screens, plasma manufacturers are fast loosing ground. The recent decline in plasma screen price tags will also see a revenue decline over the year.

Back in February (this year), unit sales recorded a $181 million. This is a 16% drop since February ‘06. According to iSuppli, the Plasma sales will top out to be $10.2 million.However, they predict that the figures will nose dive after topping out with serious competition from LCD industry. The revenue will start to fall. Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for The NPD Group said:

We’ll likely continue to see average prices continue to drop, but the market still has quite a bit of upside left to it.

The current industry boost is mostly due to the healthy competition between all the panel makers. More efficient manufacturing processes as well as lower costs for materials, are couple of other factors that have boosted the plasma industry.

The biggest manufacturers of the plasma screen like Matsushita and LG recorded pretty good sales figures during the first quarter of this year. Yet another screen maker Samsung SDI is going pretty strong.

As far as I know, various factors contribute to the rise or drop in sales. It’s not always about ratcheting up the screen size or attractive discounts. Plasma manufacturers are always finding new ways to add more features and charge higher prices.

Image Credits: Tsunami conference

Taiwanese researchers have developed an LCD screen, which knows where the viewer is and automatically adjusts itself to provide better images. Chih-Nan in cooperation with Wayne Cheng has developed the screen at the Photonics and Display Institute, National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. So far, the researchers have developed a prototype display, which connects to a miniature camera that tracks the location of a viewer.

Software then adjusts the liquid crystals within the display to produce the clearest possible image. The new technique stops the problem of seeing a blurry or distorted image, if you view an LCD screen from an angle. The LCD screen includes tiny valves and Miniature camera.

Tiny valves: The brightness of each pixel in an LCD is controlled by altering the angle of the liquid crystals held between two polarising elements. These crystals act like tiny valves, which effectively alter the viewing angle of these crystals. Thus it reduces the brightness and contrast of a pixel and also distorts the clarity and colors of an overall image.

Miniature camera: The prototype device uses software, which tracks the location of the viewer. The orientation of liquid crystals in the display and the power fed to light emitting diodes behind each and then adjusted to provide the best image.

According to Wayne Cheng, viewing angle is an inherent and fundamental problem for the LCD due to its working principle. Now researchers are working on infrared sensor, which tracks a users by the position of their eyes.

Image Credit: Tech Fresh

Via: Engadget

Unlike LCDs backlit with the traditional fluorescent lamp, this biggie dims darker areas in the picture to enhance the contrast. And if you are keen to learn about other features, here we go! the HDTV has a 1080 pixel resolution and HDMI 1.3 inputs.

The pricing for the colossus has not been disclosed yet. We just hope it is not as big as the size of the TV.

Via: scifi

Previously the same company GNPC released a 70 inch TV monitor in Korea. It seems like GNPC is going big. Here’s more on the features of the all in one GNPC.

The Samsung 70 inch screen will have a great LCD display and a 8000:1 contrast. This is meant mostly for commercial use. The screen is packed with a 8ms response. It also has a 700 cd/m2 brightness. There is no word on the price or further specifications in the market.

The only negative thing I can say about this product is the XP error messages on the screen. I am pretty sure if you show an erroneous product during a product launch, customers won’t be very happy.

If GNPC is releasing a product with error messages on screen, who knows what kind of stuff they are making. This might be something very trivial. Still, that message is what bugs the customers. Other than that, it looks like a good all in one touch screen for corporates.

Image Credit: Engadget

‘Old is gold’, they say. Not necessarily, at least in the gadget-world. Who would ever want to buy a DVD Player that has just the solo function of playing DVDs? In that case, as a company, you would want to include additional functions to entice buyers. However, not all companies reflect this mindset when they release DVD players. For once, you have a company that does.

So, when you look at Evergreen’s (truly evergreen with its ideas) EG-D330H, you would be a victim of the ‘wow’ factor. And you would want to blame Evergreen for that because it has gone the extra mile to incorporate technologies like HDMI and DVD-Upscale to play DivX, XviD, Mpeg-4 and MP3 files. In addition to these, the company has also equipped the player with USB and SD slots, so that you can play files directly from your portable devices. Kudos to Evergreen for this valiant effort.

Via: akihabaranews

The LS series of half-donut bottomed TVs comprise the 17″ LS5R, the 19″ LS4R, the 20″ LS3R, and the 22″ LS4R. The stylish quartet come in different designs and color base variations (now thata’s going the extra mile). However, the beauty crown goes to the LS3R, which sports a aFantasya’ styled glowing red pedestal.

All the four LCD TVs are HD ready, with three of them (22LS4R, 19LS4R and 20LS3R) equipped with XD Engine Image Processor for better picture quality and resolution in areas like brightness, color and contrast. All the TVs feature an aspect ratio of 16:9, an analog tuner, enhanced noise reduction, a sleep timer, and dynamic 1 Way 2 speakers.

These feature-rich TVs will be available in the UK sometime this month. The price hasna’t been disclosed, though. Donut TVs, anybody?

Via: ubergizmo, pocket-lint

This smart and sleek monitor also offers 1.3 mega pixel rotary webcam, 3 USB ports, mic, headphone jacks, VGA and DVI inputs whereas the control panel on its face is embedded with touch sensitive backlit in five different color buttons and offers you to select from five stipulated sound and light styles.

The PG221 other specs comprises 1680×1050 native resolution, 2ms response time, 350cd/m² brightness, and 2000:1 contrast.

No info about price and availability but it seems that it will hit our shelves with some heavy price tag.

Via: Ohgizmo

If you are the kind of individual who loves streaming videos by connecting it to your Plasma TV or your laptop, then I have good news for you. Monsoon has come up with HAVA Gold and Platinum HD media hubs, which does exactly that.

Although, many people are seeing these devices as a substitute for Slingbox but this is certainly not the case because these media hubs contain a unique multicast system, which has ability to stream DVD-quality videos in MPEG-2 form. What’s more, you can share video to multiple locations without diminishing the quality of the image.

To give you the top-notch quality, online video is streamed with the assistance of MPEG-4. The best part about these media hubs is that they can accept number of inputs at once. Talking about price, you can get the Gold version for around $130 while the price of the platinum version is $160.

Electronista

I was wondering if it was time for festival discounts. However, my joy was short-lived. The blip in the radar is that the receipt for the TV was not original. The guy in question attempted to deceive store security by producing a fake receipt. Quite ingeniously executed, I must say. He bought a TV at a store in West Monroe and while paying for the TV in the second store, he switched the new TV’s tag with a tag from a smaller, cheaper product. To ensure that his plan is fool-proof, he produced the receipt of the TV purchased earlier. However, he didn’t land on the lucky side of the street. He was apprehended and charged for felony theft.

Although the culprit has been apprehended, the issue has raised concerns over the credibility of self-checkout transactions in big shopping centers. Since the product here is not inconspicuous, the plan fell-through. However, for smaller products, there are possibilities that criminals might get away. This has definitely got me thinking!

Via: cnet

Yes, you read that right. Sony has officially announced an ad campaign to explain how visually impaired can enjoy their Bravia HDTVs. Well, they won’t let blind see the screen in actual but will enable the the blinds to get a better experience of what is going on during the show.

A Sony’s official cited that the entire Sony Bravia television range now provides access to Audio Description (AD) as standard which, in combination with a commitment to raise awareness of AD, aims to increase the number of programmes, broadcasters and television manufacturers that offer the service.

Technically, Audio Description (AD) is an added narrative soundtrack for blind or partially sighted people. A voice elucidates visual plot points during the breaks in the dialogs that let the visually impaired get a feel of what is going on.

All the upcoming Sony Bravia TVs will comprise Integrated Digital Television (IDTV), and will enjoy AD without the need for an additional decoder.

Via: Akihabara

Sharp is now revamping its much popular Aquos G series LCD TVs. There will be 16 new models in total, with sizes ranging from 26 inches to 52 inches. While the lower end models will feature a 1366-786 resolution with 60Hz panels, the higher end models will be equipped with 120Hz Full HD panels. The company claims to have increased the color range adding a fourth wavelength lamp to the backlighting. Boasting the same sleek black and silver looks, the new panels will integrate an array of inputs such as 3 HDMI ports. The lower end 26-inch TV will cost $1,460 while the high end 52-inch model will set you back $4,462. All sets are available in Japan only for the moment but we might see these upgraded models on the US shelves later this year.

Via: AVguide

Samsung has unveiled a 57″ LCD monitor manufactured specially for use as a computer monitor. This monitor that is reportedly targeting the medical market, is claimed to be the largest monitor in its class. It will not be suitable for use as a television monitor as it uses a different panel technology.

The Samsung 57″ LCD display features a high resolution of 1920X1080 and a contrast ratio of 1000:1. Samsung has always been a forerunner in the industry when it comes to big screen LCDs. This monitor shows off features such as 600 candela per square meter brightness level, a response time of 8-millisecond and 75 percent color reproduction. It weighs 47 pounds and consumes a maximum power of 350 Watts.

The company has not disclosed any price estimates. My guess - the price will be as big as the monitor.

Image: ubergizmo

More: pcworld