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The New York Times today reports (free reg. req’d) two separate deals: Fujitsu is selling its LCD display manufacturing to LCD leader Sharp, and Matushita (known in the US as "Panasonic") is hooking up with Hitachi to jointly manufacture plasma displays. Bottom line here: prices are dropping too fast to go it alone if you aren’t dominating the field. -avi
Consolidation in the Display Business Read MoreFormer colleague Joe Wilcox notes that most computer brands are met with cognitive dissonance when they journey into consumer electronics. Joe is definitely on to something (though his observations are backed by admittedly anecdotal evidence — don’t you think that’s something you guys over at JupiterResearch should be testing empirically?) Another part of the problem, though, is that consumers are slow to fully understand the implications of digital technology – never mind convergence. (OK, I’m working with entirely anecdotal evidence here as well, but bear with me). When I meet new people and invite them to watch a movie in …
Is technology moving too fast for consumer acceptance? Read MoreI spent most of my time at CES focused on mobile devices, but did note a few overriding trends: The story of the show was definitely flat panels, which were everywhere. LG showed off a particularly interesting integrated plasma/HDTV tuner/DVR, and Samsung showed off a plasma so big you couldn’t get it down the stairs and into my basement even if you took out a second mortgage to pay for it. On the opposite end of the pricing spectrum, there were countless Asian importers with booths at the show displaying large LCD and plasmas at much lower prices. The other …
CES 2005: Trends Read MoreUEI launched the Nevo SL "Pronto killer" touch screen remote control here last night in Las Vegas, and it’s got two really interesting features: a better programming interface than Philips offers for the Pronto (not that that’s saying much – the Pronto programming environment is terrible), and built in WiFi. WiFi could be used for just about anything – the remote is based on a version of Windows Mobile – but at least initially the idea is to stream media from one PC to another. Now, that may seem a bit ahead of its time, but according to Current Analysis*, …
CES 2005: New Remote for Custom Installers Read MoreSBC preannounced their big CES news: a set top box that combines satellite TV programming, digital video recording, video on demand, and Internet content. There have been everything-but-the-kitchen-sink set top boxes before (anybody remember last CES? the year before that?), but I believe that this is significant for one reason: distribution. Most of the converged set top box dreams of years past are all about consumer technology value propositions: distributing content around the house, moving photos and music off the PC, and providing Internet access from the TV. That’s nice, but other than increased tech support calls, there’s little incentive …
CES 2005: You want convergence? Read MoreA blog quoting a Japanese source suggests that Toshiba is abandoning LCD and plasma and instead putting its display R&D into yet another display technology: SED. SED stands for Surface-Conduction Electron-emitter Display, which, if I understand it correctly – and I probably don’t – is an array of millions of tiny tube TV sets. Advantages include many of the same claims made for another technology working its way through the labs, OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode – don’t you just love these terms?): really really thin incredibly bright, sharp images more energy efficient than plasma a technology that [insert Korean …
SED: Time to memorize a new acronym? Read MoreHere’s an experiment/article that’s going to echo throughout the audiophile world and possibly hurt sales of high end accessories. The online magazine Secrets of Home Theater is renowned for taking a geeky enthusiast’s view of home theater and audio; they’re best known for publicizing the DVD chroma bug, an obscure problem in some DVD players that makes bright colors in certain scenes bleed slightly into the next color. (I like to think my reviews and articles for Secrets have been a bit more accessible). Lately, Jason Serinius has been writing glowing reviews of CD demagnetizers and aftermarket power cables for …
Secrets Debunks Its Own Review: No Audible Differences Among Power Cables Read MoreRTI makes complicated programmable remote controls, and they’ve hit upon a winning strategy – focus on their customers. Brilliant! (It should be obvious, right?) Well, there is a twist – one that many CE companies selling to the CEDIA (custom install) channel haven’t quite figured out: RTI’s customers are not end users, but the custom installers who buy the remotes and program them for the end users. The whole purpose of a custom programmed remote control is the programming, and this is an area where RTI can stand out (more on this later). Therefore, RTI announced online training earlier this …
RTI Focused on Dealer Training Read MoreThe New York Times today reviewed upsampling DVD players. What I found remarkable was the balance between making a somewhat difficult concept easy to understand for non-enthusiasts, while still being technically accurate. As a bonus, it was a reasonably vigorous review, and even offered clear conclusions. But this exception to the rule highlights just how bad a job the consumer electronics industry has done complicating the products and the jargon. Even efforts to simplify things on a practical and technical level come in acronym form with compatibility notes back to other acronyms (think HDMI and DVI). The industry as a …
NY Times Does the Impossible Read MoreI was wandering through IKEA yesterday and noticed that Philips appears to have an exclusive on all the A/V display props; an interesting product placement ploy. Even more interesting were the sheer number of plasmas sitting on top of $79 build-it-yourself furniture. Plasmas and LCDs may win on decor friendliness, but not on budget, where microdisplays offer a reasonable compromise between the size of the unit and the size of your wallet. Usually, microdisplays means DLP or LCD, but I’ve always been a fan of LCOS, which can offer the resolution of a digital technology and the fatigue-free experience of …
TI Taking Over Where Intel Left Off? Read More