Hitachi, Canon, Panasonic tie in flat-panel displays
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Hitachi, Canon and Panasonic have agreed to a wide-ranging collaboration that will see the three companies share the cost, burden and benefits of development and production of flat-panel displays.The move comes hot on the heels of a tie-up announced last week between Toshiba and Sharp and continues a major realignment in the fast-moving industry.Under the terms of the initial agreement Canon and Panasonic will each buy a 24.9 percent stake in Hitachi Displays, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi that already makes small and medium size LCD (liquid crystal display) panels. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed before March 31, 2008.Hitachi said it hopes to accelerate the development of cutting-edge LCD technology through the alliance, which was announced on Tuesday. Competition in the flat-panel display industry is fierce and there is constant pressure on manufacturers to invest in new and efficient production technology to keep prices low and their screens technologically competitive. However a new LCD plant can easily cost US$1 billion [b] or more so companies are increasingly working together to share the costs.Meanwhile Canon said it hopes to shorten development time and gain a stable supply of LCD panels for its range of digital single-lens reflex cameras. It also hopes to develop new types of displays that can be used in its information management products.Panasonic, which has invested heavily in PDP (plasma display panel) technology for large-size flat-panel TVs and displays, will invest in a new production line at IPS Alpha Technology. The company is a joint-venture in which Canon and Toshiba also hold stakes although Toshiba is understood to be in talks concerning its exit from the venture. The new production line will help ensure a stable supply of medium-size LCD panels for Panasonic&#39;s TV up to about 40-inches in screen size, above which it uses PDPs.The wide-ranging collaboration and cooperation announced Tuesday is the first step of a series of planned moves that will eventually have Canon take control of Hitachi Displays and Panasonic take control of IPS Alpha Technology, the three companies said.In addition to the LCD alliance, Canon and Hitachi plan to work together on development of OLED (organic light emitting diode) displays. OLED is a fundamentally different technology from LCD and PDP and has been under development by many display makers for several years. It&#39;s viewed by some as a potential replacement for LCD technology because it provides a brighter and richer picture but a lot of work remains before it can be produced in sufficient volume and at a low enough price to compete with LCD.The world&#39;s first commercial OLED TV recently went on sale in Japan. Sony&#39;s XEL-1 has an 11-inch screen and is just 3-millimeters thick -- another advantage of OLED because a backlight unit isn&#39;t required -- but comes with an equally impressive &#165;200,000 (US$1,750) price tag.Last week Toshiba and Sharp announced plans to work together in the flat-panel display business. Toshiba will buy from Sharp screens for its 32-inch and larger TV sets while Sharp will buy from Toshiba the chips used in its TVs. The cooperation will begin from April next year and will slowly build towards 2010 when two goals are expected to be reached: Sharp will supply Toshiba with 40 percent of its LCD modules and Toshiba will sell to Sharp 50 percent of the chips it needs, they said.Sony and Samsung Electronics have been cooperating in LCD panel production for sometime and jointly own S-LCD, a manufacturer of cutting-edge LCD panels based in South Korea.&#160;
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From cell phones and personal media players to LCDs with built-in DVD players, here's a look at what's hot at CES.
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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... It's with much anticipation that I say this. I have a new product that may be familiar to those of you who used Radio 8, and in other ways may be completely new.  The idea is simple.  There's a convergence between big screen high-definition televisions, and photography as an Internet based activity. The purpose of this product is to smooth that convergence, to make it easy to set up a connection between the Internet and your television. To allow photography to come into your living room in new, powerful and easy ways. Think of it as the networked living room and you'll understand the vision. Some of the work I've done is technical, some is user interface, and some is working with media organizations to try to create a comfort level, or at least a spirit of Let's Give This A Try. In the latter case, it's much like working with the NY Times to get their news headlines and summaries to flow through Radio's RSS aggregator in 2002. Only this time we're working with photographs, and we think, the best news photographers in the world. And the pictures are beautifully high-def, they look really great when displayed on LCD and plasma screens. I use it with my 52-inch Samsung and 46-inch Sony. Of course what looks great on a wall, also looks great on a 15-inch Macbook or 24-inch iMac.   And while we connect those pros with your TV, it's equally important that we connect your friends and families too. One of the early testers found the pictures that Doc Searls uploads to Flickr a great revelation. Me too. That's because Doc is not only a great photographer, he's also a great story-teller. I find that I can follow the lives of far more friends visually than I can through text messages (which I love to do too!). Viewing great photos on bigscreen TVs, desktops and laptops -- that's one focus, but not the only one.  I wanted to provide a complete two-way tool for people who love Flickr, as I do.  Why Flickr? Well, they've got this great thing called an API. It makes it possible for people like me to make software that runs on a desktop computer that does things like automatically backing up your new photos every night, and providing a drop-folder on your desktop for quick uploads. (It understands tags too, it's incredibly simple.) We also made it easy to post pictures you like to Twitter. Why Twitter? It's that API thing again. They made it easy for us to love them. I wish more network service developers understood how powerful this outstretched hand is.  But that's not all! Not by a long shot. The reason all this will be so familiar to Radio 8 users is that it builds on the same engine, the one that was released as open source in 2004. So I've been working on other tools to drop into this base platform and once we have a good-sized base of people using it for "really simple photos" on the desktop, there will be other tools. And because it's an open platform, other developers can do the same. Not saying they will, but they can.  Anyway, I'm in the last stages, preparing the download site, and a FAQ, and tweaking the installer. One caveat, the first beta release is Mac only. That's because I'm doing all my work on the Mac, and this is a one-man show. Later we will work it out for Windows too, and with a bit more work and a bit more luck, for Linux.  It should be ready before the sun goes down today.
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Japanese technology companies Canon and Toshiba said Tuesday that they would invest $1.82 billion in a joint venture to manufacture advanced flat panel displays.
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Blog: For those happy to cede initiative to the camera, a trio of new Panasonic compact models offers to automatically select scene types such as portrait or macro.
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(InfoWorld) - As in previous years, the IFA international consumer electronics show in Berlin has been a platform for manufacturers to launch innovative gadgets aimed at tech-savvy consumers. This year's event, which runs through Wednesday, is no exception. Texas Instruments Inc. introduced an enhancement to its DLP (digital light processing) projection technology that enables HDTV sets to display 3D (three-dimensional) images. Viewers, however, need to wear special "shuttered" glasses that allow each eye to see only alternate images. Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV demonstrated a 42-inch 3D display that can be viewed without special glasses. The prototype is equipped with a dual-mode control that allows users to display HD content in both 3D and 2D formats on the LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. DisplayLink Corp. showed how its network display system can be used to connect up to three wide-screen HD monitors to a single PC over a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 connection. The ability to connect up to six monitors is planned, the company said. Digital photo frames appear to be in demand, judging by the number of new products unveiled at IFA. Toshiba Corp. launched the seven-inch DPF7XSE digital photo and video frame. The aluminium plate frame contains an 800 x 480 pixel display that can show MPEG-4 and DivX video files or photos accompanied by sound from MP3 or WMA audio files played through a pair of one-watt speakers. It is also equipped with 256M byte of internal flash memory, a USB 2.0 port and a multi-format card reader. Philips showed seven- and ten-inch digital photo frames powered by integrated rechargeable batteries. The frames have USB ports and slots for an array of cards formats, including SD (Secure Digital), Compact Flash, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo. Parrot SA's DF7220 digital photo frame can display pictures transferred by card, USB or via a Bluetooth wireless connection. Sandisk Corp. unveiled several new memory cards in Berlin, including a 4G-byte Ultra II SDHC Plus card and the 8G-byte Ultra II Memory Stick Pro Duo, featuring read and write speeds of up to 10M bits per second. The SDHC card will retail for around $80 and the Memory Stick for $160. Worldwide availability is planned for October. For mobile phones such as those from Sony-Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Sandisk announced an 8G-byte Memory Stick Micro (M2) card. It has begun shipping the card to phone manufacturers and mobile phone network operators for evaluation, and plans to sell it in the fourth quarter. Pricing has not yet been determined. For mobile phone users who need to use two different mobile phone networks, Matsunichi Communication Holding Ltd. in Hong Kong unveiled a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phone equipped with two SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) slots. Both can be active at the same time: dual-SIM adapters for other phones simply select one of two SIMs each time the phone is powered off and on again. The D620 also comes with features found in most higher end phones, such as a camera and media player. For consumers on the go, Philips introduced a new range of slim rechargeable power packs to power up MP3 players, notebook computers and other portable devices. The Power2Charge line of chargers, which use USB (Universal Serial Bus) sockets to connect the devices, can provide up to 15 hours of portable power for applications up to 5 volts. The chargers are designed with folding plugs and LED (light-emitting diode) indicators. The Power2Go range includes a charger that can provide 60 hours of backup power for applications up to 20 volts.
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Japanese technology companies Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corp. said on Tuesday they would invest &#36;1.82 billion in a joint venture to manufacture advanced flat panel displays.
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You could sum up the state of TV at the International Consumer Electronics Show this way: New delivery methods will let people watch pretty much anything, anytime, on gorgeous flat-panel displays.
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Latest camcorders enable users to record on formats ranging from mini-DVDs to memory cards to hard drives. With Hitachi, users get all three.
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Japanese technology companies Canon Inc.  and Toshiba Corp. said on Tuesday they would invest $1.82  billion in a joint venture to manufacture advanced flat panel  displays.
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CHIBA, Japan  - Canon 7751.T and Toshiba   6502.T said on Tuesday they would start mass production of   ultra-thin flat-panel TVs in early 2008, entering a market   dominated by makers such as Matsushita Electric Industrial   6752.T and Samsung Eletronics 005930.KS.
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Two of the world's biggest flat-panel display makers unveiled flexible full-color displays this week.
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(InfoWorld) - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.Â (Panasonic) and HitachiÂ have agreed to mutually supply PDP (plasma display panel) screens to each other as part of a deal reached to help boost profits in the competitive business area. Panasonic will start to supply Hitachi with 103-inch plasma panels this year and Hitachi will supply 85-inch panels to Panasonic from 2008, they said in a statement. The deal means that each company will be able to offer TV sets in each screen size without producing both size panels themselves. The relationship should also mean a stable supply of panels. While Panasonic and Hitachi compete on the shop floor for consumer PDP TV sales they have been working together behind the scenes on PDP research, development and production since 2006. The PDP industry is coming under increasing pressure from manufacturers of competing LCD (liquid crystal display) technology and that's pushing down prices and shaving profits. Deals like that announced on Thursday are intended to help keep the business profitable. The competition is being felt through the entire PDP industry. Last week South Korea's LG Electronics said it willÂ cut back production of PDP screensÂ by closing the oldest of its three plants but not increasing production at its other two factories to compensate. As a result, monthly capacity will drop from 430,000 panels to 360,000 panels. In JanuaryÂ Pioneer put plans to build a new PDP factory on hold. It blamed poor sales in the U.S. over the year-end holidays for the decision. In the first quarter of 2007 shipments of PDP panels fell 1 percent compared to the same period last year -- the first time the industry has seen a year-on-year decline, according to DisplaySearch. The drop was attributed to a loss of market share to LCDs at screen sizes over 37 inches. Total PDP shipments in the first quarter were 2.3 million, the industry researcher said. Â
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Sharp shows off new developments in its screen technology at this week's Ceatec consumer-products trade fair in Japan.
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Asustek and MSI have announced notebooks with Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD drives and HDMI connections that let them hook up to HDTVs.
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Wega TVs, Vaio systems, DVD recorders and camcorder highlight HD product lineup.
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Panasonic on Monday announced it was dabbling with technology that makes walls interactive, adding &quot;larger-than-life technology&quot; to home interiors.The company is looking to use screens and cameras to create virtual environments on walls. Users will be able to customize wall space on the fly, said Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks, a division of Panasonic, during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.In a demonstration, facial recognition technology on the wall automatically recognized a human passing by and started a TV program on a flat-screen TV.But for now, Panasonic seems to be focusing more on improving the interactive experience with a TV.During the keynote, Sakamoto announced alliances with Comcast and YouTube that will allow TV users to get better access to multimedia via the Web and cable service.Panasonic&#39;s alliance with YouTube will provide users with one-click access to browse, find, and view YouTube videos on TVs, said YouTube co-founder and chief technology officer Steve Chen. YouTube is working with Panasonic to deliver a better interface, Chen said.Panasonic also announced a tie-up with Picasa for users to view pictures from the Picasa digital imaging site on a television.Access to Internet-based multimedia services will be enabled by Panasonic&#39;s Viera Cast wireless networking features incorporated in Panasonic&#39;s Viera line of high-definition TVs, Sakamoto said.Panasonic and cable company Comcast worked together to develop Tru2way technology, which improves access to Comcast&#39;s cable service. Users will get direct access to live broadcast feeds, video-on-demand, and high-definition sports content. The Tru2way technology will be built into Panasonic TVs or be available as cable boxes, said Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast.A portable digital video recorder, Anyplay P-DVR Model TZ-LC100, jointly developed by Panasonic for Comcast, will be among the first to incorporate Tru2way technology. Combining DVR functionality in a portable DVD player, the system has a folding 8.5-inch LCD screen that can be used to watch recorded movies and programs. When placed on a docking station, the system becomes a DVR and records up to 60 hours of programs that can be viewed on the Panasonic TV. Panasonic officials couldn&#39;t provide pricing information, but said the product will ship in 2009.