Firsthand impressions outside the CES crucible are flowing in following the worldwide launch of Samsung’s new LCD 3DTVs. UK publications have gotten up close with production versions of the new HDTVs, TechRadar observed the Monsters vs. Aliens Blu-ray disc packed in with the new displays over there plus the 2D-to-3D conversion feature, reporting the latter worked better on sports footage of ice skaters but caused “disconcerting” effect on news broadcasts. A video preview from Which? (embedded after the break) gives a good look at the new remote and managed to clear up one of the early worries about new display by confirming the 3D effect continued to work even from a wide viewing angle. For those who have already pressed the buy button, taking advantage of that effect will of course require 3D glasses. While Samsung’s already promised multiple models a lone battery powered pair for adults has appeared for preorder on Vanns for $150, which despite the relatively reasonable cost of the displays could make group viewings very expensive for the early adopter. While that may not be out of the price range for some, we’ll keep an eye out for pricing info from the competition — and looking for cheaper 3rd party alternatives. Check out their impressions and decide for yourself how much a 3D World Cup experience is worth.

[Thanks, Dave]

Continue reading Samsung’s new 3DTVs get an early eyes-on, through $150 shutter glasses

Samsung’s new 3DTVs get an early eyes-on, through $150 shutter glasses originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Face it, folks — the days of windows being just windows are behind us. Before long, our panes will double as widget displays or makeshift televisions, and AIST has the prototype to prove it. The demonstration seems to utilize technology that’s far different than that seen in Samsung’s iceTouch PMP, but it’s certainly no less exciting. According to DigInfo, AIST is developing florescent glass suitable for excitation by near-UV LEDs, and by combining this [borosilicate] glass with LEDs, it’s possible to obtain transparent, flat light sources.” Better still, we’re told that the prevailing thought is that this here technology could be used to develop see-through displays as well as “light sources and displays that use solar cells without modification.” Anxious to see what a transparent LCD could do for you? Hop on past the break, mash play and let your imagination run absolutely wild.

Continue reading AIST shows off see-through display prototype on video

AIST shows off see-through display prototype on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want evidence for the old saying that there’s always something next to wait around for with technology? We’ve only just reviewed the most bodacious X200 Tablet from Lenovo, yet already there’s a capacitive multitouch display that promises to be that little bit better. LG’s in-cell multitouch technology places the touchy-feely parts inside — rather than as a film on top of — the LCD panel, which we’re told eliminates the loss of picture quality and brightness that regular multitouch results in. It only works with two fingers so far, but LG is still pretty pleased with itself for being the first to gain the Windows 7 Touch Logo sticker with this technology, which was previously limited to cellphone-sized displays. Mass production is set for the second half of this year, and we’ll go ahead and assume that local nemesis Samsung will be using every moment until then to offer its own competing models. Bring on the marginally better touchscreens! We’ve now got a video for you as well, you know where to find it.

Continue reading LG’s in-cell multitouch laptop displays get unveiled, certified with Windows 7 Touch Logo (video)

LG’s in-cell multitouch laptop displays get unveiled, certified with Windows 7 Touch Logo (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In 2009, Samsung’s shipments of flat panel TVs (plasmas and LCDs) rose 22.6%, making them the number one US supplier, moving 6.6 million televisions in all. But you know who grew way, way, way more? Vizio.

Between 2008 and 2009, Vizio nearly doubled their US sales, which grew 92.1% as the company sold 5.9 million TVs—that’s nearly one out of every five LCDs sold, or enough for them to claim the title as #1 in LCDs. It’s hard to imagine anything but Vizio’s complete market domination in the near future (even if they aren’t an undisputed leader in quality).

Interestingly enough, Toshiba had nearly as much growth as Vizio in the LCD industry (confirming my suspicions that I’d suddenly seen their name everywhere), but they own a modest 7.6% of the market share.

All of these figures are courtesy of iSuppli’s market analysis. So…do you have any TV brand loyalty? Or is it all about price?

Vizio Takes Lead in U.S. LCD-TV Market in 2009; Samsung Holds Flat-Panel Top Spot

El Segundo, Calif., February 22, 2010-Vizio Inc. became the leading LCD-TV brand in the United States in 2009, while Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. took the top spot in overall flat-panel television market for the year, according to iSuppli Corp.
U.S.-based Vizio’s LCD-TV shipments nearly doubled in 2009, rising to 5.9 million units, up 92.1 percent from 3.1 million in 2008. This vastly exceeded the 29 percent growth of the overall U.S. LCD-TV market for the year and represented the strongest growth among the Top-6 brands. Company market share rose to 18.7 percent for the year, up from 12.6 percent in 2008.
This gave U.S.-based Vizio the No.-1 rank in 2009, up from third place in 2008.
“Vizio continues to benefit from its strong brand recognition among U.S. consumers,” said Riddhi Patel, director, television systems and retail services for iSuppli. “The company already has established itself as the price leader in LCD-TVs. The company played to this strength in 2009 by offering attractive promotions to consumers. Furthermore, Vizio moved to make its LCD-TV products more competitive with premium brands, adding higher-end features such as LED backlights and Internet connectivity.”
Vizio led the U.S. LCD-TV market during every quarter of 2009, except for the third, when Samsung took the top spot due to the popularity of its LED-backlit sets.

Samsung tops in flat panel TV
Looking at the overall U.S. flat-panel television market, consisting of both LCD-TVs and plasma sets, South Korea’s Samsung retained leadership in 2009.
Samsung’s U.S. flat-panel television shipments rose to 6.6 million units in 2009, up 22.6 percent from 5.4 million units in 2008. The company ended 2009 with a market share of 18.4 percent, virtually unchanged from 18.5 percent in 2008.
“Samsung maintained its overall leadership in the U.S. flat panel television market due to the continued success of the LED-backlit LCD TVs and its strong price competitiveness in both value and premium TV segments,” Patel said.

Toshiba and Sony star in 2009
The second strongest performance among the Top-6 LCD-TV brands in the United States in 2009 was posted by Japan’s Toshiba Corp., which achieved a stunning 81.7 percent increase in unit shipments for the year. The company ended 2009 with a 7.6 percent share of unit shipments, up from 4.2 percent in 2008, giving it a fourth-place ranking for the year.
“Toshiba’s rise was due to its increased shipments of LCD TVs at aggressive price points, which are much closer to the value brands,” Patel said.
Sony Corp. of Japan was the best performer in the U.S. LCD TV market in the fourth quarter, with its share rising to 13.2 percent, up from 7.7 percent in the third quarter.
“Sony’s strong fourth-quarter performance mainly was driven by its aggressive pricing and promotions for the Christmas season,” Patel said. “Consumers were attracted by Sony’s bundled deals combining LCD TVs with PlayStation 3 video game consoles and Blu-ray players.”
Sony ranked third in the U.S. LCD-TV market both in the fourth quarter and for the entire year of 2009.
The attached tables present iSuppli’s Top-6 rankings for LCD-TV and flat-panel television in the United States for the fourth quarter and for all of 2009.

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Cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights are fast disappearing due to the more efficient and brighter LED swaggering onto the TV scene, but the Japanese company Sanken Electric claims its new CCFL technology is 60 per cent cheaper to produce.

Too little, too late for the unfashionable technology? Sanken reckons TVs perform just as well using two of its lamps as opposed to the six normally required. As production won’t start until this summer, it’s unlikely we won’t see them in TV sets for at least another year—and by then, LEDs will reign supreme. [Nikkei via CrunchGear]

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Samsung’s the biggest TV maker in the world. It beat Sony 4 years ago. But it’s getting even bigger. Soon it will pass 20 percent marketshare, which the WSJ points out is “a threshold not reached by any manufacturer since the earliest days of the industry more than 60 years ago.” Think about that.

Also interesting! Number two is LG. Together, today, they make over 30 percent of TVs. (They actually make the TVs, too, instead of outsourcing the crap out of components.) They’ll own more than a third of the market soon. Seoulpower. Korea is the new Japan. [WSJ]

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Over the last several months, Wired has been reimagined with depth and motion for tablets in a new digital product called Wired Reader. Here’s a demo of the experience, and it’s a definite feast for the eyes/fingertips.

Teaming with Adobe, Wired built this new rendition of their magazine (due this summer) through Air, which offers compatibility to both Android and Apple mobile platforms as well as Macs and PCs.

Well, sort of.

The catch, of course, is that while Wired Reader can be packaged into its own Air runtime app to load on the iPad, Apple doesn’t have to allow it (for reasons of security, stability or, well, whatever grumpy reasoning Apple comes up with). Also, the demo you see here is seamlessly smooth, and this fluidity is a huge flavor component to this visual candy. Whether or not the content will be so jitter-less on either the iPad or any stock Android tablet is still an unknown (especially as some iPad animations tended to stutter during our hands on, without any Air go-between).

Those caveats aside, I do think Wired Reader looks fairly exciting. So which magazine do you prefer, the paper version or the tablet version? [Wired via Business Insider]

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Feel like making your own 3D movie? That 3D camcorder and the bucket of blue paint alone won’t be enough — consider Panasonic’s new BT-3DL2550 3D production monitor. This 1920 x 1200 IPS display relies on an Xpol filter for the 3D magic through passive polarizing glasses (like the ones in the 3D cinemas; two pairs included), and sports two HD-SDI ports plus a DVI-D socket — both are for jacking your beastly video processing rigs, while the former also take direct feed from HD cameras. Little else is known about this professional Panny screen, but given the jaw-dropping $9,900 price we’d expect a pretty impressive stat sheet when it comes out in September.

Continue reading Panasonic launches BT-3DL2550 25.5-inch 3D IPS monitor, breaks your piggy bank

Panasonic launches BT-3DL2550 25.5-inch 3D IPS monitor, breaks your piggy bank originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wonder what it’s like to be Barbie? Well now you can get a better idea of what it’s like to be Barbie with the Barbie Video Girl Doll. The doll features a video camera built directly into Barbie’s necklace with a LCD video screen on her back, so you can record and view everything that Barbie’s seen and experienced. Let her ride on the handlebars of your bike and playback video directly on the LCD screen hidden under Barbie’s shirt on her back. Or you can plug a USB cable into Barbie herself and view your video masterpiece on the big screen like a TV or computer. Record videos up to 30 minutes long and even edit videos (add music and sound effects) on Barbie.com. The Barbie Video Girl Doll will cost around $50 and will be available in July 2010.

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Following the company’s 2010 Blu-ray player lineup, the first of this year’s 3D HDTVs from Samsung are available for preorder at a few internet retailers. The edge-lit LED and 1.1-inch thin C7000 series hits in 40- 46- and 55-inch sizes, with plenty of other features to go along with their 3D and 2D-to-3D conversion abilities. There’s access to Samsung Apps & Internet@TV, Skype, AllShare DLNA media streaming, and tweaks that promise to automatically adjust picture and sound for any content source, from a thumb drive to a Blu-ray player. Best pleasant surprise? Price. The UN46B7000 model we reviewed last year started with a $2,999 MSRP (currently down to $1,929 on Amazon), while this year’s UN46C7000 (shipping April 16) has a preorder price of $2,599. The 40- and 55-inch versions are similarly priced, at $1,999 and $3,299, respectively, though those necessary 3D glasses are left out of the package as an optional and as yet unpriced accessory that will likely eagerly claim any remaining room in your budget.

[Thanks, Jason]

Samsung’s 3D HDTVs arrive February 26, starting at just under $2,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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