Japanese mobile TV fans will have some new content to play with today, but only if they find a friend to enjoy it with. Pair Movie is a new drama series intended to be viewed on two cellphones held side by side; the different characters are displayed on the different screens, with the handsets synchronizing the footage via the infrared ports.
From one MID to another; the dmedia G400 may not boast quite the range of wireless technologies as the UMID MID (WiBro being the obvious omission) but with WiMAX present that’s still more 4G capability than many people have the coverage for. With a choice of 3.8 or 4.3-inch WVGA touchscreens, GPS, WiFi, HSDPA and Bluetooth, the G400 errs on the side of media functionality rather than trying to put a tiny version of your office in your pocket.
When the iPhone first came out, many pundits suggested it would be pretty much ignored in Japan where high-tech mobile devices are commonplace. That, of course, ignored the legendary Apple lust-factor, and the sheer usability of the handset; however, it’s proved tricky to ween the Japanese public off their feature-overload, and so, caving to public demand, carrier Softbank have announced a 1-Seg TV tuner for the iPhone 3G.
The International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) 2008 kicked off in Korea yesterday, and both Samsung and LG Display brought along their latest OLED-based displays for a little screen-quality sparring. LG tried valiantly, with their 19-inch OLED panel, but Samsung’s smaller, 14-inch panel fought back with the lower power-requirements of AMOLED while their larger 31-inch full-HD panel won the war of inches.
Sega are apparently planning a return to the hardware market, in the shape of the Sega Vision gaming PMP. Equipped with a built-in TV tuner, audio and video player, digital camera with video recording functionality and, of course, the ability to play games (of an unspecified format), according to Sega the Vision is set to launch in the UK sometime next year.
Video of the Sega device after the cut
Cowon have announced European pricing for their O2 media player, announced at IFA 2008 and set to launch in November 2008. The O2 has a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 touchscreen, T-DMB digital TV tuner and 8, 16 or 32GB of internal storage that can be augmented via an SD/SDHC slot. Prices start from €289.99 ($400).
You know when you go to the local electronics store and see the biggest TV they offer and think, “Geez, that’s just too big for my living room.” Well, take that feeling and multiply it by 100 and that’s how you’d feel about the 150-inch plasma screen prototype from Panasonic. In a word, this thing is massive.
Quantum have announced a new PMP with digital TV and navigation capabilities, the Video Touch personal TV media player. Based on a Siano DVB-H receiver, the Video Touch is capable of receiving up to 30 channels of high quality live mobile TV, as well as GPS navigation, in-car assistance, traffic and weather updates, movies, an MP3 player and picture viewing.
As the transition from analog television to digital television goes into effect, if you don’t have a cable box or an HDTV, you’ll be out of luck. But DTV converter boxes make it possible to get your TV signals for free once they switch over to all digital on February 17, 2009. The Apex DT250 is one option for the transition.
When the diminutives Sony OLED XEL-1 hit US stores early this year, it was selling for $2,500. I couldn’t imagine one would spend $227 per inch for an 11-inch screen. Yes, it was the first consumer OLED to hit production, which has a 100k:1 contrast ratio and an extremely thin profile of 3mm but honestly, it wasn’t about the price, it’s just too darn small.
SlashGear Japan
