Emo Labs' new "Invisible Speakers"

Remember spending all that money on your flat panel TV? Just to find out that the sound of the TV was horrible because the dimension of the TV doesn’t allow the available room to put an efficient speaker system in them. Well now Emo Labs has created a new invisible speaker system that is actually the screen of the TV! The sound comes directly from the screen, making a more natural and realistic sounding experience from your multimedia devices. In the demo Emo Labs says in a recent study over 50% of flat screen buyers are dissatisfied with the way their TV sounds. Emo Labs’ Edge Motion audio technology is the most efficient use of space for putting an audio speaker system into multimedia devices, such as, TVs, laptops, monitors, and other portable devices. When watching the TV, the sound actually comes from what is making the sound. Like when people are talking, the sound actually comes from their lips. This zero footprint speaker system is going to revolutionizing the way you watch TV. Emo Labs is proving that, just because your TVs are getting slimmer, you shouldn’t have to give up your audio quality, or have to buy an external speaker system to deliver great sounding audio. Emo labs are the first company to release this kind of idea, and have no direct competitors (yet).

After watching the demo for this product I was pretty impressed at how good the picture looked, as well as delivering great sounding audio. This is going to be a very successful product in my opinion. DisplaySearch predicts that TV sales will be up to 188 million units sold in 2012. This is a massive sales opportunity for Emo Labs, because the smaller the TVs are getting, the harder it is to place a nice sounding speaker system into them. Emo labs is helping accomplish the impossible. Now companies don’t have to worry about making their TVs too small. They can worry about how the overall performance of the TV instead of trying to figure out how to cram a small speaker system into a small area.

Dell's New LCD Monitors ST2210 & ST2310

Dell is adding to its ST Family of HD Widescreen Flat Panel Monitors. Now that their 24-inch ST2410 LCD monitor is on the market, the company has announced that they are selling two smaller models: the ST2201 and the ST2310. Dell promises "amazing clarity and realism" and "elegance, fluid geometry and creative technology."

The St2210 is a 21-5 panel and it has 1080p resolution and 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. It has 250 nits of brightness, a five millisecond response time, and HDMI/VGA/DVI inputs. It is available for $259. The ST2310 is similar, only slightly larger at 23 inches and it retails for $229.

Dell promises that the new ST monitors are all super-energy efficient. However, while you can angle the monitors forward and backwards, you can't adjust the height up or down.

NEC's MultiSync EA190M 19-inch Monitor

NEC, the leading provider of commercial LCD displays and projectors has announced the MultiSync EA190M, a 19-inch standard-aspect ratio desktop display. It's designed for various businesses, government, and education users.

The monitor is super environment-friendly and energy efficient. It consumes 50% less energy and contains 50% less mercury than most LCD monitors. With the touch a button, users can enable ECOmode, which allows you to switch between two energy-saving modes. It even features a carbon footprint meter that allows you to track how much carbon you are using or saving and adjust your settings accordingly.

The EA190M offers a native resolution of 1280 x 1024 and a full- motion video with Rapid Response of 5ms. It has a brightness of 250 cd/m, and a 900:1 contrast ratio. It provides crisp, bright images and its 4-way ergonomic stand offers 110mm height adjustment, tilt, swivel, and pivot capabilities. Other features include multi-directional NaViKey, down-firing multimedia speakers with headphone jack, Energy Star 5.0 and TCO 5.0, and Dynamic Video Mode with five presets (standard, text, movie, photo, and game)

NEC will begin shipping the monitor in September and it will cost approximately $259 with a three year parts and labor warranty including the backlight.

Panasonic's New $30,000 85-inch Plasma

If you want a really big Plasma TV, Panasonic's got the deal for you! For a mere $30,000, you can purchase Panasonic's TH-85PF12U, which is being called the industry's first 85-inch, full-HD, 1080p plasma.

The body depth is 3.9 inches and it weighs approximately 260 pounds. Screen dimensions are 74.4 inches by 41.8 inches. According to CNET, the screen size would be the equivalent of putting four 42 inch plasmas together. But according to Panasonic, the TV is still much thinner and lighter than most Plasmas.

While large Plasma Televisions don't usually provide the best quality, this model has been said to do just that as it features Panasonic's NeoPDP technology. This technology has been used effectively in smaller Plasmas and provides not only a quality picture, but uses a lot less energy.

Sony to Sell 3D TVs by 2010

Today, Sony announced that is plans to sell 3D televisions by the end of 2010. So far, the 3D industry has focused mainly on theater (over 7,000 digital 3D screens are expected to be in theaters worldwide by the end of 2009), so the Sony announcement will come as a big boost to the 3D world. Sony chief executive, Howard Stringer, is expected to announce that Sony will sell 3D Bravia television sets and also make the company's Vaio laptops, PlayStation 3 consoles, and Blue-ray disc players compatible with the new technology, at the IFA technology trade show in Berlin. Sony believes that 3D is "on its way to the mass market through technology, distribution, and content," but does insist there are still some issues to be face, including agreeing on a single 3D standard and avoiding a format war.

While there are several types of 3D technology, Sony will be going with "active shutter" technology, which means using electronic glasses with tiny shutters that open and close in sync with images on TV. This creates a 3D impression and is different from the "polarisation" technology used in theater that only works when viewers are sitting at a certain angle.

Many in the electronics industry believe 3D will soon be the new HD. Hyundai is also currently working on 3D television sets for Japan and Panasonic has announced it has plans for 3D TVs in the works. Neither company has matched Sony's commitment, however, to making 3D TV mainstream.

There has been no word on exactly how much the TVs will cost, but analysts predict the earliest versions to cost several thousand dollars. Hyundai's 3D TVs currently retail for about $4900.

Mitsubishi's New VUDU Powered 1080p HDTVs

As seen with LG tv's and, eventually, VIZIO tv's, Mitsubishi is now shipping VUDU integrated 1080p flat panel tv's. Mitsubishi's 46-inch LT-46249 and 52-inch LT-52249 models from the Diamond Unisen model will be equipped with an Ethernet port. This port allows for direct connection to the internet so you can download the VUDU products directly to your tv. But, if you don't like messy cables running all over your house, then you can get wireless access through the use of a VUDU wireless accessory bridge.

According to Frank DeMartin, Vice President of Marketing for Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America, "We are always looking for new ways to elevate the large screen experience for consumers, and the Mitsubishi VUDU-integrated TV's will combine unprecedented HD program choice with unparalleled picture performance. Owners of Diamond Unisen Immersive Sound TV's will now have convenient access to high quality entertainment content."

VUDU offers one of the biggest HD movie libraries housing over 2,200 HD titles with 16,000 titles over all. But one big thing coming later this month is that the VUDU service on the Diamond Unisen TV's will offer popular internet services like Flickr, Pandora, YouTube and Picasa as well as an "On Demand TV" section with over 80 channels to choose from.

"VUDU's extensive HD library HD library of recently released Hollywood titles provides the perfect entertainment solution for Mitsubishi's Diamond Unisen TV's. Through this collaboration, with Mitsubishi, we are expanding the reach of the VUDU Service to a broad new segment of consumers, providing an outstanding movie watching experience with true 1080p and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround Sound." according to VUDU CEO Alain Rossman.

As an added bonus, people who purchase The Diamond Unisen TV's integrated with VUDU will receive two months of free rentals or purchases (up to $50.00 worth) which includes SD, HD and HDX movies which will allow owners to experience the 1080p image quality and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound which features Dual Driver Extended Range Sound and Variable Smooth 240 Film Motion for viewing slow and fast moving images.

The Diamond Unisen models feature wide color gamut backlight technology to reproduce approximately 25% more color than most LCD-TVs and both the 46-inch and 52-inch models are EnergyStar 3.0 qualified. The 46-inch Diamond Unisen model will run you around $2,599 and the 52-inch model will run you around $3,099.

New: LG's 15-inch OLED TV Coming in 2010

Last week, LG, the world's second biggest TV brand, released a set of photos of its new OLED 15-inch screen and in September, they will be showing off a model at the IFA 2009 consumer electric show in Berlin. The television is set to start selling in Korea by November 2009, and overseas in 2010. As far as affordability goes, be prepared to dip into your life savings for this one. If Sony's two-year-old 11-inch XEL-1, the world's first OLED TV, is any indication, it retails in the United States for a cool $2,500.

The television set will use organic display technology and is the largest commercial model to do so, so far. These active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays use self-glowing materials, have better picture quality, consume less power and are thinner than liquid crystal displays (LCD). Compared to LCDs, the much higher price has kept it from becoming a mainstream, mass-produced technology for TVs and PC monitors, however, OLED screens are starting to make their way to high-end mobile phones.

According to LG, DisplaySearch research projects OLED TVs to reach 320,000 units in 2011 and 2.33 million by 2013. LG says it also plans to unveil a 40-inch OLED in the "not too distant future."