First OLED HDTV from LG to Cost $8,000

People say the prices of HDTVs are going down, but I say nay, nay, mainly for the fact that new details have recently surfaced on LG's upcoming 55" OLED HDTV that the company debuted at CES back in January. The details state that LG will be officially unveiling this monstrous television at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in May with a price tag that is enough to make Michael Bay do a double take.

According to the report, LG will supposedly be pricing the 55" screen, officially labeled as the 55EM9600, at 9 million Korean Won! Wait, what's that you say? You're not Korean and you don't know what a Won is? Well, 9 million Korean Won translates to about $8,000 US or £5,000 UK. Even though that seems utterly ridiculous to us average Joes, lots of tech industry professionals were expecting the set to debut at around $10,000.

This new set from LG will spark the first ever OLED wars, as Samsung is set to launch its very own Super OLED HDTV later on this year. Samsung's set is also a 55" OLED HDTV that is only 0.3" deep, the same depth as LG's 55EM9600. Samsung hasn't officially released a pricing scheme for this TV as of yet, though I would expect it to be very close to LG's pricing range. LG has already stated that it will determine in July whether or not to invest more capital into OLED TV production.

Source: ZDNet - LG's 55-inch OLED HDTV will cost $8,000 when introduced in May

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Google Trying to Control Your TV with Android Voice Commands

According to a patent filed last fall with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Google is creating a voice recognition interface for controlling your TV via your Android device, similar to Apple's Siri voice command interface. Apple describes the patent as a cloud-based system for issuing voice commands to an Android phone. This will then control a set-top box, smart TV, DVR or any other device.

The technology will work similarly to Siri, which is still in beta testing. Voice commands made to your Android device will be taken to the cloud to be interpreted and contextualized. This will essentially allow you to do many things, including looking for a specific program or sporting event by simply speaking into your phone.

The patent also says that users will be able to issue commands from up to a quarter of a mile away so that when they arrive home, their phones will automatically turn their TVs on and tune to the specific program they want to watch. This will also work for music, which could allow many a Casanova to set some mood music before bringing a date home.

Another cool feature outlined by the patent will automatically switch your TV over to a program you have inquired about before, provided that it is currently playing on some channel. You can also schedule a reminder to watch it if it isn't on yet or record it if you won't be home at the scheduled airing.

While this definitely seems cool, Google isn't the only company currently working on adding voice command functionality to televisions. Lenovo also recently announced a voice command TV while Samsung has already debuted a remote control that recognizes voice commands. Samsung takes it a step further, though, by also adding touchscreen functionality to the remote as well. Apple's rumored iTV will also, without a doubt, incorporate the actual Siri voice recognition software, which Google's technology is based off of.

Source: PC World - Patent Reveals Google TV With Siri-Like Voice Recognition

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Acer's New S191HQL Ultra-Thin LED Monitor

Acer has just unveiled its newest product in terms of computer monitors with the brand new Acer S191HQL LED monitor. The S191HQL is an ultra-thin monitor complete with a space-saving design that makes it the ultimate desktop accessory. In addition to that, the S191HQAL guarantees high-definition image quality without breaking the bank.

Due to its ultra-slim design, the Acer S191HQL is able to fit almost anywhere, saving you a ton of space while also giving you an aesthetically pleasing work environment. The monitor itself is an 18.5" LED display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution along with a 12,000,000:1 contrast ratio with 16.7 million colors.

The S191HQL also has a 170° height viewing angle and a 160° vertical viewing angle that was specifically designed for ease of uses and a decrease in eye strain. Acer's Adaptive Contrast Management (ACM) feature also helps optimize your contrast, allowing you to have the highest level of clarity and detail and adjusts images frame by frame to enhance picture detail and gradation.

The S191HQL is also energy efficient, consuming less power, thanks to its mercury-free LED backlight technology that minimizes harmful effects to the environment, consumes less power and is more durable than Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps or CCFLs. This results in bigger savings for you, something everybody is looking for nowadays.

No word on pricing or availability as of yet but stay tuned because as soon as those details hit, you will be able to find them here.

Source: mb.com - Amazing Ultra-Thin Acer Monitor

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Canadian Companies May Have Early Apple TV Prototypes

New reports about an Apple HDTV are coming in every day, including this new one that suggests that Apple is currently talking to Rogers Communications Incorporated and Bell Canada Enterprises (both located in Canada) about a possible TV deal. These talks are so serious, in fact, that both Bell and Rogers reportedly have a prototype of Apple's TV in their development labs right now, that is if reports from Canada's biggest national newspaper The Globe and Mail are correct.

Both companies offer wireless, internet, home phone and TV services in Canada and both companies also own a lot of different Canadian television brands. All of these services may also be vital for Apple to get its TV into physical form. According to a statement from an anonymous source to The Globe and Mail, "They're looking for a partner...with wireless and broadband capabilities."

However, the report fails to mention any type of content plans from Apple for its new TV, like whether or not the set would exclusively offer online streaming content or include connections for standard cable or satellite TV. Apple may be looking for a partner with cable providers to make sure that the TV works with broadcast television services from major providers without any problems. But you never know with secretive Apple. The partnership could go farther down the rabbit hole to a place where Apple's hardware is sold exclusively through your cable or internet service provider.

Aside from the two Canadian companies, there haven't been any reports of American cable providers working this closely with an Apple TV. USA Today did report back in January that the company was having some trouble securing content deals for an Apple TV with American content providers. CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves also hinted during an earnings call that CBS had decided against "joining Apple TV."

Apple TV rumors took off after the death of former Apple CEO and Co-Founder Steve Jobs when Walter Isaacson released Steve Jobs' autobiography. In the book, Jobs was quoted saying "I finally cracked it," referring to solving the problem of a user-friendly TV interface. Right after the book was published, the New York Times claimed that Apple was planning a TV that had voice commands ala Siri and could ship as early as 2013. But for now, everything is all rumor.

Source: PC World - Apple's Expected Television Set May Be in TV Makers' Hands

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Sony Selling Share of Joint LCD Panel Company to Samsung

Sony just announced on Monday that it plans on selling its entire stake in a single LCD manufacturing joint venture with Samsung for a measly $934 million. The two companies negotiated and signed a contract that will have Samsung turn the company, known as S-LCD, into a fully-owned subsidiary that will provide panels for Sony TVs, among other technologies. The manufacturing company was established by Sony and Samsung in April of 2004 with Sony owning a little less than 50%.

This acquisition comes at a point when Sony faces extreme losses in its television market and also faces lots of inquiries about whether or not it can revive the business that was once at the company's core. Sony announced back in November that it expected to lose more than $1 billion in the current fiscal year through April, even though it is currently recalculating that number in lieu of the recent sale.

According to a Sony press release, "This deal will allow Sony to acquire LCD panels from Samsung Electronics in a stable way based on market prices, without the responsibility or costs that come with operating a factory."

Like so many other companies, Sony has struggled to find profit in the LCD market, despite the fact that executives have claimed that they will not abandon the product. The newest plan by Sony calls for a shift to focus on profitability as opposed to the number of units sold while also shifting to acquiring panels from other manufacturers.

Sony has also announced that it is focused on a "four-screen strategy". This strategy is said to offer content and interconnect smartphones, tablets, laptops and other portable devices, as well as televisions. The company announced back in October that it would acquire Ericsson's 50% stake in their Sony Ericsson mobile phone partnership, which would allow the company to better integrate smartphones into its overall product lineup.

Source: PC World - Samsung to Buy Sony's Share of LCD Panel Joint Company for $934 Million

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Apple Eyeing 5% Market Share in HDTV Industry

The HDTV market is rich with competition but is still dominated by names like Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Samsung. However, that may all be coming to an end if Apple decides to throw its hat in the ring with an Apple TV. If this predictions truly comes to fruition, it is expected that Apple will make a significant mark in the industry.

Ben A. Reitzes, an analyst for Barclays Capital, has envisioned a world where an Apple TV in the HDTV market could net almost $17 billion in revenue in its first year and climb all the way to the point of controlling 5% of the market share. In a statement from Reitzes, "Apple's eventual television could be so much more than a TV - including gaming, video, communication, content delivery, apps, computing and all the capabilities of the current Apple TV - it is not really fair to compare it to products already available on the market."

A while back, Apple bragged that it could get 1% of the entire cell phone market. Many people found this statement amusing, never believing that Apple would ever achieve such a high expectation. Fast forward to today and those naysayers are pretty quiet as Apple has clearly dominated the smartphone market for the past five years.

That's why not many people are finding the idea of Apple having a 5% market share in the HDTV industry that surprising. The Cupertino giant has already shown that it is capable of lighting a fire under the most dull, rigid and inflexible markets so doing the same to the HDTV industry shouldn't be that hard.

It has already been reported that Apple has approached Rogers and Bell, two Canadian carriers, to integrate their services with iTV. Full details on that partnership are, of course, extremely secretive so we probably won't be getting any new information for quite some time. However, it does go to show you just how innovative Apple can be. Many people believe that we will be seeing an Apple HDTV on the market by the end of this year, provided we live that long.

Source: TG Daily - Apple could take 5% of HDTV market

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Will Apple Release a TV Set in 2012?

Apple has been wildly successful with pretty much everything that they have released recently, so do you believe that an Apple TV set could be a piece of technology that we see in the near future?

On Tuesday, January 31 Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster stated that he believes that Apple is currently targeting a TV set that they would launch sometime in late 2012.

"We are confident that Apple will enter the connected TV market, but timing remains uncertain," he wrote. "More specifically, the hardware could be ready quickly, but the timing and scope of a revamped TV content solution is unclear."

Munster claimed he had talked to a major TV component supplier that told him that Apple had contacted them “regarding various capabilities of their television display components." This report comes shortly after another report was released claiming that Apple was highly interested in a TV set. In September an Asian supplier told Piper Jaffray that a prototype of an Apple TV was in the works.

“We believe that Apple only enters mature markets with the goal of revolutionizing them, as it did with the smartphone," Munster wrote.

"In television we see an opportunity for Apple to reinvent how consumers discover and enjoy video on their TVs and mobile devices (live TV, previously aired shows, movies, user generated content, etc.)," he continued. "Without a revamped TV content solution, we do not think Apple enters the TV market. Since we know Apple is exploring television hardware, we are therefore led to conclude that the company is exploring a solution for live TV, and this solution could be one that has not yet been taken mainstream."

Munster went on to say that he believes that there are three scenarios that Apple could choose from when it comes to its TV plans: partner with cable companies, offer access via broadcast TV or an Internet-based source, or secure a license that would allow them to offer a monthly subscription service.

Of course, the simplest of the three options would be the first. However, "while this would be the easiest and most likely option, it would also be the least revolutionary," Munster wrote.

The second option would be a “broadcast/Web-based hybrid.” According to Munster, "Apple could then leverage a new App Store for the Apple Television to supplement the basic live TV features with Netflix, Hulu Plus, or any content provider that chooses to build an app for the television. In this instance, Apple would also likely continue to offer its iTunes movie and TV content through the iTunes store to the Apple Television."

The third option would definitely be the most difficult because Apple would become the manufacturer as well as the provider. This option would take plenty of work because getting a license can be very difficult.

"Such an offering would be unlikely given existing licensing arrangements between content providers and service providers as well as the fact that it lies outside of Apple's core competencies, even in media," Munster said.

One thing that Munster said was very important was the availability of the App Store on the TV. "Apple's strong iOS developer community would likely jump at the chance to build apps for an Apple Television, and Apple's iOS users would likely jump at the chance to buy one," Munster said.

Source: PCMag – Analyst Predicts Apple TV Set in Late 2012

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