CES 2008

Strada CN-NW100U

(Credit: Panasonic)

Following the release of its in-dash CN-NVD905U and its portable CN-GP50U last November, Panasonic has added two new in-dash navigation devices to its Strada lineup. The Strada CN-NW100U and CN-NX100U follow the CN-NVD905U as all-in-one in-car navigation and multimedia systems. Both come with an identical features set: a 7-inch touch-screen display, turn-by-turn GPS navigation with text-to-speech technology, and as-standard RDS traffic service; built-in Bluetooth handsfree calling; a USB 2.0 connection for playing audio from iPods and flash drives; video support for DVD and DivX formats; and the capacity for XM and Sirius Satellite Radio via an add-on module.

Strada CN-NX100U

The CN-NW100U is a double-DIN sized device, while the CN-NX100U makes use of a motorized pop-up screen and stows away inside a single-DIN chassis. According to Panasonic, the two systems will be available in April with pricing still to be determined.

One of our predictions for CES 2008 was that DVD recorders with ATSC tuners would get a couple of key features upgrades that take full advantage of the built-in digital tuner. Well, if Panasonic's new line of DVD recorders is any indication, we were wrong.

Despite some significant clamoring for a DVD recorder with a hard drive, the new Panasonic Diga line of DVD recorders includes only two standard DVD recorders, plus two DVD/VHS recorder combo units. There's also no mention of a few features we were hoping for: true HD output for ATSC programming, an EPG that pulls content data embedded in the ATSC signal, and an IR blaster to control other gear, such as a cable or satellite box.

While that's a lot of doom and gloom about the upcoming units, they'll still work perfectly fine for the standard usage of archiving content to DVD. As usual, all of the Panasonic recorders support all of the recordable DVD formats, including DVD-RAM. Also note that Panasonic is offering two models, the DMR-EA18 and DMR-EA38V, that lack a tuner of any kind--which is a nice option for those who are going to use the units with a cable/satellite box and want to save some money. Additionally, we anticipate that the recorders will include Panasonic's standard array of features, including flexible recording length, an outstanding LP recording mode and chasing playback on DVD-RAM discs.

Comcast, the United States' largest cable operator, says the set-top box's days are numbered.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, CEO Brian Roberts predicted in a keynote address that by the end of the year, "virtually the entire cable industry will support Tru2way," an "open cable" standard that would render the bulky boxes moot by directly integrating any U.S. cable provider's service with a variety of devices. Initial partners in the Tru2way endeavor include Motorola, TiVo, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, LG Electronics, Cisco Systems, and Sun Microsystems.

Roberts also showed off a device, unveiled on Monday, that Comcast has co-branded with another partner, Matsushita Electric Industrial unit Panasonic. The AnyPlay, which has an 8.5-inch display screen, can record up to 60 hours of video, and it plays DVDs and CDs. It is slated to begin selling in the United States later this year.

Although Comcast CEO Brian Roberts indicated earlier to Reuters that Tru2way marks a step toward an "open, national, and interoperable structure between cable companies," the Consumer Electronics Association has argued that Tru2way would not be the truly open system that the Federal Communications Commission wants because it would not be compatible with the technologies of noncable video suppliers.

Ahem, DirecTV and Verizon Fios? The "era of closed cable" may be coming to an end, as Roberts said, but the wars between providers of television, broadband, and telephone services are far from over.

Indeed, the AnyPlay device is designed to play and record shows from any U.S. cable operator's system--but not those of satellite providers.

LAS VEGAS--How do you bring a 150-inch plasma TV from Japan to the U.S.? One plane at a time.

The 150-inch plasma TVs that Panasonic is showing off this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas can only be carried in the storage container in the nose of a 747, said Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of Panasonic AVC Networks company.

Watch the Panasonic TH46PXZ850 video on CNET TV.

And only one TV fits at a time. The TV has to go in the middle of the storage unit. There isn't enough clearance on the edges. Panasonic has three of the sets at the show, so three planes were used.

Panasonic expects to sell these commercially in the future. Most of the time, these big TVs get bought by hotels or stadiums. Some people, however, buy big TVs for their home. Mark Cuban owns a 100-inch plus Panasonic plasma.

The natural human interface has been a huge theme at this year's CES.

Bill Gates talked up the Surface Computer and voice recognition in the car, Paul Otellini talked up the gesture-based interface of Nintendo Wii, and there were plenty of new ideas around interfaces exhibited on the trade show floor.

Attendees mill around Samsung displays to try out the Reactrix gesture-based interface.

(Credit: CES)

Natural human interfaces, ones that involve human movement, for example, tend to be incredibly engaging. It's rarely more noticeable than at CES--the crowds nearly always gather around those exhibits that provide some kind of interactivity. One of the most popular has been the WAVEscape advertising platform, developed by Reactrix and exhibited in partnership with Samsung.

WAVEscape is a stereo near-infrared vision system that sits above a television to enable interactions between viewer movement and content on the screen.

It uses a stereo 3D vision system to sense the distance of a person from the television. In the same way a person has two eyes to gauge proximity, the computer can get the full shape of everyone's body up to 15 feet away.

At CES, Reactrix demonstrated how users could stand in front of a Samsung LCD and interact with several games and information sites using the movement of their limbs.

Attendees play a game of volleyball on a Reactrix-powered Samsung TV.

(Credit: Brett Winterford)

The technology is being used as a means of engaging people in a public space for interactive display advertising. Reactrix's first big customer is Hilton Hotels, which will provide the technology in its lobbies and other public spaces to both entertain and provide information on hotel services.

WAVEscape was developed by Matt Bell, Reactrix's chief scientist and founder. It is inspired by an earlier product he invented called the Stepscape--a 2x3 meter interactive floor-projected display deployed in shopping malls and other public spaces that can sense a person's presence as they walk over it.

"We are using these technologies to reinvent out-of-home advertising," Bell said. "Most advertising outside of the home is billboards and digital signage. I describe this as glance media--you look at it for two seconds, if that, and then you move on. What we do is engage people, get them interacting. They have fun and therefore the advertiser loves it because the user remembers the message, and the venue is happy because the venue is more interesting."

Bell says users are 10 times as likely to recall the message of an interactive advertisement as a static one.

"It is a revolution in the way people relate to TVs," he said. "The TV is now able to sense you and respond to your wishes."

WAVEscape inventor Matt Bell shows off an interactive TV application

(Credit: Brett Winterford)

Beyond advertising, Bell sees applications in other verticals, such as education (pulling apart molecule diagrams on a classroom screen, for example) or as an attraction in a nightclub. "Ultimately this could be baked into any display to optimize the experience for whoever is using it," he said.

Eventually, he'd like to see it in the home.

"It will take a few years to make its way to consumer. Right now it's relatively bulky, but all of this will be shrinking as rapidly as we can so we can get it into the consumer market. In the home, you might be sitting on your couch and you gesture with your hand to change channel if you are sick of the program."

"Gestural interfaces are exciting because they are so natural," he concluded. "We communicate with body language. You get a display that's able to understand body language and that's very powerful."

The Lumix FX55 is a newer camera, but Panasonic hasn't yet detailed its upcoming WiFi-equipped model.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Panasonic announced a partnership Monday by which customers will be able to use forthcoming 802.11-equipped Lumix digital cameras to wirelessly upload photos to Google's Picasa photo-sharing site.

Panasonic announced the partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Buying the camera comes with a 12-month subscription to use any of T-Mobile's 8,500 wireless hot spots for free, similar to an earlier deal that Nikon announced with the telecommunications company.

Panasonic didn't share further details about the Wi-Fi-enabled camera.

Early access to the CES showroom floor isn't always as glamorous as you might imagine, as we found out first-hand at the Panasonic booth. Our prying eyes made our way to an open back door revealing some of the company's to-be-announced goodies--but we were swiftly denied recording access as a nimble Panasonic rep jumped in the way of our filming.

The Panasonic DMP-BD50 looks like it will be the first standalone Profile 2.0 Blu-ray on the market.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Over the last few months month, Panasonic has put itself in the lead of the technological race between standalone Blu-ray players. Back in October, it released the first Profile 1.1 player before the deadline for the specification even hit. Now Panasonic is leapfrogging its competitors again with the newly announced Panasonic DMP-BD50, the first Blu-ray player to be compatible--also known as BD-Live. This means the DMP-BD50 will be able to handle any special features on future Blu-ray discs that utilize an Internet connection, similar to what has already been done on HD DVD discs like Blood Diamond. That's not so much of a big deal right away--we're not aware of any discs that utilize BD-Live features yet--but it's nice to know that it's as future-proof as you can expect right now. The rest of the specs look pretty solid, too. High-resolution soundtrack support is excellent, with onboard decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. Panasonic also seems to hint at 7.1 analog outputs, mentioning that it can be matched with a 7.1 channel amplifier for full 7.1 sound. (We'll update this post when we get more information). Pricing and availability isn't released yet, but we hope to the see the DMP-BD50 earlier rather than later.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Panasonic has detailed its 2008 home-theater-in-a-box line, which includes three models in the consumer-friendly sub-$500 range. In and of itself, that's not big news--except that we've frequently found Panasonic HTIBs (such as 2007's SC-PT750) to deliver a great bang for the buck.

All of the systems come with five-disc DVD changers, iPod flip-down docks with audio and video playback capabilties, and HDMI upscaling up to 1080p. Furthermore, the $400 SC-PT760 and $500 SC-PT960 models include a wireless rear speaker module in the box (it's sold separately as an upgrade on the entry-level $300 SC-PT660). The SC-PT760 comes with front speaker stands while the SC-PT960 has tallboy-style front-, left-, and right-channel speakers. For a more detailed look at what each system has to offer, consult the chart after the jump.

On the high-end, Panasonic's SC-BT100 includes an integrated Blu-ray player (that's Profile 1.1 compatible to boot). The yet-to-be-priced system will compete with the currently available Samsung HT-BD2 when it's released in May 2008.... Read more

(Credit: Panasonic)

Besides its high-def and waterproof camcorders, Panasonic has unveiled five more models ranging from simple miniDV to hybrid SD/hard drive.

The Panasonic SDR-S7 is a new ultracompact camcorder that records its footage to SD and SDHC cards. The slim shooter looks similar to the rugged SW20, though it lacks any waterproof, shockproof, or dustproof attributes. It features a 10x optical zoom lens and a 2.7-inch flip-out LCD screen, and a Quick Start feature Panasonic claims lets it start recording just 0.6 second after opening it. The SDR-S7 ships in May, with a suggested retail price of $300.

Described by Panasonic as "hybrid" camcorders, the SDR-H40 and SDR-H60 can record video to either SD/SDHC cards or to their respective 40 GB and 60 GB hard drives. According to Panasonic, the H40 can record up to 36 hours of footage to its hard drive, while the H60 can store up to 56 hours. The H40 sports a 42x optical zoom and the H60 uses a 50x zoom lens, and both use Panasonic's Advanced Mega Optical Image Stabilization system. They both also feature an Anti Shock Shield, which Panasonic claims helps protect their hard drives from bumps and drops. The SDR-H40 ships later this month with a suggested retail price of $450, and the SDR-H60 ships in May with a $550 price tag.

Though not quite as flashy, the Panasonic VDR-D50 and PV-GS90 are the company's respective DVD and miniDV camcorder offerings. Like the SDR-H40, both models feature 42x optical zoom lenses with Panasonic's Advanced Mega O.I.S. The VDR-D50 ships later this month and will retail for about $350, while the PV-GS90 ships in February with a suggested price of $280.