LAS VEGAS -- Sharp came to CES showing some of its largest and smallest LCD-based devices to date, bowing its first 70-inch LCD TV and a tablet PC that’s currently available in Japan in 5.5- and 10.8-inch screen sizes. Few details were available for the Galapagos tablet PC that will be introduced in the U.S. during second half 2011. The Japanese tablets operate on the Linux operating system but OS, processor, screen size, price and availability haven’t been set for the U.S. market, said Bob Scaglione, chief marketing officer.
"Video will be the next voice,” Cisco CEO John Chambers said at a CES news conference Wednesday introducing his company’s Videoscape connected TV platform. Cisco says that by 2014 more than 90 percent of consumer Internet traffic will be video, and the amount of video will expand sevenfold. The Videoscape architecture -- which Chambers said centers not on boxes and hardware but on software, network and partnerships -- is designed to bring together digital TV and online content with social media and communications “to create a unified, networked entertainment solution.” Chambers spoke of anytime, anywhere content driven by video that will “reinvent the TV experience.” He showed a multitasking TV allowing users to answer phone calls, send and receive video e-mails and watch sports while bringing up related statistics, buying sports gear with the TV remote and communicating about the game with friends on a social networking site. He said the open platform uses the cloud, the network and client devices to deliver new video experiences over the Internet. Devices in the chain include a Videoscape media gateway to integrate voice, linear and online video, high-speed data, Wi-Fi and network traffic routing and an IP set-top box supporting all video formats and delivery methods. Those include pay TV, broadcast, premium channels, VoD and the Web and Videoscape software clients that extend the experience to home and mobile devices including connected TVs, tablet PCs and smartphones. Chambers said Cisco is working with several major global service provider customers, including Telstra in Australia, to enable video experiences through the Videoscape platform.
Canadian loudspeaker maker Paradigm Electronics is introducing a new brand called Paradigm Shift at CES that’s targeted at a younger demographic. The brand will comprise powered loudspeakers, earbuds, headphones and gaming headsets, Marketing Director Mark Ailing told Consumer Electronics Daily. The 28-year-old company, known for high-quality loudspeakers at affordable prices, has a target market of 25-34-year-olds for its traditional loudspeaker line, Ailing said. With the new line, the company wants to create brand loyalty that will grow with customers as they advance in income level and audio sophistication.
LAS VEGAS -- When it emerged from bankruptcy last year, General Motors made it clear that it expected its OnStar subsidiary to play a major role in the company’s revival by “extracting value” from OnStar technology and the brand, OnStar President Chris Preuss told a news conference at CES. OnStar responded with what Preuss called Tuesday a “bold and transformational move” to take the safety, navigation and communications service to the aftermarket in 2011 over the Verizon Wireless network.
ZigBee said Tuesday it’s developing an RF-based 3D sync standard for 3D glasses. The standard will support programmable frame rates and shutter open/close intervals, multiple user experience modes for seamless switching between 2D and 3D modes and gaming, and “frequency agility” to avoid interference with other RF-based devices, the company said. The glasses will resolve interoperability issues among 3D TVs from different manufacturers, interference issues resulting from too many IR signals in a room and the need for line of sight to maintain a 3D signal with IR glasses, Zigbee said.
Independent retailers are coming off an erratic holiday season marked by gains in audio over the previous year but offset by steep discounting on the video side, retailers told Consumer Electronics Daily. “TV was the most challenging category and the most hit and miss business out there,” said David Workman, executive director of PRO Group. Year-over-year numbers experienced a 20 percent decline in ASPs, he said. Citing big box competition with “more aggressive” opening price points than in previous years, combined with unit increases required to offset those ASP declines, “the math didn’t work,” he said.
Sensio will launch two 3D technologies and a 3D content solution at CES this week, Richard LaBerge, the chief marketing officer, told Consumer Electronics Daily, as the company takes on obstacles to widespread adoption of 3D TV. Describing 2010 as “the year for confusion” in 3D, LaBerge said consumers were perplexed and frustrated by the setup required for 3D with set-top boxes and Blu-ray players, along with compatibility, cost and comfort issues of active-shutter glasses. Lack of programming was the other barrier to adoption, he said, noting that Sony subsidized ESPN’s 3D channel, which offered limited content, and Panasonic’s sponsored with Discovery a channel that has yet to roll out. LaBerge also cited TV makers’ exclusive bundling deals for blockbuster titles including Avatar 3D and Alice in Wonderland. “Consumers wanted Avatar,” he said, “but it’s a bit expensive to buy a 3D movie, when you have to buy a TV to get it."
Shipment growth of 31 percent for LCD TV in 2010 was “lower than expected,” resulting in increased inventory Q3, and that led to “vigorous price erosion” Q4, said DisplaySearch. LCD TV shipments will rise from 190 million in 2010 to 215 million in 2011, according to forecasts, but erosion in average selling prices will lead to the first-ever revenue decline in the LCD TV category, the firm said. Worldwide LCD TV shipments are expected to slow this year to 13 percent, it said.
The HES and PRO buying groups have taken their alliance to the next level, formally merging the two organizations to form ProSource, the AV specialty division of BrandSource. The two organizations, which established an alliance in September 2008, said last week they'll merge to boost the power and relevance of the independent retail channel but will remain separate entities. The merger gives the combined group $3.6 billion of buying clout through PRO’s 16 dealer members and 550 HES members, the group said. Total storefronts number 950. The groups plan to maintain independent dealer meetings for PRO and HES and will add combined meetings for the larger organization, according to Jim Ristow, executive vice president of HES.
In an open New Year’s letter to members of the CE industry Wednesday, Richard Glikes, executive director of Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA), appealed to vendors to launch new technologies through the struggling specialty AV retail channel in 2011 following disappointing introductions of Google TV and 3D TV through the nation’s largest electronics retailer, Best Buy.