Samsung Begins Mass Production of 3D TVs – Korean consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung is now making 3D LCD and LED panels for 40-inch, 46-inch and 55-inch TVs. Such mass production is the way manufacturers are able to lower the cost of consumer electronics and other products; the more products produced, the cheaper it becomes to make each item. But this is a move into a market that some industry analysts say will take about ten years to reach a mass market- about how long it took HD TV to reach more than half of the U.S. population. Over 40 million HDTVs have been sold in the U.S., most costing around $1000. Therefore it is unlikely the same people will fork over between $2000 and $4000 for a good 3D TV set, not to mention the 3D Blu-ray player that will be required. There is also little content available so far to justify purchase of an expensive 3D set. 3D movies, video games and TV programming will have to make their way into the market in mass. DisplaySearch predicts that the market for 3D displays in the home, by professionals, and in advertising will grow from the $902 million in revenue worldwide in 2008 to $22 billion in 2018.
D-Link Honored at 2010 Consumer Electronics Show – One of the world’s largest computer networking companies received 15 best product awards at the recent Las Vegas CES. Their products are designed to make the digital home more entertaining, secure, and energy efficient. D-Link’s Boxee Box is a full-featured media player allowing users to gather, organize and stream their favorite movies, TV shows, music and photos from their PC, home network, storage devices and Internet to their main HDTV – using only a remote control with a QWERTY keyboard, no PC required. Users can also share their content with friends and relatives over the social media sites.
EMI Loses Major Copyright Case – UK music company EMI may not be able to pay damages to Larrikin Music, who won a Federal Court copyright decision last year that claimed Men at Work’s big hit “Down Under” reproduced a substantial part of the children’s folk song “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree,” which Larrikin owns. EMI is already struggling, needing a cash injection of over $200 million just to meet their loan repayments. In late 2008 the Terra Firma investment company paid $7.5 billion for EMI just before the debt markets collapsed.
HDMI v. 1.4 for 3D-enabled Devices – Gaming console manufacturers will be the first the deliver 3D-enabled devices using the new HDMI 1.4 standard, which allows full HD to be delivered at 50Hz, allowing 3D content. It establishes protocols for several 3D display technologies, includes data for the first time, and supplies a 100Mbps Ethernet connection as well as two-way audio signals. The HDMI specification group says that in the near future an update dubbed 1.4a will be released, possibly to address a mandatory 3D broadcast format.
Wall Street Journal Piece on Audiophiles – Would you believe? It’s titled “The Home Stereo That Refuses to Die,” and describes those of us who in spite of the MP3 revolution, “cling to cabinets full of music components and milk creates of albums…these are the folks who refuse to give up the superior sound of older technology.” The lead photo is a tone arm tracking an LP. One interviewee says “iPods may be more convenient, but I don’t like the sound.” No mention is made of hi-res recordings.
