New Technology TV

Anyone who's paid any attention to the air travel industry over the past few years knows that competition is steep among airlines, and now one way that airlines are trying to obtain a competitive advantage over each other is by offering live television feeds on flights.

The specs on the TH-103PZ600U are quite impressive for any television. One major improvement over many other high definition sets is that this model can support 1080p resolution. If you are not familiar with this terminology, 1080 refers to the number of lines of resolution on the screen and the p refers to a progressive picture, where the image is displayed all at once. While all high definition sets can support the 1080 resolution, most have to create the picture in two passes, commonly called an interlaced picture or ""i"". Upgrading the resolution to the ""p"" format increases the picture quality. With such a large viewing area, the increased resolution on this Panasonic model will be fairly noticeable.

The Result Of Improving TechnologyHigh definition television has been storming the marketplace as consumers realize that they can get a theater-like experience in the comfort of their own homes. And now, with Panasonic's recent announcement that they will be making their new 103-inch high definition Plasma TV available before Christmas of this year, you can almost have the entire theater. With the equivalent viewing area of four of Panasonic's 50 inch displays, this television packs one large punch. This model, the TH-103PZ600U, was first unveiled at a trade show in January of this year and raised much speculation about what the final price tag might be. Well, hold on to your seat- at a SRP of $69,999.95, you might not be able to afford one anytime soon.

Through the magical looking glass of High–Definition Television the truth is revealed. The visual truth, that is, and sometimes the imagery is surprisingly enlightening. On occasion, television pictures so sharp (five to six times as sharp as standard television) and so true can divulge more than you might have bargained for. David Letterman, for example, has a preponderance lines in his face that make him look much older than he is. One can only imagine Larry King; don’t linger too long in that thought. The truth shall set you free, and the good news, the great news actually, is that certain faces and bodies are simply astounding in Hi-Def. Take Eva Longoria from Desperate Housewives—her stunningly smooth skin and glowing face is a dream to behold.

In a world of million dollar Mercedes, and custom home theater installations costing even more, it’s good to know that some products at the very pinnacle of technology are actually within the budget of an upwardly mobile executive or even a lucky slacker with a hefty trust fund. In other words, a million dollar Aston Martin might be out of the price range of a good middle infielder or even a rising Hollywood supporting actor of a popular sitcom, but chances are that either of them, or the aforementioned executive could arguably buy the best—and the largest High Definition Television on the planet—the very pinnacle of HDTV: The Panasonic 103 inch Plasma HD Television.The Panasonic monster was first unveiled this past winter at the huge extravaganza in Las Vegas—the Consumer Electronics Show. While it was a working prototype, the set was certainly not ready for consumer consumption, but it is now, and can be had for about the same price as a top of the line SUV, the Range Rover, for example. For about 70,000 dollars, and the required professional installation, anyone with the purchase price (or perhaps a payment plan?) can have the same television as a Shaquille O’Neal or a Donald Trump!

While the popularity of watching television on cell phones in Japan continues to increase, the profitability of this new venture still eludes most of the companies involved. Some consumers are so enamored with watching sports programming and getting news from the business world on their mobile handsets that their biggest complaints stem from the problem of chronic dead batteries. A certain fraction of users have even started carrying around two phones, so they can switch to the other one, when one dies. During the Soccer World Cup, this summer, it is thought that productivity took a dive since so many workers were more interested in watching goals being scored, rather than working on the next project or report. By all predictions, digital Television on the handset is set to take off, and probably earlier in Japan and South Korea than in the United States. The problem that Japanese companies like DoCoMo find is that it’s hard to make much money, providing this type of service. The content is free -- for now at least -- and while popular, the television enabled phones don’t yet have a huge share of the total cell phone market.

Conventional wisdom has long held that trends often begin on the continent and then head West, landing on the American coasts and then migrating toward the hinterlands. Well, with Hi-Def or HDTV (High Definition Television) the roles are nearly reversed! Kansas or Nebraska or North Carolina is leading the way as consumers in this country are discovering the joys of Hi-Def at a much faster rate than their European counterparts. For the last two years, the Europeans have been expected by analysts to begin adopting HDTV, but astoundingly, less than one million households in Europe currently receive a HDTV signal! Compare that to the United States where over nineteen million homes are receiving the amazingly clear and life-like HD signals! Japan, the island of 127 million of people, has over eleven million HD households.

The well known and well respected company Sony turned 60 years old this year. The flat screen televisions and HDTV’s (High Definition Televisions) made by the company are one of their biggest sellers currently, but it hasn’t been easy for the company to stay competitive in the fast-paced international marketplace. Sony has a new CEO, a non-Japanese for the first time in the history of the company, and he is implementing new strategies for the company. Of course, Sony is involved in more than just electronics or cutting edge Hi-Def televisions these days. There is the movie division, electronic gaming, financial divisions, Blu-ray DVD, and more. Part of Sony’s new idea is to become leaner and faster. They have cut nearly ten thousand jobs within their work force of over 150,000. Other changes include the termination of the robot dog, Aibo and Sony no longer manufactures plasma televisions. Sony had a top-of-the-line division called “Quaila” that made extremely expensive, highly engineered products. For example, they made a CD player/ audio device that would center and play a disc no matter how haphazardly a user put the disc in the player—a great feature—but the price on the unit was $13,000. While this division created some engineering marvels, the devices never caught on with the public. Gone also, are the cushy advisory jobs for dozens of retired executives—and their limousines as well. Interestingly, the placement of their products in movies, films and television shows is not an avenue pursued by Sony.