Sanyo is switching to Sharp LCD panels for its HDTV sets, the former company has announced. While Sanyo is well-known as a brand in general, its TVs have not been able to compete against the likes of those from Samsung and Sony. The Japanese electronics market has been consolidating as whole, and has forced the adoption of strategies similar to Sanyo’s on the part of companies like Pioneer. In Sanyo’s case its consumer electronics division has done poorly, and Reuters notes that on Thursday, the corporation announced its first profits in four years.

Sanyo says that by turning to Sharp it is hoping to revitalize its consumer electronics, even as it invests more heavily into technologies such as solar cells and rechargeable batteries. Its relationship with Sharp may even deepen, as the companies are said to be mulling joint development of kitchen appliances.

Internet video-on-demand provider Akimbo 23. May 2008. has been confirmed by NewTeeVee as having shut its doors. The company says it has so far been unable to raise enough cash to remain profitable for its video delivery services and has decided to drop all but a bare minimum of staff while it seeks a mergers and acquisitions partner to buy up the company’s assets. All video services run by the company at present, including Homezone and MavTV, are still running, according to checks.Chief finance officer Peter Chantel is now known to be the only remaining executive at the company but declines to say how many remaining employees are at Akimbo; the company has been steadily laying off employees, with 10 dropped earlier this month and another 14 as part of ramping down its operations this week.

The company is considered one of the early pioneers of networked media set-top boxes and as late as 2006 was supplying features using an RCA hub that would ultimately be offered in devices like the Apple TV or the recently unveiled Roku Netflix player, delivering Internet-based movies on demand through MovieLink as well as a host of TV and TV-like channels. Lack of demand ultimately forced Akimbo to bring its services to the web and ultimately to drop its direct-to-public services entirely as it began supplying content for others’ services, with only a handful of active clients.

The capacity utilization rate of the 4.5-generation (4.5G) TFT LCD plant of China-based flat panel maker Shanghai Tianma Microelectronics has reached 80% after the plant entered volume production in March this year, according to company sources.The sources made the remarks on the sidelines of the recently concluded Society for Information Display (SID) 2008 electronics display show where Tianma was exhibiting its 7-inch TFT LCD panels.

Tianma’s 4.5G plant has a monthly capacity of 30,000 units and focuses on small- to medium-size panels for handsets and PDAs, the sources noted.

While the company currently produces 7-inch TFT LCD panels for digital photo frames as its largest panels, Tianma is scheduled to produce 10.2-inch panels in the near future, the sources indicated.

Source: Tianma

Atlantic Technology has released their new THX Select2 Certified IWCB-727 LCR in-wall loudspeakers. The IWCB-727 features a 2.5 way design with dual 6.5″ woofers and a 1″ tweeter inside of a sealed enclosure.

Atlantic claims the sealed enclosure, “allows all the elements to be perfectly tuned for ideal performance by eliminating the acoustic variability of open-back designs where performance depends on the characteristics of the wall cavity. ” The in-wall speakers also utilize a trio of acoustic controls for tuning.

The Atlantic Technology IWCB-727 THX LCR is currently available with an MSRP of $1000 each.

Source: Atlantic Technology

The latest addition to Denon’s headphone range is the £250 AH-D2000, described as ‘Reference-Class Closed-Back Hi-fi Monitor Headphones‘.They’ve been designed and voiced by the same high-end hi-fi engineering team responsible for the company’s Advanced Evolution audio components, and use lightweight magnesium for the headband and the frames of the earpieces.

The AH-D2000s have been designed to keep the music in and noise out, making them perfect for enthusiasts who have to listen while others are watching TV or whatever. That’s why they’ve been designed to be light, and have soft earpiece padding to maintain comfort over long listening sessions.

A ball-bearing ‘click’ adjustment makes it possible to get – and maintain – an accurate fit.

The main capsule housings are made from a damped composite material, and the transducers use a high-density microfiber diaphragm designed to be rigid, light and ultra-fast.

50mm neodymium magnets are used, along with Denon’s proprietary Acoustic Optimizer, which is designed to adjust the pressure in front of and behind the diaphragm. This is said to allow greater movement and speed, and thus a more open and airy sound.

The AH-D2000s have high 108dB/W/m sensitivity and 25 ohm impedance, and claim a frequency range of 3Hz-45kHz. They weigh 350g, not including the 3m cloth-covered oxygen-free copper cable, and come with a 3.5mm plug as standard. A 6.3mm adaptor is also supplied.

Source: Denon

If you’ve been a fan of Heco’s speakers from afar, you’ll be glad to hear the company’s Aleva range is to be released in the UK by distributor Pure Sound.Prices range from £500 for the bookshelf Aleva 200 speakers and go up to £1000 for the floorstanding Aleva 400s.

The Aleva range has newly developed drives complete with ‘Kraft‘ paper cones, which are made from a mixture of long fibre pulp and wool. These are said to resemble the paper used in ‘classic drivers’ – we’re talking Western Electric and Saba, not Ayrton Senna.

The driver chassis are diamond finished aluminium castings, while the tweeters have an aluminium faceplate, too. The MDF cabinets are available in cherry read wood veneers as well as silver and black lacquer finishes.

The floorstanding models feature integrated plinths and are biwirable.

Other than the prices listed above, details remain sketchy – not least on the subwoofer and any 5.1 system. Keep your eyes on the site for more details as and when we get them.

Chimei, the LCD TV brand affiliated with Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO), made its debut in China by showcasing six new models at the ongoing Asia FPD 2008 in Guangzhou.

Ben Cheng, vice president at Nexgen Mediatech, which operates the brand under the Chi Mei Group, said Chimei-branded LCD TVs will initially target such Chinese coastal cities as Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing.

Although the market in China is big, pricing is also fierce, he commented. Therefore, Chimei will avoid a price war by focusing on the mid-range to high-end segment, Cheng said.

He said the LCD TV market in China is expected to have a size of 15 million units in 2008, the world’s third largest market for LCD TVs. Some 40% of the China market will be taken by international brands and the rest by domestic ones, he added.

Chimei aims to start shipping its LCD TVs to China in June, with a shipment goal of 30,000-40,000 units for 2008, he said. The mid-term goal is to become a top-10 regional brand in China, he said.

The Chi Mei Group and LG Electronics are two of the biggest exhibitors in the Asia FPD show, which is runs from May 21-23. Other participants in what is deemed to be the biggest display exhibition in China also include China TV makers TCL, Konka, and Skyworth.

Sony is really sinking quite a chunk of money into OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology. A couple of months ago, they announced $200 million to develop and produce larger OLED panels.

Today Sony announced that they plan on having large OLED displays ready to go by 2009, and they are authorizing an additional $210 million to make sure this happens.

Sony’s only OLED screen currently in production is a small 11-inch OLED, the XEL-1, but the promise of much larger OLED screens is fairly exciting. Samsung, Sony’s major competitor for large screen OLED displays, is also planning a 2009 release for their medium-to-large OLED screens.

There is no word on when in 2009 these sets will be made available or what kinds of prices we will have to pay to get one.

LG’s new home cinema setup is a thing of beauty. Combining a DVD upscaler with 5.1 surround, the LG HT762TZ has been dubbed the 700w Champagne home cinema system, due to its great-looking speakers resembling champagne flutes.

It’s not just the main speakers that have the slimlined look, as the subwoofer also sports a trimmed-down chassis.

Although the system is a 5.1 setup VSM technology has been incorporated, adding a virtual 10.1 surround sound experience from the five speakers.

The LG HT762TZ has HDMI connectivity, so it is ideal for an existing hi-def setup but it also come with a Scart connection, so those who haven’t quite took the HD plunge, can still enjoy LG’s surround sound treatment.

The progressive scan DVD upscaler is reportedly capable of upscaling standard-def discs to 1080p, while it’s also DivX compatible, so all you internet-sourced media can also be played. Continue Reading…