IFA 2010 is in full swing and we are going to give you low down on what has caught our eye including the world’s first 3D camcorder from Panasonic, the Galaxy tablet from Samsung, Toshiba’s Folio, ViewSonic’s tablet and LG’s 2.9 mm thick OLED.
Panasonic were in bullish mood about their focus for the next twelve months, and it all revolves around their 3D Eco-system. We attended their press conference at the Messe in Berlin, where they held a full 3D press conference. All attendees were given 3D glasses to watch the presentation. And they filled the conference room with 94 Viera Full HD 3D Plasma TV's.
The first big unveiling was the world's first consumer-type 3D camcorder, which will go on sale in the autumn. The HDC-SDT750 is the world's first and they showed footage caught from the camera on the 3D TV's in front of us - it showed the potential of bringing family moments to life; like Birthday's or going to beach in full 1080p 3D glory. We have to say it did look stunning. Especially, with their new 3D eyewear that was on show for the first time.
They also announced two new full 3D HD TV's that were very impressive, especially with their new 600hz technology, it's not as thin as a LED but they did produce stunning pictures. Later on, they brought on stage partners from Eurosport and Ubisoft, who announced that the French and US open were going to be available in 3D. Ubisoft announced a slew of titles that will be in 3D. Panasonic also announced that their new Viera 3D TV's can connect to Ge-force PC's making 425 games 3D compatible via HMDI 1.4a. They also showed off their 152" HD TV, which they have already taken orders for. Though they were unwilling to say how much it was.
Elsewhere the IFA went tablet crazy, with announcements from Samsung, Toshiba and Viewsonic. Samsung's Galaxy Tablet stole the show and already being talked about as an operator-friendly alternative to Apple's iPad. The 7-inch form-factor is more portable than the iPad and runs the Google alternative operating system Android. It will come in two flavours 16GB and 32GB and Samsung announced 200 apps on launch. No pricing details were given although it is thought to be a high as £500.
Toshiba announced their foray into the Tablet world with their compelling software full Folio, which again runs on Android. The tablet has a 10.1-inch, diagonal screen with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Folio runs on version 2.2 of Google’s Android operating system.
The fact that Toshiba used Android 2.2 is important because the Folio will be able to run Adobe Flash, a ubiquitous Web technology for playing video. That’s a key advantage over the iPad, which along with the iPhone can’t play Flash video. The Folio is equipped with an SD card slot, and HDMI and USB 2.0 connectors. The device supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless, with a 3G model scheduled for the near future, according to Toshiba.
Versonic also announced a tablet which features Windows 7 as well Android, but there is a compromise you can only run Android 1.6 which is already considered several steps outdated. This is because it's the most recent version that supports the x86 processor on the tablet, which is required for Windows 7. Not the worst compromise, but still a compromise. The rest of the specs are typical netbook-level stuff: Intel Atom N455 processor, 1GB memory, 16GB SSD, 1024×600 10"³ LCD.
LG were proud to show of the world's biggest and thinnest OLED TV, which have had us drooling for years, but they've always been tiny and expensive. Now LG has solved one of those problems, well sort of, showing off a 31-inch OLED TV which will hit stores in March 2011. Finally, OLED is big enough for the living room. The only downside is it'll cost a whopping £6,000 to get it there.
For the money though, you'll get a Full HD TV set to floor all others, with an "infinite" contrast ratio and colours as rich as those buying it, the world's largest commercially available OLED TV measures 31 inches across, as is also the slimmest in the world at 2.9mm thick.
Toshiba Picture Via Static intomobile
Viewsonic Picture Via Gizmodo AU
Samsung Picture Via Very.com
LG Picture Via Pocket-int