Live from the Panasonic press conference
No longer "Matsushita," and given a big boost with the pending acquisition of Sanyo, how will the world's most recognized brand in consumer electronics, geographically speaking, react to this sluggish economy?
3:43pm PT: And that brings the show to a rather abrupt end, the lights come up and the crowd naturally flocks to the 1/3" thin screen. We will snap some pictures and put them up shortly.
3:41pm PT: They have just unveiled a NEO-PDP panel that is less than 1/3" thick which that promises extremely low energy consumption.
3:39pm PT: The lights are dimming, and the topic of discussion is turning back to 3D Full 1080p HD. The most important thing that Panasonic is bringing to this, is that their system delivers full 1080p in 3D without splitting or degradation
3:36pm PT: HD Camcorders are the next topic, cameras with 70x optical zoom
3:35pm PT: Device has 8.9" screen, looks somewhat like a digital frame.
3:35pm PT: Portable Blu-ray player
3:34pm PT: All of those feature Viera Cast online content accessibility
3:34pm PT: 3 New Blu-ray players, BD60, BD80, BD70V
3:33pm PT: "It's much more than just a replacement for DVD...it has many more opportunities for the future."
3:33pm PT: On to Blu-ray
3:32pm PT: Talking about Amazon Video on Demand integration with Viera Cast, which will be launched later this year.
3:31pm PT: Viera Cast-- a service for broadband-connected televisions/set top boxes, that is a portal to Amazon on Demand, Picasa, YouTube, Bloomberg, and more. Bill Carr from Amazon is taking the stage.
3:30pm PT: inserting disc into tray automatically turns on TV, switched to proper HDMI input
3:29pm PT: Showing Viera Link "remoteless" communication between Blu-ray player and HDTV
3:28pm PT: UI in that case referred to "User Identity"
3:28pm PT: he's talking about Tru2way, and announcing advancements in the single remote-single UI concept
3:26pm PT: Mark Hess of Comcast is taking the stage
3:26pm PT: Fully wireless television, HD set top box/TV communication
3:26pm PT: Z1 Plasma television 1" thick...
3:25pm PT: Talking about Panasonic technologies in general...600Hz Plasma, "Tuf Display", Viera Link, Viera Image Viewer (SD from cameras into TV), Viera Cast (IPTV content)
3:22pm PT: discussing Viera and Lumix
3:20pm PT: Breakthroughs coming into the 2009 lineup---NEO PDP. Energy efficient display technology
3:19pm PT: Robert Perry takes the stage.
3:18pm PT: discussing distribution among spanish-speaking nations...in Spanish.
3:16pm PT: This year, Panasonic's fifth plasma facility will open, and a new LCD facility is in the works.
3:15pm PT: Shiro Kitajima takes the podium
3:14pm PT: Expanding its national recycling program, to include 400 collection sites by the end of this year, 600 by 2010, and 800 by 2011.
3:13pm PT: Joseph Taylor takes the podium to discuss the Eco-Ideas philosophy (green computing/energy efficiency)
3:12pm PT: Panasonic is "very serious" about accelerating this technology, will have two setups at its booth tomorrow
3:11pm PT: Video of James Cameron talking about the film...
3:10pm PT: "Avatar" is a new sci-fi movie being filmed in 3D
3:09pm PT: And collaborating with Titanic director James Cameron, "an outspoken 3D advocate"
3:09pm PT: For this to succeed, there needs to be 3DHD content, so they're creating a 3D blu-ray disc authoring center at Panasonic Hollywood labs, to be open later this year.
3:08pm PT: Proposing a full HD standard for 3D
3:07pm PT: Full 1080p HD in 3D.. "Youve stepped up to HD, now step INTO 3-D"
3:06pm PT: Announcing 3D television
3:05pm PT: discussing last year's "Digital Hearth" concept
3:04pm PT: One family is present, kid waves spastically and everyone laughs
3:04pm PT: Living in HD program from last year will expand to over 100 families in the U.S.
3:02pm PT: Yoshi Yamada takes the stage
2:59pm PT: Led Zeppelin is playing over PA, press is still entering and finding seats