Toshiba focuses on mid-range DTV for everyone

Toshiba's press conference at CES 2009 this morning featured announcements in the areas of LCD TVs, DTV/DVD combos, and standalone DVD players.

Maria Repole, Toshiba's PR exec, began by making note of the high-def advertising display Toshiba installed in Times Square last summer. His deputy then took the stage to speak generally about Toshiba's contributions in the area of picture quality and connectivity. Consumers "increasingly want to access content wherever they are," the Toshiba rep told the crowd. "We are committed to meeting the entertainment needs of consumers today."

In 2009, Toshiba will partner with Intel, Yahoo and Microsoft to offer networked TV/DVD combos for downloading content.

Yahoo will contribute "TV widgets," its interactive content platform which didn't take off very quickly in the PC realm, but may find its legs in IPTV. Widgets from other vendors will be added later.

Scott Ramirez, VP of marketing for Toshiba's TV Group, later took the stage. "2008 changed the economy as we know it," began Ramirez' talk. Now Toshiba will have "LCD TVs for everyone" Toshiba will continue to offer Regza to customers, but willl also offer "non-Regza" for the more price sensitive market.

In the "non-Regza" area, the new AV 600 series has taken features like Dynalite and gaming mode and Energy Star and put them in 19- and 22-inch LCDs. The more midrange AV 502 series was announced in September and will be continued through 2009.

But the real story is the new Regza -- "more than you expected, everything you need," said Ramirez. New features at the high end will include Resolution Plus, a "super resolution" technology. Plasma growth has slowed, he said. "Consumers are voting with their wallets for LCD."

Toshiba's share of the LCD market rose from four percent to ten percent in 2008, Ramirez remarked.

Also on the high-end Regza side, Toshiba will add color temperature control -- for adjusting to type of color, and InstaPort for instant HDMI communications. And this year, Toshiba will release technology known as "Cell TV," which will enable consumers to record up to six HDTV sessions at a time, along with a new 3D interface for managing it.