The Japanese electronics company Sony Corp plans to introduce a liquid-crystal-display television capable of playing 3-D programming by the end of next year, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Sony is to announce its plans for the new TV next week at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, an unnamed source familiar with the plans told the Journal.
Movie studios and electronics producers see 3-D video for the home as a big money maker, and Sony's rivals, including South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc and Japan's Panasonic Corp, have said they plan to introduce 3-D products as well.
At the moment, however, 3-D films in theatres are just getting off the ground, so the initial choice of such movies on video would be limited.
The 3-D plans come as Sony has lost money in its television division for five years in a row and is undertaking cost-cutting measures.
HTC has announced the launch of the Android-powered HTC Hero in India. The HTC Hero also marks the debut of HTC Sense. The phone is built to last and is equipped with an anti-fingerprint screen coating for improved smudge resistance and a longer lasting, clearer display. The white HTC Hero includes an industry-first, Teflon coating, resulting in an improved, durable white surface.
"The Android-powered HTC Hero further underlines HTC's commitment to push the boundaries in mobile phone innovation and design. HTC Hero introduces a more natural way for reaching out to the people and accessing important information in a much more easier and hassle-free manner. We are also very pleased to introduce a fully customized user interface called HTC Sense with the HTC Hero," said Ajay Sharma, Country Head, HTC India. "HTC Sense is a distinct experience created to make HTC phones more engaging, immersive and intuitive and will be integrated across a portfolio of HTC's phones in the future," he further added.
HTC Hero has a 3.2-inch HVGA display and is optimized for web, multimedia and other content while maintaining a small size and weight. It also has a broad variety of hardware features including a GPS, gravity-sensor, 3.5mm stereo headset jack, a five mega-pixel autofocus camera and expandable MicroSD memory. HTC Hero also includes a dedicated search button that goes beyond basic search, providing users with a more natural, contextual search experience that enables to search through Twitter, locate people in contact list and find emails in inbox or search in any other area in Hero.
The HTC Hero will be available at a market price of Rs.34,600 in the state of Maharashtra and Rs.31,990 in the rest of India at all leading authorized HTC resellers across the country.
Nokia has unveiled its Windows 7 powered netbook Booklet 3G for $820, which is as costly as a laptop. Nokia has seen its profits drop over the last few quarters and has taken a huge gamble by entering the already crowded PC market with a costly product. But it's a risk that Nokia had to take since many PC makers are now entering the mobile market. "Nokia had to do it. You see more and more PC guys getting into the mobile operators' shelves. It's kind of the counterattack, it's not just defensive," said Carolina Milanesi, Gartner Analyst to Reuters.
Netbooks are designed for easy carry and are small in size starting around $250, a major factor for their growth in spite of the economic downturn. Many analysts feel that Nokia's high priced netbook will not work. "That is ($820) too high for the general market, you can get a decent laptop for less. As long as the price remains at that level, the market for this device is going to be very limited," said Jack Gold, an independent Analyst.
The Booklet 3G has high definition video capabilities by its HDMI port and 1280x720 pixel screen resolution having a 10 inch screen. This HD functionality is supported by Intel's Poulsbo chipset, which makes 720 pixel and 1080 pixel video work with Atom processors. The netbook can run for 12 hours from a 16-cell lithium-ion battery.
Along with integrated Nokia services like Ovi Suite 2.0, Nokia Music for PC, Ovi Maps and Social Hub which aggregates feeds from online social networks like Facebook and Twitter, the netbook has Internet Explorer 8 as the default web browser.
It has an in-built accelerometer, a sensor that detects the physical orientation of the device, and the soldered 1GB DDR2 RAM makes it impossible for the users to make any change. It also has a 120GB of storage.
The netbook will have GPS embedded to provide access to Nokia's Ovi Maps software and service.
