July 1 - 4:15pm EDT   While today, July 1st, was the agreed-upon deadline between cable operators and consumer electronics companies to support the new Tru2Way interactive digital cable standard, it's now learned today that none of the cable operators will meet or come close to this date. The new standard is due to replace CableCARD, and does not require a standalone set-top box, instead being integrated into devices such as TVs, DVD or Blu-ray players from existing electronics manufacturers. While cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner and Cox Communications will not have the necessary support for the interactive service, execs from Samsung and Panasonic said good-faith effort has ... [full story]

June 18 - 1:45pm EDT   At the Infocomm show in Florida on Wednesday, Panasonic showed off an 85-inch, 1080p plasma display based on the company's NeoPDP technology. Meant for use in business presentations and as an electronic billboard, the display lacks a TV tuner of any kind. The display is four times larger than a typical 42-inch HDTV. The static contrast ratio is rated at 40,000:1, while the dynamic ratio jumps to an extremely high 2,000,000:1. [full story]

June 16 - 1:15pm EDT   Clearwire on Tuesday officially released its 4G WiMAX wireless broadband network in Atlanta, making it the largest city in the US to offer the service. The service, CLEAR, is available to about three million people in a 1,200-square mile area, offering users DSL-like cable speeds wherever they are, wirelessly. Running on a WiMAX radio system from Motorola, the service is said to deliver realistic download speeds between 4 and 6Mbps, with burst speeds greater than 15Mbps. In comparison, existing 3G networks provide download speeds between 1 and 1.7Mbps. [full story]

June 16 - 12:00pm EDT   The E-P1 will be supplemented by more distinct Micro Four Thirds models and with more professional features, Olympus product planning manager Akira Watanabe said in the wake of the new camera launch today. He explains to DPReview that the E-P1 is just the first in a larger range and that at least one future model will have an electronic viewfinder, much as Panasonic's Lumix G1 and GH1 have now. More lenses should also come in tow and may include more prime lenses beyond the new 17mm f2.8. [full story]

June 16 - 8:05am EDT   Olympus today finally launched the E-P1, its first camera using the Micro Four Thirds system and the first to adopt a non-SLR profile. Meant to recall the company's PEN cameras, it has a consciously retro but compact design that allows a large DSLR sensor and removable lenses but without the depth needed with a conventional mirror box or large optics. In a unique approach, Olympus doesn't have a dedicated electronic viewfinder beyond the 3-inch LCD but does give the choice of an optical add-on viewfinder. [full story]

June 15 - 9:05am EDT   One day ahead of its scheduled release, Olympus' EP-1 micro four thirds digital camera has been leaked. The camera is equipped with a 13-megapixel, 3 CCD sensor and can capture RAW images. It relies on an SD memory card for storage, and much like Panasonic's Lumix GH1 can shoot seven minutes of 720p video or else 14 minutes of 640x480 resolution video. [full story]

June 8 - 9:00am EDT   Panasonic today brought two camcorders to the US that it believes set records. Both the SD10 and TM10 are deemed the lightest cameras to record 1080i in AVCHD (H.264) and each weigh exactly half a pound. Aside from being more comfortable to hold, either has a relatively long-range 16X zoom and an advanced optical image stabilizer that specifically extends the effect when the user is on the move. [full story]

June 1 - 10:40am EDT   Panasonic on Monday released pricing and release information for the first portable Blu-ray disc player, the DMP-B15. First shown at this year's CES, the device sports an 8.9-inch LCD screen with 1024x600 resolution and, more importantly, Internet access via Panasonic's VIERA CAST technology along with Bonus View and BD Live functionality. This allows users to access some websites from any connected TV in their home or on the DMP-B15 itself. [full story]

May 21 - 9:15am EDT   Panasonic late on Wednesday said a real chance exists that it may develop an Android-based phone of its own before the end of its fiscal 2010 year, which ends next March. The company's mobile device director Keisuke Ishii told guests of a press conference for its new phones that Panasonic is "seriously considering" Google's mobile OS. He couldn't provide a timeframe but said the market for open-source smartphones would explode to 100 million phones by 2012, giving the electronics giant a strong reason to do well in that area itself. [full story]

May 21 - 7:55am EDT   Panasonic today set a record with its SDHC card line by launching the first-ever Class 10 cards. The rating promises a minimum 10MB per second and is better tailored to high-end compact cameras, entry digital SLRs or HD camcorders where baseline speed is essential: a still camera with 3MB shots can capture 3 frames per second without the SDHC card becoming the bottleneck. It also peaks at 22MB per second and is about 40 percent faster than a Class 4 (4MB per second) card in sustained transfers of large files. [full story]

May 20 - 3:50pm EDT   Sony is bringing its TransferJet wireless data transmission technology closer to production by announcing recently it is now accepting licensing applications from interested companies. A Wednesday report has Sony taking "adopter" membership from companies that are interested in incorporating TransferJet into their products. TransferJet, which operates on a 4.5GHz radio frequency, lets users transfer data between portable devices at up to 375Mbps when they are about an inch apart. It is faster than wired USB 2.0 and FireWire connections and is supported by Japan, the US, European Union members and South Korea. [full story]

May 20 - 8:50am EDT   Panasonic today unveiled a pair of camcorders in Japan that each claim their own world's firsts. The TM350 is the first HD camcorder to hold 64GB of flash memory and can use the storage to record about 16 hours of 1080p, AVCHD (H.264) video at a film-level 24 frames per second, with an SDHC card slot holding more. It can also add 5.1-channel surround audio to the mix and uses a 3MOS (3 CMOS) sensor that better handles lower light compared to CCD. [full story]

May 8 - 7:45am EDT   Panasonic and chemical producer Sumitomo said (sign up required) on Friday that they have teamed up to accelerate the development of OLED displays. The move will give Panasonic, which is normally known for its LCDs and plasmas, the resources to create panels using the organic technology at sizes of 40 inches or larger by Panasonic's fiscal 2010, possibly outpacing its competition. The company wouldn't say whether it planned to make TVs based on the developments, but Samsung, Sony and others have typically only expected OLED TVs at or near 27 inches in 2009. [full story]

May 6 - 10:25am EDT   Panasonic on Wednesday officially confirmed the price for its second Micro Four Thirds digital camera, the Lumix GH1. The official price of nearly $1,500 for a bundled kit includes a 14-140mm, f4.0-5.8 lens and matches the unofficial pricing from electronics retailers J&R, revealed just yesterday. Panasonic adds that the camera will ship early in June. [full story]

May 6 - 10:05am EDT   Efforts to solidify very high-speed, short-range wireless gained steam today with the creation of the WiGig Alliance (site active soon). The organization is meant to produce a common standard for sending data over a 60GHz link and to streamline developing computers, handheld devices and home theater equipment that can use the wireless link. The ultra wideband technology is fast enough to run about 10 times as quickly as an 802.11n connection -- effectively, 1Gbps -- and has the headroom to not just stream HD video but also to allow for previously impossible features like fast wireless displays and syncing entirely over the wireless connection. [full story]