July 1 - 4:30pm EDT   Philips has priced its 56-inch, 21:9 aspect ratio Cinema 21:9 HDTV it first introduced just after CES in January. While release dates are still unknown, the TV will cost the equivalent of about $7,400 in Europe. The unique aspect ratio results in a complete absence of horizontal black bars without distorting the image found in movies that are shot in the widescreen format. [full story]

June 25 - 4:45pm EDT   Philips in Singapore on Thursday announced its expanded home theater lineup for 2009, with the HTS8160B Soundbar new among them. The compact home theater setup includes a Blu-ray disc player, which has DVD and CD playback support as well, and built-in speakers, along with a separate subwoofer. While specific numbers such as power ratings are unknown, the system has what Philips calls Ambisound HD speakers and support for Dolby True HD audio format and 7.1-channel surround sound. The high-end product also sports an iPod/iPhone dock as well as a touchscreen remote control. [full story]

May 21 - 1:25pm EDT   the second time this year, flat panel HDTV maker Vizio has sued competitor Funai. Made official on Wednesday, the Vizio lawsuit is seeking an injunction of the sales of the offending Funai hardware in the US and unspecified monetary damages, arguing Funai has infringed on a number of patents held by Vizio related to manufacturing, importing and distribution of HDTVs. Vizio is seeking "millions in damages" for profits from the past sales of infringing products from Funai. [full story]

May 7 - 7:15am EDT   Philips on Wednesday evening unveiled its stylish new FlatTV 6000 and 7000 series that feature an ultra-thin bezel surrounded by a rounded acrylic edge. The new televisions are available in sizes between 32- and 52-inches, and deliver 1080p resolutions using a 120Hz ClearLCD panel. Philips boasts what it says is the "fastest refresh rate on the market" on its LCD panels at 2ms for improved viewing during high-motion content as well as improved shadow detail and black levels in dark scenes. [full story]

April 15 - 1:00pm EDT   Electronics giant Philips is drawing a close to its public efforts in 3D imaging, a Dutch site reports. The company is noted to be closing its 3D Solutions division entirely, and putting an end to the production of displays using its WOWvx technology. The technology is unique in the industry for simulating 3D on an LCD TV, without requiring viewers to wear special glasses. The cost and/or inconvenience of such glasses has traditionally been a major obstacle to the adoption of 3D displays. [full story]

March 31 - 10:35am EDT   Several companies have shifted positions within Greenpeace's quarterly tech industry rankings, the latest report from the environmental group states. One of the notable increases in rank belongs Apple, which has risen four spots in the list to reach 10th place. All of the company's major products, barring power cords, are now claimed to be free of PVC plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs); Greenpeace criticizes the company, however, for using "unreasonably high" threshold limits in counting products as free of the chemicals. [full story]

March 25 - 12:55pm EDT   Philips has announced that three of its GoGear media players are scheduled to arrive in the US. Among these is the ViBE, which uses a 1.5-inch display and a battery capable of 25 hours of music or four hours of video. While audio file support is mainly limited to MP3 or WMA files, it can also handle Rhapsody subscription tracks, and Audible audiobooks. Other integrated features include an FM tuner with 20 presets, and automated conversion of Internet video. The player should ship in April, at a cost of $50 for 4GB or $60 for 8GB. [full story]

February 26 - 3:10pm EST   Today's featured deal at DealNN is on the Philips shelf bar audio system. It has been reduced from $179.99 to $129 at Amazon.com. This 100-watt audio system includes a shelf bar speaker with built-in iPod dock as well as a wireless subwoofer. [full story]

February 25 - 9:25am EST   Panasonic, Philips and Sony today published plans to create a single licensing firm for Blu-ray discs. The new, unnamed company will let companies visit just one place to get rights to make Blu-ray burners, movie players and discs and as a result should lower the costs of the licenses themselves. The group estimates that the cost of a license should drop "at least" 40 percent versus today's approach, which requires talking to each of the three partner companies individually. [full story]

February 20 - 4:40pm EST   3DFusion announced on Thursday that it will debut its 3DFMax stereoscopic 3D display at next week's Digital Signage Exposition 2009. The display does not require glasses to show three-dimensional-like images. No other specs are available on the 3DFusion TV set, including contrast, brightness, resolution or even size, though the set is capable of displaying conventional 2D images. At the core, the display uses Philips' WOWvx 3D technology and 2D Plus Depth format. [full story]

February 20 - 4:00pm EST   Philips has recently announced its 8000-, and 9000-series HDTVs, along with the Cinema 21:9 set announced last month, will have built-in access to the Internet. The service will be called Net TV and will allow users to browse the Internet using their remote control. Philips has partnered up with numerous websites to offer services custom-tailored to be viewable through the TVs. [full story]

February 20 - 1:35pm EST   Philips has recently unveiled its latest Bluetooth headset, the SHB 7110, also appropriately named the Tapster. It uses touch sensitivity to operate its functions, including for adjusting volume and answering and ending phone calls. Phones that support voice dialing can also be made to ring up contacts without ever touching the handset. It works with all HSP- or HFP-rated Bluetooth handsets and is also Bluetooth A2DP compliant, allowing it to receive stereo music from supporting portable devices like cellphones and computers. [full story]

February 19 - 3:10pm EST   Philips in an out-of-season event today revamped its GoGear media players with a pair of new models that are higher-end than usual. The GoGear Ariaz is pitched to audiophiles as a boost in audio quality with Philips' FullSound audio engine improving the frequencies and sound stage of compressed files. A bundled set of noise-reducing headphones also improve sound by focusing attention on the music. [full story]

January 26 - 3:50pm EST   Philips Electronics said it will cut its global workforce to the tune of 6,000 because it posted the first quarterly loss in about six years, according to a Monday report. At the same time, the company stopped the buy-back program of its shares. The 1.47 billion Euro ($1.9 billion) loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 is partly due to a write-down of Philips' Lumildes diode light business as well as the downgrading of its shares in NXP Semiconductors and LG Display. Net losses for 2008 amounted to 186 million Euros (nearly $242 million). [full story]

January 15 - 12:05pm EST   Taking advantage of the calm after CES, Philips today kicked off the launch of its Cinema 21:9 HDTV line. The LCD series will be the first to use the extra-wide 21:9 aspect ratio of many theatrical releases and thus fit many movie adaptations to the screen without any of the borders that come from a non-native size. It should still handle 16:9 content and will "fill" the screen, according to Philips, though whether this involves any cropping or stretching of the picture isn't clear. [full story]