September 4 - 12:50am EDT   Sharp on Wednesday unveiled several new AQUOS LCD high-definition televisions to the North American market, including two limited-edition models. Sharp's D65U lineup offers a native 1080p resolution, and spans between 42- and 52-inches, featuring a 6ms response time. Sharp touts the energy-saving features of the line, saying it is Energy Star-compliant, with active backlight and contrast controls to reduce energy consumption while the set is in use. [full story]

September 4 - 12:45am EDT   Sharp today announced two new AQUOS Blu-Ray players, the BD-HP21U and BD-HP50U. Both offer full 1080p HD at 24fps with HDMI 1.3 outputs, x.v.Color, and a new "Quick Start" feature claimed to get going in under ten seconds. The devices can play anything from audio CDs to Blu-Ray discs. Other sharp devices can be linked for control by using AQOUS-LINK. [full story]

August 28 - 10:20am EDT   Sharp today opened up its launches for IFA with updates targeted at HD video. The AQUOS XS1 is both the company's thinnest-ever TV at 0.9 inches -- half as much as before -- but is also its most vivid, using LED backlighting to boost the contrast ratio up to 1,000,000:1, besting plasma TVs and rivaling CRTs. The lighting also helps the set reach an extreme color accuracy of 150 percent of the NTSC color gamut, preventing the color banding that has sometimes affected past HDTVs. [full story]

August 15 - 4:30pm EDT   Overall TV shipments in North America after the second quarter, at over 9.3 million, represent a 28 percent increase from the same time period in 2007, according to a new DisplaySearch report. The report breaks down the number further by the type of TV technology, including flat-screen tube, LCD and Plasma, as well as by individual brands. [full story]

August 7 - 4:50pm EDT   Sharp on Thursday announced the upcoming release of a pair of its newest AQUOS LCD HDTVs, the 20-inch LC-20E5 and 16-inch LC-16E5. Both are capable of displaying 720p (1366x768 resolution) images and feature two HDMI connections for HD sources such as Blu-ray players. While a digital TV tuner is built in, the TVs can double as computer monitors thanks to their necked stands that allow them to swivel from side to side. [full story]

August 5 - 3:10pm EDT   Sharp on Tuesday grew its AQUOS TV range slightly by launching a larger version of the SB series. Competing against VIZIO and other budget TV producers, all the sets push a true 1080p image but shed 120Hz panels and other extras that often inflate the price. Despite this, they still manage an average pixel response time between 6ms and 6.5ms and have between two and four HDMI inputs on each model. Dual component inputs and a lone VGA port are also present to attach other HD sources. [full story]

July 2 - 9:25am EDT   Japanese cellphone users are most eager to have the iPhone 3G over any other smartphone in or coming to the market, according to a new study by iShare. The research group says that 57.9 percent of all those responding to a survey said they most wanted the Apple device, which placed well ahead of others despite the study method allowing multiple answers. Second place belonged to the Japan-made Willcom D4 UMPC and phone crossover at 35.8 percent, while the more conventional Willcom 03 was third at 33.1 percent. [full story]

June 25 - 12:20pm EDT   Apple has slipped in terms of environmental friendliness, claims Greenpeace. The activist group has published a new edition of its Guide to Greener Electronics, and whereas in the last rankings Apple jumped from 2.7 to 6.7 -- due to the release of the less toxic MacBook Air -- the company has since slipped to just 4.1, marking it as an offending company. [full story]

June 20 - 10:05am EDT   NTT DoCoMo is defending its inability to secure an iPhone deal, writes Japan's Impress Watch. Speaking at a shareholder meeting, DoCoMo CEO Masao Nakamura has stated that while the iPhone is attractive and has an appealing fanbase, many of its features are already present on the likes of LG's Prada touchscreen phone, or the Sharp SH906i. The first iPhone was also unusually heavy, says Nakamura, although he appreciates that the 3G model weighs only 4.7 ounces. [full story]

June 13 - 12:35pm EDT   Sharp today fulfilled promises made last year with news that it will begin selling what's believed to be the world's largest single-panel HDTV. At 108 inches diagonal, the LB-1085's screen is designed with public view in mind and produce a relatively rich picture for a large screen likely to be seen outdoors. While the contrast ratio is limited to 1,200:!, the 1080p image displays with as many as 76 million colors, or far more than the 16.7 million of most LCDs. [full story]

June 6 - 1:00pm EDT   Both the BlackBerry and iPhone have contributed to a downfall in Nokia's smartphone marketshare in the latest quarter, Gartner analysts report. The Finnish phone maker's influence dropped from 46.7 percent of the world market in the first quarter of 2007 to 45.2 percent a year later after aggressive moves by both Apple and Research in Motion into its territory. The iPhone as a new entrant for the quarter earned about 5.3 percent of the smartphone business through shipping 1.7 million iPhones between January and March; RIM, in turn, climbed from 8.3 percent to 13.4 percent on the back of 4.3 million BlackBerries delivered during the three-month span. [full story]

May 29 - 11:45am EDT   Apple is on par with Canon and Toshiba as one of the most highly regarded brands in Japan, according to a new study published by Gfk. Surveys of more than 40,000 Japanese people gives the American company equal footing with the other electronics makers despite Japan's historical preference for native brands. The company's industrial design and support for Windows users have helped it reach the top ranks, the research group says. Apple specifically earned its highest scores for both desktop and notebook PCs as well as portable media players. [full story]

May 23 - 1:55pm EDT   Sanyo is switching to Sharp LCD panels for its HDTV sets, the former company has announced. While Sanyo is well-known as a brand in general, its TVs have not been able to compete against the likes of those from Samsung and Sony. The Japanese electronics market has been consolidating as whole, and has forced the adoption of strategies similar to Sanyo's on the part of companies like Pioneer. In Sanyo's case its consumer electronics division has done poorly, and Reuters notes that on Thursday, the corporation announced its first profits in four years. [full story]

May 22 - 10:55am EDT   Sharp on Wednesday announced it will soon ship the thinnest auto-focus, 5-megapixel CMOS camera module ever made. Despite its ultra-small size, the camera features a signal-to-noise ratio that is 1.6 times greater than the best current model, which results in higher-quality images. At just over a quarter-inch thick, the module utilizes a flat-screen lens and high-density design for its auto-focusing CMOS sensor. [full story]

May 19 - 1:45pm EDT   Sharp on Monday announced it will debut 22 new models in all for its AQUOS RX5-, GX5- and DS5-series HD LCD TVs. The flagship RX5 series will be available in 65-, 52- and 46-inch sizes and will allow users to surf the Internet. Either model features Sharp's backlight control technology which endows the sets with a high 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Without it, the panels feature a 3,300:1 static contrast ratio. [full story]