May 20 - 12:35pm EDT   First announced in January, Panasonic's PZ850-series Viera plasmas have at last been given final details, prices and release dates. The sets are luxury models sized in 46, 50, 58 and 65-inch formats, and feature built-in Internet access, allowing users to view YouTube clips or Picasa photos without a separate player or interface. Support for more websites should be added automatically as Panasonic announces them. [full story]

February 25 - 6:50pm EST   Claiming to mimic the design of its Viera line of Plasma televisions on a handheld device, Panasonic has introduced the P905iTV, a new sliding handset featuring "one-segment" mobile TV on Japan's DoCoMo network. The device offers frame conversion technology from 15 frames to 30 frames per second on 3.5 inch full-wide VGA large screen. The new handheld's screen has a contrast ratio ratio of 4000:1 and uses "LCD Artificial Intelligence" which adjusts the brightness of a display automatically and LSI based on "UniPhier" for mobile phone for power saving. The phone also features 3G international roaming and HSDPA, autofocus 2.0 megapixels camera with six-axis image stabilizer ... [full story]

January 17 - 10:20am EST   The BBC is strongly considering offering its iPlayer web video service through the revamped Apple TV, says the company's technology director Ashley Highfield in his Internet blog. Apple's shift from purchase-only videos to a rental model would allow the British network to mimic the functions of the website while providing a more comfortable TV environment, he says. While the shows could still be free to watch, the Apple TV's system would avoid copyright issues by automatically clearing episodes after their viewing period is up, a feature that show producers currently "insist" upon for the website. [full story]

January 11 - 10:30am EST   Turning its attention from its CES releases, Panasonic on Friday released two entries in its DIGA high-defnition video recorder lines. The XP12 and XP22V are both capable of transcoding HDTV from their digital over-the-air tuners into the more efficient AVCHD (H.264) video format, allowing more video to fit on either DVR's 250GB hard drives without losing perceived quality. Each can also record this video at its full HD size to single- and dual-layer DVD-R discs to preserve them for later viewing on the recorder or any other device that can play AVCHD from normal discs. The XP22V adds VHS recording, Panasonic says, though whether these videos will remain at HD sizes ... [full story]

January 6 - 8:15pm EST   Panasonic opened CES with a thorough reworking of its Viera HDTVs and a new Blu-ray home theater to match. The new line now includes both LCDs and plasmas under the Viera name but is topped by Panasonic's traditional focus on large-screen plasma screens. Joining other HDTV makers, Panasonic's PZ850 will be Internet-connected and have access to Google features such as Picasa photo albums and YouTube videos directly from the set. It will also match the best sets at CES this year with a 30,000:1 contrast ratio, four HDMI connectors, and pro-grade image adjustment. Versions will be available in a smaller 46-inch size along with 50-, 58-, and 65-inch parallels. [full story]