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LONDON, England, and TOKYO, Japan, February 4, 2008—LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile leaders delivering an open handset platform for the whole industry, today announced the on-schedule availability in March 2008 of the first release of the LiMo Platform—the first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile handsets—together with the immediate public availability of the application programming interface (API) specifications.

LiMo’s technology will be showcased in Booth 8b135, Hall 8 at Mobile World Congress, February 11-14 in Barcelona.

LiMo’s initial Founder members—Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone—collaborated on Release 1 (R1), and nearly all of the enabling technology within R1 has been commercially deployed and proven within handsets enjoyed by consumers today.

The LiMo Platform—leveraging standards and open-source projects—is a modular, plug-in-based, hardware-independent architecture built around an open operating system, with a secure run-time environment for support of downloaded applications. Linux was selected as the core technology for the LiMo Platform for its acceptability by the whole mobile industry, its rich functionality and scalability, its record of success in embedded systems and mobile phones and its potential to easily “cross-platformize” with other product categories.

Third-party developers will use LiMo’s API specifications—available in beta form immediately at www.limofoundation.org—to build new applications that deliver next-generation consumer experiences across a tremendous, stable base of globally deployed mobile devices. Middleware components for the LiMo Platform can be implemented in either C or C++ programming languages.

Launched in January 2007, the LiMo Foundation is open to all vendors and service providers in the mobile communications marketplace, including device manufacturers, operators, chipset manufacturers, independent software vendors, integrators and third-party developers. More at Limofoundation.org.

Tokyo, Japan — Dec 25, `07 –BUSINESS WIRE– Hitachi, Canon and Matsushita Electric today reached a basic agreement on a comprehensive alliance aimed at reinforcing and growing the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel businesses and technologies.

Under this alliance, the three companies will merge their strengths to accelerate the development of cutting-edge display technologies and expand their scope of application. Hitachi possesses sophisticated liquid crystal-related technologies, including the world-acclaimed In-Plane Switching (“IPS”) technology that enables outstanding color reproducibility, wide viewing angles and other superior features. Canon, meanwhile, excels in the camera, printer and medical equipment fields while Matsushita commands global leadership in the flat-panel TV field.

Moreover, it has been basically agreed by the three companies that Canon and Matsushita will, by transfer of shares from Hitachi, each acquire 24.9% of the shares of Hitachi Displays, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi engaged in small- and medium-sized LCD panel-related businesses, by March 31, 2008, subject to approvals by regulatory authorities. As a result, Hitachi’s stake in Hitachi Displays is to become 50.2%.

Hitachi will strengthen its competitiveness in the flat-panel LCD TV sector by using state-of-the-art LCD panels to develop the world’s thinnest flat-panel LCD TV and its ultra-thin flat-panel LCD TVs “Wooo UT series.”

Canon aims to accelerate ongoing development of organic light-emitting diode (“OLED”) displays by teaming up with Hitachi, which also boasts advanced display technologies.

Matsushita is expanding and strengthening its mainline PDP operations. It is also deepening its involvement in the businesses of Hitachi Displays, a designer, manufacturer and marketer of IPS liquid crystal panels for large TVs, and of IPS Alpha. The aim is to exploit the outstanding performance and cost advantage of the IPS alpha Panel toward increasing the competitive edge of the VIErA Series of flat-panel TVs in step with PDP models.

As the second stage, the three companies are planning ownership changes that would have Canon, a company with extensive know-how in small- and medium-sized displays from the user side, take a majority holding in Hitachi Displays, and Matsushita, a universally acknowledged leader in the TV sector, take a majority holding in IPS Alpha. More here.

Secaucus, NJ — Nov 20, ‘07 – Panasonic announced that its next generation Blu-ray Disc player, the DMP-BD30, is now shipping and is available prior to Black Friday in channel partner stores in many regions of the country. 

The BD30 is the first Blu-ray player to incorporate Final Standard Profile 1.1 — a supplementary interactive function added to the Blu-ray Disc standard which opens the door to a variety of new and unique functions such as Picture-in-Picture and audio mixing.

Panasonic worked closely with Hollywood film makers to develop High Definition technologies now available in the DMP-BD30 including “PHL Chroma Processing” for optimized Blu-ray and DVD playback and an SD Memory Card slot. The SD Card slot allows BD30 owners to network between their High Definition products including playback of digital still images and High Definition video recorded in the AVCHD High Definition Camcorder format.

With an SRP of $499.95, the DMP-BD30 also features a slimmer profile while offering a myriad of technological advances, including Deep Color Compatibility, and HDMI 1.3B, that enhances step gradation from 8-bit 256 all the way up to 12-bit, 4,096 step gradation. To further enhance the viewing experience, the DMP-BD30 also provides 1080/24p playback, so the consumer can enjoy the same 24-fps (frames per second) reproduction as the original movie. This eliminates the need to utilize 3.2 pull down, a process which converts 24-fps images to 60-fps, resulting in a smoother picture.

Panasonic also inroduced Sleek New KX-TG8231 DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone:

The KX-TG8231 features DECT 6.0 technology packaged in a glossy piano black finish echoing the sophistication of a grand piano. The phone’s sleek and compact design pairs a stylishly modern handset and base with DECT 6.0 technology that allows for minimized electrical interference with other home electronics. A display on the handset shows phone information in bright and clear full color, including caller ID so a user can see who’s calling even when away from the phone’s base. The caller ID also can be customized with individual ringtones.

Other handset features that enhance portability include speakerphone capability and battery life of up to 12 hours of talk time. The KX-TG8231 is also expandable up to 6 handsets, has a built-in clock with alarm and includes a 50-station phonebook and dialer that is transferable to all KX-TG8231/32 phones in a home.

The KX-TG8231 is available at Amazon for $46.73, while the two-handset KX-TG8232 is available for $99.76.

Nov 09, ‘07 — Samsung said Friday it had stopped selling flat panel televisions and other consumer products in Japan, citing poor profitability.

Samsung has emerged in the past decade and a half as a global force in consumer electronics, taking on and even beating Japanese rivals in places such as the United States and Europe. But penetrating the competitive Japanese consumer market, home to rivals such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp., appears to have been a considerable challenge.

“We judged direct sales to individual consumers are less profitable than business-to-business sales,” Lee Eun-hee, a Samsung spokeswoman, said of the reasoning behind the decision. Samsung sold LCD TVs, DVD players, MP3 music players and other items in Japan via the Internet, but stopped at the end of October, Lee said. It had ceased sales in retail outlets in August last year, she said.

Samsung will sell flat screen computer monitors directly to businesses and will continue to sell components such as memory chips and liquid crystal displays, she said. The company will also keep supplying mobile phone handsets to Japanese telecommunications company Softbank Corp., she said.

Since 2004, Samsung has produced LCD panels at a joint venture with Sony to meet strong demand for flat screen TVs, which has soared in recent years as consumers have switched to the sleeker versions.

Los Angeles, CA–October 30, 2007–Panasonic announced today the introduction of the DMP-BD30, the next generation High Definition 1080p Blu-ray Disc player. The DMP-BD30 is the first Blu-ray player to be introduced with Final Standard Profile, which adds a variety of new and enhanced features to the Blu-ray arena and one that separates the Panasonic Blu-ray player from the rest of the field. Also unique to the DMP-BD30 is the inclusion of an SD Memory Card slot for playback of High Definition content recorded in the AVCHD format. The SD slot also allows for viewing of digital still images recorded to an SD Memory Card.

With an SRP of  $499.95, the DMP-BD30 also features a myriad of technology advances, including Deep Color Compatibility, and HDMI 1.3B, that bumps the step gradation from 8-bit 256 all the way up to 12-bit, 4,096 step gradation. To further enhance the viewing experience, the DMP-BD30 also provides 1080/24p playback, so the consumer can enjoy the same 24-fps (frames per second) reproduction as the original movie. This eliminates the need to utilize 3.2 pull down, a process to convert 24-fps images to 60-fps, resulting in a smoother picture. More at Panasonic

For the pleasure of the Audiophiles, Panasonic has released RP-WF5500 5.1 Channel 2.4GHz Wireless Headphones. According to Panasonic press release, “with this 5.1 channel headphones you’ll get the same sense of direction and a powerful sound reproduction as you would get from a DVD / digital broadcasting”.

Quick Specs:

• 2.4 GHz Digital Radio Transmission, Indoor Distance Range of up to 30 m approx
• 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound Headphones
•  Nickel Hydride Battery with Approx 6 Hours of Battery Life
• Weight 255g Approx (with Battery)
• Playback Frequency: 20 to 22,000 Hz
• Available from Nov 20, ‘07 in Japan

More at (google translated) Panasonic

Aving News Network reports on another news from CEATEC, “Panasonic presented its 32GB SDHC card during CEATEC 2007, which is enough to store huge HD video files.”

More pics at Aving…