Earlier this week, LG announced that several of their new HDTVs will be getting integrated VUDU services and won’t require a media box. Today, the writers from Engadget got to view first hand how the LG TVs handle the VUDU services. They were pleased to see that everything you could do with the box was integrated into the TVs. The writer was also impressed on the speed that the TV was able to stream both 720p and 1080p content. They did realize though that while the 1080p content was slower, the 720p was more than enough to display a quality image and a reasonable streaming speed.

[via Engadget]

Do you have a stylish up to date house and want a matching HDTV. Well now you can with the Loewe Individual Selection LCD TVs. Ranging from 26” to 46” these screen feature full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution and can be setup on a table, freestanding, or even wall mounted. The main feature about these TVs isn’t what’s inside, but what you can do to the outside. The Individual Selection TVs come with removable frame panels that can be easily removed and swapped to match the décor of the room. The company offers a wide variety of paint colors as well as wood finishes like light oak. Unfortunately the retail price of these sets has not been released yet but if their appearance has gives any clues then they will probably be expensive.

[via T3]

British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) is one of the leading cable TV services in the UK. Recently, the company has announced that sometime next year they will be releasing the world’s first 3D television station. The new station will be geared towards showcasing movies, and sports, which is expected to be the biggest draw for the station. The new station will be available to any current customer that has a Sky+ HD box, which is one of the company’s high quality media boxes. The only drawback to the new station is that it will still require customers to purchase 3D-ready glasses in order to watch. Otherwise the image will only look blurred. “3D is a genuinely ’seeing is believing’ experience [and] next year we will make our HD boxes work even harder for customers by launching Europe’s first 3D TV channel,” said Brian Sullivan, the managing director of Sky’s customer group. “[We are also] introducing a comprehensive video-on-demand service to complement Sky+ and the current Sky Anytime service.”

[via Guardian]

LG is proud to announce that they will be releasing soon two brand new series at the company’s annual Summer Line Show. The SL80 and SL90 series will feature a single edge-to-edge panel of glass over an ultra-slim bezel making the displays less than two inches thick. The SL80 series uses the latest in LCD display technology, while the SL90 series will feature the new LED display technology. The SL80 series features three display sizes, 42”, 47”, and 55”, which are named 42SL80, 47SL80, and 55SL80, respectively. Unfortunately, LG has only released information about the 42 and 47 models, but they feature full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, a 150000:1 contrast ratio and a 2.2ms response time. The SL90 series will come only in 42” and 47” display sizes, but the information about these monitors have been kept under wraps for now. We do know however, that the SL90 series will feature a 3000000:1 contrast ratio and feature TruMotion 120Hz to reduce motion blur and create more natural looking images. More information about both series will be released as it becomes available.

[via PR News Wire]

Kodak is one of the leading camera and film developers. Recently, the company has announced that they have updated their Theater HD Player. This device allows a user to watch HD content from a computer and displays the content onto your HDTV. The player is good not just for video, but for photos and can also transmit audio as well. The new upgrade not only allows the player to stream content from your computer, but also from the internet. Connected through a Wi-Fi connection or a wired link, the player can now access website like YouTube and display the content with HD quality. The player will also support a wide array of file formats including DivX, Xvid, H.264, and WMV-9. The older version of the player used to be able to stream only 720p HD (1280 x 720) resolution content, but the upgraded version can now play full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution content. The Theater HD Player is now available through Kodak and certified retailers and is priced at just under $200.

[via Electronista]

Digital Cowboy is known for creating some low cost digital equipment. Recently, the company announced the release of their DC-MCNP1 NAS drive. The main feature about this device is that it also can double as a media player for your HDTV. The machine comes with HDMI and composite inputs as well as dual USB ports and an Ethernet connection. The drive can stream a wide variety of file formats and can also be accessed by the user’s laptop no matter where they are in the world. Unfortunately the DC-MCNP1 will only be available in Japan and will release next month. The retail price is expected to be ¥19,900 ($209).

[via Engadget]

Sonic Solutions has recently announced that their CinemaNow service will offer “Blu-ray Disc resolution” with buffer-free playback. The upgrade is due to the company’s new CineVision Adaptive HD encoding and delivery system. The system is designed specifically to deliver the highest quality HD video possible to internet-connected CE devices. The company has announced that the new technology is already integrated in Blu-ray production, which helped make the upgrade so easy to design. “Consumers not only want instant access to new Hollywood hit movies on their connected TVs and Blu-ray players, they want it in HD,” said Mark Ely, executive vice president of strategy for Sonic Solutions. “In collaboration with Widevine, we’ve been able to enhance our world-class CineVision encoding system to prepare content for pristine viewing on the coming wave of connected CE devices – without requiring CE manufacturers to put costly hard drives in their products.”

[via Sonic]

Samsung is a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics. Today, the company has announced their latest LED HDTV series, which will be their new flagship for the LED technology. The 8500 series comes in two sizes, 55-inch and 46-inch, which are called UN55B8500 and UN46B8500 respectively. These HDTVs feature full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, a 7000000:1 contrast ratio, and a 2ms response time. The main feature about the 8500 series is the inclusion of Samsung’s Medi@2.0 suite, which allows users to access content from a wide variety of online sources. Some of the more popular web-based content is provided by Yahoo, USA Today, Twitter, YouTube, and several others. In addition to the online access, the 8500 series will also be able to upgrade their internet widgets with development kits as they become available. Samsung has announced that these HDTVs will not be released until the end of August and will retail for $4500 and $3600.

[via Business Wire]

Many cable companies in the Middle East are starting to broadcast HD content. The latest company to announce this change is the Abu Dhabi Media Company. The HD cable channel will launch in October and will show a wide range of programming including, the English Premier League football matches, National Geographic documentaries, drama TV shows and selected movies. Abu Dhabi Media Company is proud to play a role in contributing to the growth of Abu Dhabi as a regional and international media hub,” said Mohamed Khalaf al Mazrouei, the chairman of ADMC. “With ADMC boasting 40 years of successful broadcast history, and HD being lauded as the biggest breakthrough in broadcasting since colour television, it seemed natural for ADMC to make high-definition television accessible to its viewers in the UAE.”

[via The National]

The Philips 42PFL404H/12 HDTV is one of the company’s best models over in the UK. This 42 inch LCD display features full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution and an 80000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Recently, the writers from Trusted Reviews got an up close look at the 42PFL404. The first aspect about the TV that the writer mentions is the design. From the front, the HDTV looks elegant and stylish. But if you turn the TV around, the thin appearance is shattered by a bulky box that sticks out. The TV delivers decent quality pictures with is better than many 42inch rivals. The colors were also noted as being enjoyably vivid and dynamic. Some of the problems that the 42PFL404 had included problems with the motion handling, brightness jumping, and problems with displaying crisp images from regular DVDs. The final verdict the writer made was, “The 42PFL8404 is a very attractive, heavily featured TV with an unusually approachable price by Philips’ premium standards. The fact that it doesn’t use the brand’s top-line video processing system is pretty obvious in some aspects of its picture quality, but even a Philips TV firing on three-quarters of the brand’s cylinders is still worth at least an audition.”

[via Trusted Reviews]