Monthly Archives: November 2012

New Products

Sony Unveils 4K Server for 84-inch LCD TV

Sony Electronics formally took “4K Ultra High Definition” to the next level Thursday by introducing the first 4K playback device supporting its newly released 84-inch LCD TV.

The new 4K Ultra HD Video Player is a hard-disk server that connects easily to Sony’s matching XBR-84X900 84-inch LED LCD TV, allowing consumers to view 4K resolution movies and short-form 4K videos. The server and 84-inch 4K Ultra HD LED LCD TV sets were scheduled to be officially unveiled and demonstrated at an invitation-only event with Sony recording artist John Legend.

Sony said it is making the device available as a bonus “loaned”—as the company put it—exclusively to U.S. customers purchasing the Sony 4K LED TV. The hard-disk server, which has been used for in-store demos of the company’s flagship 4K Ultra HD TV screen, comes loaded with content, including both full-length Hollywood features and a gallery of videos, creating the first true home 4K experience, Sony said.

Currently, the device is the only method consumers can use to play natively produced 4K Ultra HD content on the new high-resolution displays. As a stand-alone unit, the Sony XBR-84X900 TV up-scales all video inputs, including the more than 7,000 Blu-ray Disc titles currently in distribution, to what Sony said is “a near-4K resolution” through the use of Sony’s proprietary 4K X-Reality PRO three-chip picture engine.

“Sony is a company of firsts, and this introduction of the first 4K technology platform continues that pioneering, innovative spirit,” stated Phil Molyneux, Sony Electronics president and COO. “We were the first to introduce 4K projectors to cinemas in 2005, the first to introduce a 4K projector designed for the home in 2011, and the first to offer a 4K up-scaling Blu-ray Disc player earlier this year. Now we’re the first to begin closing the content loop, offering native 4K content for the home and delivering the most immersive, awe-inspiring entertainment experience yet.” 

As it has done with high-definition and 3D, Sony is looking to take the point for the consumer electronics industry in leading the way into the next new video format. Sony pointed out that “it is uniquely positioned to be first to market in delivering 4K Ultra HD solutions,” in its multiple roles a content producers, and consumer and professional equipment manufacturers. Sony said its spin on the 4K Ultra HD Home Experience for the home includes its “84-inch 4K LED TV, the video player, and an Xperia Tablet S that serves as a remote control through an easy-to-use app.”

Apple, New Products

Philips Offers Smartphone-Controlled Lighting

Philips Lighting is launching a network-enabled lighting-control system available only through Apple stores.

The system, called hue, is positioned as the world’s first Web-enabled LED home lighting system sold direct to consumers. It lets users control LED light bulbs from iOS and Android apps on smartphones and tablets when inside the home or from afar.

Offered exclusively through Apple stores beginning Oct. 30, the $199 hue starter kit includes three LED bulbs, which fit into any standard light fixture, and a ZigBee-based wireless bridge that connects to a home’s existing wireless router. From the app, consumers can remotely control home lighting, personalize their lighting experience with custom settings, and program timers.

Additional bulbs cost $59.

Hue controls up to 50 LED light bulbs via the open ZigBee LightLink wireless standard, with individual control over each bulb. Users can save personal light settings and recall them from a smart device. Hue also includes four pre-programmed light settings that adjust bulbs to an optimum shade and brightness of white light for such scenarios as relaxing, reading or boosting mood and energy, the company said.

Users can also set each bulb to emit a different color from among more than 16 million colors.

Using the ZigBee LightLink standard, hue bulbs create a mesh network so that the bulbs can get a ZigBee command even if far from the home’s ZigBee bridge. The standard lets the system use significantly less stand-by power than Wi-Fi, Philips added.

Hue can be integrated with other ZigBee-based systems such as motion sensors and home thermostats for additional home automation, Philips noted. Software updates for the bulbs are done automatically via the bridge and the bulbs themselves for future-proofing.

In the future, Philips plans to integrate hue with sound and video systems and develop geo-location services, which enable hue to turn on or off home lights when a user gets close to home or leaves.

Philips is also researching the addition of “ reverse indicators,” enabling hue to issue alerts that lighting has not been turned on during a specific time period. The feature would be useful in elder-care situations, the company said.

Philips will make a hue interface and software development kit (SDK) available to anyone who wants to create additional functionality or applications that interact with the system. The applications will be tested by the Philips “to ensure they are viable,” the company said.

With LED lights, Philips said, LED semiconductors can be easily integrated into electronic circuitry to deliver new lighting options at the command of an electrical signal. These smart bulbs have a unique web address.