Hasta La Gadget!

We don’t get many handheld portable TVs here in the US for a variety of reasons, but that doesn’t stop us appreciating them from afar. A few weeks ago Panasonic unveiled some new portable Digital Viera TVs that looked great for lounging on the patio with the comfort of some classic Takeshi’s Castle reruns, and now the company is upgrading bath time as well with the ME550 and ME650 Vieras. Both offer 5-inch, 480 x 272 LCDs, like their predecessors, but have been given bigger speakers for better audio and boosted 1Seg tuners for better… tuning. Both can record to SDXC cards but only the ME650 has PMP functionality, able to play back audio, video, and still image files from storage. No price on either, but look for these to start hitting Japanese bubble baths next month.

Panasonic’s waterproof ME550 and ME650 TVs offer optimal tubby time entertainment originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  Panasonic  | Email this | Comments

Spring has arrived here in the States, which means that nearly every single one of those camcorders introduced at CES this year will be shipping out in time for you to capture Little Billy’s summer league baseball, Tiny Tom’s first dip in the ocean and Merry Maggie’s (eighth) wedding ceremony. Included in that bunch is Panasonic, which has informed us that its HDC-TM700 and HDC-HS700 1080p 3MOS camcorders will be available in the middle of next month (that’s April, for those without a Gregorian calendar nearby) for $999.95 and $1,399.95, respectively. You know capturing Bashful Brad’s Bar Mitzvah in the finest of quality is worth it.

Panasonic’s HDC-TM700 and HDC-HS700 HD camcorders get priced and dated for US originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Panasonic has never needed to wait for a new studio album before putting together another major tour, the latest of which it’s dubbed Touch the Future. Trading in the traveling truck exhibition for a more intimate indoor setting, the real production Full HD 3D televisions are available and on display, along with glasses, Blu-ray players plus a few other products for good measure. We took a look as soon as the doors opened in NYC (the display runs through today at the Penn Plaza Pavilion and other locations in Chicago and Los Angeles, check the schedule for 12 more cities on deck) and got an eye full of the same 50-inch plasma 3DTVs on sale at Best Buy stores around the country. One major new look for this demo was an NVIDIA PC running the 3DTV Play solution, as you can see from the pics even New York’s finest enjoyed turning a lap or two of Need for Speed: Shift in 3D. The action was smooth and easy compatibility with 3D gaming on the PC should provide plenty of content while we wait for more true 3D games to hit consoles (which should ramp up after the PS3 update this summer) while checking out Blu-ray demos on a 50-inch television proved every bit as engaging this time as it did on the 152-inch CES display.

Continue reading Panasonic Touch the Future Tour lets production Full HD 3DTVs hit the public stage

Panasonic Touch the Future Tour lets production Full HD 3DTVs hit the public stage originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Panasonic Touch the Future Tour  | Email this | Comments

Good news for those who found themselves a few yen short after hearing the Japanese prices of Panasonic’s first 3D plasma HDTVs — their American counterparts will be considerably cheaper. Even at a recent line show the company kept the MSRPs close to its chest, but March 10 Best Buy’s 24 hour location at Union Square will sell the first full HD 3D home theater system, consisting of the aforementioned VT25, DMP-BDT350 Blu-ray player and active shutter glasses. Japan’s Nikkei pegs the bundle price at around $3,000, with 50-inch televisions by themselves arriving for around $2,500. Compare that to the ¥430,000 ($4,813) price in Japan and you’ve got an idea of the discounting going on so Panasonic can hit its targets of 1 million 3DTVs (worldwide) sold in 2010. Can’t get to Manhattan by Wednesday? The Panasonic/Best Buy team up will reportedly place demos at 300 or so stores shortly, rising to 1,000 locations by the end of the year. Unfortunately they won’t be able to advertise an Academy Award for Best Picture winner (catch Samsung’s ad last night?) in the 3D demo reel, but between Avatar and this week’s box office smash, Alice in Wonderland, we’re sure there will be at least a few people interested in taking 3D home once it’s available.

Panasonic’s VT25 3DTVs will be nearly 50% off Japanese prices, launch this week at Best Buy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wall Street Journal  |  Nikkei (registration required)  | Email this | Comments

Whoopsadaisies. Seems Panasonic “accidentally” posted specs and images of its upcoming G2 and G10 Micro Four Thirds cameras to its web site just long enough to be snagged by a few different photog sites. While there’s no denying that the incident occurred (the pics are certainly legit), there’s some speculation at 43rumors that the specifications are still “work in progress” and should be considered only partially correct. Nevertheless, let’s go with what we’ve got keeping in mind that some of this might change. Both cams are said to feature a 12.1 megapixel sensor, touchscreen with touch shutter and touch MF Assist, and ISO 100 to 6,200 sensitivity. The G2 differs with its one-touch AVCHD Lite movie mode (1,280 x 720, 60p) and 3-inch articulating display with live view. The G10 then, offers a “double live view” (LCD and live view finder) glimpse at the action while recording 1,280 x 720p motion JPEG videos at 30fps. However, the leaked spec sheet inconsistently mentions an AVCHD Lite recording format for the G10 as well… so who knows. Panasonic is expected to make an announcement on March 7th; surely you can wait you a few days?

Panasonic leaks own G2 and G10 Micro Four Thirds cams in macro fashion originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Photo Rumors, 43Rumors  | Email this | Comments