L' Electronique grand public aux Etats-Unis

Un guide explicatif du téléviseur Haute définition.

electrogp — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:51:00 GMT

Consumer guide to HDTV.

http://www.ce.org/shared_files/resources/HDTVBrochure2.pdf

Le Consumer Electronics Association lance un site d'aide au consommateur.

electrogp — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:47:00 GMT

www.myceknowhow.com

C'est confirmé, les ventes d'électronique grand public devraient atteindre des sommets en 2006

electrogp — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 16:40:00 GMT

Prediction; Consumer Electronics Shipments Will Increase Eight Percent In 2006

The numbers say it all - the consumer electronics industry is hot
Gary Shapiro, CEA's president and CEO

Factory sales of consumer electronics will reach a new high of $135.4 billion in 2006, according to the Consumer Electronics Association's annual industry forecast released as the industry prepares to convene in Las Vegas for the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev.

"The numbers say it all - the consumer electronics industry is hot," said Gary Shapiro, CEA's president and CEO. "Sales exceeded our expectations in 2005, totaling $125.9 billion and we're forecasting 8 percent growth in 2006. Consumer electronics sales are consistently growing, breaking records every year, because our industry is constantly changing to provide products that consumers love and can't live without. I cannot wait to see the thousands of new products unveiled this week at the International CES that will continue to grow this amazing industry."

The 2006 projections, 2005 year-end figures and more are included in CEA's bi-annual U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts report, which is released every year at the International CES and updated mid-year. According to the report, 2005 year-end totals exceeded CEA's initial projection of $122 billion, increasing by 11 percent over 2004. CEA attributes much of the growth in 2005 to next-generation product lines and innovations to wireless devices, flat panel displays, MP3 devices and gaming consoles and software.

CEA projects that sales of digital television (DTV) will continue to drive industry sales to new heights in 2006, forecasting total sales to surpass $23 billion and 18 million units. DTV sales in 2005 grew 60 percent to $17 billion. This growth is attributable to the growing popularity and competitive price declines of flat panel displays such as LCD and plasma. Combined, these displays accounted for 40 percent of all DTV sales. Analog and digital LCD TVs combined for $3 billion and four million units. Plasma TVs sold nearly two million units for a total of $4 billion in dollar sales. High-definition television (HDTV) continues to claim 85 percent of the total DTV market.

Launches of next-generation gaming consoles will continue throughout early 2006, pushing the gaming market to $14 billion. The gaming category experienced healthy growth in 2005 with total shipment revenues of $12 billion as the first releases of next-generation gaming consoles and compatible software titles hit dealer shelves.

CEA also forecasts a continued strong market for MP3 players as devices with video playback capability grab the attention of consumers.

"We are projecting an increase in sales of MP3 players to $4.5 billion in 2006, with 30 percent of all MP3 players sold having video playback capability," said CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo. "MP3 technology helped boost the audio and accessories markets in 2005. With the introduction of video playback capability, MP3 player sales surged 200 percent in 2005 to $3 billion. Trends in 2006 should be no different."

source: www.rtoonline.com

Synthèse de notre travail

electrogp — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:48:00 GMT

Après trois mois de veille ou presque, quelles sont les conclusions que nous pouvons tirer de notre étude et des documents que nous avons trouvés? La première remarque qui nous semble importante est que le sujet est très vaste. Nous nous sommes attaqués au marché de l'électronique grand public (EGP) le plus grand au monde, celui des Etats-Unis, ce qui implique notamment une grande couverture médiatique et commerciale.
Le principal problème que nous avons rencontré durant la première période de veille est sans doute la difficulté à trouver les mots clés les plus pertinents. En effet, nous avons souvent été, notamment avec googlealert, submergés par des séries de sites type achat et vente en ligne. Pour autant, nous avons réussi à compiler un grand nombre d'informations extrêmement intéressantes pour qui voudrait se lancer dans le marché de l'EGP aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique. Des Études de marché aux dernières tendances en passant par l'actualité des constructeurs, nous avons couvert une problématique assez large tout en essayant de ne pas paraître superficiels.

Concrètement qu'avons nous appris sur l'électronique grand public aux États Unis?
Nous pouvons insister sur plusieurs points. Premièrement, il s'agit là d' un marché en plein boom. Largement démocratisés le téléviseurs LCD, les lecteurs DVD et autres, ont vu leur vente exploser en volume en 2005. 2006 est parti sur les mêmes bases, voir meilleures encore.Comment expliquer ce dynamisme?
La baisse des prix de vente reste l'argument principal du dynamisme de ce marché. Cette baisse s'est opérée au niveau de trois phénomènes bien distincts. Premièrement, les constructeurs ont effectué des économies d'échelles sur leur production et leur logistique. Le second phénomène est le suivant, les marques asiatiques sont venus bousculer les gros constructeurs par une offre relativement proche mais à des prix nettement plus compétitifs. Conséquence, les gros constructeurs ont dû faire preuve de réactivité pour ne pas voir chuter leur parts de marché. Il faut tout de même signaler que le marché américain est le plus important et quiconque s'expose a y perdre des parts, risque d'en perdre sur d'autres marchés tels que le marché européen ou asiatique,par un effet d'entraînement. Enfin, le dernier phénomène expliquant la baisse des prix, il s'agit du progrès technologique. Magnétoscopes, Téléviseurs CRT ( à tube cathodique), voire même lecteurs DVD, sont arrivés en phase de maturité. Il s'agit donc pour les constructeurs de liquider les derniers stocks avant de se lancer dans la commercialisation d'un nouveau standard.

Le marché de l'EGP aux Etats-Unis s'est révélé être un marché exigeant et en pleine mutation. Il ne s'agit pas uniquement de s'être fait un nom pour vendre ses produits, il faut également aller de l'avant en fonction des besoins des clients, quitte à investir d'énormes capitaux en Recherche et Developpement (R&D). Nous avons notamment l'exemple de Thomson qui a fait les frais de sa passivité. N'ayant pas senti le créneau du MP3 après être déjà passé à côté de celui de l'écran LCD, le groupe Thomson a décidé de chercher un repreneur pour sa branche électronique grand public. A contrario, Sharp, qui n'a jamais été un acteur majeur de l'électronique grand public comme des groupes tels que Sony ou Philips, a été le premier constructeur à abandonner complètement le téléviseur CRT pour passer au tout LCD (même pour les écrans supérieurs à 40''). Aujourd'hui Sharp est devenue la référence de l'écran LCD et domine largement ce marché lucratif.
Autre enseignement, nous sommes dans une période charnière dans le domaine de l'EGP. De nombreux standards vont définitivement disparaître, et d'autre apparaître. Nous pouvons notamment citer le magnétoscope qui malgré sa grande utilisation notamment pour enregistrer des émissions, sera remplacé à moyen voire court terme, par des appareils type DVR qui utilisent un procédé type disque dur pour l'enregistrement.
Cette année, au salon de Las Vegas, la référence mondiale des salons consacrés a l'EGP une seule question primait pour les participants: Qui serait le grand gagnant ?
Aussi étrange que cela puisse paraître, la "guerre" de succession du standard DVD a déjà commencé. D'un coté nous avons le concept du Blu-Ray, soutenu notamment par Sony, Panasonic et Philips et de l 'autre le HD DVD, projet porté par principalement par Hitachi, Nec, Microsoft ou encore HP.
Après le DVD haute définition, le téléviseur haute définition est censé donner à l'image une nouvelle dimension. Pour 2006, il est prévu une démocratisation du Lecteur MP3 – MP4, qui permettra entre autre de visionner des films ou des clips dans la rue.
En somme, le marché de l'EGP est dans une phase de renouvellement et il semble que le mouvement s'accélère. Pour preuve, il a fallu une vingtaine d'années pour passer de la VHS au DVD. Ajourd'hui, le DVD est menacé au bout de 7 à 8 ans de règne. Une question se pose naturellement, combien de temps le consommateur va t'il suivre ce rythme effréné? Récemment un article faisait état d'un nombre croissant de consommateurs complètement désemparés devant la complexité d'utilisation de leur nouveau téléviseur HD. Peut-on considerer cela comme un signal destiné à calmer la créativité des constructeurs?

Résultats

electrogp — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 21:45:00 GMT

Il s'agit de vous présenter l'ensemble des résultats les plus pertinents suite à notre travail de recherche:

Le tableau suivant représente la sélection de 11 articles issus des résultats obtenus:

resultats_veille_electrogp1.xls

A ce tableau, on peut notamment ajouter:

Les articles de presse anglosaxonne:

usatoday,

www.usatoday.com Il s'agit d'un quotidien américain qui possède notamment des spécialistes au sein de sa rédaction sur le secteur de l'électronique grand public sur le marché américain. 4 étoiles

Il nous a ainsi fourni l'article suivant:

Dell: Un nouvel intervenant sur le marché de Kevin Maney, c'est un article intéressant car il relate non seulement l'intention émise par dell d'attaquer d'une manière plus importante le marché de l'électronique grand public mais il nous expose également toute la stratégie mise en place par l'entreprise, et notamment ses efforts sur les segments de marché lecteurs mp3 et écran plats à partir d'un système de vente initié sur son site internet.

financialtimes

www.financialtimes.com Il s'agit d'un quotidien britannique qui possède également des spécialistes de l'électronique grand public au sein de sa rédaction. 4 étoiles

Nous avons notamment retenu l'article suivant:

- Thomson sur le point de quitter le marché de l'electronique pour se recentrer sur le domaine des médias, c'est un article de presse qui relate les difficultés éprouvés par le groupe français suite à la baisse de ses parts de marché dans le secteur.

Newyork times

www.nytimes.com il s'agit d'un quotidien américain qui possède aussi au sein de sa rédation des spécialistes de la question de l'électronique grand public sur le marché américain comme Ken Belson. 4 étoiles.

Nous avons ainsi reçu l'article au sujet de:

- La bataille pour le standard de l'après DVD, et il nous a ainsi présenté la "bataille concurrencentielle à laquelle se livrent les plus grands constructeurs d'egp dans la course à l'innovation.

Les articles de presse américaine spécialisée:

Toptechnews:

www.toptechnews.com Il s'agit d'un site spécialement dédié au domaine de l'électronique grand public. 5 étoiles.

-Samsung innove avec un nouveau type d'écran, le LCD en danger? , il s'agit d'un processus d'innovation mis en place par la marque samsung dont l'objectif pour la marque est d'acquérir un avantage par rapport à ses concurrents et ainsi attirer de nouveaux clients. 3 étoiles

Twice: This week in Consumer Electronics

www.twice.com Il en est de même pour ce site qui lui est aussi est entièrement dédié à l'actualité e l'électronique grand public sur le marché américain. 5 étoiles

Il nous a notamment livré l'article suivant:

-Sharp reprend la tête des ventes de TV LCD, un article intéressant qui présente le marché des écrans LCD.

Les Sites internet:

rncos

www.rncos.com C'est un site internet qui dispose de rapports de recherche concernant différents types de marché.

- L' électronique grand public aux Etats-Unis et dans le monde, World_Consumer_Electronics_Market.pdf , Il s'agit d'une étude de marché au sujet de la situation de l'életronique grand public, notamment sur le marché américain. Cette étude indique les tendances de l'année 2004, et une augmentation des chiffres du secteur poussés par les segements de marché que représentent les téléviseurs et les ordinateurs portables, dont les progressions sont les plus élevées. 5 étoiles

pacificmediaassociates

www.pacificmediaassociates.com Il s'agit d'un site internet qui propose des rapports et des travaux de recherche dédiés au marché des produits high tech . 5 étoiles

consulfrance-san francisco

www.consulfrance-sanfrancisco.org - le consulat de France à San Francisco a commandité au début de l'année 2005 une étude de marché sur l'electronique grand public aux Etats Unis. Cette étude est très complète. On y trouve des informations relatives aux marché et à ses tendances, mais aussi des définitions approfondies des technologies et standards. 5 étoiles

Les Forums spécialisés

Ces Forums, s'ils nous ont pas permis de puiser directement des informations, nous ont tout de même permis de prendre la temperature du marché de l'EGP auprès de spécialistes et de passionnés de ce genre de materiels. C'est notamment par cette voie que nous avons appris que le grand évènement de 2006 serait de connaitre l'issue de la lutte entre le standard Blu-Ray et HD-DVD. Quasiment tous les grands constructeurs se sont impliqués dans un des deux projets. Et il y a fort à parier que les vainqueurs seront sans pitié. 4 étoiles

www.forum.ecoustics.com

www.able2know.com/forums

Les Livres.

Voici les livres en Anglais que nous conseillons. Nos conseils sebasent sur les commentaires du site Amazon mais aussi sur les avis de différents interlocuteurs rencontrés sur les forums cités ci-dessus:

"Troubleshooting and repairing consumer electronics without a schematic"

Auteur: Homer Davidson

Ce manuel permet de comprendre l'electronique grand public et à pour but d'aider les novices à surmonter les problèmes rencontrés avec leur materiel par de conseils pratiques et astucieux. 2 étoiles

Markets, models and meta-values in consumer electronics

Auteurs: George Bailey et Hagen Wenzek.

Ce livre est un must pour ceux qui désirent développer une activité dans le domaine de l'EGP aux USA. Les Auteurs étudient l'accessibilité, les potentialités du marché, ainsi que les particuliarités et coutumes régionales dans la consommation et les préférences en matière de design. 5 étoiles

Digital Consumer electronics Handbook

Auteur: Ronald K. Jurgen

Abordable et sans prétentions cet ouvrage nous permet d'évoquer l'electronique grand public sans devoir sortir le dictionnaire tous les trois mots. De la naissance du téléviseur, jusqu'à la photographie numérique toute l'histoire de l'electronique grand public est relatée. Richement illustré (650 photos), il permettra aux plus anciens de se mettre au gout du jour. 3 étoiles

Salon de las Vegas: Un nouvea concurrent pour l'Ipod.

electrogp — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 10:01:00 GMT

Consumer Electronics Show Highlights

By Lawson Wong

January 11, 2006 3:10PM

Winning Best of Show at CES, the Creative Zen Vision:M rocked the house as the next in line to offer a real challenge to the iPod. With a 2.5-inch color screen and all the functions of the new iPod, the 30-GB Vision:M also includes a voice recorder and FM tuner, and comes in a myriad of fun colors. Priced at $330, the Vision:M might very well give the iPod a run for its money.

The Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest electronics event in the world, held in Las Vegas each year, has come and gone. Thousands of company reps, journalists, and even Bill Gates himself stormed Sin City to promote or check out the latest and greatest technology for 2006.

There were keynote speeches by the bigwigs -- including Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google -- and celebrity appearances by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Tom Hanks, and Dan Marino. Huge press parties were regular events up and down the main strip.

This year's CES definitely had a Hollywood feel to it. But, in the end, the show was all about the gadgets, gizmos, and, of course, the latest in the world of tech.

Digital Video

Everyone knew that 2006 would be all about High Def, and the show certainly reflected that. The format wars raged on between the Blu-Ray and HD DVD groups, with notable announcements from both camps on the launch of next-gen players. The $1,000 Samsung BD-1000 will be the first Blu-Ray player to market. It will ship in early spring. Not to be outdone, Toshiba will ship its own HD DVD player, the $500 Toshiba HD-A1, in March.

As evidenced by the new entertainment technology displayed at the show, HDTVs are so last year. This year's televisions are all about Ultra-High-Def that can display a resolution up to 1080p, which offers more clarity than the older 1080i format. For those who aren't videophiles, 1080p simply translates into higher resolution than standard HDTV.

The major TV manufacturers are beginning to promote real 1080p. All the major players had new sets at the show: Pioneer displaying the 50-inch Elite PureVision Pro-FHD1, Sharp showing off the 57-inch 1080p Aquos LC-57D90U, and Samsung pushing its new 56-inch HL0S5679W DLP rear-projection TV, just to name a few.

But what would CES be without the "mine is bigger than yours" bragging rights? Panasonic showed up with its 103-inch 1080p plasma TV, topping Samsung's 102-inch plasma.

Gadgets, Chips, and Phones

At Intel CEO Paul Otellini's keynote, the venerable chipmaker revealed the new Centrino Duo Mobile, a hardware platform that stars Intel's new Core Duo chipset. The new technology will power the latest notebooks, including the Dell Inspiron e1705 and the HP Pavilion dv1000.

Everywhere you turned on the show floor, there was another company pimping its latest mobile-communication device. Motorola rolled out its follow-up to the overhyped Rokr with the Rokr E2. This time, the company has ditched Apple's iTunes -- or is that the other way around? -- and has added improvements like faster music transfer, an FM tuner, and a 500-song capacity.

The Treo line got a major upgrade at the show with the new Palm Treo 700w, powered by Windows Mobile 5 and available from Verizon. In addition, the first HSDPA phones (think Cingular's own EVDO-like service) debuted with the Samsung zx20 and the LG CU320.

Digital Cameras

With the Photo Marketing Association convention just around the corner (February 26 to March 1), digital cameras don't usually make a big splash at CES.

However, just as Kodak's Wi-Fi camera stole the show last year, everyone took notice of the company's new dual-lens wonder, the Kodak EasyShare V570. This camera gives you the flexibility of having both a wide-angle lens and a 5x zoom lens in one device.

HP also announced a slew of new digital cameras (seven of them, actually), all of which sport the new one-button function to share and store your images on the Snapfish online photo service.

While not all of this technology is on the market now, it won't be long before you'll find the latest and greatest from CES at your local Circuit City or Best Buy.

Le HD DVD commence mal.

electrogp — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 09:54:00 GMT

The Battle for High-Definition DVD

January 11, 2006 4:04PM

"There's no question that a format war is not a good idea," Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Corp., said this week. Sony is a developer and backer of the Blu-Ray format. The Blu-Ray team is confident of getting content from most of the top Hollywood studios.

It was supposed to be the grand unveiling of a new generation in home entertainment when Kevin Collins of Microsoft popped an HD DVD disc into a Toshiba production model and hit "play." Nothing happened.

The failed product demo at last week's International Consumer Electronics Show was hardly an auspicious start for the HD DVD camp in what's promising to be a nasty, drawn-out technology format war reminiscent of the Betamax/VHS video tape battle.

Backers of the two rival high definition DVD formats are betting that the millions of people shelling out thousands of dollars for new high-def TVs and home theater sound systems will spend a few hundred more for new DVD players and discs that offer sharp pictures and interactive features.

Analysts say the early adopters, those who rush out and buy whatever new technology becomes available, will jump right in and pay $1,800 for a Blu-Ray player from Pioneer or $499 for the Toshiba HD DVD player.

But a prolonged struggle between the two incompatible formats may mean consumers have a long wait for a clear winner to emerge, potentially delaying widespread adoption of high-def DVDs for years.

"There's no question that a format war is not a good idea," Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Corp., said this week. Sony is a developer and backer of the Blu-Ray format.

The Blu-Ray team is confident of getting content from most of the top Hollywood studios. It also believes that the new PlayStation 3, which will come equipped with a Blu-Ray drive when it debuts later this year, will tip the odds in their favor.

"With the installed base of PlayStation, we do think we have an enormous advantage," Stringer said.

Blu-Ray discs will have the larger capacity, at 25 gigabytes or more. The HD DVD will have the virtue of being more similar to regular DVDs, which simplifies production, according to its backers.

The HD DVD crowd has backing from computer giants Intel and Microsoft and will have the slight advantage of coming to market first. Players from Toshiba can already be pre-ordered from Amazon.com and will hit store shelves in March. Blu-Ray players will be available one or two months later.

"HD DVD is really 'Now playing,' " said Yoshiihide Fujii, president and CEO of Toshiba's Digital Media Network company.

A bigger risk for companies backing the rival DVD systems is that consumers opt to get their video from places like Yahoo and Google, or one of the several companies offering downloadable movies over the Internet.

Computer hard drives, particularly on multimedia PCs geared toward the living room, are getting bigger every day, and younger people especially are accustomed and more than happy to store their video there.

Companies such as Starz Entertainment Group, which recently launched its Vongo service, are also allowing consumers to transfer movies and TV shows to portable devices. DirecTV and Dish Network, two satellite TV services, offer portable viewers that can store hours of programs.

"The longer the format war goes on, the more opportunity smart players in the cable and IPTV and online spaces have to build market share," said Laura Behrens, an analyst at Gartner Industry Advisory Services. (IPTV is an up-and-coming technology that many telecommunications companies are employing as they charge into the television service business.)

Studio executives argue that people want to own their content and that DVDs offer the same portability options as downloadable programs or video on demand services.

"Portability is a killer application with music and to a degree with movies, but the majority of movie and TV viewing is not on a small two-inch screen," said Mike Dunn, president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Fox is releasing its movies this year in the Blu-Ray format.

Levi's sur le point de lancer un jean compatible Ipod.

electrogp — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 09:49:00 GMT

iPod-compatible jeans almost ready to wear

Published: January 10, 2006, 4:50 PM PST

Call it the 21st century watch pocket.

Denim giant Levi Strauss said on Tuesday it had designed jeans compatible with the iPod music player, featuring a joystick in the watch pocket to operate the device.

The Levi's RedWire DLX Jeans for men and women, which will be available this fall, also have a built-in docking cradle for the iPod and retractable headphones. Pricing was not immediately available.

Apple Computer's iPod is the No. 1 digital music player. The company on Tuesday attributed a 63 percent jump in holiday quarter sales in part to the iPod's popularity and said 42 million of the devices have been sold to date.

Levi's is not the first company to feature iPod-friendly apparel, although it may be the first to make iPod-compatible jeans.

Haute couture fashion houses began featuring pricey iPod carrying cases after the device's 2001 launch, while outdoor company Burton Snowboards unveiled what it called the first iPod-compatible waterproof snowboarding jacket in 2003.

Last fall, Los Angeles-based manufacturer Kenpo launched men's jackets selling at Macy's for between $275 and $350, featuring iPod controls on the sleeve.

Story Copyright

source: www.reuters.com

Salon de Las Vegas, la bataille Blu ray Vs. HD DVD continue.

electrogp — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 09:43:00 GMT

Report From the Consumer Electronics Show

Blue-laser discs are on the way, but current DVD products were still very much in evidence at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The big talk of last week's Consumer Electronics Show was all about blue: blue-laser DVD, or more precisely, the battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc to be the next-generation optical disc format. Watching the posturing and positioning for the upcoming smackdown was both entertaining and frustrating. But, as I learned from roaming the show floor, today's DVD format has plenty of life still left in it.

That shouldn't surprise anyone. Analysts such as IDC's Wolfgang Schlichting, who tracks current-generation DVD and the upcoming high-def formats, predict that the market for blue-laser products won't really take flight until 2007 or 2008. In the meantime, DVD is expected to continue thriving.What follows is a summary of the more noteworthy optical disc products and announcements--for both current and future formats--from the show.

The Short Story on Blue

The bottom line on the battle of the blue-laser formats: Neither camp is budging. It is clear that both are careening to market. HD-DVD took an early lead at a splashy pre-show evening event with the announcement that Toshiba would begin selling its two HD-DVD players in March. The players are aggressively priced at $499 and $799, respectively--amazing prices considering that just a year or even six months ago insiders were expecting blue-laser-based players to sell for as much as $1000.

In fact, $1000 is the price Pioneer announced for its BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc recorder for the PC, due in March. It will be the first Blu-ray Disc burner that will fit into a standard PC drive slot. Pioneer is targeting this model at the disc-authoring community, but expects it will also attract early adopters eager for the removable media capacity offered by 25GB Blu-ray discs. The recorder can write to write-once BD-R and rewritable BD-RE, as well as to DVDR and DVDRW. It can't, however, read or burn CDs--an omission Pioneer said was made in order to bring the product to market at a timely moment. Future versions will have this capability, Pioneer officials say.

Companies backing the Blu-ray Disc format--including Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, and Sony--all announced players at CES; but sadly, no one announced a stand-alone Blu-ray recorder. The Blu-ray camp had long cited its ability to bring a recorder to market at launch as a distinction between it and rival HD-DVD. In most cases, vendors announcing players quoted late spring or early summer for release.DVD Recorders Evolve

Even though DVD recorders haven't been around nearly as long as their videocassette counterparts, they've rapidly evolved into aesthetic and functional units. Of course, it's hard to tell much about a DVD recorder from the outside alone, and none of the ones I saw at CES were hooked up to a display so I could see their interface.

What caught my attention was the newfound widespread support for MPEG-4 video and DiVx: Everyone from Panasonic to Samsung seemed to be supporting these formats. Also ubiquitous in new models were HDMI support and the ability to convert standard-resolution content to high-definition resolutions. Most of Panasonic's sleek, brushed silver models also included a prominently placed Secure Digital Card slot for viewing and burning still images captured by a digital camera.

I was particularly intrigued by the Panasonic's new top-of-the-line DMR-EH75, the company's first device to offer the ultimate trifecta: DVD recorder, hard-disk recorder, and VCR for dubbing from tape to DVD. It's due in April for $550.

Samsung's industrial designs, now largely black, were also appealing. A new version of its current twin-tray recorder is on the way. LG Electronics had some nice designs, including the first slot-loading model intended for the living room that I've seen.

DVD Everywhere

CyberHome, best known for its just-this-side-of-passable sub-$100 DVD recorder, showed off more stylish designs at CES, including the new LAP-9100. This unit includes a base station designed to be mounted on a wall or underneath a cabinet, and a swiveling LCD that attaches to the base station. The display portion integrates a DVD player, a clock, an AM/FM radio, and a rechargeable battery pack; the travel kit includes a DC adapter, carry bag, and a car headrest mount.

LG was among a handful of vendors showing a 180-degree twisting design for the screen of its portable DVD players. This nifty approach allows you to turn an otherwise standard-looking portable player into a tablet-style device.

Philips had one of the most innovative players I've seen (which doesn't excuse its uninventive name). The circular Portable DVD Player, or PET 320, looks much like a Sony Discman of yesteryear--a bit chunky, but nonetheless highly portable. And its heft can be excused: The $129 device has a 3.5-inch crystal TFT embedded into the exterior of its clamshell lid, and it features built-in stereo speakers and an adjustable vertical stand. The PET 320 supports DVD, DVD+R/RW, CD, and MP3-CD formats; it can play discs with JPEG images; and it comes with a car adapter and a rechargeable battery, rated at up to 2.5 hours. Look for it in March.

Gold Media Goes Mainstream

Remember the days of gold media? Well, gold is in again--using the same process that Mitsui perfected back in the early days of CD recording.

For years, MAM-A Matsui has been offering gold "archival" discs in specialty stores. The discs are so called in part because using a 24-karat gold substrate instead of the usual silver makes the disc less susceptible to oxidation, should the disc's polycarbonate bonding fail.

Now Memorex plans to go one step further, by adding its DuraLayer scratch-resistance technology to gold archival discs in order to protect them from wear and tear. The Memorex Pro Gold Archival CD and DVD Media come backed by a lifetime warranty. According to the company, the discs will be the only gold archival media available at retail in the United States.

Memorex says the discs are rated with an archival life of up to 300 years for CDs and 100 years for DVDs. In the lab, the company says it has found this media to be resistant to the usual artificial-aging torture tests such as ultraviolet light, heat, and humidity.

Splashy Inkjet Printable Media

One of the most frustrating things about today's inkjet printable CDs and DVDs is how susceptible the surfaces are to moisture. One sweaty finger, one drop of water, and my carefully crafted label can become smudged, sometimes beyond recognition.

Imation made a big splash with its AquaGuard Inkjet media, which boasts an innovative printable water- and smear-resistant surface. The media uses ceramic-based nano particles as the foundation for the surface itself. When an ink droplet is placed on the surface, it's attracted to and bonds with a ceramic particle. As a result, when the disc comes out of the printer, it's dry to the touch. You can handle a disc immediately after taking it out of the printer, unlike standard inkjet printable media.

The media is produced by Imation's partners overseas, but the surface is applied to the discs in an Imation facility in Wahpeton, North Dakota--the same facility where Imation still produces 3.5-floppy disks.

Imation expects AquaGuard Inkjet media to command a street price premium of about 50 percent over standard inkjet printable media. Even so, the company expects discs will come in at less than $1 apiece. The media is already available in Japan; Imation plans to bring it to a store shelf near you around midyear. The media will first be sold via Imation's partner, Primera, which sells disc duplication systems.

Mini DVD+R DL, New LightScribe Media

Verbatim announced its Mini DVD+R DL Media, which can capture a full hour of video on a single disc; this is especially useful for camcorders that record to DVD. (Separately, Sony announced that more than half its camcorder line will now record to DVD.)

Also from Verbatim came some new developments for LightScribe media. The company announced 16X LightScribe DVD-R media, as well as LightScribe media with a coating that will speed up the label etching process, and LightScribe color discs. All are due in the first quarter, except for the color LightScribe media, which are due out in the first half of the year.

12X DVD-RAM, 18X Write-Once DVD

DVD-RAM will be hitting 12X this year, and 16X has already been achieved in the lab. LG and Panasonic showed drives capable of 12X DVD-RAM, which is currently the fastest speed available for rewritable DVD. I expect to see more drive vendors to jump up to 12X, as so-called Super Multi drives (which support DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and DVD-RAM formats) become more common.

Meanwhile, I heard more talk that 18X write-once DVD is in the works, but it isn't ready yet. Apparently, vendors are getting antsy for a way to eke a little more out of standard-definition red-laser DVD, and somehow think that the marketing appeal of labeling something as having 18X speed and then pushing the limits of the technology to get there will help them. Of course, I fully expect the standard industry-wide recommendation to prevail: To burn high-quality discs with fewer errors on them, you may need to step down the write speed.

source www.Ecoustics.com

L'audio, l'autre vedette du CES 2006.

electrogp — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 10:03:00 GMT

Audio Goes Big at Consumer Electronics Show

January 6, 2006

When taken out of the docking stations, the Nexus 25 will play up to 25 hours of recorded XM radio content or songs, while the Nexus 50 will hold 50 hours. The Nexus 25 player will sell at retail for $199.99, and the Nexus 50 will cost $249.99.

While video, especially the portable kind, is expected to make the big splash at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, there is also a lot happening with devices that combine satellite radio and portable music players.

Pioneer Electronics and Samsung Electronics introduced MP3 players that include satellite radio service from XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. The Pioneer Inno and the Samsung Helix XM2go are about the size of a deck of cards and can store a listener's own music collection ripped from CDs as well as XM programming.

Both devices save music in the popular MP3 and WMA formats. Listeners can also bookmark songs heard on XM, then later purchase downloads of the songs for 99 cents from the Napster music download and subscription service.

The Inno and Helix XM2go will both retail for about $400 and will be available by March. Samsung is also offering an even smaller music player called the Nexus. The two units will not have built-in XM tuners, like the Helix. Instead, the units will receive XM signals when placed in a docking station along with the XM Passport, a 1.3-by-1.65-inch cartridge that serves as a portable satellite radio tuner.

Top competitor Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. isn't sitting idle. On Wednesday, Thomson Multimedia said it is partnering with RCA and GE to roll out several new Sirius-enabled audio systems this summer, priced between $119 and $299.

The $299 bookshelf audio system has a 5-CD changer, and can rip CDs directly onto an MP3 player via a USB port. Listeners can also record Sirius Satellite and FM radio broadcasts on the system's MP3 player.

Thomson's $299 home theater system has a 5 DVD or CD changer, and the $119 under-cabinet kitchen audio system has a CD player. The new products require a Sirius Satellite Radio antenna, which could add $49.99 to the total cost.

Auto supplier Delphi Corp. announced Wednesday that it would supply XM radio receivers for three Hyundai models to Hyundai Motor America, a unit of Korea-based Hyundai Motor Co. Hyundai is the first automaker to add satellite radio as a standard feature to all its vehicles, said Delphi.