At CES 2017, OLED TVs were more numerous and considerably less expensive than past years. LG, for example, continuously lowered its OLED prices throughout 2016; its cheapest model, the B6, initially was priced at $4,000 and came down to $2,000 by October, with another $200 off for Black Friday (although the price is back up to $2,500). Lowered OLED prices are due, in part, to production increasing by 70 percent last year. OLED TVs are desirable for their thinness, improved contrast ratios and wider viewing angles. Continue reading Sony, LG, Panasonic Unveil OLED TVs at Better Price Points

At CES 2017, LG Electronics introduced the first ATSC 3.0-enabled 4K UHD TVs for South Korea, which will begin deploying the new broadcast standard in anticipation of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The new 2017 models, which will go on sale in the spring, will have both ATSC 3.0 and ATSC 1.0 tuners. At CES, LG demonstrated a 65-inch LED TV with an embedded second-generation ATSC 3.0 tuner displaying 4K UHD HDR programming. The company also showed ATSC 3.0’s “advanced electronic service guide” capabilities. Continue reading LG Introduces First ATSC 3.0-Enabled TV for Winter Olympics

While CES saw an array of gaming laptops, mice, monitors and streaming services this past week, Razer debuted a compelling alternative for gamers looking to seriously ramp up their home setups. An extension of Razer’s Chroma full-spectrum lighting system — which brightens keyboards, headphones, mice and more — the new concept 4K projector, dubbed Project Ariana for now, lets gamers compete beyond their monitor by essentially taking over an entire room. Razer also announced that other manufacturers, including Antec, Lenovo, Lian Li, NZXT, Philips, Nanoleaf and Wicked Lasers would be using the 16.8-million-color platform. Continue reading Razer Reveals 4K Projector for Gamers Who Want to Go Big

Engadget published its Best of CES winners this evening, and for the fourth consecutive year Razer has taken the People’s Choice Award, this time for its Project Ariana 4K gaming projector. Best of the Best went to LG this year: “It’s rare that a product truly blows us away at CES, but LG’s W-Series OLED TV did just that. At just 2.6 millimeters thick across its entire body, it’s the slimmest TV we’ve ever seen … the TV also supports more HDR standards and comes with a Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar.” Among the additional winners: UVify’s Draco HD drone (Best Robot or Drone), Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop (Best PC), the Asus ZenFone AR smartphone (Best Mobile Device), Dish AirTV (Best Home Theater Product), the self-balancing Honda Riding Assist motorcycle (Best Automotive Technology and Best Disruptive Innovation). Continue reading Engadget Editors Release Their Official Best of CES Awards

LG is showcasing its new Signature 4K OLED W-series this week in Las Vegas with the tagline “Picture on Wall” (as a follow-up to its previous “Picture on Glass”). That’s because at 2.57-millimeters thin, the TVs are best mounted completely flat against a wall (the ‘W’ stands for ‘wallpaper’). To address the lack of ports with such a super-thin design, the W-series features companion soundbars connected via a thin cable. The Dolby Atmos capable soundbars are outfitted with four HDMI ports, three USB connections and an optical audio port. The two models are also exceptionally light; the 65-inch version weighs 18 pounds, and the 77-inch model is 27 pounds. Continue reading LG Wows the Vegas Crowds with Super-Thin 4K OLED Series

During his CES presentation, Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai revealed plans for the company’s future, including an emphasis on creating personal experiences for customers, generating sustainable growth for the Sony brand through continued innovation, and developing new products as “objects of desire.” “When you experience one of our products, interact with one of them, we want to generate an emotional response,” he explained. Hirai recognized Mike Fasulo, president/COO of Sony North America, for his “incredible efforts in this pursuit,” and announced the company’s new 4K OLED offerings, new 4K Bravias and Android TV OS. Continue reading Sony CEO Reveals Plan to Make Products ‘Objects of Desire’

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, CES opens in Las Vegas this week with 3,800 companies showcasing their latest products across almost 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space. Broad but logical thematic lines distribute the exhibits across three venues: Tech East at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), Tech West at the Sands and Venetian Complex, and Tech South at the Aria. Fifty years after 117 exhibitors dazzled 17,000 visitors with transistor radios and small-screen televisions, CES presents itself as the place “where tomorrow is on display.”  Continue reading How to Navigate 2.5 Million Square Feet of CES Exhibit Space

Television displays are must-see products at CES. Last year saw LG’s 98-inch 8K display and that company’s prototype 18-inch rollable display among other highlights. This year, expect to see more manufacturers unveiling what was shown last year — 4K and 8K, HDR and OLED — in more varied and mature versions. But the biggest, brightest TV displays don’t matter a whit for an entire generation that’s happy with a few streaming video services and a laptop. They too will have more choices at CES 2017. Continue reading CES: Advances in OLED, 4K, HDR TVs and Streaming Options

Samsung is reportedly planning to unveil a next-gen quantum dot screen technology called ‘QLED’ at CES in January. The 2017 quantum dot TVs are expected to increase black color representation (one strength of OLED) and brightness (the strength of LCD). The QLED name is meant to describe a combination of LED and quantum dot, and will likely replace the company’s SUHD naming convention. Samsung recently registered trademarks in Korea for ‘HDR 1500,’ ‘Q HDR’ and ‘Real Black’ to apply to its new TVs, which will likely achieve light outputs of 1500 nits and offer a premium HDR experience.  Continue reading Samsung Readies New QLED TV Technology to Debut at CES

According to separate research from Adobe and the National Retail Federation, Black Friday set new records for e-commerce with online sales surpassing $3 billion for the first time, while also marking the first day in U.S. retail history to experience more than $1 billion in sales made from mobile devices. Adobe reports $3.34 billion in total online sales, a 21.6 percent jump over last year, with mobile accounting for $1.2 billion, a 33 percent increase. And shoppers were thrifty this time around. While the NRF found that the number of shoppers increased over the weekend compared to 2015, average consumer spending dropped 3.5 percent, including online and offline purchases. Continue reading Black Friday Sets New Records, More Consumers Go Mobile

Movie ticketing company Fandango launched its VOD service FandangoNOW on Microsoft’s Xbox One and Xbox One S consoles. FandangoNOW, which is already on Android TV among other platforms, offers 40,000 new-release and catalog movies as well as next-day TV shows for rent and purchase. The move puts Fandango in direct competition with Apple iTunes, Amazon Video and Walmart’s Vudu. Fandango’s end game is to deploy the rebranded FandangoNOW to increase overall revenues via a home entertainment offering. Continue reading Fandango Brings Movie VOD Service to Xbox Game Consoles

At yesterday’s “Hello Again” event in Cupertino, Apple announced its redesigned MacBook Pro featuring an OLED touch strip that the company has named Touch Bar. Apple’s lightest and thinnest MacBook yet, available in 13- and 15-inch versions, also features a larger Force Touch trackpad and Touch ID fingerprint scanner. A new 5K monitor from LG connects to the new laptop. Additionally, the company revealed its latest app for the Apple TV box, simply named “TV,” due in December. The app showcases content from the apps users already subscribe to, such as HBO Go, Hulu, iTunes and Starz.

Continue reading Apple Unveils New MacBook Pro, OLED Touch Bar, TV App

Alphabet’s Google unveiled several new products at its annual hardware event in San Francisco yesterday, including a pair of Pixel smartphones; the $79 mobile Daydream VR headset; its Amazon Echo rival, the $129 Google Home; a multi-point network system called Google Wifi; and an upgraded Chromecast streaming dongle. Shipping November 4, Google Home is on sale now, with a free six-month subscription to YouTube Red. Also shipping in November, Chromecast Ultra supports HDR and 4K video streaming. Key to many of Google’s new products is its artificial intelligence software. Continue reading Google Unveils Pixel Phones, Daydream VR, Chromecast Ultra

On October 4 in San Francisco, Google will likely reveal new Pixel-branded smartphones, the Pixel and larger Pixel XL. Google manufactures the Pixel phones by itself rather than in collaboration with LG, Huawei or other partners. A teaser video for the event features a rotating group of photos shown in a phone-shaped format. In addition, Google may also use the event to debut Google 4K Chromecast, go into more details about Google Home and reveal more specific plans for its upcoming Daydream VR headset. Continue reading Google May Intro New Pixel-Branded Phones, 4K Chromecast

The new version of Xbox One S launched with the ability to output high dynamic range to compatible TV sets. The move highlights the current competition between two different HDR standards: HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Xbox One S adopted the open standard HDR10 promoted by Samsung, Sony, Sharp, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate and Paramount. Many content creators (Netflix and Amazon are two) and TV set manufacturers (Vizio, LG and Philips) are hedging their bets by offering content or hardware in both HDR standards. Continue reading With Xbox One S, Microsoft Is the Latest Supporter of HDR10