CMEL shows 25-inch paper-thin OLED display

A Taiwanese display maker just one-upped Sony on the Japanese electronics giant's home turf.

At the FPD International Exhibition in Japan, Chi Mei EL, or CMEL, unveiled its OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display that measures less than a millimeter thick and 25 inches diagonal. Sony has a prototype of the same thinness, but it's just 11 inches diagonal.

CMEL's prototype display resolution is WXGA, or 1,366x768 pixels, and shows 16.7 million colors. While it's not yet an actual product, it shows that the race for OLED supremacy is heating up.

Samsung has shown a 12.1-inch OLED prototype, and Toshiba and Panasonic are also working on prototypes for monitors or TVs. In addition, there are several companies that make smaller OLED displays for mobile and handheld devices already, but Sony is the only one with an OLED TV on the market, its 11-inch XEL-1.

The technology is still not ready for mass production, and the price of an OLED TV, using Sony's 11-inch as an example, at $2,500 is still prohibitive for the average consumer.

Via CNET Crave

US$99 Xbox 360 hard drive upgrade kit

Rumors of a new 60GB hard drive Live starter pack have surfaced recently with US retailers such as GameStop taking preorders and Circuit City listing the item in a leaked filer. The former has even indicated a shipping date as early as November 4 at a listed price of US$99.99.

The package supposedly includes a 60GB hard drive, three-month Xbox Live subscription, a wired headset and a network cable. While its pricing is far from attractive, this is an alternative for the existing Xbox 360 Arcade users to upgrade their current console to the Pro standard.

We've already alerted the Asian Microsoft office and are awaiting further information on local availability and price.

Via Ubergizmo | Photo credit: Xbox 360 fanboy

Philips' multitalented iPod speaker systems

You can now pipe your favorite tunes from your iPod through the latest Philips DC910 and DC200 iPod docking entertainment systems. Besides out-of-the-box compatibility with multiple generations of iPod classic, touch, nano and mini, the duo also shares many common value-added features. These include a inbuilt alarm clock, FM radio tuner, SD/MMC card slot for MP3 and WMA playback and standard 3.5mm mini-jack audio input found on most portable media players.

While the affordable S$139 (US$99.85) DC200 has unique preloaded relaxation music to babysit you to sleep, it's the sleek S$299 (US$214.78) DC910 that will "sing" music as well as improve sound quality of videos. Its six-driver 30W speaker system comprises a 3-inch woofer and wOOx bass radiators designed to beef up low-end delivery. These are coupled with a pair of 1.5-inch tweeters for crisp musical instrument reproduction. The Philips DC910 and DC200 are now available in Singapore. No further details were given on an Asia-wide launch.

Click for larger images:



Photo credit: Philips

Logitech wireless guitar puts the cool into pretending to be cool

We've all been there. You walk into your buddy's place, ready to rock the house in a little Guitar Hero, only you're carrying some old and busted POS that's seen way too many sessions and is probably being held together by superglue and duct tape.

After wiping the tears from your eyes from all your buddies laughing hysterically, it's finally your turn to jam. Only now, your gaming impotence strikes and this time you're laughed right out of the house.

For US$250 and two AA batteries--which will supposedly last you "hundreds of hours"--you'll never have to go through such a traumatic experience again. On Thursday, Logitech announced its new wireless guitar for Guitar Hero for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2. Also, it's compatible with all Guitar Hero games, including Guitar Hero World Tour.
Read more »

International Sound & Sight exhibition in full swing

The world economy may be in turmoil, but hey, if you still have cash to spare for some new A/V toys, check out the International Sound & Sight exhibition (ISSE) in Singapore. The annual event will run from October 24 to 26, but at a new venue and higher admission fee. This time around, you'll have to fork out S$15 (US$10.78) (S$10 (US$7.18) for students) to get on the showfloor of the Parkroyal Hotel on Kitchener Road.

That said, the fee can be redeemed for any Blu-ray movie purchase at Gramophone outlets in Singapore. This is sweetened by a door gift of a complementary music demo CD, S$14,000 (US$10,056.75) worth of lucky draw prizes and seminars conducted by vendors and industrial experts. Among the product highlights will be the latest Mitsubishi HC7000, JVC HD-750 and the Pioneer G9 Kuros we just wrote about. Some of the other audiophile brands participating comprise Mcintosh, Wadia and Wilson Audio.

Photo credit: Sound & Sight Journal

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