Ceatec: Toshiba's Cell-powered HDTV

Chiba, JAPAN--Fancy a TV with super computer-equivalent number-crunching power? Toshiba is showcasing a Regza-series HDTV prototype with a multicore Cell processor. The abundant raw power of this powerful chip allows Toshiba to offer two unique functions for its Cell TV. First of all, the Japanese company claimed the set will deliver superior HD upscaling performance, better than its own XDE technology and the upcoming Super Resolution TVs.

Additionally, there's also a funky "Happy Zapping" feature. In a nutshell, this function decodes and displays up to 48 standard-definition programs onscreen simultaneously. The 8 x 6 matrix is compiled from a combination of live and buffered footages from eight TV tuners, stored content and other external sources. Wow factor-aside, this provides a quick sampling of all the available programs for subsequent user selection.

Via Twice | Photo credit: Homecinemachoice.com

New Xbox 360 motherboards could mean fewer crashes

For Xbox 360 users, the so-called red ring of death is a worst-case scenario that can cause nightmares about total system failure and the inability to play any more Halo 3.

Since the introduction of the console, in late 2005, some users have suffered through a well-documented series of quality control problems and some have endured system failures on machine after machine after machine.

Microsoft has attempted to handle the problems--and last year extended the warranty for the machine, leading some to feel that, at the very least, they would be covered if they got the three red rings around their console's power button that indicate total hardware crash.

All along, the problem has been blamed on the Xbox's original motherboard, a poorly designed piece of electronics that in many cases simply wasn't up to the rigors that users put the machine through. But there had been indications that help was on the way in the form of an all-new motherboard, at once smaller, more efficient, less likely to overheat and less expensive, known as "Jasper."


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Rumor: Nintendo to have new Wii "by 2011"

If there's one thing that's sure to get video gamers talking, it's a rumor that there could be a new Wii, Xbox, or PlayStation console on the horizon.

Well, the hot topic of discussion du jour is that there could be a new Wii by 2011, according to a post on the blog What They Play.

That site "has heard from multiple sources in the game development and publishing community that Nintendo is currently showing early presentations of its next home console hardware. Apparently set to hit the market by 2011, the device is said to be the true "next-generation" Nintendo console, and far more than a simple refresh of the current (Wii) hardware."

The post continued, asserting that this rumored new device could have high-definition capabilities, as well as a "greater emphasis on digitally distributed and backwardly compatible content."

For its part, Nintendo said it does not comment on rumors.


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The Hitachi Ultra-Thin TVs are getting thinner

CHIBA, Japan--The current Hitachi Ultra-Thin HDTVs in the market have an amazingly shallow 39mm depth, but the latest models showcased in Ceatec are even slimmer. For example, one of the 37-inch LCD on display measures only 15mm at its thinnest section, while a mammoth 50-inch plasma has a 35mm side profile.

According to news Web site Tech On, the trick to reducing the LCD's bulk lies in a combination of space- and power-saving LED backlighting systems, plus a compact power supply unit. Another way to keep flat-panel TVs slim is to relocate unnecessary electronics such as the TV tuner, input selection and video processing chips into an external media box.

One thing's for sure, given the path most TV makers are taking, the next-generation of flat-panel displays will not only get bigger, but slimmer as well.

Via Tech On | Photo credit: Tech On

OLED, 3D displaying the future

CHIBA, Japan--Sony has an entire wall of its 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TVs set up here at Ceatec 2008, but in contrast with past gadget shows, it's not the only company showing off OLED prototypes.

Panasonic may have said earlier this week that OLED is still far from becoming a mass-produced mainstream technology for use in big-screen TVs, but other electronics makers are plowing ahead with their own research on the organic, thin film technology: NEC, Sony, and KDDI showed off what they've been doing with OLED in their research labs.

Sony, of course, continues to press ahead its OLED research and development, showing a flexible OLED display as thin as a playing card, as well an OLED TV that's even thinner than its current XEL-1. The prototype measures just 0.3mm thick.
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