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Comscore: Online video traffic
2008-02-10 22:07:00
Online video sites saw more growth in December, according to Comscore, gaining more than 2.5 million unique viewers over November to reach nearly 141 million people in the US. YouTube once again sucked up the majority of the new traffic, seemingly at the expense of its many competitors. One reason for the traffic surge, according to Comscore, is the maybe-close-to-over writers’ strike. Thousands of movie and television scriptwriters have stopped writing over the past three months to try to negotiate for a larger share of media companies’ online revenues, among other things. Television viewing, seemingly for lack of fresh programming, has been dropping. We’ve been interested to see if large media companies’ video sites and the current rash of competing online video startups (our coverage) could make headway against YouTube, in this context. Fox, Viacom, have among other things hoped to differentiate their video sites through offering their own, professional-quality videos, l...
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Panasonic 50" Plasma only $1,271
2008-02-10 21:56:00
This brand new Panasonic 50" Plasma replaces the previous bare-bones Panasonic plasma that once occupied our 'Cheap (But Good)' pick in this size class. The price is just about the same, but the bones aren't so bare anymore. Instead, this HDTV comes with everything you need right out of the box. Plenty of high-definition connections for all your accessories and HD video connections, a built in digital ATSC broadcast tuner, and an excellent 10,000:1 contrast ratio, ensuring deep dark blacks and satisfying picture quality. How do they keep the cost down then? They do it by going with the lower 720p high-definition resolution as opposed to the more expensive 1080p. In our opinion, 1080p isn't all it's cracked up to be, and certainly not worth incurring any extra cost. Currently, you can only use it with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray Disc players; broadcast and cable TV tops out at 1080i, which a 720p TV is fully capable of displaying well. Enough technical mumbo-jumbo; the bottom line is tha...

Your New HDTV
2008-02-10 21:28:00
In Pictures: 10 Tricks For Improving Your HDTV PictureGetting a brand new high-definition TV should be an enjoyable experience, but when you open up that big box you could also be opening up a frustrating can of worms. HDTVs are complicated gadgets. It's not like the old days when you could just plug a TV into the wall and everything magically worked. HDTVs require a little nuance and a little knowledge. Without this set-up savvy, you might be left looking at an absolutely dreadful picture and wondering why you wasted all that money. Thankfully, there are some easy solutions to your high-definition headaches. Broadly speaking, many of the most common problems plaguing new HDTV owners fall into four broad categories. People have problems connecting their systems, adjusting the picture display, configuring their viewing area and showing DVDs. Poor connections are often the root of most beginner HDTV problems. There ...
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NTT DoCoMo Android-based cell phone?
2008-01-24 23:22:00
According to InfoWorld, Japan's biggest mobile telecom carrier gave its strongest support yet to Google's Android platform on Thursday when it said it is considering a cell phone based on the technology."We are starting discussions to offer handsets that will have the Android operating system," said Takeshi Natsuno, managing director of the multimedia services department at NTT DoCoMo.The talks include getting support for I-mode, DoCoMo's hit mobile Internet service, on the Android platform. Nearly 48 million of DoCoMo's 53 million customers subscribe to I-mode, so having it on Android will be key to the Google platform's success in Japan.Android is a Linux-based platform for cell phones that will combine open source components and include an operating system, a middleware stack, a customizable user interface, and applications.NTT DoCoMo is one of the founding members of the Open Handset Alliance, the group developing Android. Until Thursday, it hadn't disclosed what it hoped ...
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Comcast offering TiVo recorder in Boston
2008-01-24 03:46:00
Comcast began offering a digital video recorder with TiVo's programming services in the Boston area. The partnership reflects a new strategy for TiVo, which is facing competition from satellite and cable-TV providers in the digital video recorder, or DVR, market. San Jose-based TiVo is trying to "divorce" itself from hardware by developing software for other set-top boxes, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Rogers said earlier this month at a Citigroup investor conference in Phoenix. The software for Comcast includes a new function to search cable-TV and On Demand listings, said Jeff Klugman, head of TiVo's service provider division. The new software won't have broadband features that exist in TiVo's retail products, Klugman said. Those features allow users to stream Rhapsody music and download movies directly from Amazon.com. Bloomberg News
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BurstMedia:Current Research You Can Use Consumers Shout “I Want My Online
2008-01-23 02:47:00
Consumers Shout “I Want My Online Video” Video content -- once reserved to restricted distribution and corporate scheduling -- is now readily available on demand at your favorite Internet web site. The torrent of available video content online has been met with near insatiable consumer demand and intense advertiser interest. Burst recently surveyed more than 2,600 online respondents to get a better idea of how they consume online video, and their perception of advertising placements within it. Our conclusion: Online video content is in high demand – particularly for staying informed and being entertained. Men 18-34 years are the heaviest viewers of online video content. Caution to advertisers: Consumers are leery of in-stream advertising in video content –many abandon ad-fronted videos altogether Online Video Content is Sought Out Widely and Frequently From College Students To Senior Surfers, Online Video Content Is In DemandOverall, seven out of ten (72.1%) respon...
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GPS Devices, Systems To Top 900 Million Units by 2013
2008-01-23 02:40:00
While in-car navigation will remain the most important application of GPS technology, the use of GPS in many other consumer, business and industrial environments such as telematics and asset tracking will continue to grow. The GPS modernization project and the arrival of additional Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GLONASS, Galileo and Beidou/Compass will increase the availability, reliability and precision of satellite positioning and stimulate the location ecosystem, expanding the market to more than 900 million units by 2013. "Personal Navigation Devices for in-car use will be increasingly complemented by converged solutions based on GPS-enabled handsets for pedestrian navigation and Location Based Services," says ABI Research Principal Analyst Dominique Bonte. "However, GNSS technologies will have to be combined with other positioning solutions such as A-GPS, Wi-Fi and dead reckoning to address the indoor coverage issue. Dedicated GPS devices will remain the p...
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Still looking for the perfect HDTV?
2008-01-23 01:55:00
Whether you're looking for the perfect HDTV, learning about HD, or interested in outstanding HD service – HD Clear & Simple has you covered. Simply click on the “TV” that suits your needs. Here's what you need to consider: How far away will you be sitting from the television? Even though HD delivers a crisp, vivid image quality, it's still not perfect. A television that is too large amplifies every imperfection. While a television that's too small loses the whole "theater experience." What will you be using your HDTV for? Some technologies deliver truly pure colors while others lose image quality over time. So if you're a movie buff, you'll want a TV that delivers rich colors. If you're a gamer, you'll want a screen you can stare at for long periods of time. And so forth. Where do you plan on putting your HDTV? If you're looking to mount your HDTV to the wall, you'll want a smaller, thinner HDTV. If you intend on placing it either in an ent...
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High Definition Video Communications Products
2008-01-22 01:17:00
High Definition Video Conferencing:The Big PictureIntroduction: Recently, high definition video conferencing equipment has been manufactured, demonstrated, and marketed by a growing group of vendors and is widely purported to be the next big step in the evolution of video conferencing technology.Since the first LifeSize high definition systems shipped in December of 2005, industry has begun to adopt the technology and a great deal of interest has developed in the video conferencing community regarding the new high definition products from a range of vendors. In the midst of all of this activity, the video conferencing end user – particularly in the educational environment – is often left asking a lot of questions. What exactly is high definition video conferencing?How does it compare with the video quality of other systems currently being used? What resources are required to support high definition video conferencing? What direction is the industry headed in, and what further...
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Run HD-DVD, Run! or Blu-ray wins the battle, might lose the war
2008-01-20 20:09:00
Toshiba affirms future of HD-DVD after Warner setbackA HD DVD booth is on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. Intel CEO Paul Otellini gave a keynote speech at CES. describing how the internet will continue transforming the consumer electronics and entertainment industries.Hamburg - Japanese-based consumer-electronics group Toshiba affirmed Thursday its commitment to HD-DVD, its high definition optical disc system, which suffered a bad hit earlier this month with the Hollywood studio Warner abandoning it.At a briefing in Hamburg on the upcoming CeBIT computing show in March, Sascha Lange, marketing chief of Toshiba Germany, announced price cuts for HD-DVD players in Europe, matching cuts the previous day in the United States.He said the German price of Toshiba's base model in Europe, the HD-EP30 player, would be reduced to just below 200 euros (292 dollars) including 19-per-cent German sales tax. The same model would be offered in the United Stat...
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The Top IPTV Developments of 2007 and IPTV headend solution from Cisco
2008-01-20 18:23:00
The Top IPTV Developments of 2007The year started with a prediction from Bill Gates and ended with major milestones. A look back at the year in IPTV.At the January 2007 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Bill Gates made a stunning prediction: In five years, people will laugh at the TV they've had up until now. While the statement was met with obvious skepticism, it hinted at things to come. Since digital-video pioneer TiVo brought interactive features to the living room on a mass scale for the first time, consumers have taken control of their viewing experience, and TV will never be the same again. The long-held promise of interactive TV is finally becoming a reality in the U.S., except now it’s the telcos that are in charge rather than the cable companies. Major telcos have been busy rolling out new fiber-optic lines for high-speed, two-way data transmission, taking aim at cable and satellite companies’ entrenched services. Aside from faster speeds and better picture ...
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Taking Television to the Next Level - The Combination of HD and IPTV
2008-01-20 16:58:00
Early adopters are showing considerable interest in High Definition Television (HDTV), largely because of the dramatic increase in picture quality which supports these consumers’ demand for ever larger screen sizes. In order to appeal to the wider consumer audience, many of whom will not be persuaded by screen size arguments, HDTV will need to demonstrate considerable additional value over that of the standard definition incumbent. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV ) offers a foundation for the delivery of such incremental value. IPTV provides the capability to offer truly tailored television services in either a lone viewer or community viewer based environment. The additional resolution afforded by HDTV, enables the compelling visual presentation of the information and controls which will form a vital part. Taking Television to the Next Level - The Combination of HD and IPTVconnected-home-news.com ...

Symmetricom Releases DOCSIS DTI Planning and Deployment Guidelines for the
2008-01-18 00:13:00
TimeCreator 1000Critical Information Now Available to Help Cable Providers Understand the Impact of Reliable Timing and Synchronization on Triple Play Services Symmetricom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYMM), a worldwide leader in precise time and frequency technologies that accelerate the deployment and enable the management of next generation networks, today unveiled a comprehensive set of materials designed to help multi-system operators (MSOs) improve the reliability of their DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) network environment. These materials include: “Deploying Reliable DOCSIS Synchronization,” a detailed guide for cable operators on deploying the DOCSIS Timing Interface (DTI) in their networks iPod video presentation Streaming Flash presentation Audio podcast To download Symmetricom’s DOCSIS deployment materials or for more information, visit: http://ngn.symmetricom.com/lp/DOCSIS/. Symmetricom has released DOCSIS deployment materials to help cable ...
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Tollgrade’s solutions, Cable Products
2008-01-17 21:52:00
Tollgrade solutions are deployed worldwide in more than 25 countries, helping communications service providers to more-efficiently and cost-effectively assure the voice, data and video services they provide. Tollgrade’s solutions currently manage the test process for over 300 million access lines around the world and are the foundation for broadband service assurance within RBOCs, MSOs and numerous ILEC/CLECs. Whether driving bulk subscriber pre-qualification, verifying service provisioning or isolating multi-layered IP-based broadband troubles, Tollgrade’s test solutions play a crucial role in profitably managing the automated installation and maintenance process ...
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Carrier Ethernet Key to MSO Business Plans
2008-01-17 21:42:00
By Martin Vilaboy If an old sentiment about cable companies holds true in this new era of communications – that cable executives tend to move slowly when evaluating new technologies but act swiftly once a decision is made – then 2007 is likely to be the year that MSOs (multiple system operators) take major strides in their run toward offering high-bandwidth voice and data business services. And recent movements suggest that carrier Ethernet is the technology horse MSOs are betting on to access and serve those business customers. “Ethernet is a must-have evolutionary piece of our product portfolio,” says Kristine Faulkner of Cox Business Services. It’s “a critical piece of driving growth,” echoes Ken Fitzpatrick, senior vice president, Time Warner Business Class, “a technology that really is supporting what the customers are requiring.” Forecast of U.S. Business Passed by Cable 2006 ...
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Connecting More Than One Computer to Road Runner Using a Wireless Router
2008-01-16 22:30:00
Install and Connect Your New Router Note: This is an UNSUPPORTED configuration! Neither Road Runner nor USM can assist with the setup or troubleshooting of a home network. We provide the following only as a helpful tool for the do-it-yourselfer. With that said, it's not very difficult, so read on…. The following instructions will walk you through setting up a network using a router, including the following topics: A Typical Home Network (Overview)Installing and Connecting your Linksys RouterConfiguring and Securing your Linksys Router A standard Road Runner internet connection requires that you connect your computer to the cable modem with a Category 5 (CAT-5) Ethernet cable. However, in order to allow multiple computers to connect to the internet at one time, you may use a device known as a minihub, or a broadband router. Using a wireless broadband router, you can share your Road Runner internet connection with several machines. A Typical Home Networ...
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Tru2way™ Brand to Succeed 'OpenCable™ Platform' in Consumer and Retail
2008-01-16 02:03:00
The U.S. cable industry has adopted the “tru2way™” brand to succeed use of the term “OpenCable Platform ” as it applies to the marketing and branding of the interactive video platform for consumers and in retail markets.CableLabs®, the industry's research and development arm, will license the brand to cable companies, cable programmers, and consumer electronics manufacturers that will deliver, create or build devices to access tru2way applications and services. Most cable companies plan to advertise, use, and support the tru2way technology. Use of the mark on devices capable of receiving such services is strictly voluntary for manufacturers.Tru2way technology is built into televisions, set-top boxes, and other devices enabling cable companies and other interactive television service and application developers to “write” interactive applications such as games once and see them run successfully on any cable television system that supports the specification.The technolog...
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Broadband Gear Report Products for January 11, 2008
2008-01-16 00:36:00
Cisco at CES: New Set-Top, Modem, IP Services Gateway Cisco used the Consumer Electronics Show 2008 in Las Vegas to roll out the latest additions to its 8500HDC DVR set-top series. The three new models in the 8500HDC DVR Series offer a range of capabilities such as the ability to support features such as whole-home content, richer navigation, Internet and premium content services, device docking and storage, social networking apps and instant messaging across multiple devices. The new members of the 8500HDC series offer 800 mips (million instructions per second) of application processing power; dual 400 MHz processors for MPEG-4 advanced video compression decoding; 1 GHz tuning; and optional OpenCable features. Additionally, the 8552HDC DVR model set-top offers Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) whole-home connection. MoCA adds Ethernet-over-coax support, enabling the transport of digital video and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home to other consumer h...
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Apple Launches 13-Inch Ultralight MacBook Air
2008-01-15 21:52:00
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard (includes Time Machine, Quick Look, Spaces, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Photo Booth, Front Row, Xcode Developer Tools)iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand) A smart 13.3" LED display The backlit LED display allows for an even thinner build. It provides instant full-screen brightness the moment you open MacBook Air. The mercury- and arsenic-free display is also more power efficient, which translates to longer battery life.Without wires MacBook Air is the notebook that allows for a fully wireless lifestyle. It all starts with the fastest-available, next-generation 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR built in. And that’s just the beginning of the unprecedented wireless capabilities of MacBook Air.Technical specifications and options for the MacBook 13-Inch Ultralight MacBook AirSteve Jobs took the stage to kick off the annual Macworld Expo today. As u...
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China Mobile, Apple and tomorrow AIR
2008-01-15 00:58:00
China Mobile , Apple end talks on iPhoneTalks between China Mobile Ltd. and Apple Inc. over the launch of iPhone handsets in China have been called off, officials at the Chinese company said Monday. "We can only say that negotiations have ended for now. We have no other news to report," said Li Honghui, a spokeswoman for China Mobile Communications Corp., the parent of cell phone carrier China Mobile. She declined to comment further. Rainie Lei, a spokeswoman for China Mobile, earlier Monday also declined to say why the talks ended. "We have held talks with Apple to launch the iPhone device in China. However, those talks have ended," she said. Calls to Cupertino, California-based Apple were not answered Monday. Citing an unnamed official at China Mobile's data services department, Chinese Internet portal Sina.com reported Monday that China Mobile and Apple could not agree on revenue-sharing terms in their preliminary discussions, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The official said C...
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China Digital TV
2008-01-13 23:56:00
China Digital TV (STV) is the leading provider of smart cards to the booming digital TV market in china. China Digital TV holds 44% market share in China, and already delivered 12 Million smart cards nation-wide. Digital TV household penetration in China is only 3.5%, compared with 76% in the UK and 56% in the US, so you can see the potential for growth here is pretty huge. In 2006 there were only 13 million households in China connected with digital TV. this number is expected to grow to 46 M households by 2009, and to 111 by 2011. The Chinese government has a target to digitalize all TV programs by 2015 to reach 250 millin households. In 2010, smart-cards shipments are expected to reach 45 M. considering China Digital TV's stake of 44% at present, bring us to an estimated revenue of $150 M, and a net income of more than $90 M, based on Q3 margins. The company's net income has increased rapidly: it was $4.5m in 2005, $13m in 2006, and expected to be more than $25m in 2007 (exp...
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Bright Forecast for 2008: Cable and Telcos to Continue Battling
2008-01-13 06:02:00
Posted by Carl WeinschenkThe competition between cable and telephone companies continues to accelerate, and business and residential users continue to be the big winners. While this is not a new trend, it is comforting to see that it is in full force in the new year. Verizon said this week that it has more than doubled the speed of its digital subscriber line (DSL) service to 7 Mbps at 400 locations in the United States, and that the increased throughput will be available nationwide by the end of the year. The goal, this Philly.com story says, is to increase interest in DSL to combat cable gains. Verizon DSL sales had fallen off a cliff, dropping from 301,000 in the third quarter of 2006 to just 56,000 during the third quarter of this year. Part of that drop can be attributed to the transition of many customers to the company’s faster FiOS fiber service, of course. The company apparently figures that there is enough of a market at the lower end of the speed spectrum to have two ...
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Comcast in early 2009
2008-01-13 05:56:00
Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) used this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to talk up an expanded library of hi-def VOD content, but the operator is also gearing up to offer the beginnings of a network-based digital video recording service starting in early 2009. (See Comcast Launches 'Project Infinity'.) A company spokesman confirmed a report that the MSO plans to begin testing "Start Over" this year, with initial deployments to follow in early 2009. While Comcast has openly discussed its interest in adding the service, until this week it has not provided much specific information about the timing of deployment plans. Start Over, an application championed by Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC - message board) that originated out of the MystroTV project, allows users to restart TV shows, at least those with copyright clearance, that are already in progress. Time Warner Cable is also exploring next-gen versions that extend the VOD availability window. Time Warner als...
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Cable Nets, Especially ESPN, May See More Dollars This Year
2008-01-11 21:16:00
More TV dollars will go toward cable TV this year, and ESPN looks to be the hot item when it comes to top-tier cable networks. That’s according to a survey from Beta Research, which showed that 43 percent of media buyers and their clients will increase their ad spend on ESPN this year, while 33 percent plan to increase their spend with ESPN2, writes Mediaweek. Turner networks TNT and TBS will also benefit from the increase in cable spending, with 39 percent saying they plan to up their spend on those networks. Of the other networks: 37 percent plan to increase spending with USA38 percent plan to invest more with Discovery Channel33 percent plan to spend more on HGTV, with the same amount saying they will buy more inventory from Comedy Central31 percent will spend more with Food Network.mediapost
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If something goes wrong with HDTV by $100+, Comcast starting up WebTV
2008-01-11 21:02:00
WILL TV CONSUMERS ABANDON CABLE systems for Internet-capable TV sets? This all seems like a big jump; but remember, entertainment consumers saunter. Cable operators used to fear that the satellite distributors would be their biggest threat. To a lesser extent, the immediate threat comes from phone companies-backed IPTV and IPTV-like programming services. Now, for some cable customers there are too many programming choices that aren't used often enough, and high monthly prices -- $100 and more. All this has forced some angry people to consider options like leaving the traditional TV distribution system behind.At the CES, many companies indicated they would like to take up the slack. SlingMedia talked up technology that would take content from the Internet and send it to any TV screen. Sony, Sharp and Panasonic are making televisions where you can directly plug in an Internet connection.What does this sound like? A revolution? No, just some swirling and turning. Cable operators aren...
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Cable’s Top 10 Causes of Insomnia in ’08
2008-01-11 20:56:00
CableFAX executive editor Michael Grebb took time out from the nonstop assault of the Consumer Electronics Show to put together his list of the most important issues cable operators have to contend with this year.1. FCC. Need I say more? FCC chairman Kevin Martin is on a Cable Holy War of some sort—although we’re not sure what religion he’s defending. Regulationism? In any event, cable’s strategy of waiting out Martin over the next year in hopes that a new president will replace him with someone else has its pros and cons. The pros are that alliances with sympathetic FCC commissioners make keeping Martin in a box relatively doable over the next year. The cons are that the next FCC chairman could be even worse for cable. Hey, it could happen, though I have to admit it seems unlikely. Who is Kevin Martin and why is he saying those terrible things about cable? 2. Competition. No one can dispute that Verizon’s success rolling out FiOS—along with the looming threat of AT&...
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All I really watch are the HD channels, so I'm paying $130 for eight channe
2008-01-10 21:46:00
Cable-TV Industry Girds for New ThreatsDoug Byles has had it with his cable-television bill. The 44-year-old Walnut Creek, Calif., home builder said he's paying more than $130 a month for basic service with two premium and eight high-definition channels. "All I really watch are the HD channels, so I'm paying $130 for eight channels?" he said. "That's crazy. I'm going to drop my cable." Frustrated cable subscribers like Mr. Byles who aren't tech savvy used to have only one option: satellite television. But as evidenced this week by the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, those like Mr. Byles now have more choices, thanks to the Internet becoming a bigger distributor of entertainment, and new gadgets and other developments that make it easier to show the Internet's content on TVs. "This is finally becoming a reality and benefiting companies like mine," said Jason Hirschhorn, president of SlingMedia Inc., which expects to introduce technology soon to clip content from the Int...
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U.S. Averages 4.8 meg Downstream, Europe 3.7
2008-01-10 03:28:00
Mike Apgar's Ookla has performed over 200 million speed tests and the results should surprise those who claim the U.S. runs much more slowly. North America 4427 kb/s down 890 kb/s up Europe 3728 kb/s 847 kb/s Australasia 3655 kb/s 465 kb/s (There are possible issues with where his Asian/Korean servers are so I'm holding off on reporting that data.) It appears to me that the relatively high downstream speeds in the U.S. are because cable modems are typically running at 6-10 megabits these days, while almost all U.S. DSL connections are less than 6 megabits. DSL dominates over cable almost everywhere but the U.S., meaning the faster speeds of cable modems leave many countries somewhat behind. Fiber is fastest. From Ookla Speedtest Downstream Japan 11.5 Sweden 7.9 Latvia 6.7 Romania 6.2 Lithuania 5.5 Bulgaria 5.3 Netherlands 5.3 ...
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Internet TV boxes expected to remain “relatively unsuccessful” in 2008
2007-12-22 00:16:00
TV services that depend on set top boxes like the Apple TV, are unlikely to see a considerable jump in sales in 2008 , ABI Research believes. Even with Apple TV at its front line, the company describes this market segment as a “struggling breed of retail-based Internet video devices” and estimates that about 1.2 million of these systems will make their way to consumers in 2008.So far, ABI said, Internet TV boxes “have had difficulty resonating with consumers, largely due to their higher prices and competition from legacy set-top boxes, as well as confusion over the benefits they will ultimately bring to the buyer”.“The high cost of these devices, their reliance on the home network, the need for consumer self-installation, and the scarcity of content have all contributed to their lack of commercial success,” said research director Michael Wolf.Emerging video services on game consoles aren’t helping this segment, but ABI said that “there is a possibility of a break-out ...

Your next display (TV) OLED ! Don't buy plasma?
2007-12-22 00:03:00
OLED is a promising next-generation display technology and is seen as an eventual replacement for LCDs.The two possible deals would allow Matsushita, the world's biggest maker of plasma TVs, to do an about-face and move aggressively into liquid crystal displays (LCDs) while enabling Hitachi to scale down a loss-making business.Global LCD TV sales will likely grow 85 percent to $91 billion by 2010, while rival plasma TV demand is expected to shrink 15 percent to $15.8 billion over the same period, according to research firm Display Search. But some analysts questioned the logic behind Matsushita making such a big bet on LCD production at this stage. The Nikkei said Matsushita's new LCD factory would likely make LCD panels from so-called "eighth-generation" motherglass, which is bigger and more efficient than the "sixth-generation" glass currently used at their IPS Alpha Technology joint venture.Matsushita has invested most aggressively on plasma in the belief that it was...
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