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Freeview Play comes to Panasonic PVR and Blu-Ray products

Perfectly timed to make watching what you want, when you want, easier than ever this Christmas, Panasonic is pleased to announce that its customers will now be able to enjoy Freeview Play on its new PVR and Blu-ray recorders[1]. Customers can now benefit from on demand and all the Freeview channels subscription free with no … Read more

Samsung and Best Buy are the leading companies for purchases of 4K TV sets

Parks Associates research finds that by mid-2015, more Samsung 4K TV sets were sold than any other brand. Samsung accounted for 28% of 4K TV purchases made within the last 12 months to U.S. broadband households. Best Buy was the leading retailer, capturing more than 40% of 4K TV purchases. Of the remaining brands, 17% … Read more

Are Augmented- and Virtual Reality Threatening Cinema?

In the recent article ‘Cinematically Immersive Environments’ published by Michael Goldman, in SMPTE Newswatch, November 2015 #2, he discusses the opportunities that augmented reality may bring to the cinema environment. The article quotes Peter Ludé, CEO of Real D and former SMPTE President as he recalls several events in expanding the capabilities of cinema projection … Read more

Smartphones Fall to Single-Digit Growth

2015 will be the first-ever full year of single-digit smartphone growth, according to IDC. The firm forecasts 9.8% growth YoY, to a total of 1.43 billion units. This is a revision from IDC’s previous prediction (see comments in Q2 Smartphone Growth Was ‘Slowest Since 2013’), based on the slowing performance of the APACxJ, LATAM and … Read more

Samsung Falls From Wearable Rankings

The top wearable vendor positions were in a state of flux in Q3, with Xiaomi challenging Apple for the second-place spot, and Samsung beaten to fifth place by newcomer XTC. IDC says that total shipment volume for the quarter was 21 million units – up almost 200% (197.6%) from the 7.1 million units shipped in … Read more

NextFlex is Born

In August, the FlexTech Alliance received funding from the US Department of Defense (DoD) to establish and manage a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) and Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE MII) (FlexTech Alliance Secures $75 Million DoD Funding). The FHE MII has now been renamed, and is known as NextFlex. Analyst Comment We noted that Paul Semenza, … Read more

QD LCDs Will Dominate Flexible Barrier Market

IDTechEx has predicted that flexible barrier film market will be worth $850 million by 2026. Interest will mainly be driven by quantum dot (QD) LCD displays and flexible OLED displays, both of which require these components. Flexible encapsulation aims to replace the rigid glass encapsulation used for OLED displays in, for example, smartphones and tablets. … Read more

“Samurai Smartphone Parade” Video: Walking While Looking at Smartphone Displays is Dangerous Even in the Age of the Samurai

NTT DOCOMO, Inc. (hereinafter DoCoMo) released a unique awareness-raising video, “Samurai Smartphone Parade” on its official YouTube channel on December 1 as part of its campaign to prevent accidents caused by those walking while looking at their smartphone displays and improve their manners. There are a growing number of accidents involving people walking while looking … Read more

Wearable Emphasis is on SmartWatches and Fitness

Printed Electronics 2015 (Santa Clara, CA, November 17-20) offered several sessions organized around the overall topic of Wearable Technology. The sessions and presentations were wide ranging in their scope and covered technologies including stretchable and textile electronics, flexible sensors, advanced microcontrollers for wearables, thin and flexible energy storage, wireless power, manufacturing for wearable electronics, smart … Read more

SMI Eye Tracking and WorldViz Make Researchers Turn to Virtual Reality

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) and WorldViz announce a plug and play integration of their leading Eye Tracking and VR technologies. With the Vizard VR Software, researchers and professionals can easily design immersive experiments and replicate real-life training scenarios in virtual reality, while SMI HMD Eye Tracking reveals how users interact with the digital world. TheSMI/WorldViz toolkit … Read more