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TV Panels to Reach Record High in 2015

Global TV panel shipments will reach a new record level this year, of 265 million units, says IHS. The increase represents a 5% YoY rise, despite the strengthening dollar against other currencies. IHS also expects a 9% increase in area shipments for the year. Consumer demand will be high for large and UltraHD TVs (UltraHD … Read more

Tech Companies Dominate Brand-Value Rankings

Millward Brown’s annual ‘Brandz’ report (http://tinyurl.com/pmmjurd) contains quite the win for technology firms: four are in the top five, and six in the top 10. Apple (the overall most valuable brand in the world), Google, Microsoft and IBM dominate the top five, joining Visa. Expanding to the top 10, telcos AT&T and Verizon join the … Read more

AOC Looks After Professionals

AOC’s new UltraHD monitor for professional users, the U3277PQU, is a 32″ LCD model displaying 10-bit colour and 100% sRGB coverage and features an IPS (AHVA) panel. To support high-resolution signals, the unit features HDMI 2.0 (capable of transporting UltraHD at 60fps), DisplayPort and DVI-D inputs, as well as VGA. It can tilt, swivel, pivot … Read more

Germany Enjoys Highest-Ever Electrical Exports

According to Germany’s Central Association of Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers (Zvei), German electrical imports have grown strongly since March 2014. Overall, exports rose 12.6% YoY, to exceed €15 billion – the highest-ever monthly growth. In Q1’15, electrical exports were 7.6% higher than Q1’14, totalling €42.7 billion. Imports rose faster than exports, increasing 18.6% YoY in … Read more

KFC Chooses Pioneer and LG for Digital Transition

Pioneer Group is rolling out digital menu boards to 400 KFC locations across the UK; the work is expected to take about five months. Pioneer is aiming to complete eight stores every night that it works. Each location will feature five displays above the counter: either 32″, 42″ or 47″ LG professional screens, each with … Read more

Lenovo Solves Small-Screen Smartwatch Issue

The Lenovo Tech World held an unexpected but not unwelcome surprise, in the form of a dual-screen smartwatch concept: the Magic View. This product features the regular watchface and a small, near-eye display (‘Virtual Interactive Display) that is in the strap and that can only be seen when raising the watch to eye level. The … Read more

Desktop Monitors Reflect PC Market and Economics

The European Desktop Monitor market had a weak Q1 in 2015 with a 12.6% drop in volume on a year on year basis according to Meko’s DisplayCast market research service. “There were a number of factors that contributed to this result”, said Bob Raikes, principal analyst at Meko. “The PC market was positive in Q1 … Read more

Emerging Markets Drive Smartphone Shipments in Q1

Smartphone sales in Q1’15 rose 19.3% YoY, to 336 million units, says Gartner. Emerging markets – excluding China – led growth, with the fastest-rising regions named as emerging APAC, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Sales in emerging markets rose 40% YoY over the period. Local brands and Chinese vendors were “the clear … Read more

Rumour: Samsung Ready to Abandon OLED

Reports from Korean media claim that Samsung Display is considering dropping OLED TV plans entirely. Instead, the company’s focus will be on commercialising quantum dot LED (QLED) TVs by 2020. The source says that Samsung Electronics’ outlook for OLED technology is ‘conservative’ over the next few years. QLED is thought to be a better contender … Read more

Very Early Specs Appear for Nvidia Shield 2

GFX Bench has benchmarked a new device simply listed as the ‘Shield Portable’, which is believed to refer to the second-generation Nvidia Shield handheld console. The specs may not be finalised, or accurate; for example, the product is listed with a 7.8″, non-touch display (1920 x 1080), much too large for a handheld. The CPU … Read more