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CES 2008 Keynote: Panasonic’s Toshihiro Sakamoto
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We are here at the Panasonic keynote presentation. This is the first official presentation of the show. We are expecting to see some major Panasonic strategy, a 150” Plasma TV, and a few other cool gadgets and gizmos. Let’s see if it can compete with other opening show keynotes of the past. We will have the live blog up in a moment. Remember you can hit Ctrl+R or F5 to refresh the page.
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01:55 PMAdam Berger said:
Thanks for sticking with us.
01:55 PMAdam Berger said:
This was actually one of the better CE press conferences in a while. We saw some great technologies, new products, and corporate partnerships. We will be uploading all the images shortly. Stay tuned to Gadgetell for tonight’s Intel keynote, live coverage from the show floor all day and the rest of the week.
01:53 PMAdam Berger said:
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Click for a larger image. LifeWall will use Facial Recognition technology to recognize who is there and which content to bring up. It will also use MotionSensing technology so no matter where you are. It also have video calling, video messaging, interactive messaging,and much much more.
01:48 PMAdam Berger said:
There is one more technology introduction. John Landow is shooting AVATAR a future movie. He was also excited about the LIfeWall (seems to be much like Microsoft Spaces). This will bring the digital house to a whole new level.
01:44 PMAdam Berger said:
Switching gears, Panasonic will bring connectivity to safety, home audio, navigation, storage, power line technology and more. This is already happening in Japan but will soon be wider available. In the future you will be able to control all these products from your car (lights on and off, etc).
01:41 PMAdam Berger said:
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Now another partner is going to be coming up. YouTube and Picasa are helping Panasonic revolutionize consumers HD experience. YouTube co-founder and CTO Steve Chen and Piscasa’s product manager. Together YouTube and Panasonic will bring consumers content to their home. VIERA Cast will bring content to your home. A new wireless Lumix camera will allow you to upload images to the web. Picasa will be able to access the web albums via their TVs.
01:36 PMAdam Berger said:
They are now introducing a product to satisfy a “whenever, wherever” need of consumers. It allows you to record as much as you want, but then you can remove it for on the go. It is a portable DVD, DVR, called AnyPlay. It is essentially a hard drive based portable DVD player (or what used to be known as a portable DVD player).
01:34 PMAdam Berger said:
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Now a reporter from Kid Witness News just introduced the Chairman and CEO of Comcast Brian—something. “Panasonic and Comcast have been working together for many years. The Open Cable Applications Protocall is now called True Two Way. These will be rolled out nationwide. There will be OnDemand, live TV, and more (not too sure what is really new here, sorry). Ture Two Way tvs will be available later this year, they will offer On Demand and the Navigation menu. You don’t need and extra cable box or a second remote.
01:28 PMAdam Berger said:
Simplicity and understanding are the core of Panasonic’s innovation pipeline. Now we are welcoming you to the wireless world. HomeBase is playing on a Blu-ray player. Sakamoto just cut the wires. HomeBase allows uncompresses HD Video to pass from the device to the receiver. We are now placing a camcorder on top of HomeBase and is transfered to the TV. VIa VIERA Link a single remote controls your player, camcorder, and TV. This technology will be available for consumers by next year.
01:23 PMAdam Berger said:
Panasonic is a world wide partner for the Olympics from now until 2016. It will be the first full HD games. The DVCPRO HD will be the camera of choice for the games. Technologies are also helping athletes train (not sure how, but it sounds good).
01:21 PMAdam Berger said:
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“Next is another gigantic surprise. The 150” plasma.” This will be built at a brand new plant. It is 11 feet wide. It is the size of 9 smaller plasmas. It is “the Panasonic Life Screen”. It has a 2k x 4k resolution, 4 times greater than full HD 1080p displays. It is designed for digital cinema and industrial uses.
01:17 PMAdam Berger said:
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“Today I am going to reveal the latest breakthroughs from our R&D labs, regarding plasmas. We will be doubling Luminance Efficiency with 50% less power. The next advancement is thinner and lighter. Here is our new 23.7mm thick plasma, which is also half the weight of older models.”
01:15 PMAdam Berger said:
Sakamoto-son (that is Mr. Sakamoto for you), is back talking about the environment. They will reduce carbon emissions to the levels of 2000 (reducing 300,000 tons). They were also the first to remove lead from all displays.
01:12 PMAdam Berger said:
Two hosts are now on stage and are going to be showing us how it really is to live in HD. The Panasonic VIERA tvs (from 32 - 103") are the backbone of their offering. Two years ago the 103” was the largest plasma with over 3,000 displays shipped worldwide.
01:09 PMAdam Berger said:
We are now seeing the same promo video for “Living in High Definition” from the Panasonic press conference.
01:06 PMAdam Berger said:
Here are my dreams and promises… The large HD displays are doing much better than we expect. The digital hearth is becoming a phenomenon—we believe that this will bring back family time. Technology should bring people together, not pull them together.
01:05 PMAdam Berger said:
“Good morning and welcome, four years ago we were here to present our promises and dreams. The promises have come to pass and the dreams are now available: large full HD televisions, HD camcorders, Blu-ray players with great sound and natural colors, digital still cameras fit in your pocket, high speed power line make home networking easier than ever without new wires, SD memory cards coming to 32GB and a 4GB microSD cards.”
01:02 PMAdam Berger said:
A video is now playing, showing picture of Native Americans, Indians, Eskimos, now we are moving around the world from European families to Africa and the Middle East. “Technology allows us to expand this experience from a single family to the family of man. Our vision is to bring people back together around the digital hearth. And to bring high definition for high quality time.”
01:00 PMAdam Berger said:
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Now we are moving onto Panasonic. Gary is introducing Panasonic’s Toshihiro Sakamoto.
12:54 PMAdam Berger said:
The Chairman of the RIAA and MPAA are joining together to call on the President (yes that president, George Bush) to allow free trade across all lines. “We must also support policies that respect workers and the environment). Somewhere in this room is Susan Schwab, the US Trade Representative.
12:46 PMAdam Berger said:
Now he is getting political, discussing free trade and congressional stances. I’ll save you from the dry discussion. (if you want politics you have comes to the wrong place).
12:43 PMAdam Berger said:
He claims we will be safer and smarter in the future, through technology and electronics. In 2008 projects are that sales will be $171 BILLION (a growth of 6% over 2007). The average American home contains 24 consumer electronics products.
12:41 PMAdam Berger said:
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Our boy, Gary S. has now taken the stage. “There are 2,700 exhibitor and over 20,000 products. This year we add entertainment properties such as Sony Pictures and NBC.”
12:39 PMAdam Berger said:
The CES “pep” video is now rolling. FYI, we will be starting this morning’s press conference with the 2008 State of the Industry, before moving into the Panasonic press conference.