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Panasonic Corporation of North America , the industry leader in high definition Plasma and LCD televisions, introduced its expanded line of VIERA HDTVs at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. Building upon its award winning portfolio of high definition televisions, Panasonic will broaden its offering in 2009 by introducing new screen sizes in Plasma with a new 54-inch class plasma. In addition, VIERA will extend its unique technology features, such as the acclaimed VIERA CAST®™ web menu, to additional model lines.

Panasonic, a major developer and contributor to the success of the Blu-ray format, recently introduced the successors to last year’s award winning DMP-BD35 and DMP-BD55 players, as well as presenting the world’s first Blu-ray-VHS dual player. All three of the new Blu-ray players – DMP-BD60, DMP-BD80, DMP-BD70V – combine high quality images with enhanced networking functions, including VIERA Cast’s improved internet functionality that provides access to Amazon VOD’s huge selection of titles. Continuing its commitment to producing products that stress ease of use, the 2009 line of Blu-ray Disc™ players continue to incorporate VIERA Link™, allowing the consumer to operate their audio/video components, via HDMI, with one remote. And, in keeping with Panasonic’s pledge to reduce the planet’s carbon footprint, the new Blu-ray players have been designed to reduce power consumption. The 2009 Panasonic Blu-ray line will be available in April. The DMP-BD60 will have a SRP of $299.95; the DMP-BD60 $399.95; the DMP-BD70V $399.95.

NXP Semiconductors announced the launch of the SSL2101 – the world’s first integrated dimmable mains LED driver. The NXP SSL2101 is a small form factor Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) controller IC specifically designed to drive LED devices and provide dimming capabilities to further improve the energy efficiency of LED lighting. The SSL2101 can drive lighting systems with variable power requirements which include LED retro-fit lamps, LED modules, LED spots, down-lights and LED strings for retail displays.

Oberthur Technologies, one of the world’s leading Smart Card suppliers and NXP, the semiconductor company founded by Philips, announced today the completion of interoperability tests between Oberthur Technologies’ Opera FlyBuy NFC (Near Field Communication) SIM Cards and NXP’s PN544 NFC Controller. Opera FlyBuy NFC SIM Cards from Oberthur Technologies can be used in conjunction with NXP’s PN544 to design NFC mobile devices compatible with MIFARETM* Classic technology in existing infrastructures.

“With its multi-application and remote management capabilities, Opera FlyBuy NFC SIM cards from Oberthur Technologies

NEC LCD Technologies, together with its sales and marketing channels in the Americas and Europe, NEC Electronics America, Inc., and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, introduced a new 9.0-inch (23 centimeters diagonal) amorphous-silicon thin-film-transistor (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) module, part number NL8048BC24-04, with wide video graphics array (WVGA) resolution for industrial equipment, including factory automation and measurement equipment.
The new module incorporates NEC LCD Technologies’ proprietary ultra-advanced, super-fine TFT (UA-SFT) technology that enables superior viewing angles without compromising brightness or color gamut. In addition, the module has been designed with wide-format resolution to meet the rising demand for such in various industrial applications.

Royal Philips Electronics is offering lighting designers, architects and artists from all disciplines a unique OLED technology ‘starter kit’, so that they can discover for themselves why OLEDs are going to be the lighting sensation of the coming years. This kit includes an information pack and DVD explaining the technology behind OLEDs and outlining possible future applications. It contains several OLEDs of various shapes, structures and colors, enabling people to experiment with and experience the amazing effects of OLEDs for themselves. More details about how to use the OLED samples are included in the information pack.

Apple announced the Apple Ultracompact USB Power Adapter Exchange program.

Apple has determined that under certain conditions the new ultracompact Apple USB power adapter’s metal prongs can break off and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock. We have received reports of detached blades involving a very small percentage of the adapters sold, but no injuries have been reported.

The ultracompact USB power adapters were supplied with every iPhone 3G sold in the following countries, and may also have been purchased separately as an accessory:

Browsing the Internet on a mobile device will take a leap forward with today’s announcement that NVIDIA Corporation and Opera Software are collaborating to bring the full desktop Web-browsing experience, including support for JavaScript, accelerated vector graphics, and video content, to smartphones and mobile Internet devices. As a result, NVIDIA will offer an optimized Opera 9.5 browser in its suite of pre-integrated, in-house and third-party software for the NVIDIA® Tegra™ family of computer-on-chip Windows Mobile and Windows CE solutions.

AMD announced the availability of the industry’s preeminent performance desktop platform, the AMD 790GX. Packing a host of innovations, the AMD 790GX integrates advanced performance tuning for AMD PhenomTM processors, plus ATI RadeonTM HD 3300 graphics – the world’s fastest motherboard graphics processor (mGPU) – to take media aficionados beyond HD. In addition to AMD validation, independent testing of the AMD 790GX chipset shows significant increases in AMD Phenom processor performance2 via the introduction of Advanced Clock Calibration technology. Versatile graphics options include ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™ technology, which pairs the on-board ATI RadeonTM HD 3300 graphics with a discrete graphics card from either of the ATI Radeon™ HD 3400 series or ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 series graphics cards; or ATI CrossFireX™ multi-GPU technology, to enable multiple discrete graphics cards to work together to satisfy gamers demanding the best in 3D performance at maximum display resolution.

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced the introduction of dynamic in-game advertising on PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3). Marketers interested in placing advertisements in games for PS3 or publishers with available in-game space for advertisements are able to engage through advertisement distribution partners, with IGA Worldwide selected as PS3’s first partner. This partnership will serve to bolster the already rapidly growing worldwide in-game advertising industry, which is expected to grow 1,150 percent to