Hot Tech from CEATEC Japan 2009

Today is Opening Day for CEATEC Japan 2009, the annual celebration of cutting edge tech. Some viable, some may never be seen again. Robots and exotic cell phones always grab their share of media attention, but we’ll focus on the tech you’ll get your hands on over the next twelve months.

At Ceatec 2008, 804 exhibitors and 196,630 attendees crowded the makeshift runways of Makuhari Messe, down from the 895 exhibitors and 206,000 attendees in 2007. Expectations are high for a good turn out and more important, an upbeat attitude from manufacturers. With CES (Consumer Electronics Show 2010) just a few months away, it’s time for heads of tech to inject some optimism into the consumer community. And at CEATEC, they get help from bands of engaging robots, so no excuses.

Panasonic 4K2K LCD TV: Yes, that’s a resolution of 3840 x 2160. And yes, someone is rounding up. Screen size? 103-inches. Manufacturers have talked about a 4K2K resolution before, and the HDMI 1.4 spec has already been created for it.

Watch worthy 3D products on display as well including a Panasonic 103-inch 3D LCD TV and Panasonic 3D Blu-ray players. Still a little blurry in fast action, but overall a good experience.

Sony 3D HDTV: Sony announced a couple of weeks ago it would start selling 3D HDTVs in 2010. No surprise Sony has a HUGE booth just for 3D full HDTVs displaying 3D movies and video games. Still need to wear special goggles or glasses, but the result stunned attendees. Equal to Panasonic’s 3D HDTVs. Both have a slight blurred effect with fast action, cut reps say that will be fixed before coming to market.

Sony Concept Flexible OLED Notebook: Everyone loves this one and it’s been in the concept stage for quite some time. The notebook is wild, but frankly, why do I want a Gumby-like laptop? Sony also showed concept watches and an MP3 players with flexible displays.

Toshiba 3D CELL Regza: Similar to Panasonic’s display, Toshiba combines 3D images and cell technology to provide an overwhelmingly realistic experience. The HD image is crystal clear, Toshiba's 3D GUI “a la” NATAL,  works extremely well, and no glasses. Toshiba described this technology as a “future version of the CELL Regza platform [that] will process 2D images into more lifelike 3D.”

In addition to gaming interaction, the gesture based GUI will allow users to search for and navigate recorded content using an integrated infrared sensor. Both Philips and Hitachi have similar gesture controlled TVs under development revealed earlier this year at CES 2009 in Las Vegas.

Toshiba CELL REGZA TV 55X1: Cell powered technology delivers ultra-high-speed processing and recording, enhanced navigation and seamless network interactivity. It's a 55” LCD featuring a 240Hz panel and 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio LED backlighting, a 1250cd/m2 brightness, and a 3TB hard drive disk.

The CELL Platform increases processing capability approximately 143 times that of the current top-of-the-line REGZA TV. The display is divided into 512 distinct areas, each with individually controlled LED lighting. Luminance is pushed to an industry high of 1250cd/m2. 3TB allows for the CELL Regza to simultaneously record up to 26 hours of programming on up to eight channels of digital terrestrial broadcasts.

The CELL REGZA 55X1 will be available in Japan at the beginning of December. No word on U.S. distribution. But don’t get too excited, price is said to be set at $11,115. Yes, that’s dollars.