Sky has purchased 15,000 3D televisions from LG Electronics and plans to install them in pubs around the country to promote its 3D broadcasts. Back in January, Sky broadcast a Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United and held screenings of the event in nine pubs to show off the technology.
The broadcaster is set to launch a 3D service for wide use in the UK in April, while consumer electronics manufacturers are pushing out new 3D flat-panel televisions. The industry hopes that growing interest in 3D movies in theaters will spur interest in 3D TV at home.
Sky hopes that showing football matches and other sports events in pubs in 3D will generate some interest in it. LG also benefits from the deal in that its televisions are being promoted as part of Sky’s demonstrations.
Result for: televisions
Panasonic Corp. will work with U.S. electronics provider Best Buy for its launch of 3D televisions in the United States. The official launch of Panasonic’s 3D ventures in the U.S. will be on Wednesday, and Best Buy will be the main promoter of the products in the market.
Best Buy will setup viewing areas at its retail outlets across the country, where consumers can try out the Panasonic 3D products. Panasonic is aiming to sell half a million 3D televisions in the United States in their first year on the market, and expects a 50-inch Viera model to retail in the region for $2,500.
Consumer interest in 3D has been on the rise due to high-profile theatrical releases of 3D titles, such as James Cameron’s Avatar or Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Panasonic is in 4th place in the global market for flat-panel televisions (behind Samsung, LG Electronics and Sony).
Result for: televisions
Samsung and Skype have announced that the upcoming Samsung LED 7000 and 8000 series HDTVs will come with built-in Skype software allowing for video and voice chats via your TV.
The first model will begin shipping in the “first half of 2010.”
“Our consumers want their televisions to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for entertainment and communication delivered with the highest quality,” added Kevin Kyungshik Lee, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. “Including Skype on our TVs meets that expectation perfectly. We’re thrilled that Samsung’s consumers can now use our TVs to experience the rich video and voice communication that hundreds of millions of Skype users worldwide enjoy.”
The HDTVs were first introduced at the CES show last month.
You will need to buy and connect a camera, which is available through both companies, and obviously have a Skype account, which can even be created through the remote control of the TV.
“Increasingly Skype users want to communicate away from their computers, particularly when it comes to video calling,” says Jonathan Christensen, General Manager of Platform at Skype. “Thanks to Samsung, Skype is helping even more friends and families benefit from the meaningful connections that Skype’s video and voice calling provides.”
