2009 is turning out to be a bumper year for gadget fanciers with a number of long awaited electronic gadgets just launched or on the runway to a launch for the Christmas shopping season. 

Apple iTablet

With the long in the gestation Apple Tablet / iTablet due for a launch before Christmas. Will apple be able to create a new type of computer product or is this another Newton a  nice technology that in the end goes nowhere

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 Zune HD

Microsoft’s OLED iPod killer is out in the states to very good reviews which is not common for Microsoft hardware products – could this be a turning point for Microsoft?

 Sony PS3 Slim

There have been loads of rumors about a slimed down and cheaper Play Station 3 for some time now. And there have been glimpses of pre release marketing with a new 120GB model being the most common rumor. Sony have apparently managed to reduce the cost of producing a PS3 by 70% and maybe be gearing up for an assault on the XBOX and Wii  at Christmas.

Let us know what you think in our poll

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MSN UK’s new video-on-demand service will let people watch some of their favourite TV programmes.

Microsoft’s MSN Video site is extending the length of some of the programmes it streams in the UK, having agreed content deals with BBC Worldwide and All3Media. MSN Video is planning to offer 350 hours of free content, supported by advertising.

There are over a dozen BBC series in the pilot, including The Young Ones, Mock The Week and That Mitchell And Webb Look.

Programmes will come in both WMV and Flash formats, to cater for both PC and Mac users and the streams are optimised for 512kbps broadband, to reach a wide audience.

Crossen says MSN UK reaches about half the UK’s broadband audience, second only to the BBC. “We’ve learned to understand the different audiences and their different requirement. We’re aiming to be one of the most popular services in VOD [video on demand].”

However, it seems unlikely that MSN Video will have the same impact as the BBC’s iPlayer.

Online-demand is becoming increasingly popular so MSN are right to join in, but have they left it too late??

Either way you can view MSN video on the Macbook or the Sony Living Room PC available here at AJ Electronics.

Predictions for the LCD TV industry couldn’t be better and everything indicates that the industry is in full recovery. According to DisplaySearch, global LCD TV shipments are expected to grow 21% this year with 127 million units shipped worldwide, while for 2010 shipments are expected grow another 16.5% with a total of 148 million units shipped worldwide.

“LCD TV shipments from the world’s top-10 brand vendors are likely to expand 35% to 141.5 million units in 2010, accounting for 96% of the total global shipments, according to the paper. In 2009, the top-10 vendors are expected to see their LCD TV shipments increase 25% to 104.8 million units and account for 83% of worldwide shipments, it noted.” DisplaySearch

Leading the pack in annual shipments is Samsung Electronics, Samsung LCD TV shipments are expected to climb to 25 million units this year and grow another 28% in 2010 with 32 million units shipped.

Another sign of recovery is the new highest monthly record for large-size panel shipments, according to DisplaySearch global large-size TFT-LCD panel shipments reached 46.7 million units in June 2009, up 8% sequentially and 24% on year.

Some pundits thought that with the credit crunch people where going to stay in more and watch films on their home cinema equipment. Ordering in takeaway pizzas rather than going out to restaurants and cinemas. The positive figures for shipment of LCD TV’s seem to bear this out.

What about you are you upgrading your TV and staying in more?

Gizmodo (another technology blog) has an interesting article on the relative cost of today’s Gadgets and home electronics – comparing the cost of equivalent products in the 1970’s and today.

They point out that a state of the art Apple ][ with a huge 48k of memory would set you back £1600 in 1979 which is the equivalent of £4697 in today’s money. When you compare this with the 13 Inch Mac book Pro we have on sale here for £929 the price drop is huge.  In the UK the price drop is even more pronounced as personal computers were more expensive in the UK compared to the US markets.

If we compare VCR’s to DVD and Blu-ray players the price drop is even more pronounced. In the late 70’s JVC had a VCR that weighed 30 Lb and cost around £2500 in today’s money, compare this to the Sony Blu-ray Player we have at £141 here.

1970 JVC VCR £2500	Today Sony Blu-Ray £141

A Sony Walkman originally cost £350 in today’s terms and you can get a 4GB Pod Nano for around a £109 price here

One of the few areas not to show such radical price drops are washing machines where the prices have remained fairly stable – though you can get budget washing machines a fair bit cheaper than you could 30 years ago.

Do you have any fond memories of 1970 gadgets and computers?

According to the latest figures from Ofcom, over 18 million British homes now have at least one television connected to a digital receiver.

Personal video recorders, which combine a Freeview digital tuner with the ability to pause, rewind and record live television, are especially popular, with one million devices being sold from January to march 2009 alone.

The Telegraph report that there are now almost nine million PVRs in UK homes, five million of which are Sky+ boxes, 2.6 million are Freeview recorders, and the rest are comprised of BT Vision, Virgin Media V+ and Top Up TV set-top boxes.

It means that most homes in the UK are ready for the digital switch over in 2012 and several areas of the country have already had their analogue service disconnected and are now digital-only.

Are you part of the 90% who have already made the switch over or are you still holding on to the traditional analogue??

If you are up-to-date then the new digital TV channels can look pretty impressive on an LCD or Plasma Television, particularly if its in HD.

AJ Electronics retail a full range of Plasma and LCD Televisions, for the full range please click here.

Sony has just released an update of its PS3 Firmware patch v2.70.

There first update is a new Text Chat system, it’s like an IM program for the PS3, allowing you to hold conversations with up to 15 other players and engage in up to three different chats at once.

The Text Chats run in the background, so you can keep chatting whilst you swap in and out of games.

There is also a new way of sorting your friends list, sorting them according to their online status and you can now add attachments to messages of up to 3MB.

Sony have also introduced  a way of choosing to back up your videos purchased from the PlayStation Store to portable devices in order to free up space.

The addition of Text Chat has solved the problem of trying to organise games with multiple friends, but gadget experts T3 reckon without a voice chat system, getting on the phone is still going to be quicker.

For AJ Electronics full Sony range please click here.

Interesting one this. A new joint venture company has been formed by LCD TV rivals Sony and Sharp. The new company called Sharp Display Products Corporation will be open for business from April 1st 2009 with the intention on focusing on large LCD TV panels.

Sharp will have 66% of the company and Sony will have 34%. The venture is aimed to help both companies; to give Sony ready access and control over large LCD panel and to relieve the site development off Sharp. The first screens from Sharp Display Products are expected to be launched in just under two years from now.

The second joint venture could possibly be by Toshiba who are currently in negotiations to buy out Panasonics stake of a joint LCD venture.

Presently, Panasonic controls 40% of Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology which produce small LCDs used in mobile phones and the deal, said to be initiated by Panasonic, should be worth several million yen when completed. Panasonic have refused to comment on the buyout but has admitted that its current strategy is to focus on larger LCD TV panels (sound familiar?) and larger Plasma TV panels.

TV retailers and manufacturers have agreed to phase out all TVs without digital TV tuners at the end of 2009.

Non digital recorders will be also phased out including analogue DVD recorders and shops will need to have better labelling and consumer information.

The Digital Switchover Supply Chain Group which represents major names like Sony and Panasonic as well as independent retailers have requested that the conversion of all TV digital sets is speeded up to ensure that they are all equipped with digital tuners. So far both Sony and Panasonic have successfully migrated all their TV products to digital.

As much as nine out of ten large TVs sold this year already have digital tuners but only 15% of smaller screens under 26 inches are ‘digitally ready’ and 64% of recorders are without a digital TV recorder.

The Co-Chairman of the Digital Switchover Supply Chain Group said, “We’ve already seen a rapid transformation in the market for larger, flat screen televisions in the shape of LCD TVs, the vast majority of which are now digital. The moves we are announcing today will further benefit consumers by continuing that transformation across the full range of television and recording equipment”

Apple is upgrading its iPod shuffle with a new 4GB version that includes software that speaks the name of the tracks being played.

The new iPod shuffle is similar to the older model in that it has no screen but is around half the size of previous models.

The device includes software that will not only tell the user verbally what track is playing but will also vocalise playlists and the amount of battery life remaining.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing said:

‘Imagine your music player talking to you, telling you your song titles, artists and playlist names.’

‘The amazingly small new iPod shuffle takes a revolutionary approach to how you listen to your music by talking to you, also making it the first iPod shuffle with playlists.’

The vioce software is installed on the user’s computer and downloaded to the device so that it can speak in 14 languages, including English, Czech, Dutch, and French.

The Apple device will be available in silver and black and is $10 more than the older 2GB shuffle it replaces.

For our full range of Apple products please click here.

Canon has been voted Europe’s top camera brand for the 9th consecutive year in the Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands Survey 2009.

Reader’s Digest asked its readers in 14 languages across 16 European countries to nominate the brand they trusted most in a range of consumer categories, including cameras.

Respondents were drawn from the Reader’s Digest customer database of 4.5 million homes in Europe, and a total of 23,000 responses were analysed.

Canon was one of only three brands nominated as ‘most trusted’, Canon coming out on top in 13 of the 16 countries..

The Chief of Communication and Corporate Relations for Canon Europe said:

‘It is a great achievement to be awarded the ‘most trusted’ camera brand for the ninth year running by readers from all across Europe. At Canon we nurture a passion for the power of image, providing our customers with imaging solutions that empower creativity and innovation. It is rewarding to see that so many readers of the Reader’s Digest continue to trust us to deliver products of the highest quality.’

Gavin Murray, Regional Advertising Director of Reader’s Digest said:

‘Consumer trust is vital to successful brands. Maintaining trust in a fast changing world is one of the biggest challenges facing companies today, especially in the technology sector. For Canon to have maintained its position as the most trusted camera brand in the large majority of countries in Europe is impressive.’

For AJ Electronics full Canon range, please click here.