Posted 09/08/09 at 09:38:15 AM by Paul Lilly

We haven't seen a product more aptly named since the PushUp, the tasty treat (not the exercise) from our childhood years. Now that we're all grown up, we prefer to spend our ducats on computer parts than ice cream, and that's where Philips' CushionSpeaker laptop stand comes in.

The name leaves little room for further description, but suffice to say, the CushionSpeaker is exactly what it sounds like. It's a cushion for resting your laptop on your lap and a speaker for blaring out your groovy music, all in one.

What's not so evident from the product's title is that the CushionSpeaker is made from heat resistant material, and the speaker is powered by your laptop via USB. We suppose that's because CushionSpeaker sounds a lot better than HeatResistantUSBPoweredCushionLaptopSpeaker.

No word yet on price or availability.

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Posted 07/02/09 at 06:30:07 PM by Paul Lilly

There's been a major push this past year in being more energy conscious when it comes to computing, and one way Philips plans to do that is by making sure your LCD monitor doesn't consume more power than it needs to.

Called the Brilliance LCD, the upcoming display will feature a built-in sensor capable of detecting whether or not you're sitting in front of your monitor. Get up to grab a cup of coffee or go powder your nose and the monitor will dim its display, a move Philips says will cut power consumption by half. Once you return, the display lights back up and all is as you left it.

Because not everyone sits the same distance from their monitor, the sensor comes configurable for anywhere between 30cm and 120cm, and is completely independent of the host system's software or operating system.

No word yet on price or availability.

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Posted 03/26/09 at 05:55:59 PM by Paul Lilly

Vibrating controllers may soon be considered old-school if Philips' new force feedback jacket catches on. The jacket, which was revealed by Philips at the IEEE-sponsored 2009 World Haptics Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, looks to bring a whole new level of immersion to multimedia content.

"We want people to feel Bruce Lee's anxiety about whether he will get out alive, causing a shiver to go up the viewer's spine and creating the feeling of tension in the limbs," said Paul Lemmens, Philips senior scientist.

To accomplish that goal, the jacket makes use of several physical actuators to affect the person wearing it, rather than relying on sound or motion-based vibration. There are sixty-four independently controlled actuators in all that extend from the torso on down to the arms, which are paired in arrays of four. Each array shares its own processor and is capable of being cycled on and off at a rapid rate of over 100 times per second, Philips says.

The concept may be more feasible than you think, at least from a power perspective. Philips claims the jacket can run on a pair of AA batteries for a full hour with twenty of the actuators being continuously triggered.

Sound like something you'd wear? Hit the jump and tell us what you think.

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Posted 10/02/08 at 11:52:43 AM by Paul Lilly

Autostereoscopic. Ever heard that term before? Philips hopes you'll be hearing a lot more of it, and yesterday announced a line of Quad Full Autostereoscopic 3D HDTVs during a 3D event in Hollywood.

A Quad-HDTV means it's screen resolution checks in at 3840x2160 (8.29 million pixels), or four times that of the highest HDTV standard, and otherwise known as 2160P. Combined with autostereoscopic technology, the end result is that 3D images can be made to look believable without having to wear those funky glasses or other specialized headgear. Instead, images target a specific eye, but rather than require a strict viewing angle, Philips says its 56-inch HD 3D display has a generous 160-degree viewing angle.

As expected, first-run products won't come cheap with early rumblings putting this TV in the $25,000 ballpark. But Philips isn't the only one pushing 3D technology - Toshiba and Sanyo have both said they're working on competing autostereoscopic displays, which could drive down the price if this technology takes off.

Anyone yearning to own a 3D TV?

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Posted 09/10/08 at 04:09:27 PM by Paul Lilly

In what's sure to elicit Tim Allen-like grunts, Philips has unveiled its Pronto TSU9800 touchscreen remote control. The new models retains all the same features as the previous model (TS9600), but upgrades to a bigger full-size 6.4-inch VGA display. Also new to the TSU9800:

• Two more buttons + optical rotary wheel
• Pronto Link support (allows a homeowner to control home theaters, lights, temperatures, security, and multi-room audio systems via a single remote)
• Advanced two-way functionality by receiving feedback from RS-232 or IP-controlled devices in real-time

Philips is offering an optional accessory allowing users to mount the remote to any wall or table top, and will also make available two extenders for integrating into with home controls.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

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Posted 08/26/08 at 02:54:34 PM by Paul Lilly

Blu-ray may have won the high-definition format war, but the spoils haven't exactly been anything to brag about. Saddled with high prices, consumers have been turning the other cheek in favor of upscaled DVDs and an increasing emphasis on movie downloads, which looks to get even more popular this fall. But that could all change if 3D movies prove popular for home setups.

Leading the charge is Philips, who will demonstrate 3D on Blu-ray later this month at IFA 2008.The demo is expected to show how Philips' 2D-plus-Depth content format can be applied to Blu-ray, which would open the door for 3D movies to be shown on a variety of displays. Whether or not that matters to home theater buffs remains to be seen, but with a growing amount of 3D movies released on the big screen, those that missed the theater debut would still be able to relieve the experience at home, minus the ginormous screen.

Does this give Blu-ray the edge it needs to gain popularity points?

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Posted 03/24/07 at 02:43:45 PM by Michael Brown

We’ll try anything that immerses us more deeply in a game. We dig hardware that breaks down the barriers between a fantasy universe and our everyday real world. But we had to suppress a giggle when Philips first demonstrated its amBX system of colored lights, whirring fans, and vibrating wrist pads.

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Posted 11/28/06 at 03:52:55 PM by Katherine Stevenson

Does Philips live up to its trademark of 'sense and simplicity' with its boisterous 23' monster of a monitor?

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