Wires will find few friends in Las Vegas this week. Companies showing off their wares at CES are committed to cutting the cord and going wireless, whether you’re talking about home network connections or high-definition TV content.
Wireless HD was one highlight of LG’s showcase here Wednesday morning. The company showed off technology that uses a 60 GHz channel to send an uncompressed 1080p picture from a set-top box to a wall-mounted TV without unsightly wires.
It gives you a clean look for a wall-mounted TV, but it left me wondering where the TV’s power cord went. Newly built homes might have a high-mounted electrical outlet in the living room, but others might still need to drill a hole in the wall if they really can’t stand the sight of wires.
Blur Reduction
Other home entertainment technologies on LG’s list included TruMotion, a system for reducing the blur associated with fast-moving images by making the TV’s backlights flicker at high speeds.
Of course, the company also shone a spotlight on its new TV that brings in online Netflix content without the aid of a set-top box, news of which preceded the show by a few days. More models with this feature should be on the way.
Upcoming additions to LG’s line of Blu-ray disc players will also include the feature, as well as the ability to bring in YouTube videos, Yahoo Widgets and CinemaNow content.
Speak to the Wrist
As for phones, LG’s only noteworthy not-yet-released product was a touchscreen cell phone watch. Talking into your wrist in public might make you look like you’re having some sort of Secret Service fantasy, so thankfully the phone also supports a Bluetooth headset.
“This is definitely something you’d expect to see in a 007 movie as a James Bond gadget,” said Woo Paik, president and CTO of LG.
Besides that, LG didn’t offer many hints about future phone models, instead spending time talking about handsets like the Dare and the Decoy — phones that have been in circulation since last year.
The company did present a new noise cancellation technology called “DSE,” which utilizes two microphones to allow you to have a normal phone conversation while in a loud environment.
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