Audio Video News

A plan by <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/">Blockbuster Inc.</A>, the world's #1 video chain, to turn its major rival's stores into Blockbuster franchises, has been blocked by the <A HREF="http://www.ftc.gov/">Federal Trade Commission</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.wsj.com/"><I>Wall Street Journal</I></A> reported December 10. Blockbuster had planned to put its name on Hollywood Video's approximately 1500 stores.

It had to happen. The gas pump experience - once a bastion of bliss where drivers could soothe their road rage by enjoying the mesmerizing effect of digital dollars-and-cents displays flashing ever faster - is now to be defiled by the presence of pump-top LCD monitors displaying ABC News content with stereo sound. Yes, the old Pump-N-Go will never be the same.

Plasma displays have taken a big leap toward affordability. On June 10, <A HREF="http://www.plasmavision.com/">Fujitsu General America Inc.</A> announced a major reduction in the price of its Plasmavision 42 at the InfoComm International '99 confab in Orlando, Florida. The new price of $6995 is a 30% drop from the former suggested retail of almost $10,000---and half the price of the 42's predecessor, which was introduced at CES in 1997.

Increasing the length of a product's warranty is a pretty good indication that a manufacturer has plenty of confidence in that product---and plenty of confidence in the market.

After many years in plasma-manufacturing partnership, Fujitsu and Hitachi have agreed to change their relationship. Specifically, Hitachi will acquire Fujitsu's stock in Fujitsu Hitachi Plasma Display Limited (FHP) as well as Fujitsu's plasma display panel (PDP) technology patents. Once both companies have provided financial assistance to eliminate FHP's excessive debt by the end of March, the stock transfer will proceed quickly, making FHP a consolidated subsidiary of Hitachi.

A two-day stop in San Francisco on Fujitsu's road show last week was enough time to let me scoot downtown and scope out the company's new Plasmavision 42 display. Jon Iverson and I were mighty impressed by it last month at the Consumer Electronics Show, where it was demonstrated under less-than-ideal conditions. This month, in a suite on the 35th floor of the ANA Hotel, the Plasmavision once again stood out as an exceptional feat of engineering.

In a few years, your projector-based home theater could literally be at your fingertips. Funai is working on projector technology that responds to touch: you wave your finger over the image, and the projector senses exactly where you're pointing. ...