Super-Size TV Runners-Up January 11, 2007

Read more Gadgets , Home Entertainment , TV

Sharp might have snatched up a lot of the headlines by squeezing out a few extra TV inches, and from LCD too, but there were plenty of other massive HDTVs on show. LG showed off its 100in LCD which came out in Q1 last year but had been the biggest LCD TV until Sharp‘s CES 2007 monster.

Samsung (above) showed off its existing 102in plasma which is still pretty as a picture and has fantastic colour reproduction. Panasonic had its 103in plasma screen on show, while Sony settled for showing off an 82in Bravia HDTV 1080p prototype featuring some new colour processing technology called x.v. Colour Processing. See the TV prototype and the spec sheet after the jump along with some of the other runner-ups.

Not that I wouldn’t chop off a friend's finger to have any of them.-Martin Lynch

Sharp’s 108in LCD HDTV Wins The War Of Inches January 11, 2007

Read more Gadgets , Home Entertainment , TV , Trade Show

The CES Show is always the place for companies to compare dick sizes and this year did not disappoint. Sharp turned out to be the best endowed, however, with its stunning 108in LCD - yes LCD - HDTV. Plasma screens usually dominate the supersize HDTV category, and have done for years, but Sharp’s LCD offering put even the giant plasmas in the shade.

Even better, this is not just window-dressing, since it plans to launch it this summer for the well-heeled. There’s no price as that would just be too crass but, you can use the £40,000 price for Panasonic’s 103in plasma as a jumping off point. Just make sure you head north.

Another pic after the jump.- Martin Lynch

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Verbatim Ups USB Sticks To 12GB January 11, 2007

Read more Gadgets , Peripherals , Portable Media , Storage

Depending on how much media you like to carry around in your pocket, then you may be interested in the latest 8GB (pictured) and 12GB USB Flash drives from Verbatim.

The latest additions to the Store 'n' Go range are, the company claims, just a small bit bigger than regular USB drives and will allow you to store hundreds of stolen torrent albums, TV shows, movies and YouTube clips. OK, Verbatim didn't actually say that bit, I did, but you know what you'll be using them for.

I currently use a 4GB drive from Kingston and it's amazing just how much stuff you can now carry easily without have to worry about space. The 12GB drive will cost around £100 which might seem like a lot but 12GB in a tiny device is a lot of storage. Verbatim says that it will take 12 hours of MPEG-1 video, about 6,000 300-DPI photos, 6 hours of DVD-quality video or tens of thousands of documents.

Both drives come with Mobile Launchpad, a utility for downloading applications that can be run directly from the Verbatim USB Drive. These include things like mobile photo databases, ID/Password management tools and others. The USB connector is flip-out but even more useful is a bundled extension lead.

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