CES 2008: Liveblogging the Panasonic Press Conference

Summary: Panasonic is all about the HD this year, with Viera and developments on last year's Living in High Definition project dominating the announcements. A slew of new announcements includes Viera TVs, camcorders, a Blu-ray home theatre, Lumix cameras and more has come out of this, but there's apparently more to come tomorrow.

Liveblog: It's a so-so start to the day at CES, with LG disappointing the crowds, although JVC has had plenty to say for itself. Hopefully we'll have more exciting news to bring you as the Panasonic press conference is starting to heave with people; the Viera backdrop and prominent screens suggest that the main announcements wll be TV-related. Note: due to iffy WiFi, I'll be posting this liveblog directly after the conference.

11:36 - *anddddddd relax*. Doesn't this woman need to breathe? Ah, she's off and Joe Taylor, Cheif Operating Officer is coming on. Panasonic is really pushing the family edge, here, stressing the projects such as the Living in HD movie are "bringing the family together". He stresses that it's also "no longer just your parents' TV company."

11:33 - The new DVD-LS86 portable DVD player boasts 13 hours of playback from a single charge. Can they lend me one for the flight back from San Francisco? The HDC-SD9 is the world's smallest full HD camcorder and alongside it is another HD camcorder, the HDC-HS9, with a 60GB hard disk and SD card slot. The SDR-S7 is a tiny, less-the-180 gram camcorder for more portability, and there's a more action-packed model, the SDR-SW20, a waterproofed camera available in some funkier colours. FInally there's the VDR-D50 with whopping 42x optical zoom, so if you're standing at the back of the room, it's a handy one to have. There's a new Lumix camera, too, the DMC-TZ3. More announcements across the board are also due at tomorrow's Keynote.

11:30 - There's also the world's first home theater with inegrated Blu-ray disc player, flip-down iPod dock a la JVC and SD card slot. And the KS-TH1211 "Link to Cell Phone" which is a Bluetooth handset. You can put the mobile wherever it has best reception and use the handset all over the house, including low-reception areas. And there's Panasonic's first GPS system, the Strada GP5OU, with the usual voice command and Bluetooth, which should be available from now.

11:27 - Panasonic Prime Time Live - new product round up. The announcer is terrifying - a young Joan Rivers type with a blinding smile and cut-throat cheekbones. There's a new Viera range, unsurprisingly, including a 37" Full HD LCD TV. The DMP-BD30 Blu-ray Disc Player is also arriving, along with SD card slot. There's a recap on the world's first 32GB SDHC card.

11:26 - The world's (current) thinnest Blu-ray disc drive for PCs has arrived - it's been shipping to manufacturers since last week.

11:23 - There's a multifunctional remote and SD card slots in the televisions to view photos on screen in seconds. Panasonic's also developed a brand new 32GB SDHC card that can hold 5.5 hours of true HD video - I'm far too excited about this. Using this whopping card you can play back HD video straight away on a Viera. The opportunity is taken to plug Panasonic's commitment to Bluray, which is looking pretty smug right now.

11:19 - Panasonic CE President Shiro Kitajima steps up. He's announcing an enhanced line-up for Viera, and the expansion of the brand name to encompass all screen sizes, from 26" up. There's a demonstration now of Viera Link, a new feature designed for making connectivity simple by controlling everything from one remote.

11:16 - Back to Living in High Definition and Brett Ratner being dramatic on camera (someone call Apple, he's perfect for them). Families are giving their feedback including "making videos as a family has brought us closer together" and "ever since we've had the technology, we've all been in the same room".

11:13 - It's the eco-announcement (listen up Hippyshopper). Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba have joined together to create the Electronic Manufacturing Recycling Management Co. (EMRM). The first priority is to provide cost-effective recycling services for manufacturers but also extend these services to others including state and local governments. Other companies have entered into agreements with EMRM, including Pioneer, JVC and other household names.

11:11 - Revisits last year's "Living in High Definition" announcement, showing how HD devices have affected the lives of seven very different families; the company is recruiting more families to the program, and aims to have extended to 30 by March, and then 100 after that. The program was due to be pimped for us by X-Men 3 director Brett Ratner, but his flight was cancelled due to "mechanical failure". Yamada is trying not to crack too big a smile at this.

11:07 - The show kicks off with Yoshi Yamada, Chairman of Panasonic North America. He's just reminding us of the Keynote tomorrow, and Panasonic's status as an official partner at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, with Viera the main focus there. "High definition TV" has been said at least four times so far, and he's keen to remind us that it's been 10 years since Panasonic sold the first HD TV in the US.

Panasonic

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