Panasonic

Panasonic Kicks New Toughbooks Out The Door

Chris Dannen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:29:39 -0400

Panasonic [MC] announced a handful of new Toughbooks this week, refreshing the venerable line of go-anywhere, drop-me notebooks. The three new models come in three different form-factors: a lighweight notebook, a tablet PC and an ultra-portable PC.

Panasonic Releases Three New Digital Cameras

Chris Dannen — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:06:42 -0400

July isn't usually a big month for tech product announcements, but Panasonic [NYSE:MC] is bucking the trend by announcing three pretty capable-looking digicams. Starting with the low end, there's the small form-factor Lumix DMC-FX37, which the company says will sport a 25mm ultra wide-angle lens, a 10.1MP sensor, 5x optical zoon and a movie mode that shoots at 720p. Granted, 25mm isn't really "ultra" wide angle -- that designation would be better fit by a 15-20mm lens -- but still an impressive spec list for $350. That model will be available in September.

Panasonic Earbuds Use Cubic Zirconia For Better Sound

Chris Dannen — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:25:46 -0400

It's hard to make news with headphones, but Panasonic (NYSE: MC) has made its best effort yet. Its new RP-HJE900 will use pieces of cubic zirconia – the stuff used to make passable faux diamonds – inside its assembly to suppress sound distortion. No word from Panasonic on the science behind that claim, but the rest of the stats on these earbuds are impressive without the fake diamonds inside: a sound pressure sensitivity of around 100dB/mW, with a broad frequency response of 6Hz–28 Khz.

Panasonic Releases Internet-Enabled Plasmas

Chris Dannen — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:06:52 -0400

Though they're a little late on their intended release date, Panasonic has finally delivered the Viera (PZ850) series of plasma televisions, which will have some basic Internet functions baked in. Two, to be precise: the TVs will have YouTube support, so you can review all the latest election-season gaffes on the big screen (though not in 1080p). And while the Viera plasmas are not the first televisions to have a YouTube interface, they will be the first to have connectivity to Google's Picasa picture service, which will allow users to browse photo albums online via an ethernet connection.