In an interview with Twice magazine, Panasonic's president Toshihiro Sakamoto gave a detailed plan on what to expect in the coming year.
*Panasonic's HD TVs will be rebadged as VIERA. Panasonic began to use the name VIERA in 2003, it stands for VisionERA, Sakamoto explained that VIERA will be used to describe a "network" of A/V products that will be able to function through common interoperability.
*In conjunction with Comcast, a Tru2Way-ready (formerly OCAP) TV will be ready this year. The TVs require no set-top box and will be operated with one remote only. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Sakamoto unveiled a portable DVR (P-DVR) called Comcast's AnyPlay that looks like an ordinary set-top box. However, it's portable device portion, consisting of an HDD and a display, can be detached form it's docking bay and played anywhere in the home, car or trip. Sakamoto also said that this tecnology is being discussed with other media providers as well (DirecTV, etc.)
*With YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, Skamoto unveiled a VIERACast, a VIERA IPTV that will enable easy access to YouTube and Picasa Web Albums from Google.
*Plasma displays that are twice as bright as current models. Sakamoto believes the plasma market will still be competetive in the next 5 to 7 years even if LCD growth is multiplying. According to him OLED and LCD will never offer the same resolution as plasmas in the larger screen sizes, which that's where they're heading. He said there are plenty of areas where plasma has room to improve and grow. He sites 2010 as the year that Panasonic will start reaping benefits of OLED technology co-developed with Canon and Hitachi. He said that OLED production will start in earnest in 2010 in a factory built specifically for it, interestingly he says "we don't believe the format will be full fledeged category in bigger screen sizes, such as 32" and above, untill 2012 to 2014.
*A prototype panel that is 24.7 mm, or less than 1 inch profile.
*The now famous 150 inch plasma that debuted at CES, delivery expected in late 2009, early 2010 as the new factory begins produtcion. The 103 inch behemoth has sold 3000 units worlwide, clearly Panasonic sees a market for their 150 inch model, be it in commercial or ultra-high end applications.
*A wirless 1080p HD system developed in conjunction with SiBEAM, it can transmit uncompressed 1080p full HD content wirelessly with no deterioration in quality and it allows all interconnected devices to be operated with one control.
When asked about Warner Brothers' jumping ship to the Blu-ray camp, Sakamoto was succint: "we appreciate and welcome their decision. This will accelerate the end of the format competition. In Japan that competition has already been completed."
