Panasonic Australia is blaming the Australian dollar's poor performance against the yen and US dollar as it announced plans for increases of up to 22 percent on its current range of consumer electronics products, from February 1 2009. Late last year Sony announced price increases of up to 30% for 2009.
Paul Reid, Director, Consumer Electronics Group, Panasonic Australia, explained: "Panasonic's Australian operation buys in Japanese yen and the US dollar, and the market has seen the Australian dollar weaken against these currencies by over 30 per cent since July 2008. As a result of these factors, prices are set to increase across the Australian consumer electronics marketplace in 2009."
As a result, from Feb 1 Panasonic expects to see an average increase on products in-market of 9.5 per cent, with the highest average increase in a single category being around 22 per cent.
"We have worked particularly hard to ensure that our popular Home Entertainment range remains as affordable as possible," said Reid. "For example, in our most popular category of Plasma and LCD panels, we expect to see an average increase of around 9 per cent on the current range, a figure lower than market predictions."
Other Home Entertainment categories including DVD Recorders, Blu-ray Recorders, DVD players, Blu-ray players, home theatre systems and hi-fi products will also be affected, with an average price increase of approximately 10 per cent.
"We have notified our consumer electronics retail partners today of the expected increases and will commence working with them to advise of the effect on individual models," Reid said.
Full article: http://www.smarthouse.com.au/
As well as the Panasonic portable blu-ray player we reported on earlier this week, Panasonic have some more conventional Profile 2.0 compatible blu-ray players as well as one very unique hybrid VHS - Blu-ray player that they announced at CES.
Panasonic DMP-BD60
All three of the new Profile 2.0 compatible Blu-ray players – DMP-BD60, DMP-BD80, DMP-BD70V – combine high quality images with enhanced networking functions, including VIERA Cast’s improved internet functionality that provides access to Amazon VOD’s huge selection of titles as well as YouTube™, Google’s Picasa™ Web Album , Bloomberg and a weather channel. The 2009 line of Blu-ray Disc™ players continue to incorporate VIERA Link™, allowing the consumer to operate their audio/video components, via HDMI, with one remote. All three 2009 Blu-ray Disc players feature a high definition audio decoder featuring Dolby® Digital Plus, Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio Essential to take advantage of Blu-ray's 7.1 surround sound as well as featuring an SD Memory card slot and USB slot, making it easy for the consumer to view and share both digital still images and HD video recorded with an HD camcorder in the AVCHD format.
Panasonic's DMP-BD70V
The the Panasonic DMP-BD80 differentiates itself some the other players by providing 7.1 analog audio outputs at the back of the unit. Very handy for those not wanting to fork out top dollar for a surround sound receiver.
Panasonic DMP-BD80
No word yet on whether these players will be heading to Australia or what their prices will be.
Source: Panasonic Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Panasonic, a major developer and contributor to the success of the Blu-ray format, introduced the world's first portable Blu-ray Disc player at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. The DMP-B15, designed to provide the ultimate high definition Blu-ray experience for those on the go, features a high quality 8.9-inch WSVGA LCD screen and includes the unique VIERA CAST® internet accessibility and BD Live functionality. The DMP-B15 will be available in May.
The DMP-B15 provides all the technology found in its stand alone brethren, the DMP-BD60, DMP-BD80 and the VHS-Blu-ray dual player DMP-BD70V. Image quality is of the highest level, thanks to PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus technology developed in collaboration with Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory.
"As a pioneer in the development of DVD and Blu-ray expertise, Panasonic has always been in the forefront of cutting edge, consumer friendly technology. Panasonic was the first company to bring to market a portable DVD player and stand alone Blu-ray players to feature Bonus View and BD Live," said Richard Simone, Director, Entertainment Group, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. "Blu-ray technology came together with HDTVs to bring exciting High Definition viewing into the living room. With the introduction of this unique portable Blu-ray Disc player, the consumer can take this HD entertainment experience when they travel."
The PHL Reference Chroma Processor Plus is a high quality image-processing technology that precisely processes each pixel of the Blu-ray Disc(TM) video signal in the vertical direction. It reproduces color data with twice the accuracy of conventional systems, resulting in faithful and sharp colors.
Ease of use is an important element in Panasonic's products and the DMP-B15, with a three hour rechargeable battery, is designed with that in mind. In addition to its use as a portable player, the consumer can connect it to an HDTV via HDMI cable, and use it as a standalone Blu-ray Disc player. The player can also be connected to an HD-Audio compatible AV receiver with a home theater speaker system and enjoy movies with outstanding surround sound. To accommodate the traveler, the DMP-B15 offers an optional headrest mounting bracket for in-car use. Like all Panasonic Blu-ray players, the B15 features an SD Memory Card slot that allows the consumer to view and share digital photos, as well as HD video recorded on a SD card.
For 2009, Panasonic's entire line of Blu-ray players includes VIERA CAST functionality. This unique application gives the consumer access to select entertainment sites, including Amazon Video-on-Demand, a streaming video service that gives the consumer access to more than 40,000 titles; YouTube(TM); Google Picasa Web Album; Bloomberg and a weather channel.
Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/090107/ny56492.html?.v=1
