Hitachi

Hitachi giant multi-touch interface

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Hitachi is demo'ing a product called Starboard that is a multi-touch interface at a very large scale. You can use it to control a regular PC, and they've also got some custom apps for it. One of those is shown in the video.

What's interesting is that this is a projected interface, so it's untethered from the need to have a touch-sensitive LCD. This allows it to scale very large relatively inexpensively. They were also showing a wall-size version.

The projector in both cases was a very short throw Hitachi model … Read more

Hitachi brings feature-packed, 1.5-inch thick LCD line to U.S.

Having already debuted its line of ultraslim, flat-panel LCD-based HDTVs in Singapore and Japan, Hitachi finally announced its availability stateside at CES. The models, which comprise three separate series of three screen sizes each, all have a depth of 1.5 inches, which is the thinnest we've seen from any flat-panel LCD. The closest competitor among announced (non-concept) models is LG's 42LGX Super Slim (1.75 inches), which joins the Hitachis in trumping JVC's "world's thinnest" (2.9 inches) models and the current champ, Sharp's LC-D64U series (3.25 inches). Personally, we don't see much use in making current inches-thin flat-panel displays a couple inches thinner, but there's no denying that trend, embodied in extreme by models like Sony's OLED (3mm) and Pioneer's concept plasma (9mm).

Watch the LGX Super Slim HDTV video on CNET TV.

Hitachi packed a passel of features into its slim LCDs. The 37- and 42-inch models from each series include 1080p resolution as well as the company's version of 120Hz technology with de-judder, which Hitachi calls "Reel20." We've reviewed similar technology in models from Sony, Toshiba and Samsung, for example, and we're curious to see how the Hitachi version stacks up.… Read more

Hitachi Debuts its line of 1.5" thick LCD TVs

There are two schools of thought here at CES; Those who can build the biggest and those who can build the slimmest. Hitachi is in the latter with its achingly thin line of LCD TVs dubbed 1.5. This is of course referring to its waif-like depth of 1.5". Three sizes will be available at launch starting at 32", 37" and topping out at 42". Naturally the 37" and 42" screens are 1080p and have 120Hz technology to reduce motion blur. So how are Hitachi getting them so slim? Well, they are using … Read more

A plasma TV that's 1.5 inches thick

Thin is in for Hitachi.

The Japanese conglomerate will unveil a 50-inch plasma TV that measures only 1.5 inches thick at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.

The prototype TV is less than one-third of the usual thickness of a conventional plasma of this size, which ordinarily clocks in at around 5 inches or more, according to Bill Whalen, director of product development at Hitachi.

It will come to market in 2009, he added, and weigh around half as much as a standard plasma. Typically, a plasma of this girth might weigh 90 pounds, he added. … Read more

Supercomputer, auto engineers dig into TVs at Hitachi

Hitachi is wielding a new weapon in the television market. Namely, automotive engineers.

The frame on the 35-millimeter-thick LCD TVs that the Japanese manufacturing giant will showcase at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week is made out of a polycarbonate from the company's automotive division, according to Bill Whalen, director of product development at Hitachi. Because the TV is thinner than most LCD TVs that size, it requires a stronger, more rigid frame, which the polycarbonate made possible.

Most people don't know Hitachi has an automotive company. "But if you have a fuel-injection system … Read more

Panasonic's 150-inch plasma TV part of Japan's push at CES

Japan Inc. will put on the hard sell at the Consumer Electronics Show next week.

Panasonic is expected to unveil a 150-inch plasma television during a keynote speech Monday by Toshihiro Sakamoto, president of the Panasonic Audio Visual Networks Company. (Matsushita Electric goes by Panasonic in the U.S.) Sakamoto, a new speaker to the CES keynote circuit, is also expected to unveil a number of other products during his speech.

Rival Hitachi, meanwhile, will show off a series of ultraslim LCD TVs that have yet to be exhibited in the U.S. The 32-inch TVs, shown first at Ceatec … Read more

Coming soon: A notebook with a terabyte

It's the notebook for neurotics.

Asus, the Taiwanese computer maker, will come out with a notebook that sports two 500GB hard drives from Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. Combined, this will give a fully configured Asus M70 notebook a terabyte of storage.

Put another way, the notebook will be capable of storing 1,000 hours of video, or more than 350 feature length movies, or 250,000 four-minute songs. That will probably tide you over for even the worst airport layovers. A terabyte also holds about the same amount of data that could be stored on the paper from 50,… Read more

Hitachi unveils super-slim LCD TVs in Singapore

The Japanese electronic manufacturer's new LCD TVs are so thin and light that runway models can carry them around and even do a catwalk without breaking a sweat. That was the key message from Hitachi at its recent regional press event in Singapore. (More photos here.)

Available in black, red, white and blue, the UT series of LCD TVs was first unveiled three weeks ago in Japan and consists of two components: the monitor, which measures just 35mm thick (less than 1.4 inches), and a separate media station that houses the TV tuner, connectors, and S-iVDR slot. The … Read more

Gentlemen, start your engines--using your veins

Good news for people prone to losing their car keys. Someday soon, all you'll need to start the engine will be the veins in your finger.

Japanese electronics giant Hitachi is bringing its finger vein authentication technology to steering wheels, fitting them with a biometric reader that only starts the engine for drivers with recognizable vein patterns.

Veins can also be used as switches for the car stereo and navigation system, reports Pink Tentacle, as well as to identify driver preferences, such as seat and mirror position or air conditioner setting.

Hitachi's system--already used in ATMs, computers and cardless payment systems… Read more

Hitachi unveils superskinny LCD TVs

At a press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday, Hitachi unveiled its new "Ultra Thin" LCD TVs, a new line of flat-panel sets that measure only 35 millimeters (1.5 inches) in thickness. While other companies have also announced uberskinny flat-panel TVs recently--some even thinner than Hitachi's--the Ultra Thin (or UT) LCD line is the first to actually hit the market.

"Our focus for the last few years in the flat-panel business has been on the plasma side, but we've been working very diligently on the LCD side," Kevin Sullivan, Hitachi's chief strategy officer … Read more