LG Comes On Strong At CESLG Comes On Strong At CES

LG Electronics executives laid out an aggressive plan to take advantage of forthcoming HDTV requirements, convergence between home and enterprise technology and increased portability of video as the company sought to set a competitive tone ahead of the official start to the International CES show.

The Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based electronics giant, in a press conference before the start of the massive CES show, spelled out a series of new products for the home and the commercial market. The products are heavy on convergence, high definition, and portability.

Overall, executives spoke in bullish terms about 2006.

"There are two kinds of consumers," said Bob Perry, vice president of sales and channel marketing for LG. "Those who are tech savvy and have money, and those who have money."

The company has a large presence at CES, which is expected to draw as many as 200,000 people to the Las Vegas Convention Center and The Sands Convention Center through the end of the week.

LG unveiled a new lineup of products that include the AN 110 DLP Wall Mounted Projector, which is a an HD DLP projector with a 2500:1 contrast ratio that runs quieter than earlier machines; a new line of Flash RAM/USB drives and memory cards with capacities from 64 MB to 1 GB. The vendor said its 2006 lineup of Plasma displays and TVs would run at contrast ratios of up to 10,000:1 and that four of them would be built with 160-Gbyte high-definition DVRs.

Perry said LG is working toward delivery of televisions which are all built with internal storage and set-top box functionality, features that work toward giving LG a beachhead in the eventual market for home servers.

"When you think about the home server concept in the industry, it's always been somewhat of a misnomer. The fact your mom will go out and buy a home server is highly unlikely," Perry told Digital Connect."But if your mom went out and bought a product that also had the ability to record and archive and keep all of those treasured family moments––photos, music, video, home videos––I think your mom will buy this product. The kind of storage built into these types of televisions are the first steps into the home server market. These are baby steps."

Perry said LG is eager to work with integrators and channel partners who have the skills and expertise to bring these products into the home market.

The company also said it would begin shipping a new series of commercial LCDs, including a 17-inch L1780QPlus display and a 19-inch L1980QPlus display with 1600:1 contrast ratios and three-year warranties. LG will also begin shipping in 2006 what executives call their "stylish" model, the 60T Series LDC, which, among other things, has a rear spine that lights up.

Product pricing and availability were not immediately available.