Panasonic Z1 Is Ultra Thin.. Ultra Expensive

The one thing that was going through my mind when I saw this was ‘Didn’t Panasonic see what happened to Pioneer and their Plasmas?’ The price point was just released on this hot little number, and your wallet will be just as thin as the new ‘Z1’ Panasonic Plasma is. The new flagship in only 1-inch thick and has a MSRP of $5,999. That’s a little rich considering that most high end LCD’s offer just as good if not better picture at less than half the price.

This is due out in June for all you ballers who the recession hasn’t hit yet.

[Crunchgear]

Panasonic Shows Off 150- Inch Lifescreen Plasma

Panisonic unveiled their monster and world's larges 150-inch plasma TV at the CES, and it's amazing. Here are some of the details:

• 2k x 4k res, 4x the res of 1080p
• It's as big as a wall
• 50% less power use via double luminance efficiency

Thanks to Gizmodo for this info.

Panasonic To Intro 150 Inch Plasma HD Set

It looks like Panasonic is going to show the world who has the biggest display!!!

Panasonic will be the first company to have a 150 inch plasma flat screen that is commercially manufactured for consumers. Currently Sharp has the largest screen at a 108 inches, and the model below that at 103 inches (photo above) is already as big as a queen size bed. The 150 incher is 2 meters by 3.5, and will have the capability to show a full scale adult.

Panasonic will show off the set at the Consumer Electronic Show next month, with a scheduled Commercial release date in 2009.

No word on pricing, but you can be sure that 99% of the world can't afford it.

[Yomiuri via Gizmodo]

American Express My WishList Starts Nov 27th

More gadget deals have made their way to the CB, and these look very good!!

If you're familiar with American Express holiday "My WishList" deals, you know that every year they put up some good stuff. Problem though is that demand always out weighs the supply, and the good stuff always sells out fast. The deals go from November 27 to December 13 and you have to go to the site and "try" to purchase certain gadgets on a certain day, and yes, with an American Express card. There are of course limited supplies, so don't hold your breath on these. There are a ton of items, but here are a few that stand out to me:

Panasonic 42" 1080p HD Plasma TV
Available on My WishList: November 30
WishList Price: $700 (Retail Price: $1,999)

Dell XPS M1330 Notebook
Available on My WishList: December 3
WishList Price: $900 (Retail Price: $2,079)

Xbox Elite Game System and Five Games
Available on My WishList: December 11
WishList Price: $300 (Retail Price: $649.99)

BMW K 1200 R Sport Motorcycle
Available on My WishList: December 4
WishList Price: $5,000 (Retail Price: $17,000)

There are many more gadgets, but we can't list them all. So hit the cut to see more goodies, and happy hunting!!!

official website. [Amex My WishList via Gizmodo]

Panasonic Increases Plasma Half-Brightness Rating To 100,000 Hours

If you're wondering if the plasma TV that you're watching is going dim, it very well could be. But fear not, for Panasonic is coming out with plasmas that they say will up the half-brightness rating. Panasonic claims that its new plasma screens will push its half-brightness rating to 100,000 hours, that's a 67% increase over current sets. This means that the current TV life goes from 25 years to 42 years, which isn't too bad.

The new models coming are: TH-42PZ700U, TH-50PZ700U, TH-58PZ700U, TH-50PZ750U, and TH-58PZ750U, and the TH-65PZ750U which is the 65 inch 1080p set due out in September.

See the product page here. [Engadget]

New 8GB Pro High Speed SD Memory Card From Panasonic

With the announcement of the new Panasonic HD camcorders, they have followed this up with the introduction of a new high speed, high capacity (8GB) SD Card. The RP-SDV08GU1K has class 6 speed, with data transfer speeds of 6MB/s, and it is capable of storing 2 hours of HD content in AVCHD normal mode and around 3,080 images.

It's due out in September for about $159.

Not a bad price for an 8GB SD Card.

Hit the jump for more info. [Crunchgear]

New Panasonic HDC-SD5: Worlds Smallest Full HD Camcorder

Panasonic comes out swinging with the lightest 3CCD Full HD Camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-SD5. This sleek looking work of art comes in at a 0.75 pounds and has the dimensions of 2.6 x 2.6 x 5.3-inchs. It has 30fps recording on SD or SDHC cards, and a image stabilization system.

It's due out in September and it has a decent price of $999, which isn't bad compared to some of the $1300 models that are out there.

Hit the jump for more of the deetz. [Gizmodo]

Panasonic's New Art Phone?

In a collision of style and function, Panasonic's new phone by designer Christina Tapp is both cool looking and scary at the same time.

It's obviously a concept phone, which is kinda like the concept cars that never see the light of day. But it would be cool to see this made into production, at a cost that I'm sure I couldn't afford.

Hit the jump for more pics. [coroflot via Gizmodo]

Dual 4x Layer Drive Set To Turn The HD Format Market

Panasonic announced that they have a Blu-Ray drive that has the ability to burn at 4x speeds. This is twice as fast as any other Blu-Ray drive on the market, and opens up a new avenue for the format.

Having the option to burn large amounts of data at a fast pace will give Blu-Ray more of an edge that seems to be increasing in the HD format war. Panasonic's new 4X dual-layer gives a more stable laser, and allows for a faster, more accurate burn at 50GB in about 46 minutes, or more than 1GB per minute. No word on when these will be available, but they hope to have them in computers soon.

This could be what turns the tide in the HD format war.

Hit the jump for more info. [Electronista via Crunchgear]

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100 Packs 12.2MP and 8fps Shooting

Panasonic rolled out its highest-end point-and-shoot digital camera, the Lumix DMC-FX100, and they were able to squeeze 12.2 megapixels into its small form. The best part of this is that it's built for speed, able to snap eight frames per second through its unusually wide 28mm f/2.8 lens with 3.6x optical zoom.

It also has optical image stabilization, and it's also touted to be able to shoot HD photos, that is, you can set the same resolution in the camera that a 1080p TV set can do, 1920x1080. It even makes an effort to shoot HD videos, giving you the option of laying down 720p video, but unfortunately it's only at 15 frames per second.

No word on pricing but availability should be in July.