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at w w w.ifa-international.org PRODUCT TRENDS PANASONIC SET TO WOW IFA WITH NEW SCREEN TECHNOLOGIES MUCH UNDER EMBARGO, BUT EXPECT BIG SURPRISES FROM TV GIANT PETER WEBER – HEAD OF EUROPEAN PR – PANASONIC With IFA just around the corner, we spoke to the company’s Head of European PR (also head of media at IFA), Peter Weber, to ask what will be new at the show for the Japanese brand… Download Podcast We will have a new booth this year, which will be stunning so you are all invited to see it in Hall 5.2. We cannot talk about Peter Weber with IFA International Associate Editor Jooree Cho our company secrets, but we will have some interesting new technologies. Some we have introduced in Las Vegas will be shown in Berlin. It is a completely new approach and this will be a taste of the future. It will be a surprise for everybody. Furthermore we will be showing our digital cameras and we will also have innovation in the field of Blu-ray Disc. So there is a lot happening at the Panasonic booth. At Las Vegas we saw the “life wall”. Is that evolving? This is a kind of vision for the future as well. We have one, which is active in Tokyo at the Panasonic centre, but this is still an engineer’s and marketer’s dream. What about OLED? OLED is definitely on the roadmap for Panasonic. We are continually developing it. We are manufacturing OLED in smaller screen sizes in a joint venture with Toshiba… Millions of OLED screens are produced… but they are not for TV yet. The 150’ plasma will be at IFA? Yes you will see it at IFA, but it will be a prototype. There are only 4 existing units that our new factory will soon be able to mass-produce. So we can expect it market ready in 2nd half of 2009. In your other lines, what will be new? We will introduce new High Definition camcorders and a complete new lineup of digital cameras. This is important for us because the life-cycle is quite short and since we are a technology driven company, we have to bring in new technologies every 6 months to stay ahead of the competition. SLIMMER TVS AND ARTISTIC DESIGN DIFFERENTIATE LOEWE GERMAN TV LEGEND INNOVATES AT IFA 2008 Elegant design and expanded connectivity are at the heart of Loewe’s offering at IFA 2008. IFA International asked Loewe’s Dr. Roland Raithel to tell us about the spectacular new “Art Range”. Hall 5.2 / 101 Download Podcast at w w w.ifa-international.org The Art Range is a new slim-line TV set with every kind of electronics you need… like an integrated hard disk recorder and builtin digital and analogue receivers. It’s the perfect combination of slimness and high functionality. The player is built-in, which makes for a very “integral” unit, rather than most units which have a stand with a shelf and wires, but this is very clean. Yes, a very clean stand. We can integrate the Blu-ray player and recorder in the stand and it’s the perfect design. You can have it as a table stand or a floor stand like this one. It comes in different sizes and as since Loewe is so popular with hotels, especially in Germany, it should be popular as well. Well yes, we are popular in luxury hotels and we want to increase this market, especially in the Middle East. And we will bring to the market a new smaller sized TV in the “Connect” line. The Loewe Connect is a TV that fits perfectly with the home entertainment network. So it will be able to connect to the PC, notebook, iPod, iPhone, and you can control it with the TV remote control. And now we are introducing the 22’ and 26’ set with this equipment, and it will be the perfect TV for the hotel network. The thing that I think is fantastic here is the media center. This is quite a revolutionary product you are bringing into the market. With the Connect line, we started the theme “connectivity” in the home network. This year at IFA, we will present the Media Center as the perfect center for all the different medias. You can put the digital CDs or DVDs in it. You have two USB slots, docking stations for iPod or iPhone, and you can connect it wirelessly or by a power line with a home network. So any TV will work with this home entertainment centre? Yes. You have the multi room solution with it or you can spread audio signals in different rooms of the home. You can use it for different music in different rooms. And with the Loewe Connect TV, you can build up a video network and that is what is unique. Hall 6.2 / Stand 201 24 www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday, 25 th August 2008
