Name: Panasonic TH-50PZR900
Category: Hi-Def TV
Price: About JPY540,000
Release date in Japan: September 10, 2008

Panasonic Corporation's latest Viera Hi-Def TV further narrows the gap between TV sets and PCs: it boasts a 1-terabyte drive for recording shows and a LAN Ethernet port to access Internet content, particularly YouTube.

What will a terabyte of storage hold? Not quite as much as you might expect, given the heavy storage needs of digital broadcast: about 86 hours of BS digital TV, or 121 hours of terrestrial digital TV. (That same 1 TB drive could store several hundred hours of current analog broadcast TV; alas, that's what's being phased out in Japan by mid-2011, and the Viera won't even deign to record such old-timey signals.)

There's no dual-recording capability, so you can record only one channel at a time; there's also no external DVD player/recorder. So while the built-in hard drive is a nice feature, you'll probably end up getting a dedicated HDD/DVD recorder to go with the Viera. (Panasonic suggests its own line of DIGA BluRay DVD recorders.)

The flat-panel wide-screen plasma display with "Dynamic Black Layer" technology has an impressive contrast ratio of 30,000:1. Supporting that is a huge laundry list of color management technologies that Panasonic says provide the best picture you've seen in a plasma screen that size.  

On the network side, a custom built-in YouTube player (like that on the iPhone) brings funny cat videos and the like to your Viera starting September 30. (What does YouTube video, which is grainy even on an iPod screen, look like at 50 inches? One shudders to imagine.) The Internet connection also brings in expected features such as electronic program guide and viewing recommendations, though there's no general web browser, video/music store, etc.

Other specs: Full-HD (1920x1080) resolution, digital and analog TV tuners, 36W speakers, and connection ports for HDMI, i.Link (FireWire), composite video, S-video, analog audio, monitor, optical audio, analog RGB, and headphones.  

Panasonic introduced two smaller models at the same time: the 46-inch TH-46PZR900 and the 42-inch TH-42PZR900, with key tech specs the same as the 50-incher. The former is available from September 10 for JPY480,000; the latter, from September 20 for JPY420,000. (And if none of that impresses you, ask your Panasonic dealer about the new special-order TH-103PZ800: 103 inches (!) of plasma goodness for about JPY5.6 million, before considerable shipping and set-up fees.)

More info: http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/jn080826-3/jn080... (Japanese)

(Incidentally, if you're still using the name Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, you've got just one month left. From October 1, it's officially Panasonic, with both the Matsushita company name and the National home appliances brand disappearing under the Panasonic nameplate.)

One feature you won't find on a Macintosh computer is a television tuner. The fairly recent Apple TV peripheral, for all its capabilities, still doesn't bring in actual television. Hence a variety of third-party peripherals for TV-loving Mac users, including the upcoming GV-MACTV from Kanazawa-based I-O DATA. An update of the earlier GV-MVP/H for Windows, the small, slim white box will connect to a Mac's USB port to pull in Hi-Vision-quality terrestrial digital TV for viewing and recording to hard drive or DVD. The unit will hold the B-CAS cards used in Japan to decode digital broadcasts, and will ship with TV management software that will work with an Apple Remote. Available by the end of the year; no price yet. (The Windows device is JPY15,700.)

Press release: http://www.iodata.jp/news/2008/08/08_pr014.htm (Japanese)
GV-MVP/H for Windows: http://www.tekronomicon.com/gadget/2008/07/io_data_tuner_s_record_multip... (English)

Ishikawa Prefecture-based I-O DATA has a new tuner to bring terrestrial digital TV to your laptop or other PC, the GV-MVP/HZ. (Name origin: Graphic Video Magic TV Products / model HZ.) Connected and powered by USB, the compact tuner and its bundled software can record Hi-Vision TV to your internal or external hard disk, or to DVD. It's compliant with the new "Dubbing 10" system allowing up to 10 copies of digital TV broadcasts, and has one more trick up its sleeve: if your PC's power is up to the task, you can plug in as many as eight GV-MVP/HZ tuners to record multiple channels simultaneously. JPY15,700.
http://www.iodata.jp/prod/multimedia/tv/2008/gv-mvphz/ (English)

Introducing the HELLO KITTY Digital Broadcast Hi-Vision LCD TV, also known as the TL19TX1 over at Uniden. ("HELLO TL19TX1!" Naw, that's not working.) It's a 19-inch (1440x810) all-digital (no analog receiver) TV with HDMI interface, Electronic Program Guide, lots of image/sound-enhancing technologies with fancy names, and Kitty silhouettes gracing the front grille. In black/red or (of course) white/pink. Yours for JPY69,800 (and stop pretending you don't want it).
http://www.uniden-direct.jp/product/lcd_kitty.html

Spotted elsewhere in the news:

1) From April 18, Iiyama will fix you up with a new 15-inch XGA (1024x768) LCD ProLite E383S-5/-5B monitor for only JPY24800. Contrast ratio 600:1, luminance 250cd/m2, built-in 1.5W stereo speakers, 3 kg. http://www.iiyama.co.jp/products/lcd/15/PLE383S-5/

2) JVC is mulling withdrawal from the Japanese television market, citing low market share and falling prices for flat-screen TVs. According to BCN (Business Computer News) retail sales data for March 2008, JVC's share of LCD and plasma TVs was a mere 2.0%, compared with 11.6% for Matsushita, 12.6% for Toshiba, 21.4% for Sony, and 41.2% for Sharp. JVC is expected to announce a decision on April 25.
http://www.computernews.com/DailyNews/2008/04/20080416144093B9897A2020.h...

3) METI reports several instances of IO DATA LANDISK HDL-160U external drives emitting smoke. If you have one, discontinue use and stay tuned for recall or other information from IO DATA.

Name: Buffalo DH-KONE4G/U2DS
Category: 1-seg tuner
Price: JPY15,700
Release date in Japan: Late April, 2008

It's twice the price of the Corega CG-1SGT appearing at the same time, but Buffalo's USB tuner adds 4GB of built-in memory, and works with Mac OS X as well as Windows. You can record up to 20 hours of programming onto those 4GB, says Buffalo; the "PCast TV fro 1-Seg" playback software is inside, so just carry the dongle with you to play back the recorded shows on whatever PC is handy. Better yet, move the recorded files to a microSD or MemoryStick card via the PC, and watch the recorded content on your mobile phone, PlayStation 3, or PSP. Naturally, the device will also function as generic USB memory for storing whatever you like.

A long list of additional features includes long and short antennas, USB extension cable with dock, EPG/iEPG, digital radio (play and record), digital playback enhancements for smooth motion and clear text, scene search, color correction, "timeshift playback", forward-skip, and screen shots. Finally, with two of the units plugged into your PC, you can watch/record two programs at once, switching freely between main and sub screens.

More info: http://buffalo.jp/products/catalog/multimedia/dh-kone4g_u2ds/ (Japanese)

Name: Corega CG-1SGT
Category: 1-seg tuner
Price: JPY6930
Release date in Japan: Late April, 2008

Yokohama-based Corega hopes to have you watching more TV on your Windows Vista/XP PC with its low-cost CG-1SGT tuner. It's cheaper than the company's JPY11,025 CG-3SGTR, though lacks that model's digital radio.

Plug the tiny 14-gram One-seg tuner into a USB port, find your show, and watch on-screen or record to hard disk. Just like the big HDD recorders, you'll have EPG and iEPG program guides, news and weather data reception, fast-forward/reverse controls for recorded content, and "timeshift playback" to stop and later restart currently-playing broadcasts.

If the dongle's small antenna isn't pulling in the show, position the included 45-cm long tethered antenna elsewhere in the room for better reception. It's all powered by the USB port, so take your TV-watching habits wherever you and your laptop go.

More info: http://corega.jp/prod/1sgt/ (Japanese)