One alternative is to change your monitor and get Philips’ ErgoSensor display. Aside from offering a vibrant 24″ LCD screen, it’s also equipped with a sensor that detects if you’re sitting in the correct and ergonomic position.

In addition to alerting you to maintain good posture, the ErgoSensor also keeps track of the time you’ve spent in front of your monitor and reminds you to take a break every one in a while. The monitor’s green too, since it automatically goes into power-saving mode if it detects that you’ve stepped away from your desk.

You can check out Philips UK for more information about the ErgoSensor display.

[via Wired via Oh Gizmo!]

This unobtrusive desktop mic from Philips was designed by GP Designpartners. It’s designed specifically to be used for recording meetings and conferences, but can also be used as a microphone for phone conferences if your phone system can accept an external mic.

The slightly-sloped disk has been designed to guide sound waves bouncing off of the table into the mic, and it can capture audio in a full 360-degree circle around the table. The mic’s bottom surface has been rubberized, so it will stay in place. There is also an integrated cable management system underneath it, so excess cable can be neatly tucked away.

All in all, if you need a desktop mic and don’t want anything too big, then this might be the way to go. You can get your hands on one over at Amazon for $145 (USD).

[via designboom]

First shown off a couple of years ago in Milan, You Fade to Light uses a grid of Lumiblade OLED panels which light up to follow your every move. Stand still, and the panels act as mirrors. As soon as you move, the OLED pixels light up. Wherever you go, so goes the light. The 107.9″(w) x 50.4″(h) interactive display can also be set to an inverse mode, which lights up everywhere that you’re not, and leaves the mirrors where you are. It’s a really cool effect, captured here by the guys at A3Network:

The installation was created by rAndom International, with custom software written by Chris O’Shea. You Fade to Light has been produced in a limited edition of just eight units, and is selling for €140,000 (~$188,000 USD). I suppose that if you’ve got the money – I’m talking serious 1% money, that is – you could hang one of these on your wall. Or you could just watch the video above and enjoy it from afar.

[Thanks for the tip, Buster!]

Philips has announced that it has the world’s first direct replacement bulb for the venerable 75W incandescent. The LED version produces 1100 lumens of light and consumes only 17-watts. That makes it much more energy efficient. The Philips offering has a color temperature of 2700k and a rendering index of 80. I have no idea how that corresponds to a normal light bulb.

The part I really like about the LED bulb is that they are good for 25,000 hours (about 3 years constantly on) each. The part I really hate is that each one of these bulbs will cost you $40-$45 (USD). You will be able to pick this bulb up in stores in Q4 2011. Would you pay that much money for a light bulb?

[via Inhabitat]

The DS8500 and DS9000 are the higher end speaker docks from the Fidelio series. The top of the line DS9000 has a 50W amp and has two 1-inch tweeters with two 4-inch drivers. I like the curved back, which is supposed to help the sound resonate more. There’s a proximity sensor that will hide controls away when your hand isn’t nearby. Each dock also comes with a remote control.

There’s even a Fidelio iPhone app that allows you to control the dock via iOS devices. The smaller DS8500 can be had for about $170 (USD) while the full-size DS9000 sells for around $380.

[via NotCot]

Conventional 16:9 HDTV sets are for wussies. At least that’s what Philips is saying with their upcoming Cinema LCD televisions, which support a truly cinematic 21:9 viewing aspect ratio.

You see, big blockbuster movies are often shot in 70-millimeter or Cinemascope formats are actually 2.20:1 or 2:35:1 ratios, so end up showing with black bars on top and bottom on even the best 16:9 displays. With a 21:9 ratio, you’re at 2.33:1, which means you’ll have virtually no black bars when watching films shot in these formats.

Now keep in mind that the 56″ Philips Cinema LCD screen will have to stretch your precious HD and Blu-Ray signals to fill the screen so the former black bars will result in some wasted resolution. But what good were all of those pixels doing as black dots anyhow?

Of course, watching 4:3 programs on this bad boy will give you the fattest black bars you’ve ever seen, but 4:3 is so last decade anyhow. The Cinema display can also stretch 16:9 content to fill the 21:9 screen, but if you’re like me, you hate stretchy heads, and would rather put up with the black bars on the sides while viewing regular HD content.

Philips also says the Cinema series will include their colorful RGB LED Ambilight backlight technology, which should make watching movies on this beast a truly immersive experience. Expect the Cinema 21:9 to hit stores this spring. Pricing and release information should be available sometime in February.

[via DVICE]

Perfect for a kitchen countertop or any other place where you don’t need a big screen, Philips DCP951/37 Docking Entertainment System moves away from the clamshell case design to a flat, one-piece design that can stand up on its own. The player features a 9-inch diagonal LCD screen and built-in stereo speakers.

A handy iPod dock/charger pops out of the side of the player, keeping it out of harm’s way until you need it. In addition to playback from DVD or iPod, there’s a built-in SD/MMC card slot if you prefer to keep your media on memory cards. It supports a wide variety of playback formats including DVD, DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW, (S)VCD, DivX & MPEG4 videos.

Since the player’s DNA comes from Philips portable DVD line, it’s also got a rechargeable battery, so you can take it on the road. You should get enough time to watch about 2.5 hours of video on a single charge.

The only real downside that I can see to this player is the displays less-than-stellar 640×220 resolution. For a 9-inch screen that’s pretty darned weak. As long as you can deal with the low display resolution, the DCP951 looks like a good fit for tight spaces and can perform double-duty as a portable.

You can find it over on Amazon for $199.99.

[via Chip Chick]

Philips recently filed a patent application for a video game system which uses a monitor that you can actually toss. The patent describes a durable, monitor which which can show images as it’s thrown around the room. A stationary sensor tracks the position of the ball as it moves, while player positions are tracked using ultrasound. The display can then display images that respond to its movements and position within the space. The patent, entitled simply “Gaming System with Movable Display,” begins:

An electronic gaming system comprising: a robust, movable display (101); a game controller(103), arranged to generate a game scenario, comprising generation of pictures to be displayed on the robust movable display (101); and – a trajectory mapping unit (105), arranged to map a virtual trajectory in space- time of a virtual world in the game scenario, with at least two of the pictures with unequal picture content corresponding to different locations of the virtual space-time trajectory, to a real trajectory of the robust movable display (101) in real space, so that at an appropriate moment the two of the pictures are displayed on the robust movable display (101)…

At this point, plans for an actual implementation are sketchy, but one could envision games in which the images on the moving screen could react to the players in the room. Imagine hitting the ball hard, and the display showing an image of a screaming face, or one mocking your opponent when it flies past an imaginary goal line.

The concept is still a little strange, and it seems to me that most of what’s described could be achieved with a combination of accelerometers and infrared sensors (like Nintendo’s Wii-mote). Still, I’m always intrigued by new and different ways to interact with games.

Can you guys think of some other good game ideas for a system like this one?

[via New Scientist Invention Blog]

To me, it looks like the Prestigo SR-M8015 is about the size of three small remote controls smashed together into one larger device. The remote will control up to 15 discrete components, and offers a color LCD screen in the middle that offers access to a handful of user-configurable buttons.

The humongous tablet-sized remote offers a bunch of physical buttons instead of the “soft” buttons that plague so many universal remotes these days. While I’m not crazy about the fact that you’ll need two hands to use this behemoth, I do like lots of real buttons on my remotes, so I can control things by touch instead of sight.

No release date has been announced, but the remote is expected to retail for under $150 whenever it does come out.

[RemoteShoppe via Engadget]

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

For the first time, you can really see the cool color-shifting effects of the Aurea’s semi-transparent border. What’s much more interesting than I thought it would be is that different colors flow all the way around the screen, matching the adjacent screen area, rather than a single color for the entire screen.

While I’m not sure if it would annoy me after 10 minutes of viewing, I have to admit the effect is really striking. If I owned a cool bar or nightclub, I’d definitely put one of these in there. My living room – I doubt it.

If you’d like to see more,check out the full-length, full-screen version of the short film, entitled “There’s Only One Sun” over on the Aurea website.

The 132-inch display was made by connecting nine of Philips 42-inch 3D displays in a 3×3 grid. Based on their WOWvx 3D technology, the displays can show 3-dimensional images without special glasses.

WOWvx uses a lenticular lens assembly on top of the LCD panel to display different images to both your left and right eye. In addition to the special display, there’s digital signal processing equipment and software that generates the necessary 3D views for the screens. Since individual WOWvx displays cost about $12,000 each, I’d imagine that the huge nine display rig would cost well into the six-figure price range. I guess I won’t have one in my media room any time soon.

In addition to the requisite AM/FM/CD/MP3 capabilities, the Philips BTM288 stereo system will be able to connect to mobile phones and media devices via Bluetooth. According to a snippet from the draft User Manual, the stereo will allow both speakerphone calling and wireless audio playback from connected devices.

The stereo can also rip CD, MP3 and WMA tracks from either a disc or a Bluetooth device to a USB storage device or to an SD/MMC memory card.

Philips hasn’t yet announced a price or release date for the system.

The company is now getting set to release a new line of LED backlit televisions called the Aurea series. The new sets up the ante in the design department by letting the LED illumination show around the border of the television screen. The LCD televisions also do an excellent job hiding their internal speakers and subwoofer from view by using 26 tiny drivers instead of individual larger speakers. The first model in the line will be the 42-inch Philips 42PFL9900D (shown below).

The sets will offer native 1080p resolution, a 2x refresh LCD panel to reduce motion blur, and 8000 to 1 dynamic contrast ratio. With specs like those, it looks like Philips intends on not just making a good looking set, but one that performs well too. I’ve heard through the grapevine that this will be Philips new top of the line set, with retail prices as high as €5000 (about $6895 USD.) Let’s hope that Philips finds a way to bring the price a little more down to earth, since you can pick up a 46-inch 1080p set these days for around $1299.

While the sets certainly make a dramatic visual statement, I’m not sure of the practical value of the color border. Regardless, the new sets sure look cool, and stand out from the crowd. You can sign up to be notified about the sets release on Philips Seductionbylight teaser website.

[via TuExperto via Xataka]

According to the user manual, the new remote, called the TSU9400, features a huge 640×480 full color TFT display. It can control any infrared device, and can provide non-line-of-sight control via Wi-fi. There’s also a docking station, which charges the remote’s built in Li-ion battery.

The guys over at Remote Central are reporting a pricey $900 retail price for the remote, but if you’re thinking about a serious home theater control, you might want to wait for this one.

According Le Journal du Geek, the Philps LivingColors lights will be released in Europe by the end of this summer for a price of € 149 (which works out to about $200 US.) They’re expected to launch in other countries later this year.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Each compact light can push out 16 million unique colors, all of which can be controlled via an included wireless RF remote that can even work through walls. You can set any remote to control up to six fixtures simultaneously, keeping their colors in sync for a truly dramatic effect. The unique organic design embeds a colored projection source into an egg-shaped glass orb. Since it uses some seriously bright LEDs, Philips designed a special heat sink into the lamp that looks more like a work of art than a technical necessity.

Another thing that really strikes me about the LivingColors fixture is that it provides both ambient and directed illumination, letting you splash color across a wall at the same time as providing a source of visual interest wherever you place the fixture.

I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these for my house.

The GoGear SA6000 series features a 2.2-inch color LCD screen (320×240 resolution,) and can play back WMV vid clips. Philips also throws in a software converter for AVI, QuickTime and DVD (VOB) format files. Audio playback includes MP3, WAV and WMA audio file formats as well as an FM tuner. Battery life is rated at 4 hours for video playback, and 15 hours for audio.

I was able to find the 2GB model (SA6025) for about $105 and the 4GB model (SA6045) for about $132 over on Amazon.

[via Electronista]

The just-released Philips AJ300D looks like it will fit the bill nicely. It’s got a clean, stylish design with a built-in iPod charge and play dock (it also works with Philips GoGear players).

For a clock radio, it’s capable of cranking out the volume, with a 6-watt per channel amplifier and Philips “wOOx” loudspeaker technology for enhanced low-frequency performance. It even comes with a nice remote control that lets you adjust volume and change radio stations. Street price for the AJ300D is about $80.

The display is the largest full color (4096 colors) flexible display to date, and is visible from a full 180-degree viewing angle. Since the flexible panels only require power when the image changes, they’re extremely energy efficient compared to typical LCDs.

Displays like these are likely to first appear in advertising and commercial applications, but it’s only a matter of time before we see them in appear consumer electronics products.

[via Akihabara News]

The Philips DCP850 player offers a nice big 8.5-inch 16:9 widescreen display, and a slimline DVD player, but its real difference is that it can play audio and video files directly from your video iPod. Simply pop out the player’s remote control and pop in your iPod. The player can even charge your iPod while docked.

In addition to DVD, DVD+/-R and DVD+/-RW, (S)VCD, formats, the $200 player can also play back DivX or MPEG4 format videos from a built-in SD memory slot. The DCP850 also features Dolby Digital audio, and built in stereo speakers for audio playback. Battery life is just 2.5 hours, though I have a funny feeling you might get more play time if you’re not running the DVD player’s motor.

[via iLounge]

At the heart of Philips’ Entertaible system is a 32-inch touch-sensitive LCD embedded into the top of a table. The system provides a multi-touch tangible interface which allows players to place game pieces on top of the “board,” which can then interact with the images on the screen. The system is still in the prototype stage, but expect to see systems like these turn up in place like bars, casinos and arcades in the not-to-distant future.

[via Digg via CrunchGear]