14 DAY TRIAL // Any supplier of hardware enjoys it when it can claim to have a world's first-type of product on sale, or when it has a device that outdoes all competitors in a certain area. Panasonic thought it was time for it to make a pair of such claims, and used the 3D hype as a leverage to see it done. To be more specific, the company came up with a line of plasma so-called all in one television sets, as well as a collection of 3D glasses that come in multiple sizes and have rechargeable batteries.
The line of 3D HDTVs is known as RT2B and, for now at least, looks as though it won't exactly be available worldwide, or at least not in the US. Still, its members are quite intriguing because they are more than just television sets with high resolutions and 3D capabilities. What most sets them apart from the fold is their integration of hard disk drives and Blu-ray drives. Basically, they come with the ability to record TV broadcasts and, for the first time according to Panasonic, play Blu-ray 3D movies on their own.
The other interesting series of products is composed of multiple pairs of 3D glasses that weigh only 38 grams at most. These come in a variety of sizes and, thus, will be suitable for the entire family. In addition to this departure from the on-size-fits-all policy, the hardware maker went ahead and even threw in rechargeable, sealed batteries, instead of settling for the same design with replaceable watch batteries. The USB interface can be used for the act of recharging itself, and two hours of such recharging supposedly enable 30 hours of watching.
The Plasma TV all in one sets come in two versions, with screen sizes of 42 inches and 46 inches, respectively, but their prices have not been mentioned. As for the glasses, they will be priced at ¥13,000 ($149).