Myvu releases a new "Universal" version of their already famous iPOD goggles that ship with everything needed to connect to different video devices including 5th-generation iPods.

A new adapter enables these goggles to work with newer video-capable iPods like the iPod touch, iPod classic and iPod nano.

Using the solid optics technology once developed for the military, the goggles display a 320-by-240-pixel image. Because of the close distance of the optics to your eyeball, it’s like looking at a large TV from a distance of about two meters. Special attachments even enable people with glasses to use the Myvu devices, as well.

A slim design lets you to see both above and below the glasses, so you can be externally aware while watching video privately. A remote control "pendant" leaves control hanging around in easy proximity.

Included with the "Universal" kit are video cable adapters to enable you to connect devices such as mobile phones, portable DVD players and personal media players like the Archos, Zen and Zune. And, yes, a cable is included so you can attach a 5-generation full-sized iPod.

Go Myvu

Pioneer’s campaign for its new high-end Kuro includes a black-and-white 30-second spot called "Mouth," where a woman's lips are seen close-up. As she smiles, licks her lips and mockingly bites, the camera pulls back to show the mouth is really the pupil of an eyeball. Print and outdoor ads use similar surrealistic, monochromatic images (a hand where the fingers have ears and a chest with an eye in the middle.)

The new tagline for the home entertainment division is "Seeing and hearing like never before." (The rest of the company, such as sound systems, prefers t the extent "Sound. Vision. Soul.").

Pioneer explains the campaign in this way: Consumers today are overwhelmed by specs and tech jargon. So the company decided to pull away from the tech talk and evoke the emotional dimensions.

In a way, this rationale is not so different from how Philips is playing its new Aurea TV. Either great minds think alike and the TV buyer market has shifted…or the company will shut its “Mouth.”

Go Kuro-osity

Sharp will shift from producing 40in and 50in TVs towards smaller, high-definition TV.

Last year Sharp started producing a full high-def 32in LCD TV aimed at video gamers, and now they’re launching the world’s smallest full high-def 22in and 26in LCD TVs. Why?

At first, Sharp admits they were a little skeptical about the demand for smaller high-definition TVs. But the company was forced to look again after Sharp’s president admitted sales of 40in and larger LCD TVs “nose-dived” in the critical US market after July.

Now Sharp finds demand for smaller high-def flat screens is increasing as consumers look to install additional TVs in other rooms in the home (or use them to play video games, computer screen etc).

Sony also says it wants to strengthen its smaller LCD TV line-up in the European market. Look for Japan Inc. to adapt to these changing consumer tastes and others to follow.

Go Sharp

Go Sony

G&BL A.V.M. Engineering Srl, with offices in Italy and Germany, cites the “famous Murano taste” as inspiration for the all-new “Venice” line of TV racks for LCD and Plasma monitors. Murano is an island in the Venice lagoon with a reputation for beautiful glasswork.

Awarded as “Best of Show” in its category at Top Hi Fi show in Milan, these TV stands are built with multi-layered strengthened glass (attractive and yet resistant to wear.) The units offer two shelves of crystal for electronic equipment; and the big vertical plate has four holes that allow cables to pass through. Available in various formats up to 42”, the Venice line floats a counterpart to the LCD and Plasma figureheads of display.

Go Venice

“Aurea” means “golden” in Latin so now you know what Philips expects from their new range of high-end flat screen TVs.

Philips sees as Aurea as an iconic design piece, a revolution in TV viewing, and will invest $50 million in promotion with a 7-minute film on seduction by light created for Philips by famed director Wong Kar Wai.

Expanding the halo success of Philips Ambilight, Aurea is an active frame that envelopes the picture in an ever changing glow of LED light that matches the colors on the screen. (Hence our Aurea photo series we like to call, “Aurea Borealis.”)

Available in a 42” HD LCD model with 1080p viewing experience and more than 6.2 million RGB pixels, Aurea uses Philips’ proprietary Pixel Perfect HD engine.

A sleek remote control, probably from those clever Pronto guys down in Leuven, lets viewers control the lights (brightness/immersion) by switching levels from any of three levels (off/dynamic/relaxed).

Go Aurea and Wong Kar Wai film