LEDs, Lasers and now OLEDs in Car World

During CES we commented Audi proposal for Laser light in Audi Quattro prototype. Now BMW presented its solution for a sort of revolution in the shape of car lights using OLED. As reported by Engadget, “the extra-thin, uniformly lit strips promise tail lights (and some interior lights) that are both easy to see without reflectors and use just a fraction of the power of existing systems”.
The goal is to have, at least for complementing LEDs and Lasers –there are still some problems in brightness-, in a timeframe of three years.

Use of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) was already shown by Audi in 2012 with the so called “Audi OLED Swarm” claiming that with OLED use it is possible reacting to the approaching driver, following his movements and highlight the main contours of the vehicle or the door handle. When the driver has entered the car, restrained OLED lighting will become active inside.

One of the major  lighting companies, OSRAM, says that OLED offers completely new possibilities in lamp and luminaire design. As panel radiators they are suitable for use as signal light, taillight or even in the car interior lighting. The result: homogeneous light surfaces in all shapes and many colors, durable and energy efficient

Asian Market feedbacks after day zero at Las Vegas CES

What about the stock exchange the day after the CES keynotes? Of course this is sort of joke but some aspects are anyway interesting.

Starting from the fact that Nikkei 225 showed -0.59% and Kospi Composite index +0.32% this morning we can see:

SAMSUNG Electronics Co., Ltd. (KRX:005935)

Samsung (KRX:005935) shows a decline of 1.22%. In this case I assume that the main reason is not related to CES Keynote and the products presented in Las Vegas but to the fact that the Fourth-quarter sales are less than expected and it looses something compared to Apple in the US and Japan.
Samsung@CES presented a lot of devices, from a 105-inch Ultra HD TV to an interesting Samsung’s Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 that in some way could anticipate what the rumors say about 12.9-inch Ipad Pro and introduces what could be the new paradigm for the upcoming Professional Tablets. Samsung at CES has also confirmed his “Smart” view on Home Appliances.

PANASONIC CORPORATION (TYO:6752)

Despite the fact that Panasonic abandoned the Plasma TVs that were the World best in class TVs of last year it has a rise of about 1.28%. From a financial point of view this could be reasonable due to the fact that the Plasma division in the last years has several losses. Anyway the fact that the Panasonic keynote expecially for the part related to new TV line has been commented not so enthusiastically, see e.g CNET . It shows that sometimes financial consideration could be too myopic and too focused to the near future, but we’ll see in the rest of the year and also we’ll see the technical reviews about the new Panasonic TVs both at 1080 and 4K.

SONY Corporation (TYO:6758)

Quite flat shares shape after Sony keynote that showed the new TV line with a great focus on 4K, the new Bravia HDTVs have also a new design shape. Japanese Company presented also a new “little” flagship, “little” because Z1 Compact, this is the name, has a compact form factor sporting a 4.3-inch display, in contrast with the latest display size approaches, even if with features and performance of the Sony Z1 flagship. Sony presented also a wereable sensor called Core, see e.g. Engadget’s hands-on for details.

LG Electronics Inc (KRX:066570)

For LG the market feedback seems more in line with the CES commentators’ acceptance. LG presented among other, an astonishing flexible 77-inch OLED UHD TV and a quite mature smart TV solution with LG webOS.

4K and Auto are the 2014 CES Iconic Words

Engadget’s CES 2014 preview talks about what we’ll see in the next days. This year, excluding the already commented Wereable Devices,  the iconic terms can be summarized in 4K and Auto.

Ultra HD 4K is the trend that the major TV companies will push this year in the stores. Last year Sony presented one of the first ultra HD TV, the very well-reviewed Sony XBR-X900 and soon other manufacturers presented their solution from the cheapest Chinese players to Korean to Panasonic (that in meantime ended its best in class Plasmas). If last year you di asked about the trend and near future of TVs I’m pretty sure that the answer was OLED, but after an year it seems that the TV makers would delay the OLED revolution. Engadget guys don’t exclude it, but for some reasons (e.g. the panel life) I think that the 4K will be the mainstream solution for the next two year’s leaving OLED for the high-end niche, but we’ll see.

The other CES icon word I would say that will be auto meaning the in-car entertainment and driving solution. I hope this will be real because I think that up to now the Car makers didn’t shown their potential offering displays and UI experience not at the same level offered by the current Tables. Audi is the brand that probably will drive the sector in Las Vegas and it announced a partnership with Google for using Android in its infotainment systems as reported by CNET. In the meantime the CES floor square occupied by Car Makers grew up 25 percent from last year and it sounds good.

Ok guys, the CES will start in very few days and will see.