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For folks who have a tough time leaving their TV sets even to cook or use the bathroom, a few Japanese companies have come up with a way to let customers bring their tubes with them.
Electronics makers Sony, Sharp and Casio have created flat-panel displays about the size of a thin spiral notebook that let consumers watch their TV shows wirelessly in any room in the house. The monitors receive their signals from a base station with a Wi-Fi transmitter.
Sharp sells such a set online and through the Good Guys electronics store for $1,300 to $1,700. Sony plans to release its 7-inch and 12.1-inch LocationFree portable broadband LCD TV sets ($1,000 and $1,500, respectively) in October. And Casio is poised to sell its 10-inch Xfer XF-1000 Wi-Fi TV on June 13 for the equivalent of $1,500 (170,000 yen) in Japan. The company plans to introduce the Xfer to the United States in "early 2005," said Casio spokeswoman Cheryl Balbach Nelson.
All three models offer similar features. They contain the same components: TV monitor and transmitter box. Once the TV sets are charged, they hold about three hours of battery life. The selling point, of course, is the Wi-Fi, which replaces cables between the monitor and various components of the entertainment center, including the cable box, stereo, VCR and DVD player.
There are some differences between the three TVs. Their signals reach between 50 feet (Sharp) and 100 feet (Casio and Sony). Casio's model will be water-resistant so that people can view them poolside (although people should avoid using electronic devices while in the water due to risk of electrocution).
The greatest advantage Sharp has over Sony and Casio is that its Wi-Fi TV is already available to consumers in the United States. Like any new technology, the Sharp Aquos will appeal only to geeks who must have the latest gadget. But even these folks may scoff at the cheapest offering, at twice the price of a regular 15-inch LCD TV.
The Aquos is easy to set up, even without using the manual. Getting started is as easy as placing the monitor on its stand; plugging the cable, satellite or antenna input into the base station; and turning on the box. The monitor displays clean, crisp video – as long as it's within 50 feet of the base station. Otherwise, the picture begins to stutter, pausing so that the audio can keep up with the actors' lips.
But another glitch may discourage even the most devoted technology enthusiast from buying the Aquos. Because the TV's signals operate in the same frequency band as cordless phones, microwave ovens and other Wi-Fi products, during a Wired News test run it was impossible to receive uninterrupted video when these other devices were running. The video on the Aquos TV began fizzing out even though it was only 25 feet away from the base station.
The bottom line: Aquos is a cool new technology with potential. But even the biggest techno geeks are better off waiting for its next version, once Sharp has worked out the kinks.
