LG's got the coolest gadgets

Both the products were launched in the Middle East last month.

The LG plasma TV, PY2DR, with an integrated high definition video recorder, won acclaim for its high definition storage capacity of 13 hours of full high-definition broadcasts or 62 hours of analogue broadcast. Available in 50 and 60 inches, the model has a built-in 160-gigabyte hard disk, and two slots that can support nine standard types of memory cards. The 50 inch model received an iF Design Award at Cebit 2005 and a Reddot Design Award while the 60 inch model, with the same design, grabbed an Innovation Award at CES 2005, given only to superior products in terms of innovation and creativity among CES-exhibited products. It was also selected as a superior product by U.S magazine 'Popolar Mechanics' for its progressiveness.

'There is an increasing tendency for people to focus on style when selecting products. Impressively designed products are taking the market by storm, opening up new options for the way we design and use products. Simplicity is in; clear designs without any add-ons are rated highly. At LG, we will continue to use innovative technology and trend setting designs to develop digital display products,' said K H Kim, President, LG Electronics, Middle East and Africa Operations.

The global PDP market has been growing quickly due to the drastic improvements seen in PDP screen quality and performance vis-à-vis falling prices. According to Kim, the global PDP TV market, estimated at 3.5 million units in 2004, will continue to expand to 6.3 million units by 2005, 10 million units by 2006, and 12 million units by 2007.

Other features of the wide screen plasma TV, PY2DR, includes an automatic time-shift feature, which continuously records an hour worth of live broadcasting that the user has been watching, slow motion rewind and forward capabilities and instant replay. The user-friendly set also enables viewers to easily organise recorded programmes and set up repeat recordings.

The other product that was commended is the LG LW40 Express equipped with Intel's second-generation Centrino technology, code-named Sonoma. It is the world's first DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast) notebook PC. This model features a 14-inch wide LCD screen, Pentium M 1.6GHz CPU, 512 MB DDR2 memory, 60GB hard disk drive, and high performance graphic chip to enhance entertainment functions such as 3D games and videos.