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Sony has updated its Airboard, a portable flat-panel television that can also be used to access the Internet and e-mail.

The Airboard, which was first launched in 2000, receives digital video streamed from a base station across a wireless LAN link. The tuner is included in the base station, meaning it can be permanently connected to an antenna or cable TV line. Users don't have to worry about bad TV reception in the portable unit, a common problem with portable TVs. There are also video links for connecting to devices such as a satellite tuner and DVD player, and these can also be accessed from the Airboard.

An Ethernet port or modem port on the base station allows users to access the Internet or their e-mail accounts using built-in software. The browser supports HTML 3.2, Flash 5.0, and JavaScript but not Java or streaming media.

Interaction with the device is via a touch screen mounted above a 12.1 inch color TFT LCD screen with 800 pixel by 600 pixel resolution. Buttons to control the television function, plus a soft keyboard for Web functions, appear on the touch screen when needed.

New and Improved

The third generation Airboard, the IDT-LF3, will go on sale in Japan on March 8, Sony said. Improvements have been made mainly to the television side of the device, said Hisayoshi Moriwaki, general manager of the Airboard division of Sony's network terminal solutions company. The picture quality has been improved and Sony has added a remote control. Previously the only control was via the touch-panel screen, but the company later realized that many people do not watch television within arm's length of the set, he said.

A photo-album function and Memory Stick slot allow users to scroll through images taken with a digital still camera. A new USB connector allows other memory cards to be read via an adapter.

The power of the wireless LAN system has been increased four-fold over the previous model so that the 5 mbps data stream is more robust in a domestic environment, Sony said.

Identity Crisis?

The device faces a problem in the market: All too often it gets mistaken for nothing more than a portable television, said Moriwaki. With its $1,100 price tag, that makes it an expensive portable TV in the minds of many shoppers.

"The concept is a little bit advanced," although most people realize its value when they see the features demonstrated to them, he said. Sony won't divulge sales figures or targets for the Airboard, but updates are running at one model a year and no more than a single model is on sale at any time, so perhaps sales are yet to fully take off.

With the new Airboard, Moriwaki says Sony is targeting older users who might have trouble using a personal computer, and also people in their thirties for whom the device might suit their desired lifestyle. Sony is also looking to sell the Airboard to commercial customers. Talks are ongoing with at least one catalog shopping company that might distribute the Airboard as a convenient tool through which to place orders, he said.

The Airboard's main unit measures 14.5 inches by 9.5 inches by 2.1 inches and weighs 4.9 pounds. The built-in battery provides enough power for around 2 hours of television viewing with the screen set on low brightness. This falls to 1 hour on maximum brightness.

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