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Toshiba Adds Ethernet to TVs

Plasma and LCD sets will get refreshed with downloads--but only in Japan.

Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

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Toshiba intends to keep its latest range of flat-panel television sets up-to-date by offering new firmware that can be downloaded over a broadband Internet connection present on the televisions.

In October the Tokyo company plans to release only in Japan four new television sets that feature ethernet connectors, and it will offer firmware upgrades beginning in February next year. The first such upgrade will add an Internet browser function and will allow users to access Web sites through their television, says Midori Suzuki, a Toshiba spokesperson in Tokyo.

The four televisions include a 42-inch Plasma Display Panel set and 37-inch, 32-inch, and 26-inch LCD sets. Prices will range from $6465 for the two larger sets to $4743 for the 32-inch model and $3880 for the 26-inch panel, Suzuki says.

However, Toshiba says it has no plans to put these televisions on sale overseas.

Wired-TV Trends

This is not the first time Toshiba has promised future updates for its products.

The company released in Japan earlier this year a line of televisions compatible with Japan's soon-to-be-launched terrestrial digital broadcasting service, even before final specifications for the service were decided. Toshiba says it will provide an update to ensure the televisions are fully compatible, and plans to distribute it before the scheduled start of broadcasts in December. Those upgrades won't use a network connection, and will be supplied to customers on a memory card.

Network connectors are slowly becoming a standard feature on many high-end consumer electronics gadgets in Japan. Their most common use is to add the capability to remotely program digital video recorders.

This feature is offered on Toshiba's new televisions as well. When such a television is used with a hard-disk and DVD video recorder that the company put on sale earlier this year, the two devices can share the electronic program guide, and users can set timer recording while away from home, says Toshiba.

In addition to the ethernet connection, the sets also have the standard gamut of video and audio connectors, a D4 digital video connector, digital audio output, an IEEE 1394 interface, and memory card slots for SmartMedia, SD, MultiMediaCard, and Memory Stick.

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