I had a quick play with the service last night, watching the latest episode of Good Game on the big screen. First and foremost, I have to say that the video quality looked pretty good, even on the 50 inches of my plasma. There was no lag, no judder, and while it was far from being high-definition, it was more than just watchable.

The downside, from my very brief time playing with it, is that it doesn’t look like the UI has been customised for use through either a television or PS3 at all. The service goes full-screen automatically, but to actually navigate through the iView portal, it’s just like navigating through a webpage using the PS3’s internet browser.

Which is painful.

Seriously, scrolling through a list of shows requires you to navigate the browsing arrow to the scroll bar on the side, press and hold the X button, and then press down, like you’re dragging the scroll bar with a mouse. Tipster Sean tells us that you can’t use the PS3’s Bluetooth remote control to navigate it all all.

When Sony announced the iView partnership, I expected a dedicated app with customised controls for the PS3, not a version of the web browser that automatically scales to fill your HDTV. I’ll use this again – the actual video quality was really good – but it won’t replace my TV’s tuner any time soon.

Yup, even though the specs page lists support for UMTS/HSPA 800/850/900/1700/1900/2100, Sony Ericsson is going to be localising the radios. From the source:

UMTS HSPA 800/850/1900 only available for phones sold in Americas (except Brazil) and Australia. UMTS HSPA 900/1700 not available for phones sold in Americas. UMTS HSPA 1900/2100 available worldwide.

So that means you’ll still be able to find an X10 that works on T-Mobile, just not in this country. You’ll still be able to import if you want to use your expensive handset with T-Mo’s cheap Even More Plus plans. But if you want to have that huge $US880 cost subsidised at all, looks like you’ll be going with AT&T. [Phandroid via Engadget]

Panasonic Z1

Panasonic’s flagship HDTV is its thinnest 54-inch (137cm) plasma HDTV ever, with only 2.5cm depth. They did it by eliminating a third sheet of glass found in all other plasmas except Pioneer’s Kuro and bonding the anti-reflective coating directly top glass. The Z1 employs SiBEAM’s 60GHz 1080p for wireless glitch-free images sent via the included transmitter/media box from up to 10m away. The Z1 has THX picture mode and a custom calibration mode, plus nice bonus features including Viera Cast internet connectivity and an SD card reader for photos. The Z1 delivers amazing performance with full 1080-line motion resolution, accurate HD colour, deep black levels and 96Hz for judder free movie viewing.

The sexiest HDTV of 2009, the TH-P54Z1A has an RRP of $7000 in Australia.

Pioneer Kuro Plasma Screens

The Kuro models offer the deepest black of any high-definition display on the market — without any white-letter-on-black-background halos occasionally seen on plasma TVs. The Kuro models feature hand-selected parts, 6cm depth, custom calibration, 72Hz refresh and control over the internet via its Ethernet connection. The Pioneer uses a single top sheet of glass to minimise internal reflections, with the anti-reflection coating bonded directly to the surface.

In Australia, the 50-inch (127cm) PDPLX509A retails for $6499, while a 60-inch (152cm) size PDPLX609A has an RRP of $12,499.

Samsung Series 8

Samsung has the slimmest LED television in the world (3cm deep). It’s feature packed with wireless connectivity, four HDMI inputs, no edge blur thanks to 200Hz refresh, a PV+C input for connection to your computer or HTPC, and it uses 40 per cent less energy than previous similar-sized LCD TVs. This is a benchmark LED LCD to judge against every other make and model.

All this performance comes at a price. The 46-inch (117cm) UA46B8000 and the 55-inch (140cm) UA55B8000 retails for $4699 and $6499, respectively.

LG LH90QD

This LG has all the hot LCD performance features video freaks crave, including LED backlights for excellent black levels, invisible speakers, and TruMotion 200Hz for increased sharpness and reduced motion blur. This LG also has all the tweaks anyone could ask for including ISF calibration and LG’s “picture wizard” for user set-up without calibration discs or external test signals. The LH90 isn’t the thinnest LED LCD, but it more than makes up for it with its price.

The LG LH90 series is available in 42-inch (107cm) and 47-inch (119cm) screen sizes in Australia. The 42LH90QD has an RRP of $4024 and the 47LH90QD goes for $4944. In case you couldn’t tell, the LH90 series is the value/performance leader of the pack.

Sony XBR

The XBR series is the only HDTV available with separate red, green and blue LED backlights (rather than all white). It’s got accurate HDTV colour, local dimming for deep black levels, enough brightness for a beach house, a 178-degree viewing angle, 100Hz Motionflow technology and Sony’s Bravia Engine 2 signal processing.

There are three screen sizes available in Australia. The KDL40XBR45 40-inch (102cm) version retails for $2999, the 46-inch (117cm) KDL46XBR45 retails for $4999, and the 55-inch (140cm) KDL55XBR45 goes for $8499.

Gary Merson is the HD Guru, the industry’s leading HDTV journalist. He’s been reviewing TVs for well over a decade, and recently wrote a guide to choosing an HDTV.

The “3D LED Wall” is on show at the International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition in Japan, and really highlights just how much of a boner Sony has for 3D right now. They’ve got 3D laptops, TVs and Blu-ray players planned, and don’t forget new games and a firmware update will bring 3D to the PlayStation 3 next year, too.

[TechOn via Engadget]

The “mirasol” technology mimics iridescent butterfly wings by deploying charged, colour-inducing membranes over a layer of mirror. It’s a technology that, if integrated into Kindles today as-is, would increase battery life by an estimated 20 per cent.

Instead, Qualcomm uses that extra power efficiency to drive colour and higher refresh rates for smooth video. They contend that a Kindle with their more capable display could run about a day with its current battery.

The catch? The lead photo is a non-functional prototype (with a functional, frozen-image display). Qualcomm is offering the tech to third-party partners, and they expect you to see mirasol tech on the market by late 2010. [SlashGear]

You’ll be able to share game trophy and progress info, plus PlayStation store purchases on your Facebook news feed, and deeper integration is expected down the road.

Firmware 3.10 also includes:

• The Photo category on the XMB has been revamped to make it easier to see more of your photos stored on the PS3.
• The PSN Friends List has been modified based on feedback we received after update 3.00. Additionally, you can now choose a colour for your PSN ID on the XMB.

[PR NewsWire and Sony via Kotaku]

“Avatars displayed to a user, in response to user gestures in the real world, e.g. in response to manipulation of a game controller or other such expedient [PlayStation Eye or wand-based motion control?—Ed], may toss tomatoes that stick to the actor’s face or bounce off the actor’s face and roll along a table that appears in the movie or television show.”

The virtual avatars would be overlaid just like Joel Robinson’s silhouette in Mystery Science Theatre 3000. In fact, the patent application actually mentions the cult US comedy series.

“The avatar of the audience member 39a is now out of its seat, has rushed up to the actor in the scene, and has kicked the actor in the behind while the target is still displayed. The first participant to accomplish this may be awarded points…The kicked individual may be displaced or the portion of the body that is kicked may respond. Key to this aspect of the invention is modelling the physics and the interaction of the impacting object, e.g. the duck and the underlying object, e.g. the water, in a way that is realistic. Known game technology techniques can be used to accomplish this modelling.”

Sony’s patent also mentions the possibility of overlaying advertising like Nike and Coca-Cola logos. Come to think of it, being able to throw tomatoes at ads might actually get me to stop skipping them. At least until the novelty wears off. Either way, crazy stuff, no? [USPTO via Silicon Era via Kotaku]

The Timescape social networking app and Mediascape multimedia manager finally look like something you might want to get your hands on in February. No price or carrier info has come out yet. And yeah, the super dramatic music at the start of the vid made me laugh, too. [HDBlog via SlashGear]