Panasonic has apparently announced plans to rationalise its display products division - and launch a plasma screen display for mobile phones. In a statement issued today by the self-described telecommunications department store, AbleComm - new low-voltage plasma technology, partly sourced from its supplies will provide the service on handsets to be sold by AT&T for Mobile TV service.
To be honest - the wording of the release read more like an April Fools Day prank, just sent a couple of days too late - and a notification of this magnitude would have been jointly released by Panasonic, who are currently silent on the issue.
At the moment, requests to their US press office have not been replied to.
According to the release, Mark Balsama, who had been Group Manager of Panasonic's Communications Systems Division and will now return to the company told a press conference: "This is my first official day back at work, and I have a very exciting announcement to make. For nearly a decade, Panasonic's engineers have been secretly working on a thin, lightweight low-voltage compact plasma display. We have recently reached a licensing agreement for some key technology with product developer AbleComm, Inc. -- the same company that conceived our very successful KX-TVS50 voicemail system over 10 years ago. We will be able to incorporate miniature plasma displays into both consumer and business telephone products starting this fall. They will rival OLED displays for brightness, contrast and thinness, and can be manufactured for much less money."
AbleComm president Michael N. Marcus said, "This is an unexpected and happy coincidence for all of us. Our company has had a long relationship with Panasonic. Several years ago we developed a family of high-efficiency headsets for use with Panasonic business phones, and it turned out that a proprietary component used in those headsets was exactly what Panasonic needed to complete the development of their low-voltage miniaturized plasma displays."
Balsama continued, "Many of our new phones will have vibrant color plasma screens that can run on just 1.5 volts and won't require any additional wiring or special power supplies. We'll be able to put plasma in cell phones, business phones, consumer phones, corded phones, cordless phones, and even door intercom monitors and fax machines. We will revolutionize the consumer electronics business, as Panasonic has done many times before."
Posted to the site on 3rd April 2008
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/30303.php