Leave it to Philips to make these kinds of claims now that its hardware isn't coming over to the U.S., but apparently its still yet-to-launch BDP7300 Blu-ray player is the fastest loading one yet. No word on exactly how fast that is, but several UK sites are reporting the claim for this hardware, scheduled to hit shelves sometime later this month. What we do know is included is all the usual features like BD-Live, Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA, DivX and AVC HD playback, but until someone lays down £249 and grabs a stopwatch, just how fast it is will be a matter of contention.

Philips may be dodging the North American sector with its flashiest of products, but it's still showing the Yanks in attendance a little love on the home entertainment front. Today in a meeting in NYC, the outfit revealed US pricing and availability for its entire 2009 family, most of which was quietly introduced in January. Starting things off are the 6000 and 7000 Series of HDTVs, which just so happen to pick right up where the previous models left off in 2008. The 6000 Series will arrive in 32-, 42- and 47-inch flavors for $799, $1,399 and $1,699, respectively, while the 7000 Series goes 42-, 47- and 52-inch for $1,499, $1,799 and $2,299, also respectively.

While checking these very sets out, we noticed that the factory settings left the colors a bit blown out and overly sharp -- though, this practice is far too common in HDTV companies anyway. Nothing like wowing those Best Buy shoppers at first, only to sear their retinas at home, right? All kidding aside, the panels looked superb, and the A-B comparison mode made tweaking the settings a breeze. Hop on past the break for the rest of the details, and give our gallery a glance for a closer look at the whole lot.

We've had more than a few vantage points of the Cinema 21:9 ultra widescreen HDTV from Philips over the last few months but Tweakers.net finally got one loose from the world of concept photographs and trade show demos for some real seat time. Translation isn't necessary to ogle at the Transformers Blu-ray playing with no bars, but looking beyond the pictures revealed appreciation for this LCD's quick refresh rate and relatively low power requirements. Luckily, we won't have to figure out how to get the 153cm x 26cm x 87cm box it ships in home, what with the lack of a U.S. release and all.

[Thanks, Wilbert]

Just a bit closer to filling the hole in our lives where a $199 remote should be, the Philips Prestigo SRT9320 universal remote popped up for preorders on Amazon this month, regrettably the ship date is no more specific than "1 or 2 months," but unlike some things, we'll at least have the choice to buy this one. In case you've forgotten, it packs a 2.8-inch color touchscreen and can handle up to 20 devices, programmed directly on the remote itself or learned via IR.

[Thanks, Ron]

We'll definitely be missing Philips UltraWidescreen 21:9 display with no U.S. release in the plans, but buyers world wide who need a bit of a convincer to drop the €4,000 need only check out the new Cinema "interactive movie." The 2+ minute feature takes you through a fictional movie setup with director, FX supervisor and director of photography chiming in on the importance of cinema widescreen. The interactive bit comes into play as the viewer can switch between 16:9 and turn Ambilight on and off on a simulated screen playing the flick. Cinema 21:9 launches this month in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Russia, the trailer is embedded after the break (live demo video is here), check it out and let us know if you're ready to come out of pocket for this 2560x1080p beast.

Many people are giving up many things to get by in this dire recession, things like vacations, new cars, and highly expensive though well deserved plastic surgery procedures to finally deliver the pectoral definition that nature and daily push-ups won't. Sacrifices all, but perhaps none as big as that made by Philips, which is getting rid of an entire dimensional plane and going strictly 2D. Last year the company talked up display after display after display with glasses-free 3D tech, but now they, along with the company's entire 3D Solutions division, are all being scrapped in favor of more immediately profitable endeavors. So, who wants to buy a vibrating jacket?

Look, we don't really "get" people who aren't willing to buy the latest and greatest thing regardless of the price and / or current economic state, but evidently there's a rather large sector still clinging to their antiquated DVD format. Blu-ray proponents Panasonic, Philips, and Sony are looking to change all that by knocking down the tab a few notches. The trio has revealed plans to form a single licensing firm for Blu-ray, which they anticipate will lower the cost of the license -- and therefore the retail price -- by "at least" 40 percent. They expect it'll amount to $9.50 for read-only BD player, $14 for a burner, 11 cents for read-only discs, 12 cents for BD-Rs, and 15 cents for BD-RE rewritable discs. In its current form, hopeful BD makers have to seek out each company individually. The group also hopes a single licensing entity will help them spot unauthorized BD devices, so watch out, suspicious mom and pop Blu-ray stores.

While it doesn't much matter to Yanks, Philips has some pretty stellar things going on across the pond. MyTechnology was able to attend an overseas showcase where the company finally divulged some of the Cinema 21:9's deepest, darkest secrets alongside tidbits on the soon-to-launch Net TV service and 9000 HDTV series. As for the 56-inch Cinema 21:9, it will reportedly ship with a 2,560 x 1,080 native resolution panel, Spectra Ambilight technology, a one-millisecond response time, 200Hz Clear LCD, 80,000:1 contrast ratio, Net TV integration, five HDMI 1.3 ports, DLNA support and inbuilt WiFi. The 9000 Series, which will also come equipped with Net TV, is rather expansive, so we'll hand you off to the links below to digest the rest.

Read - Cinema 21:9 details
Read - 9000 Series / Net TV details

Given that Philips handed off its North American Blu-ray and DVD operations to Funai here in North America, you can bet its latest trio of BD decks won't be hitting US soil anytime soon... at least not branded like this. At any rate, those across the pond can look forward to three more BD-Live-capable players in the near future, all of which support 1080p24 and upscale DVDs to 1080i. As of now, details are pretty scant about the low(er)-end BDP3000 and the mid-range BD5000; all we're told is that they'll be DivX Certified, and the latter of the two will boast a USB 2.0 port for multimedia viewing. The top-end BDP7300 will include integrated 7.1 audio decoding along with 1GB of storage, but prices for the three are still undisclosed. Though, we shouldn't be waiting long, as the 7300 should land in March with the other two following shortly after.

[Via TechRadar]

We'd already heard during a UK preview show that Philips' Euro-only Cinema 21:9 HDTV would be priced around £3,000 when it launched sometime this Spring, but now we've got some more official details to share (and only half of it is good). So, the good news -- we're told that this behemoth will start shipping "as soon as June." The bad? The 56-inch ultra-widescreen panel will run you €4,000 ($5,045). Don't bother turning your head, that's just your wallet over in the corner wailing.

[Via Register Hardware]

We've been hearing about Philips' attempt to jump on the burgeoning connected HDTV bandwagon for nearly a year now, but at long last, it seems like the company will finally be making it happen -- months after everyone else stole the thunder at CES. At any rate, Pocket-lint has it that the aforesaid outfit is readying its Net TV application -- which should be included in its 8000, 9000 and Cinema 21:9 HDTVs -- for an April release. The program will purportedly bring the web's best content to your HDTV through an easy-to-understand user interface, and the WiFi capability means that you won't have to run an Ethernet cable to your set. Like most everything Philips does in the HDTV / home entertainment space, we suspect this will also be limited to Europe, but a boy can dream, can't he?

[Via ShinyShiny]

Forget all those 1080p sets with internet connectivity -- what you really want is an HDTV that does three-dee. Over at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas, 3DFusion has announced the market launch of its 3DFMax stereoscopic, glasses free, broadcast ready (get all that?) 3D display. The set is built upon the Philips WOWvx 3D solution, but outside of that, we're really left to wonder what this thing's made of. No resolution, no contrast ratio, no price. Just the hope of a chicken in every pot and a 3D HDTV in every den.

Aw, snap! Just months after Funai took the reins from Philips in North America, along comes a lawsuit for its lawyers to deal with. VIZIO, still feeling proud after its all-business Super Bowl ad, has thrown a potent antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit in Funai's direction. The outfit alleges that Funai, "acting alone and in concert with others, unlawfully restrained trade and monopolized the market for the licensing of technology used to interpret and retrieve information from a digital television broadcast signal, as well as the market for digital television sets and receivers." Specifically, VIZIO seems perturbed that Funai inappropriately acquired the rights to one single US patent, and ever since it has "unfairly discriminated against VIZIO in the licensing and enforcement" of said patent to the "detriment of trade and commerce." There's no mention of how many bills VIZIO thinks will fix the problem, but Funai better not try filling stacks of hundies with Washingtons in between.

[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]

Philips' 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV may not be spending any time in the homes of Americans, but it'll sure look good in the domiciles of those lucky / wealthy enough to afford one across the pond. Philips itself has hosted up a slew of swank concept shots (in the read link) showing the ultra-widescreen set placed in fashionable spots, and we'll be honest, that oh-so-long look really has our juices flowing. Britain needs a few more transplants, right?

Oh, bollocks! If one particular spokesman who opened up to ZDnet today is accurate, Philips' totally sweet 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV won't ever be sold on American soil. Quite frankly, we're wondering what's up with Philips and its apparent disdain for the US market. It farmed out its Blu-ray / DVD and TV operations in North America to Funai, it didn't even bother showing up in Vegas for CES, and anything even remotely swank that it produces seems to be reserved for those overseas. What happened to the worldwide love, Philips? Did someone give you the impression that Yanks wouldn't buy one of these completely mesmerizing new panels? Sigh.

[Thanks, Sean]