TVs

The upgraded StanbyMe 2 Max TV that was unveiled in April is now available to buy in the US for $1,299.99. The 32-inch display provides up to 4.5 hours of battery life, and can be rotated into landscape or portrait orientations when attached to its rolling stand, or the built-in folding stand at the rear.

The redesign, which is a huge improvement, was announced at CES this past January and has been slowly rolling out across devices. It’s now on Ember TVs, the Fire TV 4K Select, and Fire TV Cube. Partner TVs from Hisense recently got the update, with additional manufacturers’ TVs being added later this summer.

The upgraded Gemini for Google TV experience lets you speak to open settings, adjust sound and picture, and fix issues by describing them, such as by saying “the screen is too dark.” It’s exclusive to select 2025 and 2026 TCL Google TV models for 60 days, and rolling out now in the US.

Telemundo’s live feed on Peacock will apparently be the first commercial deployment of the efficient Dolby AC-4 codec by a streaming platform, promising immersive stadium sound that shouldn’t overload the network. Peacock will also be streaming the World Cup in 4K and 1080p HDR, according to Dolby spokesperson Andrea Villarreal.

Yes, it requires a little effort to get it running. You’ll need Python and, depending on your OS, a trip to the terminal. But after that, it’s as simple as dragging, dropping, and clicking “Display on Frame.” It also has Google Drive sync, AI art analysis, and weather-based art picks.

Gaming and a renewed interest in physical media like VHS tapes (mixed with good ol’ nostalgia) continue to drive the niche CRT market, which had a boom during the pandemic after some restoration struggles. From Minnesota parking lot deals to global capers, the lure of scan lines holds strong.

The company is planning to discontinue certain consumer electronics products in the region — including home appliances and televisions — amid intensifying competition from domestic brands. Phone sales will be unaffected. As popular as Samsung TVs are, this goes to show they do struggle somewhere.

After debuting at CES 2025, the StanbyMe 2 launched last July with a 27-inch 1440p display (the original was only 1080p). Less than a year later LG is introducing a new 32-inch version with a resolution bump to 4K and a slightly longer 4.5 hour battery. It’s launching in South Korea for around $1,080 but US availability hasn’t been confirmed.

Starting in “late May 2026,” for channels you watch over an antenna, you may not see program information in the guide “depending on the channel”, and only programs from recently watched channels “may” appear, Sony says.

Never did I expect Samsung to be the more affordable option, especially next to Hisense, but its 65-inch R95H is $3,200 — $300 less than the Hisense UR9. The step-down R85H is also only $1,600 in the 55-inch size. As more companies announce pricing, things are bound to get more competitive.

As expected from the trademark filing late last year, Sony’s RGB LED technology will be called “True RGB” and is coming this spring. The new TV (Bravia 10, or better yet, Bravia X?) has been impressive in demos. We’ll see soon how it compares to competitors’ RGB TVs this year.

The QN90 has been Samsung’s flagship mini LED since 2021, but is no more as the company moves more towards RGB LED TVs, leaving the QN80H and QN70H as its main quantum dot 4K mini-LED TVs. A new “Mini LED TV” line has 11 less expensive, non-QD options.

Rather than two cameras capturing a stereoscopic image, the NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories in Tokyo tried using a single camera shooting through 2,500 microlenses. Obviously, the technology never really took off, but NHK was still working on Integral 3D as recently as 2012.

Skyworth will make the Panasonic-branded TVs, leading marketing in the US and Europe while Panasonic focuses on development. It’s the second storied Japanese TV company to partner with a Chinese manufacturer in as many months, further highlighting the decline of Japanese TV dominance over the past decade.

If you’ve even wondered how important that lumen measurement is on projectors…