hdtvexpert.blogspot.com

Currys Hotpicks

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:24:00 +0000

Samsung LE32M86BD TV - Save £150, Was 649.99 Now £499.99

Philips 50PFP5532 TV - Great Value Now £999.99

The Sharp HT-DV50H Home Cinema: Everything but the popcorn

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:19:00 +0000

Experience cinematic quality in the comfort of your own living room with the Sharp home cinema system

London, UK — 29th April, 2008 — Sharp has today introduced the stylish HT-DV50H home cinema system, the latest in its line of groundbreaking home entertainment products. With high power RMS 250W speakers (75W per channel) and a 100W Subwoofer, the HT-DV50H offers sound quality to match its striking appearance.

With the explosion of high-definition technology and advancements in flat screen TVs, the HT-DV50H provides crystal clear sound to complement the clarity of the viewing experience and is the perfect accompaniment to the AQUOS range of LCD TVs.

Supporting the latest Audistry by Dolby, the sound of the HT-DV50H is enhanced with the press of a button, making it richer, bigger and better - and creating a personalised experience for music and movie lovers. Audistry's technology is based on a set of digital audio processing features that are designed to dramatically improve listening enjoyment, including intelligent volume control designed to correct for sudden volume changes in music and movies and a natural bass enhancer for speaker systems.

With HDMI output and DivX enabled technology, the HT-DV50H is capable of reproducing images with stunning quality. No longer does any on screen activity have to be viewed in anything less than high definition. Compatible with DVDs and with a USB port available, the HT-DV50H supports the playback ofJPEG, MP3 and WMA format material

To complement the exceptional image quality, the home cinema system is also fitted with a 5-mode preprogrammed electronic equaliser, capable of adapting to and maximising any genre of sound. The HT-DV50H also comes with two ‘tall boy’ speakers. Adding a level of design sophistication to the sound reproduction capabilities, these speakers are simply stunning.

Complete with an FM stereo digital tuner and a remote control, the HT-DV50H home cinema system offers unparalleled sound quality and is a must for any home cinema enthusiast.

For those looking for an alternative, the predecessor of the HT-DV50H, the HT-DV40H, is still available at outlets up and down the country. Released in 2007, the HT-DV40H offers a superb quality of sound and comes with a pair of satellite speakers. Smaller, and more compact than the tall boy speakers, this is a sounds system to designed to offer the best, even in the smallest of spaces and is available now with a suggested retail price of £299.00.

Pricing and Availability
The Sharp HT-DV50H home cinema system will be available in the UK from the end of April 2008 with a suggested retail price of £399. More information about the HT-DV50H home cinema system is available on the home entertainment section of Sharp’s Web site, www.sharp.co.uk.

Freesat launch date

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:06:00 +0000

The Freesat service from the BBC and ITV is scheduled to launch in "early May" according to their customer service representatives. When pushed for an exact date, they were not forthcoming and stuck to early May as the nearest they could give.

The Freesat satellite service will be the first fully packaged HDTV broadcast available in the UK without any monthly subscription costs. The Hig h Definition (HD) content will be broadcast alongside a range of standard definition channels.

It is currently possible to use a high definition satellite receiver to view a number of HD channels, but until Freesat is launched, free HD channels are likely to remain outside the scope of most viewers.

The Freesat package is set to include a number of broadcast channels, as well as a range of receiver equipment and installation options.

BBC and ITV to launch free satellite HD service

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:22:00 +0000

BBC and ITV are set to launch a free satellite service, offering both standard and High Definition (HD) channels this spring.

To receive this new HD service, you will need a satellite dish, HD satellite receiver box, cables and an HD-Ready television.

This will be the first subscription-free service offering the High Definition quality to the UK and promises to cover 98% of households.

Pre-launch details of the equipment costs are a bit sketchy, but expect to pay around £180 for the HD receiver box and £50 for installation. There will also be the option of a standard definition-only receiver box, as well as an HD receiver plus personal recorder system.

The best thing is that there will be no monthly subscription fees to pay - once you have bought and installed the system, there are no ongoing costs. This promises to be a serious rival to the HD channels offered by the bSkyb Sky HD Services that are available via an initial payment for HD equipment and a premium monthly subscription cost.

From the lack of pre-launch promotion on both BBC and ITV, it seems as though there are still a few issues to be resolved, but we expect that the launch will be accompanied by a fanfare of publicity.

One whisper is that a launch date of May the 5th is planned, but the Freesat people are still a bit vague and are still saying that it will be in Spring 2008.

Likewise, availability of the satellite receiver equipment is still a little secretive in the pre-launch phase, with none of the retailers that will provide the HD receivers actually promoting the gear as yet.

It seems that we may have to wait a couple of weeks for the full picture to emerge, but we at hdtvexpert.co.uk expect that when the Freesat service launches, both the BBC and ITV will do everything in their power to make it known to all.

Sharp promotion codes

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:35:00 +0000

Check out these great offers on Full HD (1920x1080) TV’s available from Sharp. Hurry while stocks last!

Please remember to enter the relevant promotional code at checkout to take advantage of these great offers.

42" AQUOS XD1 SERIES FULL HD

Code 0842XD1

With code only £799

Save 38%

46" AQUOS XD1 SERIES FULL HD

Code 0846XD1

With code only £899

Save 50%

46" XL1 SERIES FULL HD 100Hz

Code 46XL1E

With code only £999

Save 38%

Comet New Discount Codes

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:19:00 +0000

LCD AND Plasma TV’s – Ends 3rd May
Save 20% off selected LCD and Plasma TVs - code 20TVPROM
Save 15% off selected LCD and Plasma TVs - code 15TVPROM
Save £100 off selected LCD and Plasma TVs - code 100TVPROM
Save 10% off selected LCD and Plasma TVs - code 10TVPROM
Save 5% off selected LCD and Plasma TV’s - code 5TVPROM2

Click here to get these great offers from Comet's online store

Save up to £900 on HD TVs from Sharp

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:31:00 +0000

Sharp have some fantastic new offers on LCD TV’s available now. Please note that due to the strength of these offers stock levels change frequently. Stock levels have just been replenished on these TVs so get these offers as quickly as you can to take advantage: LC42XD1EA 42 inch Full HD LCD TV

Code 0842XD1

Retail price £1,299

Promo price £799

Saving £500

LC46XD1E 46 inch Full HD LCD TV

Code 0846XD1

Retail price £1,799

Promo price £899

Saving £900

LC46XL1E 46 inch 100Hz Full HD LCD TV

Code 46XL1E

Retail price £1599

Promo price: £999

Saving £600

Currys discount codes

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:19:00 +0000

These Currys discount codes are now available until the 16th April 08!

AWOFF75 £7.50 off when you spend over £149
AWOFF15 £15 off when you spend over £299
AWOFF30 £30 off when you spend over £449
AWOFF40 £40 off when you spend over £549
AWOFF50 £50 off when you spend over £749
AWOFF70 £70 off when you spend over £849
AWOFF100 £100 off when you spend over £1,000

Simply add the code at the checkout.

Click here to visit the Currys site

FREE DELIVERY on all orders over £150 (automatically applied at the checkout) also continues...

Bennetts - Web Exclusives!

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:12:00 +0000

Web Exclusive Prices (Valid until 27th April)

LG 26LB75 TV – In-store price £498.77, Web Exclusive £398

Philips 50PFP5532 TV – In-store price £998, Web Exc. £898

Toshiba 37AV504DB TV – in-store £598.98, Web exc. £549

Discount Code

Offer: Save £10 when you spend £150 or more (Excludes cost of delivery).
Discount Code: Enter discount code 10AW0408 at the checkout.
Valid: 1st – 30th April
T&Cs: Cannot be used for purchases of Laptops or MP3 players.

Currys Discount Codes - save up to £100

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Currys discount codes have been extended and are now valid until next Monday 17th March at midnight.

So continue to make the most of the below codes until then!

Click here to visit Currys and rememeber to use the discount codes below

AWOFF75 Save £7.50 when you spend over £149
AWOFF15 Save £15 when you spend over £299
AWOFF30 Save £30 when you spend over £449
AWOFF40 Save £40 when you spend over £549
AWOFF50 Save £50 when you spend over £749
AWOFF70 Save £70 when you spend over £849
AWOFF100 Save £100 when you spend over £1,000

Free delivery for orders over £150 also continues (applied automatically at the checkout)

Bennetts £20 off voucher

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:01:00 +0000

Save £20 on all orders of £250 or more but better still, save £25 if you use this voucher before 4pm on Friday 29th February.

Simply enter the code 20EMAIL02 at the checkout when purchasing online.

Voucher code - free delivery over £500 from Empire Direct

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:42:00 +0000

Empire Direct are offering FREE DELIVERY on all orders over £500 (excluding delivery charge).

Click here to visit Empire Direct

Enter the following voucher ID and Username in the shoppping basket and the delivery charge will be removed from the total price.

Voucher ID: EX4394

Username: edsave

The code expires on Monday 10th March 2008.

Empire Direct have a great range of LCD and Plasma TVs,
many of which are currently discounted.

Blu-Ray beats HD-DVD in the format war

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:11:00 +0000

In a much-anticipated press release, Toshiba announced today that it is to cease manufacture of HD-DVD players. This means that the Blu-Ray format has emerged triumphant in the war between the two competing high definition disk formats. Let's all be glad that the war has had a swift conclusion and now disks and players can be brought to market without the uncertainty over their long-term viability.

Here is the full press release from Toshiba:

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses19 February, 2008

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.
HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.
"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."
Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.
Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.
This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.
Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.

Bennetts Promotion - No Deposit Pay 2009

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:25:00 +0000

Bennetts' latest promotion is Buy now with NO DEPOSIT and pay nothing 'til 2009 when you spend £99 or more.

Bennetts also have some great offers on, including £100 OFF this JVC LT32DY8ZJ 32" HD ready LCD TV. . It comes with FREE Delivery and FREE 5 years parts and labour guarantee.
Click here to buy it now

Comet Discount code – Save 10% OFF Plasma and LCD TVs

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:17:00 +0000

Save 10% on a huge selection of Plasma and LCD TVs at Comet, just enter promotional code -

10TVOFFER

Click here to visit Comet and use the discount code at the checkout.

Bennetts Discount Code for February 2008

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:31:00 +0000

Bennetts Discount Code for February 2008 gives you a £15 discount when you spend £300 or more.

Visit Bennetts Electrical and enter code 15AW0208 at the checkout.

The discount code is valid from 01.02.08 to 29.02.08T&Cs.

The minimum spend of £300 excludes delivery charges.

SHARP announces AQUOS X - the world's thinnest LCD TV

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:53:00 +0000

Sharp's new AQUOS X series LCD TVs will be available in Europe from September 2008. Recently launched in Japan, the world’s thinnest LCD televisions in production, the AQUOS X series TVs, will be fully compatible with European market standards and connection regulations. The extremely thin Full HD LCD TVs come in screen sizes of 37, 42 and 46 inches (94 to 117cm) and will be formally revealed to the European market at this year’s IFA, Europe’s largest consumer electronics event.

Taking another step towards the dream of the frameless LCD TV, the AQUOS X series measure just 3.44 centimetres at their widest point. The astonishing image quality is provided by 120-hertz technology in combination with Full HD resolution. Equipped with dynamic contrast of 15,000:1 and a 3-way audio system, this is the ultimate high-resolution television experience. Environmentally friendly design and a low electricity consumption of less than 0.5 watts in standby mode make the new AQUOS X series models the most eco-friendly in their class.

Save up to £700 with Comet

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:22:00 +0000

Save Up to £700 on selected LCD and Plasma TVs with Comet. This offer is available until midnight Thursday 31st January 2008.

Toshiba 40XF355DB. Save £700, now just £999.99
Picture Frame technology from Toshiba for the slimmest frame on any LCD TV - this Toshiba 40" LCD 1080p HD TV has amazing sounding Onkyo speaker technology and built in Digital Freeview tuner - all at a great low price

Panasonic TH-50PZ70B. Save £300, now just £1499.99
Superb picture and sound quality from this Panasonic 50" 1080p HD Plasma TV with integrated Freeview digital tuner

Panasonic TH-50PX70BA. Save 300, now just £1,099.99
Panasonic 50" Plasma HD ready Viera TV featuring V-real technology for the ultimate high picture quality, integrated digital TV tuner, 2x HDMI inputs and pedestal stand included.

Philips 42PFL7662D/10. Save £200, now just £799.99
Experience 1080 HD with this amazing Philips 42" 1080 HD ready LCD TV - great value from a great brand

SHARP Discount Codes - save £hundreds!

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Here are the current discount codes from Sharp. You can save hundreds of pounds on the following Sharp Aquos Full HD LCD Tvs and the Sharp Aquos Full HD Blu-Ray Player.

These discount codes will be available until 31st January 2008.

Sharp Aquos LC42XD1EA 42 inch Full HD LCD TV
Discount Code 0842XD1 <-- You will need to enter this code at the checkout
Retail price £1,299.00
Promotional price £750.00
You Save £549.00 42%

Get this discount now!

Sharp Aquos LC46XD1E 46 inch Full HD LCD TV
Discount Code 0846XD1 <-- You will need to enter this code at the checkout
Retail price £1,799.00
Promotional price £950.00
You Save £849.00 47%

Get this discount now!

BDHP20H Full HD Aquos Blu-Ray player
Discount Code 08BDHP <-- You will need to enter this code at the checkout
Retail price £399.00
Promo price £299.00
You Save £100.00 25%

Get this £100.00 discount now!

Littlewoods Sale

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Littlewoods End of season sale - Started 28th December 2007

John Lewis Clearance now on with free delivery

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:35:00 +0000

Clearance now on at John Lewis - FREE delivery

Clearance now on 26 December through 13 January - Click Here

Comet Special Offers

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:26:00 +0000

Comet Extra Extra Low Prices
Visit the Comet sale: LCD & Plasma TV’s – Save up to £600

Top Offer from Comet:
Philips 32” LCD
Only £449.00 – Save £150

Bennetts Discount Voucher, Promotions and Top Products

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:08:00 +0000

Discount Voucher
Bennetts Discount Voucher promotion runs from 2nd – 31st January 2008.
Spend £350 or more and get £15 off upon entering the code 15AW0108 at the checkout.

Free Delivery on ALL TVs
This is an ongoing promotion.

Big B Winter Sale ongoing
The Big B Winter Sale is ongoing with hundreds of price reductions.

Top products:
Sony Home Theatre DAVX1G, less than half price!
DVD 2.1 home cinema system from Sony. This fantastic system has 2 speakers plus a subwoofer, and accepts various media types.

Panasonic TH50PX70PED 50” plasma TV (with FREE Delivery).
This elegantly designed 50”(127cmV) VIERA HD ready plasma TV features an advanced 3D colour management system has integrated digital Freeview and comes complete with pedestal stand.

Philips 42PFL5522D 42” HD Ready LCD TV with Freeview (with FREE delivery).
Enjoy a unique audio visual experience with this 42"(106cmV) LCD from Philips. Let it propel you into the heart of HD action with its integrated digital tuner.

SANYO introduces new full HD home cinema projector - the PLV-Z2000

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:20:00 +0000

SANYO has announced the launch of a full HD (1920 x 1080) home cinema projector, model PLV-Z2000. Featuring rich new 3D colour management, a high resolution and high contrast ratio of 15000:1*1, the industry’s most advanced lens shifting function*2, and the industry’s most silent fan system*3, the PLV-Z2000 will be on sale in the UK from November 2007.

The PLV-Z2000 brings the home cinema experience to the full HD digital movie age and is able to adjust to even the most complex homes through the industry’s best lens shifting capabilities, allowing a large screen to be projected onto from a variety of settings.

This new projector has already been on display at IFA 2007 held in Berlin, as well as in the United States at the CEDIA Show, where the unit was received with significant interest.

Main Features:
1. Able to project in full HD high quality, with additional built-in high resolution functions, including rich colour reproduction, a new 3D Colour Management system and a high contrast ratio of 15,000:1*1
2. Industry’s most advanced*2 top-bottom/left-right lens shifting function enabling large screen enjoyment from the living room to smaller spaces
3. Industry’s most silent*3projector, at only 19 decibels

*1 When using ‘Vivid’ mode
*2 As of August 24, 2007 for front Full HD (1920 x 1080) projectors
*3 As of August 24, 2007 for LCD projectors brighter than 1200 lumens

Outline:
As interest in low-profile, flat panel large screen televisions has increased, so has the interest in home cinema projectors that can easily project images of 80” or greater. The home cinema projector market is expected to see a total of 600,000 units shipped for fiscal year 2007. Also, with the beginning of digital transmission for television and the entrance of next-generation DVD units, the home cinema projector market will be constantly changing and improving to be compatible with the new formats. SANYO presents the new PLV-Z2000 as an answer for the home cinema projector market so that users can enjoy the new full HD signal from next-generation DVDs and the new digital transmissions with high resolution.

SANYO, since first introducing a built-in lens shifting function with the release of the PLV-Z1 in October 2001, has continued to develop home-use projectors with this function so that private consumers can easily enjoy their videos and movies with large screen sizes and high quality. The new PLV-Z2000 further advances the ease-of-use cultivated in the Z series for home cinema use while having a genuine full HD-compatible built-in high resolution function.

Detailed Explanation:
1. Able to project in full HD high quality, with additional built-in high resolution functions, including rich colour reproduction, a new 3D Colour Management system and the high contrast ratio of 15,000:1*1

Rich Colour Reproduction – the new “3D Colour Management” system
The PLV-Z2000 is equipped with a rich colour depth reproducing system brought to its maximum performance by the new “3D Colour Management”. In order to process operations for primary colours which are usually difficult to control, SANYO has realised in the Z2000 an increase of 1,100 times better*4 colour management ability (approximately 2,160 hundreds of thousands of combinations) when compared to traditional models, and the projector displays full HD with rich colour reproduction.

*4 Compared to the PLV-Z5

Projecting full HD without sparing any detail with high resolution and high contrast ratio of 15,000:1*1
The PLV-Z2000 is able to realise full HD through using the C2FINETM*5 D7 new
generation inorganic LCD panel and variable iris capable of the high contrast ratio
of 15,000:1*1. The Z2000 maximizes image details in high definition with a newly
developed high efficiency lens, bringing the most high definition potential out of every scene with the highest optical performance.

*5 C2FINETM property of Epson

2. Industry’s most advanced*2 top-bottom/left-right lens shifting function –
enabling large screen enjoyment from the living room to smaller spaces.
As well as being a full HD model with more than two times the image pixels of
traditional projectors*4, the PLV-Z2000 also has a built-in lens shifting function that allows the wide-range shifting up or down up to three screen sizes, and left to right up to two screen sizes. The projector also has a built in 2x zoom enabling large projection from living rooms to smaller rooms.

3. Industry’s most silent*3 projector at only 19 decibels
The PLV-Z2000 is equipped with built-in newly developed large aperture, low noise Sirocco cooling fan, that not only reaches the low noise level of 19 decibels*6, but has also been improved to effectively cool the inside of the projector unit. The reduction in noise allows movies and films to be enjoyed and heard during quiet or silent scenes, providing true home cinema enjoyment on a large screen in any room and during any scene.

*6 When using the “Theater Black Mode” Lamp Mode

4. Other Functions
Combines both interior design and functionality in stylish and automatic sliding shutter
Deep colour HDMI (ver 1.3a) equipment compatible (2-types)
Smooth gradient reproduction, 14 bit gamma correction circuit
Specifications:

Model name
PLV-Z2000
Panel
0.74 inch TFT p-Si(16:9),Micro Lens
No. of pixels
1920 x 1080
Lamp Life
3000hrs
Brightness (typical)
1200 ANSI lumens
Uniformity
85% (corner to centre)
Contrast ratio
15000:1
Throw ratio
Screen size
1.36 – 2.76:1
40R21;-300R21;
Color systems
PAL / SECAM / NTSC / NTSC4.43 / PAL-M/N
Connections
Input 1: Dsub15 (RGB/Scart-RGB)
Input 2: HDMI (HDCP)
Input 3: HDMI (HDCP)
Input 4: RCA (composite)
Input 5: S-Video
Input 6: Y-Pb/Cb-Pr/Cr
Computer compatibility
UXGA/ SXGA/ XGA/ SVGA/ VGA/ MAC
Scanning frequency
H-sync 15-80kHz, V-sync 50-100Hz
Voltage
100V-240V AC (auto voltage)
Dimensions (W x H x D)
400 x 146 x 346 mm
Weight
7.3kg

Sony Bravia outshines iPhone as most-wanted gadget this Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (hdtvexpert) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:16:00 +0000

The Sony Bravia High Definition TV has stolen the march on the Apple iPhone as the most-wanted gadget this Christmas, according to a survey of over 3,500 people conducted by consumer electronics reviews website CNET.co.uk.

Heralded by Steve Jobs as a “reinvention of the phone”, the arrival of the Apple’s iPhone has triggered huge excitement across the world with an estimated 1.05million sold in the US since the device hit the shelves in July. However, it is the 40-inch Sony Bravia high-definition LCD TV that has been named this year’s most coveted Christmas gift by the readers of CNET.co.uk.

Sony’s awarding-winning Bravia TV range has generated massive publicity recently, following the launch of “Play-doh”, Sony’s highly acclaimed Bravia advertising campaign which features 200 colourful plasticine bunnies hopping through New York. Created by a team of 40 animators who produced 100,000 still images over three weeks, the 60-second advert follows in the footsteps of previous Bravia campaigns which featured thousands of colourful balls on the streets of San Francisco and an explosion of 70,000 litres of paint in a housing estate in Glasgow.

Jason Jenkins, reviews editor of CNET.co.uk, said: “With the festive season just around the corner, competition is hotting up as vendors battle it out to produce the most desirable gadget in the crowded Christmas marketplace. Since Steve Jobs’ glitzy announcement of the iPhone in January, the hype surrounding the device has been phenomenal. But, now Sony has pipped Apple to the post in producing this year’s object of desire, with the Bravia’s bunnies giving the Bravia an extra bounce. As the iPhone hits the shops in the UK at the beginning of November, it will be fascinating to watch the battle unfold as we get closer to Christmas.”
The winners of the readers’ awards were unveiled at CNET.co.uk’s Editor’s Choice 2007 Awards. Other winners included:
1. Best social networking site - Facebook
2. Most wanted product feature - Wireless recharging
3. Most stylish product - Apple iMac
4. Most useless Facebook application - Harry Potter Spells and Charms