2006 in review, part 3

Nokia unveils its smartphones, and Toshiba equips a laptop with HD DVD

27 December 2006 9:00 GMT / By Amber Maitland

March and April, the windy, rainy months, didn’t usher in as many memorable products as the previous 2 months, as the industry settles down before the summer high season.

Major product announcements were made by Nokia, who unveiled the N72, N73, and N93 smartphones, designed as media powerhouses. The N93 was touted as the “ultimate mobile device for spontaneous video recording” while the N73 promised excellent sound from integrated stereo speakers.

Also in the mobile phone industry, LG promised it would unwrap its Chocolate phone, the KG800, in May, after Korea already got its dose of sweetness.

The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray was already heating up, as Toshiba unveiled the first notebook computer with an HD DVD player. The Qosmio G30 also features a TV tuner, digital video recorder, and high-spec speakers; no surprise then that the asking price was 2300 pounds sterling at launch.

A story popular with readers was the three new series of Bravia televisions that Sony unveiled before trade conference CeBIT. The S-, V-, and X-series models are all HD powerhouses.