TCL announced at IFA Wednesday a 55-inch 4K Ultra HD TV that delivers full NTSC color gamut performance from an LCD TV at one-third the cost of OLED TVs. The TCL TV, launching first in China before rolling out to other markets, uses Color IQ quantum dot (QD) technology from Lexington, Massachusetts-based QD Vision that’s said to provide deeper, sharper and more natural color than standard LCD TVs. The QD plus LED TV “shatters the prohibitively high price barrier of OLED TVs,” the “only other technology to provide consumers with the richness of a full-gamut color viewing experience,” the companies said in a news release (http://bit.ly/1lzodez). QD Vision describes Color IQ as semiconductor nanocrystal technology that enables a liquid crystal display to achieve 100 percent NTSC color performance. The company can achieve full-gamut color in LCD TVs due to its in-house, “high-volume manufacturing operations,” it said. The company cited research indicating that “colorfulness” is the most important perceptual factor in viewers’ judgment of picture quality. Most mainstream LCD TV designs have had to sacrifice color quality, achieving typically 60-70 percent of the NTSC color gamut standard, the companies said. Color IQ can deliver 100 percent of the NTSC color gamut, and it works with all major LCD applications, QD Vision said, providing “superior color performance and high system efficiency.” The ability to deliver vibrant and accurate color using a cost-effective technology makes quantum dot technology “poised for universal adoption in the coming years,” QD Vision said. Adding full-gamut color at an affordable price “creates a really strong differentiator,” for TCL, said QD Vision CEO Jason Carlson. On a retail show floor, TVs with full-gamut color stand out, and “customers can easily tell the difference in performance,” he said. Carlson called the TCL TV a “world-class system that sets a high bar for the rest of the industry.” The addition of QD technology to TCL’s 4K TV lineup will offer “great value to consumers who want to enjoy the advanced picture quality with vivid colors and sharper images,” said E. Hao, CEO, TCL Multimedia. Price and availability weren’t given. Queries to U.S. tier-one TV makers about plans for quantum dot technology weren’t immediately answered.

Worldwide phablet shipments, defined as smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7 inches, will reach 175 million units worldwide this year, passing the 170 million portable PCs expected to ship during the same period, said International Data Corp. (IDC). Next year, phablet shipments of 318 million are forecast to top tablet shipments, projected at 233 million for the year, IDC said. Phablets began picking up volume in 2012, but the category has already put pressure on the smaller end of the tablet market, where growth of 7-inch tablets has slowed, it said. IDC expects consumer replacement cycles to shift to larger-sized tablets, but that trend hasn’t made up for the falloff in shipments of smaller-sized tablets, which has led to lowered expectations for the tablet market in 2014 and beyond, IDC said. Apple’s expected entrance into the phablet space with the iPhone 6 this month is expected to bring more attention to phablets “as larger screen smartphones become the new norm,” said analyst Melissa Chau. IDC expects phablets to grow from 14 percent of the worldwide smartphone market this year to 32 percent in 2018. While consumers in mature markets including the U.S. and Western Europe are likely to own a combination of PCs, tablets and smartphones, “in many places the smartphone -- regardless of size -- will be the one connected device of choice,” IDC said. Falling average selling prices (ASPs) for phablets and smartphones will help drive the trend, it said, noting that in 2013, phablet ASP was $568 versus a regular smartphone at $320. This year, phablet ASP will drop to $397 while smartphone ASP falls to $291, it said. “Consumers are still trying to figure out what mix of [mobile] devices and screen sizes will suit them best,” analyst Tom Mainelli said. “What works well today could very well shift tomorrow as phones gain larger screens, tablets become more powerful replacements for PCs, and even smart watch screens join the fray."

Coupon site BluePromoCode launched a personalized iPhone app that funnels coupons to users from their favorite stores. With BluePromoCode, consumers can claim coupon codes, shop sales, and download in-store coupons, the company said. A goal of the app was to relieve pain points associated with mobile shopping, said CEO Michael Quoc. Consumers can complete the checkout experience with fewer phone taps while enabling them to “find and apply working discount codes in the process,” he said, and they can see which stores near them are offering in-store promotions that can be presented to a cashier straight from the app.

Super-low-price-TV marketer Sceptre now has until Monday to answer allegations in two separate complaints that it’s selling dozens of models of DTV sets without an ATSC or MPEG-2 license (CED July 7 p8), said a joint stipulation order in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles signed by lawyers for both sides extending the deadline (http://1.usa.gov/1qYBeyc). Sceptre’s legal team has just taken on a new lead attorney who needs more time to prepare for the case, said the order explaining the reason for the extension. The lawsuit alleging MPEG-2 patent infringement (case No. 2:2014-cv-04994) was filed June 26 by licensors General Electric, Mitsubishi, Philips, Sony and Thomson. The ATSC action (case No. 2:2014-cv-05150) was filed July 2 by license holders Panasonic, Philips and Zenith. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright, who’s presiding over the MPEG-2 case, declined a request that the case be transferred to U.S. District Judge George Wu, who’s hearing the ATSC case. It’s unclear from court documents which side made the request. The same legal teams are representing the two sides in both cases, documents show. None of the lawyers on either side commented. The transfer request had argued that leaving the cases separate “would entail substantial duplication of labor if heard by different judges,” because both complaints “arise from the same or closely related transactions, happenings or events,” and both “call for determination of the same or substantially related or similar questions of law and fact.” However, Wright ruled that “while both actions may invoke similar ultimate legal determinations, each action involves different patents,” his declination said (http://1.usa.gov/1tlYbhs). “There would [be] no substantial duplication of effort since each Judge would adjudicate the legal issues vis-a-vis different patents.” In addition to selling the TVs without an ATSC or MPEG-2 license, both complaints also allege that Sceptre has “induced” infringement of the same patents by retailers, distributors and other “downstream parties” that are selling or shipping the TVs, though neither action names or indemnifies those downstream parties. Walmart is one key retailer that maintains a big online presence for Sceptre TVs, we found Sunday when we visited Walmart’s e-commerce site (http://bit.ly/1tlUOqF). Our check of Walmart’s Sceptre-brand offerings showed 14 models of Sceptre TVs sized 19 to 50 inches were available for sale, all for well below $500. Its top-priced Sceptre model Sunday was a 50-inch 1080p LED-backlit set with 60 Hz frame rate that Walmart has listed for $468. Tagged as “Best Seller” was a 32-inch 720p LED-backlit set with 60 Hz frame rate and three HDMI inputs for $169. Walmart representatives did not comment on the complaints against Sceptre.

Origin Acoustics announced the Director collection, 13 in-ceiling speakers representing the company’s worldwide launch. The line, ranging $400-$5,000 a pair, was designed by SpeakerCraft founder Ken Humphreys to address challenges inherent in in-ceiling speakers, which Origin said Monday are limitations in bass response and limited dispersion. The speakers use a fixed woofer and a new mounting system that are said to “dramatically reduce” a speaker’s footprint by providing a 50 percent increase in cone area. An 8-inch speaker has the diameter of a typical six-inch speaker, and a 10-inch speaker fits the space of a typical 8-inch speaker, the company said. The speakers include a ZipClip tool-less mounting system that uses a rail similar to a zip tie to simplify mounting and cut down on labor costs. Origin products “are disruptive,” with smaller footprints, high-performance sound quality and improved aesthetics, CEO Jeremy Burkhardt said. Company patents will cover most aspects of architectural loudspeakers “and I hope to share them to support industry advancement,” Burkhardt said.

Asus said it will include Trend Micro’s Smart Home Network in its wireless routers, adding network management, security and parental controls to a Wi-Fi network. The Smart Home Network offers a multistage shielding process that’s said to be able to virtually fix vulnerabilities in home router and Internet-capable devices. Its QoS (quality of service) feature can prioritize Internet traffic by identifying more than 800 Internet applications and 1,000 Internet-capable devices across 25 hardware categories to ensure smooth viewing of HD videos, low-latency online gaming and clear VoIP calls along with uninterrupted Web browsing and peer-to-peer downloading, the companies said. An added feature is embedded parental controls to block access to inappropriate Internet apps and URLs, they said Tuesday. The updated wireless home router products “enable home network security and optimize bandwidth efficiency while filtering Internet content based on users’ preferences,” said Tenlong Deng, Asus vice president-wireless devices. The Asus RT-AC87U was the first to be embedded with Trend Micro’s Smart Home Network software suite, followed by the RT-AC56U and RT-AC68U routers. Updates to existing models will be completed by year-end, Asus said, and existing users can get the Smart Home Network functionality via software update.

Home Depot is investigating a possible breach exposing customer credit card information, it confirmed to us after security reporter Brian Krebs initially reported Tuesday that a batch of stolen credit cards for sale might be linked back to Home Depot (http://bit.ly/1qlYRAZ). “I can confirm we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate,” a Home Depot spokeswoman said. “If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately.” Krebs reported those behind the allegedly stolen credit card info, which went up for sale Tuesday morning, might be the same group that was responsible for the data breach at Target (CED Dec 23 p1). Home Depot operates about 2,200 stores in the U.S., according to its Securities and Exchange Commission filings (http://bit.ly/1pFr1HZ).

Panasonic is shipping the RP-HGS10 open-ear headphones ($79.99) for active users who want to hear music while also hearing sounds around them. The headphones use bone conduction technology, which lets vibrations move through the bone directly into the auditory nerve, reproducing music without blocking the ear canal, Panasonic said. Color options include green/black, purple/pink and white/black.

Samsung will use this week’s IFA show in Berlin to showcase the world’s first soundbar to match the curvature of its 55- and 65-inch curved TVs, the company said Monday. The soundbar can easily be installed under the TV, replacing the TV stand, without the need to drill separate holes into the wall, it said. It’s crafted with a brushed aluminum finish that complements that of the Samsung curved TVs and has “8.1-channel support,” it said. Its “amped-up mid- and low-range capabilities” make for better sound quality and minimal distortion, it said. The soundbar can be controlled through Samsung TV remotes and by connecting the soundbar to the Samsung TV wirelessly via the “TV SoundConnect” function on the TV, it said. Pricing and availability weren’t disclosed.

ZENS added the PuK wireless charger, a Qi-based inductive charger designed to be built into furniture for living and working environments. Applications include desks, counters and bedside tables for use in offices, hotels, restaurants, kitchens and homes worldwide, the company said. Installations can be built-on or built-in to existing or new furniture, the company said. The ZENS PuK has seven induction coils that continually detect a device’s signal so that a charging phone doesn’t have to be placed in a precise location but can be “freely positioned,” ZENS said. Foreign Object Detection software automatically shuts down the charging process if metal comes between the Qi phone and the charger, ZENS said, preventing objects from absorbing energy from the wireless power supply field and creating a heat hazard.