The Change Mariner

HP To Offer Flat-Screen TVs

Forbes:
Hewlett-Packard plans to offer its own brand of large flat-screen TVs from spring, the latest sign that major technology companies seek growth in a home entertainment market traditionally dominated by consumer-electronics companies, the Wall Street Journal said in its online edition.

The computer and printer-maker plans to offer both a liquid crystal TV and a larger screen that uses plasma technology, according to people familiar with the matter.

The devices will have tuners to receive broadcast signals, but "I wouldn't call it television," said Vyomesh Joshi, the executive vice president leading HP (nyse: HPQ - news - people )'s consumer advance. Rather, HP says the offerings will complement its other products for creating and managing "digital content," such as photos, music and video.

At the heart of HP's living-room strategy is the company's "Media Center PC," a sleek silver and black device that looks more like a stereo component than a personal computer, said the Journal. It has ports to plug in cable television, a VCR and audio devices.

It incorporates a TiVo-like digital video recorder and DVD player, as well as a dock for a digital camera. HP's Joshi said he realized the company's opportunity in TV display while visiting a Circuit City (nyse: CC - news - people ) store where HP had hooked up a media center PC to a large-screen plasma TV. Joshi heard a customer say, "Oh my God. I didn't realize you could do that."