Your clients can now control their TV mounts from their iDevices-- WallWizard releases the ControlWand App, allowing control of its its motorised mounts via Bluetooth connection.

The app is compatible with WallWizard mounts with a USB port and the company's wifi/Bluetooth module-- basically the TA55 medium/large tilt and SA52 medium/large swivel motorised mounts.

ControlWand provides x3 control modes-- Auto (detects whether TV is on and tilts mount to ideal viewing angle), Manual (user controls mount's motion), and Gyro (user controls mount's motion by moving their device without pressing buttons).

While currently only available for Apple devices, WallWizard says an Android version should be available soon.

Go WallWizard ControlWand

Internet connectivity, LED backlights and 3D are failing to fuel TV sales (and the TV replacement cycle), according to DisplaySearch's Global TV Replacement Study.

The most important factors motivating customers to buy a new TV set remain the same as they were for years-- getting a bigger, shinier set and simply replacing a broken one.

As seen on the chart, European countries (the UK, France, Germany and Italy) don't rate the "new" features as particularly important-- with 3D getting the lowest rating of an already low-rating lot.

In fact, 3D is the weakest TV replacement driver on a global scale, with DisplaySearch concluding that customers just "aren't looking to make a new TV upgrade just to get 3D".

However 3D factors as an important consideration for customers already looking to purchase a new TV set.

LED backlighting and internet connectivity also rate at the "below average" side of the rating scale, with LED backlighting as the slightly more important one of the two.

Internet connectivity only ranks as an upgrade driver in emerging economies-- where the lack of a strong broadcast infrastructure may push the need of getting video content via internet (something that's mostly not the case in Europe).

Go New TV Features Not Strong Drivers of New TV Purchases

What HAST man wrought? Ortus creates a Hyper Amorphous Silicon TFT (HAST) screen. Shown at Tokyo’s Embedded Systems Expo, the latest 4.8” LCD screen from Ortus shows 2D images at the 458 pixels per inch rate and shows 3D images at 229 pixels per inch. This rate of pixels per inch will be able to show full HD resolution images with a final resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

The 3D does require the use of glasses to see the images (unlike other small format 3D screens such as Nintendo 3DS). The 3D images will have a viewing angle of 160 degrees and will be able to display up to 16.77 million colors.

To go on display this month to the public for the first time (at NHK's Science and Technology Research Laboratories in Tokyo), Sharp in collaboration with NHK unveils the world's first Super Hi-Vision LCD display, an 85" LCD with a resolution of 7680 x 4320 pixels (or 16X the resolution of HDTV)..

In previous demos of its ultra High Definition broadcast, NHK were compelled to use a projector, but now Sharp's display supports 10-bit color depth for each channel as well as refresh rate of 60Hz.

NHK will make trial broadcasts of this next gen broadcast format in 2020 in Japan. Or you might see some of that 33MP video and 22.2 channel sound in some demos during the 2010 Olympics (BBC plans to use SHV technology to broadcast the 2012 Olympics to “large TV sets placed in public areas” across Britain. SHV requires 60” screens to view any difference, according to NHK.)

Watch Ultra High Definition Display by Sharp and NHK

Growth for large-size LCD panels decelerates, with IHS iSUppli predicting it will reach 14% Y-o-Y growth in 2011 (compared to 2010's 23.4%) with 740m units-- as a direct result of weak demand for products carrying such panels.

Such devices, of course, include TVs (alongside monitors and notebook PCs)-- confirming the decline in demand for TVs.

LCD panel shipments decline by -9.2% in Q1 2011 (from Q4 2010), while showing -0.8% Y-o-Y growth.

Europe in particular (together with the US) sees slow TV sales for Q1 2011, where even recent price declines failing to stimulate sales. This is due to still-sluggish economic recovery.

Emerging economies are driving current TV sales-- sales potentially threatened by increasing oil prices and high inflation rates.

IHS iSuppli finally remarks how most TV brands are cutting their sales targets for 2011-- even if it still hopes for a Q2 2011 rebound.

Go Global LCD Market Decelerates in 2011

Nearly 20% of 2010 WW TV shipments feature connected TV capabilities, according to DisplaySearch-- a category that should grow to over 123m units by 2014, at a 30% CAGR.

The analyst describes connected TV as a second wave following digital broadcasting. It is also ripe for mass adoption in emerging territories beyond the likes of W.Europe, thanks to the growth in broadband infrastructure.

DisplaySearch says E. Europe will see strong growth in connected TV-- from 2010's 2.5m units to over 10m units by 2014.

The analyst also forecasts connected TV to divide into 2 main categories in the near future-- basic sets (carrying basic internet connections and enchanced broadcast services) and smart TV (with configurable apps, search and navigation engines, and advanced user interfaces).

Go Connected TVs Forecast to Exceed 123m Units in 2014