Digital Gadgets

Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Company announced today the appointment of Robert Harris as Vice President of Marketing and Product Development. Mr. Harris will be responsible for all marketing activities and strategic planning for the company’s wide array of broadcast and professional video products and systems.

“We are delighted to welcome Bob Harris, who brings a wealth of industry experience and marketing acumen to this position,” said John Baisley, President, Panasonic Broadcast. “I look forward to the considerable talents that Bob brings to the team as we work to accelerate our growth in key advanced technologies, including solid-state and high-definition.”

Prior to his joining Panasonic , Mr. Harris served as VP of Marketing for JVC Professional Products Company, responsible for channel strategy and video production, presentation, security, and premium display products. Before joining JVC , he spent 10 years at Philips Electronics, most recently as VP/ GM in the Consumer Products Company, where he was instrumental in launching and growing the DVD , CD-Audio recorder and CD-R product lines. At Philips, he previously served as VP of Marketing for the Professional Products Division, with responsibilities encompassing hospitality and presentation displays, projectors, CD multimedia, and security products.

More: dmnnewswire.com

A couple of years ago, we might have found ourselves getting at least a little excited about Panasonic’s two new flash audio players, the 1GB SV-MP010 and 2GB SV-MP020. But in 2006, there’s very little to say about a lipstick-shaped (their words) player with a two-line display and fairly bare-bones functionality (MP3, WMA, DRM; no radio or line-in). Sure, the price is right; $149 for a 2GB player is a pretty good deal, and Panny claims 75 hours on a single AA, which isn’t too shabby.

But just $50 more will get you a nano with the same capacity, a full-color display and a shell you can carve your name into with any sharp (or blunt) object, so we don’t exactly see a huge market for this. But somewhere out there, we assume, there are two or three Panny fanboys who have been lying in wait for this, and will snatch it up off of the shelf as soon as it arrives in stores this March. Er, yeah, let’s scratch that. This is one for bargain-hunters only.

Source: portableaudio.engadget.com