Two years ago at CES, the world was awed by the flatness, large size, and picture quality of LCD and Plasma displays. But display OEMs seemed to all share a trait in common: their stellar displays were all housed in a rather unremarkable sheath of black plastic. While the picture quality was spectacular, little attention, if any, was given to the design enclosure. Last year, however, OEMs like Samsung and LG introduced yet even thinner and larger displays, and there was a noticeable change in these (and other) OEMs' approach to design, replacing the black frame with innovative uses of color and glass. Still, there was something missing: anything metallic.
Well, Happy New Year! In 2009, not just one, but many OEMs have have introduced aluminum and perhaps other metals into their display frames. We are seeing a broad industry trend to use real metals in display frames and enclosures of notebook PCs and mobile phones as well. OEMs seem to particularly rely on metal as a design accent and "ribbon" around the periphery of the enclosure. Some OEMs, like Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sony are showcasing stunning and innovative uses of aluminum within their display frames.
Beyond TVs, we are seeing other OEMs in both mobile phones and notebook PCs get creative with the use of metals and aluminum in their display enclosures. ASUS continues to introduce impressively designed notebooks and netbooks into the market. And RIM, which had a product portfolio last year almost entirely of plastic phones, has introduced multiple models this year that incorporate metals and/or aluminum
The universal emphasis is on design, fashion, and slim, lightweight products. But we've noticed something decidely different in this years' products -- less plastic and more metal.
Posted by Dave Farnsworth, Brigt Innovation, Alcoa CES team
I can see a broad industry trend to use real metals in display frames and enclosures of notebook PCs and mobile phones as well.
Posted by: refurbished computers | 02/16/2010 at 08:37 AM