Chauhan Studios and Humax displayed this awesome retro concept TV at the Milan Design Show. Yes, it was clearly inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact, it’s name is HAL, so I’m guessing it’s got a secret mission it hasn’t told you about, which can only end with you going through a wormhole.

There’s an extra set of speakers in the base for richer sound and it looks like the designers wanted to keep things retro-authentic, having left out modern day HDMI/DVI connections. I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid you can’t buy it as it’s still a concept.

The new Mobile TV service from AT&T that we first talked about back in March is now available starting this week for customers in 58 select markets in the United States. The service from AT&T in conjunction with MediaFLO streams live TV with over 150 different programs to mobile phone customers.

The service initial will work with just two specific handsets offered from AT&T - the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. The Vu is an interactive touch screen phone that will display video and web pages, has a music player, a 2MP digital camera and Bluetooth. It goes for $299.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2-year contract.

Hauppauge’s new WinTV Nova-S USB2 is geared toward users who already own a satellite dish connected to the main TV. With this device, you’ll have a secondary tuner for casual viewing. The tuner will also allow a PC to view HD content, keeping in mind that your PC has to be up to the task with the necessary software installed.

The WinTV Nova-S USB2 will also let you record TV programs onto your PC when you’re not around, which makes this somewhat of a set-top box as well. The WinTV Nova-S USB2 retails for £79.99 and should come in pretty handy for some users.

This device has slacker written all over it. I used to think that laying around watching TV was as lazy as it could get. I was wrong. This may be taking laziness and TV to a whole other level. Too lazy to even hold your head up on your shoulders and watch TV? This gadget has you covered if you can step away from your bong long enough to read this.

With NapTV you don’t even have to sit upright just to look in the TV’s direction. You can lay under the damn thing. All that’s required of your sorry ass is to keep your eyes open. It was designed by Sung-kyu Nam, and it even serves as a chair if your apartment is completely devoid of furniture. When you tire of sitting on your butt, just slide under this thing again and tune out the world.

Wal-Mart has brought its huge retail muscle into the DTV conversion game set to happen in Feb. 2009 by unveiling at its 3,400 stores a converter. The price you ask? After the $40 digital converter box coupon you can get from the government, the cost is a mere $9.87.

That is right - just under $10 (converter box prices at $49.87 without). That is a slap in the price face of Best Buy, which is selling its boxes for around $20 with the coupon. Wal-Mart is pimping a box done up by Magnavox for its offering, whereas Best Buy is going with its private label brand.

Even as Best Buy rolls out its own converter box for the upcoming national transition to DTV, awareness among consumers about this change over seems to be on the rise. This is according to findings from a new CEA study.

The Consumer Electronics Association found awareness of the DTV transition has grown some 80 percent since 2006. The joint effort between the federal government and the private sector to educate on this change seems to be working, with consumers learning about the transition from television (72%), family and friends (39%) and the Internet (26%).

Best Buy is getting all set to unleash its digital converter boxes on the shopping masses as America counts down towards the government mandated DTV transition occurring in 2009. It will have in stores on Feb. 17 the new Insignia Digital-to-Analog Converter for Analog TVs - also known as the NS-DXA1.

The NS-DXA1 is pricing at around $60 at Best Buy, but coupons being made available from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) knock $40 off of that. These boxes change “over-the-air broadcast signals to a readable analog format for TVs that rely solely on over-the-air broadcasts for content as opposed to receiving programming through a cable or satellite subscription.” They measure 8.5- x 6-inches and are eco-friendly.

It looks like Sharp just took the lead in the race for the world’s thinnest production LCD television. The AQUOS X series TVs come is 37, 42 and 46-inch models and are an incredibly super-thin 34.4mm (1.35 inches). Part of Sharp’s ability to keep these LCDs so Svelte is attributed to the fact that the tuner and the I/O connections are in a separate box and not inside the actual TV. It’s then connected through a single cable to the television.

Etch-a-Sketch is finally coming into the 21st century. The Wired Etch-a-Sketch is the digital version of the classic toy that has entertained children as well as bored adults for the past several decades. The TV Etch-a-Sketch takes the toy to the next level.

It has a wide variety of new modes, like Cool Drawing Tools, Trace A Pic, Super Sketch and Connecting the Dots. The controller has the two classic Etch-a-Sketch knobs to keep the nostalgic feel of the original. What about shaking it and clearing what you’ve drawn? That’s the most classic part, after all. Yes, it has that feature too. Just shake the controller and the screen will clear.

If you like to be the one in control at all times, I present to you your new watch. This watch will allow you to control TVs and other devices from many popular brands - Sony, Panasonic, Philips etc. from up to 5 meters away. Just aim the watch at the appliance and channel surf.

Some features include: An LED Back Light, Time and Date mode, Auto-Week, Auto-Calendar up to the year 2049, 12/24 Hour formats, 8 digits Calculator, Alarm and hourly time signal, 1/100 second stopwatch with split Volume, and channel switching and power ON/ OFF remote control for several remote control TV, VCR, DVD, VCD, SAT.

Sharp towed to CES this week its usual interesting line up of cutting edge consumer electronics. A shining example of this is its AQUOS SE94 series flat panels which, among other features, are Internet-enabled. This particular family of Sharp televisions ranges in size from 46 to 65 inches and is priced between around $3,200 and $11,000.

The Sharp AQUOS SE94 series can, when connected to an Ethernet port, let you access a Sharp service which provides “customized Web-based content as well as real-time customer support directly on the AQUOS television.” The company, working with Web based content providers, says you’ll be able to configure widgets which let you get information like the local weather forecast as well as enjoy your favorite comic strip via your remote control.

For more details on these new Sharp televisions, check out the full press release after the jump.

Soyo, a developer of consumer electronics products, is showcasing at CES a new line of televisions being branded under the venerable Honeywell label. These televisions are known as the Altura LCD HDTVs and will come in a variety of sizes ranging from 42 to 82-inches (damm!).

The Honeywell Altura LCD HDTVs share a variety of features in common, including full HD 1080p, SRS TruBass and TruSurround, Dolby Digital ProLogicII Sound and MTS/SAP, a/v stereo and a dynamic contrast ratio of 120,000:1. You can read more about this line up of Honeywell televisions via the full press release after the jump.

JVC continued its announcements of new CES releases as it unveiled what it is calling the world’s thinnest LCD TVs with built-in tuners. These new LCD televisions consist of the 42-inch LT-42SL89 and the 46-inch LT-46SL89.

Both models offers 1920 x 1080p resolution and feature a cabinet that across most of its width measures 1.5 inches (39mm) deep, with a maximum depth of 2.9-inches (74mm) at the panel’s center. Also part of this new design is a thinner bezel. These models also weigh less and consume less power than many conventional LCD TVs.

For those that want the easy way to connect their video-capable iPods to the television for video viewing, JVC has just announced from CES its new line up of P-Series LCD TVs with integrated iPod docks. These models have no specific pricing announced yet.

The new P-Series consists of the the 32-inch LT-32P679 (pictured), 42-inch LT-42P789, 47-inch LT-47P789 and the 52-inch LT-52P789. The LT-32P679 is a 768p model, while the others offer 1080p resolution. All sport an integrated iPod dock, letting users interact with an on-screen menu for selecting music or video. The included remote control offers a “circular keypad with a control scheme that mimics the iPod’s control wheel.”

One thing about CES: manufacturers big and small all bring their new products to show off. One such smaller product developer is Norcent and it’s unveiling a number of things, including a 42-inch LCD-TV. The Norcent LT-4231P is set to price at around $1,300.

The Norcent LT-4231P offers through its 42-inch screen 1920 x 1080 resolution. It offers built-in built-in ATSC (over-the-air content), NTSC, and Clear-QAM (unencrypted digital channels) tuners. HDMI input is also provided as well as support on down the video line to composite.