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.

I’ve never been a big fan of the Peanuts gang myself, but apparently Epson is betting you are if this Laptop covered in Peanuts characters is any indication. Previously they offered us some Hello Kitty Laptops, so I guess they see the potential to branch out to other characters.

Make no mistake, this is not just a laptop with cartoon characters slapped on the case. It also comes loaded with Peanuts screensavers and wallpapers, icons and mouse pointers. The laptop itself features a 15 inch screen, a 1.73mhz Celeron processor, 1GB of ram, an 80GB hard drive, 4 USB ports, a CD burner / DVD drive, and it comes with Vista Home Premium. Obviously not all that awesome these days, but to a Snoopy lover, it just might be worth the outrageous price of $2,799.

A company by the name of Video Products (VPI) has announced the release of a new video signal converter for downscaling HD signals. The VPI VGA/High-Definition Component Video to TV Scan Converter is priced at around $420.

The VPI VGA/High-Definition Component Video to TV Scan Converter “enables you to view VGA signals from a computer or high-definition component video signals from an HD DVD player or other sources, on a standard-definition TV.” It converts these signals to composite, component or S-video signals you can output to a connected SD television.

The Hannspree Flora TV is not exactly groundbreaking technology, but it gets points for daring to be different in design. It sports a great retro 50′s flower type look right down to it’s stand.

Some of the features include, 800×600 SVGA resolution with digital comb filter, 4-in-1 connection cable for S-Video, Composite Video and Audio, and a matching designer remote control. Headphone Jack, V-Chip, Closed Captioning and Stereo Speakers also included.

LG recently introduced to the global stage a smaller plasma television as it tries to target price-focused shoppers. The new 32PC5RV is available in Brazil right now and should hit other markets, including North America, in November.

The LG 32PC5RV sports a 32-inch plasma television designed to compete against 32-inch LCD televisions. It has a 16:9 aspect ratio screen and a 0.001ms response time. HDMI and component ports let one connect the flat panel display to a DVD player or home theater.