Not all of Panasonic’s Viera TVs are large. Take these guys for example. They have shrank down in size. It’s the new Viera portable TV range featuring Panasonic’s latest 10.1” a-Si TFT displays at 1,024 × 600 resolution. The DMP-BV200 and DMP-HV100 models will let you watch TV, DVD and Blu-ray (only for the BV200) and are compatible with all forms of AVCHD video.

It will also handle DivX files from either a USB device or an SD memory card and you can hook either one up to the Panasonic Viera Home Theater system and DVR with the DY-WL10 Wi-Fi dongle. Same sets, smaller experience.

Whatever you think about 3D, the new sets are selling. Panasonic has confirmed that it has sold out of its 3D TVs in the US, just a week after they went on sale in Best Buy stores.

And now Panasonic is taking back orders from retailers instead. Panasonic’s 50-inch plasma TV went on sale at Best Buy, bundled with a pair of 3D glasses and a 3D Blu-ray player for $2900 on March 10th. Panasonic is the first manufacturer to get these products to market even though there is very little content available to watch.

3D continues to hit Japan in a big way. The 3DTV from Sony has now made it to Japan beating both Panasonic and Samsung. The edge-lit LED LX900 comes with the IR emitter built-in and two pairs of RealD active shutter glasses. The glasses are also available separately.

There’s even a face tracking feature that lets you know if you’re sitting too close. Gee, thanks. Are you my TV or my mom? Also, if you leave the room the TV dims out and goes off, which is nice.

I hear you. Many of you are sick of 3D already. Unfortunately it is just getting started. HD Guru has Best Buy’s schedule for rolling out 3D capable HDTVs and Blu-ray players from Samsung and Panasonic, and it’s all happening soon.

Sales and demonstrations of 3D gear will begin at 200 Best Buy locations on March 10. That initial outing will feature Panasonic’s 50″ TC-P50VT20 plasma 3D HDTV along with their DMP-BD350 3D Blu-ray player. On March 21, Samsung will apparently join the party, showing their LED 3D HDTVs, the 46″ UN-46C7000 and the 55″ UN-55C7000, along with the BD-C6900 3D Blu-ray player at 900 Best Buy locations.

Panasonic announced on Sunday two new Micro Four-Thirds cameras, the Lumix DMC-G2 and a less expensive Lumix G10. Both cameras are in Panasonic’s line of “smaller” digital cameras in comparison to D-SLR’s, going without a mirror box or a dedicated autofocus image sensor.

The DMC-G2 appears to be a successor to the DMC-G1 announced in late 2008 with some added features. The Lumix DMC-G2 still has a 12.1 megapixel sensor, movable LCD screen, is similar in size and has a rubber-coated body like its predecessor, but in this version has added in a touch screen and high-def video capture. According to Panasonic this marks the …”first interchangeable lens system camera with touch-control shooting.”

Panasonic is always looking to improve the life of their batteries and so they have just announced a new battery that lasts 30% longer than today’s lithium ion batteries. Instead of a graphite anode, the new rechargeable lithium ion batteries will use an anode made of silicon alloy. Panasonic even claims that after 500 charge/discharge cycles, the batteries will still retain 80% of their capacity.

That’s pretty huge when it comes to battery life. Aimed specifically at laptops, Panasonic says that the new battery technology will be produced in volume starting in 2012.

Panasonic is releasing the new DMP-BDT300. The 3D Blu-ray player uses the company’s UniPhier LSI chip which allows output of Full HD images of 1080p quality in the frame-sequential method. You simply need a pair of active shutter glasses and a 3D-ready TV and you are good to go.

The DMP-BDT300 will also upscale your DVDs. Some other features include DLNA support, USB, SD memory card slot and support for JPEG, DivX Plus HD, MP3, AVCHD, MPEG2 and JPEG content.

3D is coming whether you like it or not. Whether it’s a flash in the pan or here to stay, you will still want to get some new gear. Panasonic’s new 3D screen may not be the one. It does sport a 25.5 inch LCD screen and comes with HD support.

Panasonic says that the 3D HD screen is for “reviewing 3D footage at a work station or in the field”. It also features dual HD-SDI so you can connect with other 3D hardware and DVI interfaces. And it comes with a pair of polarizing 3D eyeglasses. But this may not be the one for you due to its $9,900 price tag.

Panasonic has launched their latest Toughbook PC, a rugged tablet called the H1 Field. The Toughbook H1 Field is based around a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor and sports a 10.4-inch XGA sunlight-viewable dual-touch LCD that responds to finger control and input from an active stylus.

It’s rugged enough to survive a 6ft drop, extremes of temperature etc. It’s tough. Don’t mess with it. Harsh conditions are it’s middle name. Some other features include WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and optional Gobi2000 WWAN (for both EVDO and HSPA 3G). There’s also an optional GPS, fingerprint security, 2D barcode scanner, a 2-megapixel camera with LED flash, RFID reader and SmartCard reader.

Panasonic Japan, just like everyone else, is going 3D crazy. Today they presented 6 3D products to be rolled out soon. And the company has priced and dated these new TVs, Blu-ray recorders and players for the Japanese market.

The VIERA TH-P54VT and TH-P50VT2 feature 54 inches and 50 inches of screen size. Both plasma TVs are full HD with 3D. Sadly you need to wear Active shutter glasses for that 3D experience. Some other specs include a contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1, VIERA link, web connectivity, 4 HDMI ports, multiple TV tuners, eco-mode, full range 16×4cm×2 speakers and a 10cm sub-woofer. Be prepared to pay a premium for the 3D experience.

Our TVs have come a long way, but they can still be pushed further. A Japanese company called Zeon is doing the pushing with a film it has developed for the polarizing plates of LCD screens, which would boost picture contrast quite a bit.

This phase difference film is created from Cyclo Olefin Polymer, which makes it suitable for LCD TVs based on in-plane-switching (IPS) technology, which is used by companies like Panasonic or Hitachi. The new film inhibits the diffusion of light from the backlight and that gives you clearer pictures. The company would like to mass produce the films this year, and are aiming at LCD TVs 40-inches or larger.

Panasonic Japan just launched 4 new Digital video recorders, specifically the DMR-BW880, DMR-BW780, DMR-BW680 and DMR-BR580 which come in 1TB, 750GB and 500GB capacities.

The BW series features dual Digital and one analog tuner as well as a brand new Panasonic AVC engine for superior quality video and audio. Aside from the hard drive the BW series can record on 50GB Blu-Ray discs and SDXC cards.

Skype has some interesting news: Looks like they are all about better video quality, with new HD webcams and software support. Even bigger news is that they’re teaming up with LG and Panasonic for Skype-enabled HDTVs. Yes skype will now be starring on HDTVs.

Skype 4.2 beta can achieve video quality of 1280 x 720 resolution at 30fps. There’s also a line of HD webcams with video encoding and processing onboard. There are two versions from each manufacturer: FaceVision has one with and one without a microphone for $100 and $70. In Store has the Freetalk Pro for $120 and the Freetalk Pro Plus for $140.

Sony and Panasonic have teamed up to develop 67GB Blu-ray discs using i-MLSE (Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation) technology. That’s pretty damn impressive. This means that the next generation of Blu-ray discs will store 33.4GB of data on a single layer disc or 66.8GB on a dual-layer disc.

And as a bonus you won’t need new hardware to use these new Blu-ray discs. There is no info on the release date yet. When we might see them in our hands is anyone’s guess. A year maybe.

Well, Panasonic has officially taken over Sanyo and they aren’t wasting any time with a joint venture to develop a lithium-ion storage battery that can store enough juice to power an average home for a week. Sounds pretty impressive huh? We are talking Japanese homes here.

The battery will have a system that allows users to monitor their electricity usage through their TVs. The technology won’t be available until sometime in 2011, but we are eager to see how this powers American homes.