Thomson Introduces $129 Flash Camcorder
By David Elrich -- TWICE, 1/22/2007
LAS VEGAS — Although the business has been sold to Audiovox, the accessories division of the ever-shrinking Thomson Consumer Electronics unveiled a series of new products under the AR and Jensen brands during International CES.
Thomson also unveiled several products for its A/V division that spokesperson Dave Arland said was up for sale "but still part of the Thomson family — for now."
Dwight Sakura, head of A/V sales, unveiled the newest Small Wonder camcorder designed for the "aim and shoot" customer. The new EZ201 ($129) is a flash-based camcorder powered by two AA batteries and has a flip-out LCD display. Also new is the Gem line, a series of MP3 players with a variety of capacities; the DTA800 ATSC OTA set-top box, designed to help analog TV consumers make the digital transition; and a new full-recording combo VCR, DVD recorder with NTSC and ATSC tuners (DRC8335, $249). The company said it has sold out its supply of HD DVD players and had no plans to market another or one using the Blu-ray Disc format.
On the accessories front, GM Sharon Vernon showed a new series of flat-panel solutions accessories. Of note was Innovation award-winning AR Flat Series cables. Also unveiled was the AR4131 blackVault iPod dock that uses a stereo vacuum tube amplifier ($199), a new RCA Laptop Teleceiver (MPC4000) that lets notebooks pick up over-the-air high-definition channels and Jensen Sportfones with built-in 512MB MP3 player ($69).
