Credit crunch to drive home technology innovation

Consumers could benefit from the credit crunch as home technology vendors offer more value and greater quality in a bid to oustrip competitors.

Launching the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, LG's marketing director, Peter Reiner, said the worldwide economic slowdown would see consumers spend more time at home and insist on better value when deciding what to spend their money on.

"Consumers will stay home more in 2009 and they are going to want products that give great quality, are stylish, easy to use and provide the ability to customise."

LG announced a number of product launches for the coming year that it hopes will grab consumers' attention, including home network streaming products that can play high-definition movies over wireless networks, televisions with image processing technology that virtually eliminates picture blur and a wristwatch-style mobile phone.

LG has signed deals with Youtube and Yahoo that will give consumers the ability to access news, video and more direct to their TVs. The Network Entertainment Access system is part of a wider strategy to cut down on the amount of wiring consumers have to contend with in the living room.

LG's CEO, Michael Ahn, said this would enable the company to provide "the content that consumers crave".

Chief technology officer Dr Woo Park said: "We want to get rid of these ugly wires. Actually I don't mind them but my wife hates them."

LG will introduce support for the best-quality standard of high-definition video in its Netflix streaming product range without the need for compression, preserving ultimate picture quality.

Dr Park also demonstrated a mobile phone with two microphones that can cut the amount of background noise, leading to clearer calls.