Look what we found at Loewe: four fantastic concept TVs from their design studio. The white Concept Lowboard, red Connect Tripod, Docking Pot and Roundboard have all sorts of fabby extras, such as subwoofers, wireless connectivity pits and sexy mood lights in places you would least expect it. And two of the designs are pretty much dead certs to go on sale, according to our special friend at Loewe.
Of the four, the most impressive is the Connect Lowboard. The TV itself slides with the smoooothest motion from one end of its table top to the other, and it can rotate 180 . The shelf below it houses an integrated flat woofer, and it is lit up with a sexy ambient blue light. There's an open CD/DVD player on the surface of the table as well as a wireless connectivity docking pit, which lets you throw your future RFID-tagged wireless gadgets in it to enable them to be played. And before you scoff, remember that Apple filed a patent for putting RFID in its gear &mdash well, this sounds like a similar idea.
The Connect Roundboard looks a bit like one end of a basketball court. Made from high-gloss black varnish, the Roundboard, like the Lowboard, also has a curved dish in the base that acts as a docking pit, but if you tug the table 45 (think of changing a salt container from "sprinkle" to "pour") then the CD/DVD player is revealed.
Least favorite of mine was the Connect Docking Pot, which looked like someone was either trying to grow a TV in a plant pot, or passing their flatscreen off as a Christmas tree. This time, the docking station is in the pot, along with an integrated subwoofer and DVD slot. There are ports a-plenty all over the "trunk," or stem of the TV, and the TV can be rotated 180 . I wrote down silver fabric in my notebook as well, so they really are going overboard with that Xmas theme, aren't they?
The Connect Tripod is very masculine indeed*. Made of spanky red lacquer, it has a Sound Media module at its base, which gives you simple surround sound. It is also wireless, so you can move it to wherever you want in the house as a portable speaker. Cables are hidden in a steel tube that goes the tripod.
Of the four, it looks like the Connect Lowboard and Roundboard are the ones that look most likely to make it to the shops, although Loewe wasn't saying anything concrete about them.
* Indeed, a famous and shameless chef once chatted me up with the immortal words, "I'm like a tripod, you know."