“WHAT!?” I hear you asking. “Why is GeekBeat covering an IKEA story? I thought you guys were all about tech and gadgets!” Yes, we are… and now it looks like IKEA is getting into the game too, with their Uppleva series of furniture that sports integrated HDTV and blu-ray in one unit. I can’t wait to see the assembly guides on these things!
IKEA realized there is a great deal of demand out there for a simple home theatre setup that reduces cable clutter (I know I could do with a dose of that) and simplified remote control solutions. The Uppleva bundles together IKEA’s modular furniture concept with HDTV, Blu-ray, 2.1 audio and a remote control that handles all three components.
The screen specs aren’t half bad, with a 1080p LED LCD screen and 400Hz response time. If you’re a videophile it probably won’t be your first choice, but they’re not targeting the high-end electronics market. They’re squarely targeting the average consumer, and this is likely to really hit that mark in a big way.
There are no details on price available yet, and the worldwide launch doesn’t arrive until next year. If you’re in Stockholm, Milan, Paris, Gdansk, or Berlin, you should be able to find an IKEA store carrying the Uppleva line in June, with additional stores carrying it this coming autumn in advance of the full rollout.
UPDATE: I’m seeing in various places around the web (Tech News Today, digitaljournal.com) that the price on the Uppleva line will start at about the $960ish range and go up from there. For such a complete living room package, that’s not a half-bad price at all, assuming the pricing remains consistent as IKEA rolls the product out to different parts of the world.
(via TechCrunch)
I really wonder how they will do with this. It looks like a pain in the ass to move.
ummm 400Hz response time? Might want to double check how you got that info seeing as how framerate and response are 2 seperate things; framerate in hertz, response time in milliseconds. So if 400Hz is referring to framerate I’d imagine thats referring to like a clear motion rate(even 400 is very doubtfull), actual processed hz i’d say MAX 120hz, looking at the collective price for everything in the unit higher probability of 60hz. And if you’re you’re referring to the tv as having a 400ms response time, that tv is the worst tv made according to todays standards and shouldn’t be on the market.
Oz, you are correct. That would be my fault for typing too quickly. Thanks for the catch! I’ll see about getting that corrected.
The potential is there for Ikea to sell tonnes of these. As you note, without a price it’s difficult to know how sales will go. If it’s well priced, this will do well.
IKEA is shit.
Which makes it perfect for people who can’t afford to spend a lot. That’s the beauty of it. 🙂