CES showcasing slimmer, energy-saving TVs

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Edwin Chan

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - TVs, TVs everywhere but not a 150-inch in sight. With much of the world grappling with recession, technology giants at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas eschewed the one-upmanship that had characterized past gatherings and focused instead on unveiling slimmer, energy-saving televisions with Internet bells and whistles.

Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Toshiba and others trotted out high-definition TV screens on Wednesday designed to pull videos, photos and other content off the Web and into the living room.

"Even though we have a recession now, like everybody, we do not want to reduce our marketing spending and we want to invest more money on R&D and customer service and eco-friendly and environmental issues," LG Electronics North America President and Chief Executive Michael Ahn told Reuters.

"It is a hard decision," he said in an interview. "But we want to invest for our future."

Many stressed the eco-friendly, power-saving abilities of their latest TVs -- a key selling point at a time when households are tightening their belts. Unlike in past years, not one company tried to outshine the competition with the physically biggest screen.

The new TVs can siphon content off Internet sites such as Google's video sharing site YouTube, movie rental chain Netflix, and allow messaging of friends on social networks like MySpace or Twitter.

Yahoo unveiled a big push to marry the Internet and television -- something no company has successfully pulled off thus far -- through deals with the main Asian TV makers.

Since the dawn of the Internet age, companies have been promising "convergence" of online and TV universes -- but failed to connect with consumers.