Sharp

It used to be that a brand name was just that. You always knew exactly what you were getting when you opened the box -- the name on the outside matched the components on the inside. These days, you can never tell. In the latest round of re-badging, Sharp is selling LCD panels to Sanyo, who's trying to make a name in the consumer electronics field.

Think you can’t have a flat-panel TV because you can’t get the wiring from your components to your TV? Is lack of running an HDMI cable keeping your Blu-ray player blue? Today, Sharp announced, “Yes!” or probably more accurately, “Hai!” to wireless HD video transmission.

In the ongoing battle to lure consumers away from their PCs, TiVo has become the latest consumer electronics company to announce plans to bring Internet-based video content into the living room.

It was a lesson in perspective this week in Baja California, Mexico, where Sharp Electronics officially cut the ribbon on a $300 million LCD manufacturing plant in Rosarito.