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Philips' abstinence from CES attendance this year was a might puzzling, but fears that there might be a shrinking of its product ranges to correspond with its diminished trade show presence are far from realised. In fact, its annual product review in Lisbon has seen the unveiling of more Philips' product than ever, starting with TVs. Of which there are a lot.

Stepping down a notch we have the 9600-series, split further into the 9664 and 9604 series, the former boasting 42in and 47in, 200Hz panels with the latter offering 100Hz 37in and 32in options. Stats otherwise are the same, with 80,000:1 contrast ratios, Ambilight Spectra 2 and a generous five HDMI ports.

Another step down is the 8000-series. Panel sizes from 32in up to 47in are available, image processing comes courtesy Philips' Pixel Precise HD engine - which is slightly less sophisticated than Perfect Pixel HD - and contrast ratios are a claimed 80,000:1 contrast ratio.

It's not often the most intriguing feature of a product is its name. Sure, something like the EeePC has a fairly distinct name but at least it seems to fit the product. MPX&MPY, though, is just plain weird. However, there is at least some logic to it.

The left tower (in the picture below, which has them the wrong way round) contains an iPod dock, a downward facing sub-woofer, and amplifier circuitry, as well as the five speakers that run down its front. The left tower, on the other hand, consists of only what you can see; a tower with five speakers. Thus the French company, Voix, thought it would be a good idea to call them different names; the MPX and MPY, despite the fact you can't actually buy them separately. There's got to be a Franco-Anglo joke about the idiosyncrasies of this decision in there somewhere but for the sake of international relations I'll let it be - especially as I've already incorrectly pronounced the company's name in the video review. Read More

Getting back on track, the Voix MPX&MPY, is essentially an iPod speaker dock but rather than going for the traditional compact, semi-portable design of many rivals, Voix has taken a very different approach. The two slender black towers are more akin to a pair of Hi-Fi speakers or to the many designer home cinema surround sound systems we see these days. In fact, pop an MPX and an MPY either side of your glossy black TV and you have a seriously nice looking setup that sounds decent, is simple to use and, considering the MPX&MPY only cost around £260, is cheap as well.

Of course, if you want the true home cinema experience you'll want to get a proper AV receiver/amplifier with a full surround setup but if all you currently have is the sound from your TV's speakers, you'll find just plugging the MPX&MPY into the line-out of your TV makes for a huge improvement. Then, of course, if you just want to listen to your iPod you don't need any other equipment. Just flip open the top of the MPX and away you go. It really is a great idea.