TV & Internet...

We first heard about the new Philips Eco FlatTV back in January, when it won a coveted "best of" award from CNET at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. According to Philips, this new HD TV, which started shipping this month, uses less power than many other LCD televisions, thanks to a few innovations that allow the TV to adjust itself to control how much energy it requires.

First up, the TV can dim its backlight when you are watching programs with high levels of black. This improves picture quality and uses less juice. The TV also includes a sensor which determines how much light is in the room around in. In dark rooms, the TV uses a dimmer setting, which in turn uses less power. Finally, the TV uses less power during standby mode -- in other words, when you turn it off, it's almost really off (a real rarity among TVs).

All in all, pretty smart.

The Philips Eco Flat TV, also known as the 42PFL5603D, is now available with a suggested retail price of $1,399.