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DT Daily: 8K TVs at IFA, new Miata, Hoff’s ad with KITT

Today on DT Daily: Your 4K TV just became obsolete, Mazda rolls out the new Miata – with an 80’s soundtrack, and The Hoff and KITT are back together again. Well, sort of.

The 2014 I-F-A consumers electronics show in Berlin, better know as IFA, is underway and one of the emerging themes this year is 8K TV. No, not 4K, 8K, as in 16 times better than the obsolete 2K 1080P HDTV you have now.

While TV makers are just now rolling out 4K “ultra HD” sets – for which there is as yet essentially nothing in 4K to watch – it looks like they may just be an interim step towards an 8K future. How good is 8K picture quality? DT audio/video editor Caleb Denison, who is at IFA right now, got a look at LG’s massive 98-inch 8K TV and says the picture is so good, it’s like watching in 3D – even though it’s not in 3D.

And LG isn’t alone in showing 8K concepts, either. Both Sharp and Panasonic have shown 8K concept sets, so it’s not like LG is breaking totally new ground. Check out Caleb’s full report on LG’s super-ultra-triple HDTV – and some other cool new IFA reveals – right here.

It’s been 25 years since Mazda rolled out the iconic MX-5 Miata convertible, and while there are much faster cars on the market, few have been as affordable or nearly as much fun to drive as the lightweight roadster.

Now, there’s a new Miata – or MX5 Roadster as Mazda calls it now – and Mazda took the wraps off yesterday in a showy reveal. As expected, the latest iteration of the MX-5 looks great, with a curvy, updated new body style.

So far, technical specs are few and far between, but that didn’t matter much because Mazda sprung for iconic 80s band Duran Duran to rehash some of their greatest hits – while the new Miata looked on front and center. Simon LeBonn’s still got it, and it looks like the new Miata does too.

Speaking of cars – or at least, cars that can speak – we have to give some props to Samsung for reuniting David Hasselhoff with his 80’s Knight Rider counterpart KITT in a clever bit for their Smart Home line of tech goodies.

In the 2-minute sketch, the Hoff tries to shoot an ad for Smart Home while a jealous KITT causes trouble at every turn. Can it really be 32 years since Knight Rider was on the air?

Yes, sadly, it is, but Hasselhoff does have some fun with that fact as well. We don’t learn a single thing about Samsung’s Smart Home gear in the ad, but it’s good to see The Hoff and KITT have a good… man to car talk… even if it doesn’t end well.

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Bill Roberson
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I focus on producing Digital Trends' 'DT Daily' video news program along with photographing items we get in for review. I…
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