Samsung has announced three new 3rd generation hi-def players (two of which we reported on earlier), including one that plays both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs known as the BD-UP5000 Duo HD. All three will support up to 1080p and 24Fs/60Fs modes, Dolby Digital Plus audio, and will include HDMI inputs and outputs along with a bevy of other connections. We can also look forward to a new home theater… → Read More
Still put off by the so-called high-def optical disc format war? For $99 come August, you’ll be able to grab the Helios H2000 upscaling DVD player. It connects to your HDTV via an HDMI or component connection and upscales video to 1080i from any number of sources, including Divx and XviD. No, it’s not as satisfying as a fully featured HD DVD or Blu-ray player, but if you’re still… → Read More
Fans of the hard drive-based JVC Everio line will be pleased to hear that a new three-chip, HD version will be available in early September. The GZ-HD3 will feature 1440×1080 HD recording, three, 16:9 progressive-scan CCDs, a 60GB hard drive, and will weigh a pound and a half. Recording is 1080i only, unfortunately, but should still be plenty good for everyday use. I have an Everio camcorder… → Read More
The TiVo Series3 DVR is about to get a little more affordable, according to a recent Ars Technica article. A product with the model number “TCD652160″ has apparently been popping up intermittently on retail websites in the past few days and is believed to be the new “Series3 Lite” as it’s been christened by the TiVo community. General consensus is that the new device… → Read More
Epson was also in town last week (who wasn’t? LOL!) showing off its wares and the biggest, both in size and in potential scope, was its Ensemble home theater system. It combines a set of Atlantic speakers and a 1080p Epson projector. The left-, right- and center-channel speakers are built into the piece that also holds the powered, retractable screen. The rear surrounds are built into the… → Read More
Samsung’s getting set to launch two new Blu-ray players — the BD-P2400 and the BD-P1400. Each player will feature native support for 24 frames per second playback, which Samsung claims will greatly reduce the amount of digital artifacts since movies are also filmed at 24 frames per second. The players will also support 60 frames per second to ensure compatibility with your HDTV setup. → Read More
The Toshiba-led HD DVD group has just released European sales figures concerning the ongoing battle with the Sony-led Blu-ray camp. HD DVD lobbyists are claiming that their players are outselling Blu-ray players in Europe, three-to-one. These figures are for set-top players only, so Sony’s Playstation 3 sales are not included in these figures. → Read More
As we approach the release of Samsung’s BDP-UP5000 combination Blu-ray/HD DVD player, more and more details are finding their way to the Intertubes, or whatever funny word we’re using to describe the Internet these days. Reports out of Germany (where else?) suggest that the combo player will support all the features of both the Blu-ray and HD DVD camps. I know Toshiba just announced a… → Read More
Universal Studios, which exclusively supports HD DVD, basically thumbed its nose at Blockbuster in its response to the rental chain’s decision to favor Blu-ray. A marketing manager for Universal said that rental income from places like Blockbuster only brings in less than one percent of its revenue. No big loss, in other words. So much for the predictions of it being the end of the world for… → Read More
Being a Cablevision subscriber, the news that the company will be able to offer more than 500 high-definition channels by the end of the year should make me happy. At least that’s what the company said yesterday, and that it will add 15 new high-def channels by next week, bringing its total to 40. Is this announcement in response to pressure from rival telecos like Verizon and Comcast? Yeah… → Read More
Don’t expect it any time soon, but Verizon reiterated yesterday that it plans to offer high-definition video on-demand via its FiOS network. Saying that the network “could support it now,” a Verizon suit said the company already has an internal timeline for the service’s launch, but that nothing will be revealed publicly yet. No, this news isn’t exactly shiny, but… → Read More
Downloading 1080p rips of movies and TV shows really eats up hard drive space, as does Armand van Helden set after Armnad van Helden set. Only being able to access that data on an internal hard drive is no fun, either. So what you need, really, is a server like CodexNovus HDcodex DML-400 and DML-1000. Or the Drobo. But we’re talking about the HDcodex now, so calm down. Dreadful name aside… → Read More
Microsoft just gave its budding IPTV service a shot in the arm and renamed it Mediaroom, which is surely the product of several months of extensive focus group testing. The name isn’t the only thing to change with this update to the service, as Redmond added the ability to share digital music and photos (isn’t that Windows Home Server’s job?) within the home and support for… → Read More
Could Apple be throwing its support behind both Blu-ray and HD DVD? We already know that Apple is a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, but according to a WWDC attendee’s post on the Mac Rumors forum, Leopard’s DVD player now has HD DVD settings in the preferences menu. Could someone please leak the new Leopard beta already? Pretty please? WWDC: Leopard Details [Mac Rumors via AVS… → Read More
Toshiba just slashed sales expectations of HD DVD players by nearly 50 percent in response to slower-than-anticipated sales in the U.S. The slow sales of the company’s HD DVD players in the U.S. will negatively affect the global position of the high-definition format, the company said. Toshiba now expects to sell 1 million players, down from the 1.8 million that it initially expected. And… → Read More
Our Japanese reader will be excited to hear that Toshiba’s updating its DVRs over there to include built-in HD DVD burners. The DVRs, which come in 300GB (RD-A300) and 600GB (RD-A600) capacities, have two tuners. As anyone around during last year’s dual tuner TiVo madness knows, having two tuners lets you record two programs at the same time. → Read More
Yee haw, partners! JVC’s goin’ ’round the country to county fairs, balloon festivals and air shows to show off its brand new products to the general public, no fancy press pass needed. Dubbed the “Focus on Hi-Def” tour, it will make stops at some 50 events in 24 states letting people see, hear, touch, taste and smell JVC gadgets, with an emphasis on the hi-def ones. → Read More
I thought Microsoft had made it abundantly clear that it was backing HD DVD, but talk has surfaced in recent days of the company embracing Blu-ray, especially if it feels HD DVD isn’t catching on. No sir, that couldn’t be further from the truth: We’re fully committed to HD-DVD and have absolutely no plans to support other optical formats…. Current reports indicating that… → Read More
Panasonic just released its second generation Blu-ray player today, the DMP-BD10A. It supports DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD, two new 7.1-channel audio formats that are beginning to gain traction. (Incidentally, Microsoft’s HD DVD player now supports these formats.) The player also adds H.264 to its list of supported video codecs. So yeah, it’s pretty much the same Panasonic Blu-ray player… → Read More
Used to be that HP was a member of the HD DVD forum, meaning that even thinking about Blu-ray was a no-no. How time files when consumers are confused and/or don’t know which horse to original story titleback. Two new HP computers, the Pavilion Media Center m8010y and the Pavilion d4890y, will be able to read and write Blu-ray discs as well as read HD DVD discs. (Plus regular ol’ DVDs… → Read More
The Xbox 360 Elite should be rolling into you local video game store right about now, and reviews have already started to hit the many tubes that make up the Internets. CNET’s is just as good as any, but they review kind of weird. At least, not how I would have done it. → Read More
Graphics-card big-shot nVidia finally made its mid-range 8500 and 8600 cards official. They’re both essentially as powerful as the top-end 8800, but nVidia limited the number of shaders. Or, in English, the cards aren’t as powerful as its top-level cards. Big surprise. Prices aren’t too bad, however, with the 8600 GTS carries a $229 price tag and the 8500 dips all the way down to… → Read More
The hype surrounding the Xbox 360 Elite is starting to wane, which means it’s time for the fanbois to complain about what they don’t like about it. The qualms thus far: lack of HDMI 1.3 support and the lack of a built-in HD DVD drive minimize the meaning of the word “Elite.” The absence of HDMI 1.3 means that Dolby’s super mega high def audio format TrueHD is nowhere… → Read More
TV obsessives take note: the fine folks at Technovision unveiled a 205-inch Luxio LCD TV at CeBIT. (And to think people were drooling over 108-inch TVs at CES earlier this year.) You may well need to move into a bigger house just to be able to fit all 8.3 x 15 feet of the TV. The Italian manufacturer didn’t specify how much the TV would cost, but I’m gonna take a wild guess and say… → Read More
Seemingly out of nowhere, Toshiba has started shipping the PA3530U-1HD1, an external USB 2.0 HD DVD drive. It’s not even all that expensive, either, appearing on online stores like Newegg for $370. (Yes, the 360′s external HD DVD drive is only $200, but that pigeonholes you into watching high def movies on the 360. You have more of a choice of where to watch with this one.) It’s… → Read More
Hitachi and LG join forces to bring us the GGW-H10N, the world’s first! PC drive that can read both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. (Who could forget the first player that could read both Blu-ray and HD DVD, the Super Mulit Blue Mega FunTime Happy Player that LG unveiled at CES in Janurary?) It can read and write CDs, single layer DVDs and Blu-ray discs, filling up an entire, single layer Blu-ray… → Read More
Gateway has announced that it will be releasing new 22-inch and 24-inch HD widescreen LCDs for all your viewing pleasure. The new 24-inch LCD features DCDi video processing technology, 1080p support, 1920×1200 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 6ms refresh rate and new, touch-sensitive controls for adjusting the display. The touch-sensitive feature, labeled by Gateway as EzTouch, will feature… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
