News written by James Delahunty (January, 2008)

Verbatim has announced today a complete line of Qflix DVD media. Qflix technology, which is licensed by Sonic Solutions, enables users to download and burn DVD movies, complete with the Content Scrambling System (CSS) copy protection that is present on all retail movie DVDs. Verbatim's new product line will include both Qflix consumer media and printable Qflix Pro media for enterprise use.

"Verbatim views Qflix technology as an entertainment breakthrough," said Tim Clatterbuck, Verbatim Optical Storage Manager. "High-quality media that provides broad compatibility will be key to the rapid adoption rate of this technology, and that's where Verbatim media excels. In addition, through our collaboration with Sonic and the leading burner/recorder manufacturers, our Qflix customers can be confident that they also have the best compatibility between Qflix hardware and our media."

The applications for Verbatim's new Qflix media span every consumer, retail and commercial download and burn application, including DVD burning on home PCs, in-store kiosk burning, and manufacturing on demand (MOD) services. "We are delighted to have Verbatim as an official manufacturer and distributor of Qflix DVDs," said Jim Taylor, senior vice president and general manager of Sonic Solutions' Advanced Technology Group. "Verbatim's strong brand and reputation will help add momentum to the launch of new, efficient models for the distribution of high-quality entertainment."

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week in Las Vegas, Sony was showing many new innovative products and technology. Among the items was a 16GB Memory Stick PRO Duo. The company claims that the higher capacity Memory Stick Duo is suitable for the company's newer handycams, which record in the high-quality AVCHD format.

The new Memory Stick card stores up to 110 minutes of high-definition video recorded in 1920 mode and almost six hours of HD video when shooting in 1440 LP mode. About the size of a postage stamp, the card is the optimal recording media for HD content because of its ability to quickly and easily transfer large amounts of video content between devices.

It can be removed from a camcorder and placed into the Memory Stick media slot in compatible computers for editing and sharing content.

The 16GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media card will be available in March for about $300 at sonystyle.com

Apple Inc. has fixed several security issues that affect the QuickTime media player, the iPhone and iPod Touch. The iPhone update fixes flaws with the Safari web browser, including one bug that could potentially be used to run unauthorized software on the device. The Safari bugs also affect the iPod Touch. Another iPhone bug could let unauthorized users bypass Passcode Lock and launch iPhone applications.

The security updates for the iPhone will be available through iTunes. The iPhone 1.1.3 software patch does affect those who have installed the Jailbreak software to open the iPhone to third-party applications, as did previous updates. A Jailbreak 1.1.3 script should make its way to the iPhone Wiki soon however.

As for the QuickTime updates, four critical flaws have been patched that could allow attackers to crash the media player and even run unauthorized software on a victim's machine. The QuickTime updates do not address a serious security flaw uncovered over the weekend yet however.

Toshiba Corp. has sent OEM orders for blank, re-writeable HD DVD media to one of Tawian's largest producers of blank optical discs, RITEK. DigiTimes cites Chinese-language publication Economic Daily News (EDN) in reporting that shipments of HD DVD-RW from RITEK for Toshiba will be begin early this year.

RITEK confirmed the Economic Daily News report but has not released any details on the order volume or its overall value. Last year, RITEK was responsible for 26.1% of the global output of blank HD DVD discs. Toshiba is set to bundle three HD DVD-RW discs with sales of its latest Qosmio series notebook PCs.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, RITEK showed off a disc that had HD DVD-R on one side and BD-R on the other, allowing you to record to both next-generation formats on a single disc. A high price for such a disc is to be expected but unfortunately RITEK did not shed any light on how much this disc would cost.

A YouTube Mexico service was launched back in October as a result of heavy traffic on the English YouTube page and Spain country page from Mexico. Entertainment companies in the country are hoping to turn Yahoo Mexico's focus on local content into a revenue stream. YouTube is currently touring the country with representatives demonstrating how to upload videos to the service.

"Before we think about the monetization aspect, we need to make sure the community finds the site interesting," YouTube international product manager Luis Garcia said. Entertainment cable channel Exa TV, newspaper El Universal, modeling agency Contempo Models and soccer site Medio Tiempo have signed on as local content partners to the service.

YouTube Mexico is also an important source for the local music companies. Warner Music Mexico talent executive Alejandro Abaroa said that YouTube Mexico increases exposure for local acts."It's a beginning effort," Reuters reports Abaroa as saying. "Maybe next month it's not going to be a hit anymore. The minute you hear about it, you have to grab it."

At the MacWorld Expo, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs showed the thin and light MacBook Air to the attendees. Measuring just 0.8 inches thick and weighing 3 pounds as standard, the notebook packs impressive hardware under the hood for its size and weight. It is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB on-chip shared L2 cache, clocked at 1.6GHz (1.8GHz optional). A 4200RPM PATA hard disk drive provides 80GB of storage space.

An optional 64GB solid state drive (SSD) is also available. As for memory, 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM is onboard. Graphics is powered by an Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory, driving the included 13.3" display, which has a Native Resolution of 1280x800. It simultaneously supports the native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1920x1200 on an external display.

By use of two included adapters, the MacBook Air supports DVI and VGA output. Two further optional adapters provide output for Composite and S-Video. For a WLAN, the notebook is IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible. A USB 2.0 port and an Audio out port is also included. Built-in to the notebook is an iSight camera. The included battery is advertised as being capable of operating for five hours on a charge.

Nowadays, if you have a HDTV that can display 1080p video, you have the best picture quality that high-definition can offer to consumers right now. We have reported several times in the past about UHDV, or Ultra High-Definition Video, which later became known as Super Hi-Vision. For most of our readers, going by comments and feedback, it seems like a dream that won't be seen for a long time yet.

For those that don't know, UHDV or Super Hi-Vision consists of video at a resolution of a massive 7680x4320. Try to envision a 33-megapixel image, which is exactly what this resolution offers. It runs at 60 frames per second. It doesn't lack in the audio department either, offering 22.2CH audio (9 above ear level, 10 at ear level, 3 below ear level and 2 low frequency effects).

Now, the Japanese Government is set to begin a joint project with private companies to develop this next generation technology. The goal is to make this concept a broadcasting standard by 2015. Of course, there have been many technical problems like the development of a camera that can record it and equipment to transfer the 24Gbps uncompressed stream.

According to UK carrier 02, Apple has taken steps to prevent it from revealing any sales figures to the public for the iPhone. According to O2's head of media relations, Simon Lloyd, the sales agreement held with Apple does not allow the company to reveal any such details under Apple is OK with it. Of course, Lloyd did not reveal any official figures to The Register, but stated that sales were "in line" with its expectations.

"We're not releasing the physical number of handsets sold by O2," he said. "We await with interest to see what Steve Jobs says at Macworld." Carphone Warehouse also confirmed that it is under the same constraints. "The restriction is true and we won't release either our financial sales figures or the number of iPhones we've sold," a spokesman for the UK company stated.

Steve Jobs will deliver a keynote speech at the upcoming MacWorld expo, where he is expected to announce movie rentals for the iTunes service and tout sales performances for the iPod and iPhone.

Source:
Reg Hardware

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At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week, JVC showed off four new HDTV LCD sets that included built-in iPod docks to make video viewing from iPod easier than ever. Each of the four new models, including three full HD 1080p sets, features JVC's new TeleDock, a flip-down iPod dock at the base of the set, providing a direct connection for playback through the TV.

The new JVC P-Series includes the 32-inch LT-32P679, 42-inch LT-42P789, 47-inch LT-47P789 and the 52-inch LT-52P789. The LT-32P679 is a 768p model, while the others offer 1080p resolution. A menu appears on the TV screen for selecting music, music shuffle or video playback once an iPod is docked. Using the TV remote control, content on the iPod can be navigated through and played back easily, using a click-wheel-like design.

Song titles and artist names are displayed on the TV screen when songs are playing. Low resolution video content, such as internet videos, can be displayed in a small screen mode. Higher resolution video can be shown in nine aspect modes at full screen. There's also the option to play music files while the TV displays television programming. In addition, the iPod will charge while docked whether the TV's power is on or off.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been bending the legal system to its position that "making files available" is enough to find a defendant guilty of copyright infringement. This is what happened in the infamous case against Jammie Thomas, and it is the argument in several others. In the case against Jeffrey and Pamela Howell, this is the offense the RIAA is claiming again. In response, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has submitted a new amicus brief.

The civil liberties group that is determined to protect your digital rights has pointed out that there is no such crime as "attempted copyright infringement." The record labels claim that 11 tracks were shared by the Howells but fail to provide any real evidence of sharing. SafeNet (MediaSentry) was able to download songs from the Howells computer using Kazaa.

The EFF does not accept this as adequate evidence of infringement however. Copyright law states that content owners control the distribution of copies to the public, and so the RIAA needs to prove that such unauthorized distribution took place. The EFF states that the copyright owner itself could not be considered as the public, and that an authorized agent acting on behalf of the copyright owner (SafeNet) could not possibly infringe any rights of the owner.

Apple Inc. and China Mobile have broken off talks aimed at making the iPhone available in China. The mobile service provider has more subscribers than the population of the United States; about 350 million people. Many experts and analysts had predicted a break down in the talks as each as they emerged, anticipating technical difficulties and disagreements over pricing and revenue sharing.

An iPhone goes for up to $500 in the United States, which is about double the average monthly salary in China. "It's not a surprise. China Mobile doesn't want to share its non-voice revenue," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, a Beijing-based telecoms research consultancy. "The two have very strong egos and, as in any relationship, that often doesn't work."

Initial news of the talks between Apple and China Mobile drove Apple's stock up about 10 percent on November 13. After Monday's announcement, shares in China Mobile slid about 3%. "Our parent has terminated talks with Apple over the iPhone," a China Mobile spokeswoman said, confirming several unsourced Internet reports.

China Mobile has not ruled out holding discussions again at some stage, if necessary. The country's second most popular service, China Unicom, announce din 2007 that it had no plans to offer the iPhone, but that it was open to the idea.

In response to several studios backing the Blu-ray format exclusively over the past couple of weeks, Toshiba Corp. has slashed the prices of its HD DVD player line-up by 40% - 50%, according to a Reuters report. The price cuts are in effect now, aimed at pushing HD DVD players into more consumer homes after Toshiba reported a successful fourth quarter.

Toshiba's HD DVD players now go for prices between $149 and $399 for a top-end player. "While price is one of the consideration elements for the early adopter, it is a deal-breaker for the mainstream consumer," said Toshiba executive Yoshi Uchiyama in a statement. The company will also step up its marketing drive for the format including joint advertising campaigns with studios and extended pricing strategies.

Consumers who buy HD DVD players from Toshiba will continue to get five free HD DVD titles. In the past two weeks, the world's media has focused more on the format war after Warner Bros. decided to release in the Blu-ray format only, causing several studios to follow suit. Rumors that Paramount, DreamWorks and Universal were about to do the same circulated immediately, but have all been denied so far.

It is no secret that a large portion of the first shipped Xbox 360 consoles were defective. Microsoft Corp. has admitted to this problem and set aside a mountain of cash to repair or replace defective units for customers. In order to prevent more problems of this nature, Microsoft introduced a revised cooling design with heatpipe and heatsink to cool the GPU and used 56nm chip technology in newer consoles (for CPU).

Bill Gates never really spoke out about the matter until now. Speaking with the BBC, Gates revealed that Microsoft is now determined to make the Xbox 360 console the most reliable gaming hardware for consumers. "Well, we certainly had to apologize to our uses about a number of boxes that had to be replaced," said Gates. "We did that for free for all of those people, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback about the way we handled it."

"We've got incredible reliability on the new work we've done," he continued. "Our commitment is that it will be the most reliable video game box out there. People really love the Xbox because of the content, but we've got to make sure that the hardware never stands in the way of that."

DivX, Inc. has announced the DivX Certification of Panasonic's UniPhier System LSI. The "UniPhier" is an integrated multimedia chip platform that enables high-quality video solutions such as DivX playback in a number of product categories. The UniPhier (Universal Platform for High-quality Image Enhancing Revolution) is the first chip platform to integrate DivX technology into Blu-ray products using a hardware solution.

Over 100 million DivX Certified products have been shipped into the market, including DVD players, mobile devices and more. "The DivX Certified 'UniPhier' System LSI offers our customers a rich and flexible platform for enjoying high-quality video in a broad range of device categories," said Akito Miyamoto, General Manager of Software and Solutions, Semiconductor Company, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Miyamoto added: "The ability of our solution to support DivX decoding, in addition to many other audio and video formats, highlights the power and flexibility of the 'UniPhier' architecture." Products that bear the DivX Certified logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience that includes reliable video playback, excellent visual quality and interoperability with other DivX Certified devices.

Acer America Corporation announced that the Aspire 7720-6844 notebook PC is available in the North America retail channel, designed for consumers who seek high-definition multimedia entertainment paired with powerful, productivity features. The notebook includes remarkable system performance and responsiveness features via Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor technology, a 250 GB hard disk drive and an integrated Super-Multi drive, which today's consumers demand.

It features 2GB (512/512) DDR2 667 SDRAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 256MB dedicated graphics and supports 802.11a/b/g WLAN. Housed in Acer's innovative Gemstone design, the Aspire 7720-6844 notebook PC sports a glossy 17-inch widescreen display with CrystalBrite technology, lending superior contrast ratio and intense color features for pleasurable multimedia viewing.

For added high-definition enjoyment, the notebook is equipped with Dolby Home Theater, providing a flexible and tailored surround sound listening experience. Video conference functionality is supplied via an integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam.

While levies are imposed on certain items in Canada like blank CD media and cassette tapes, an ongoing effort to bring such taxes to MP3 playing hardware and flash memory cards has failed yet again in the country. Yesterday, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected a decision by Canada's Copyright Board to collect fees from the sales of MP3 players in order to compensate artists for lost revenue from private copying.

The proposed tax included CAD5 on digital audio players with 1GB storage or less and CD75 on digital audio players with upwards of 30GB storage space. Canada's Private Copyright Collective (CPCC) lobbied for the tax again in 2007, after the proposal saw generally no success since it was brought up in 2004. The Copyright Board agreed with the CPCC's claims and was set to impose the tax in 2008.

"The Copyright Board erred in law when it concluded that it has the legal authority to certify the tariff that CPCC has proposed for 2008 and 2009 on digital audio recorders," the Federal Court of Appeal said in its decision.

Source:
The Register

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New Medium Enterprises (NME) announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week that HD VMD players would be shipping to the United States. The players, which offer Full HD 1080p video are available from PCRush.com and NMEStore.com at a very affordable price of just $199. All orders for HD VMD players in January will come with two complementary titles, "Mother Ghost" starring James Franco and cult hit "Cutting Room."

HD VMD's ground-breaking innovation is its patented multi-layer disc, which allows for the utilization of proven red laser technology to provide high definition, versus blue laser technology used by HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The players are also capable of Upscaling standard-definition DVDs to high definition.

"We are excited to be delivering upon our promise to deliver high quality, affordable high definition to consumers," said Alex Potter, director of U.S. operations, NME. "We remain committed to delivering great HD products and compelling content to the global consumer market." NME also this week announced its worldwide distribution deal with SFM Entertainment for the release of rare and classic film and TV titles never before seen in HD on NME's disc format.

AfterDawn is a relatively large site; especially when you count the handful of individuals that have the task of contributing officially to it and keeping it up to date. Outside of the forums, everything you see has one or more of a small group of people behind it. This presents an obvious problem; the task of keeping everything up-to-date is a nightmare with all we have to cover, and our performance at keeping certain areas of the site up to scratch ranges from bad to worse.

However, with the new year came new opportunities and now we are taking on the challenge of updating quite a bit of the site. In our glossary section, some items have been untouched for the better part of a decade; a slightly embarrassing fact when you see the enormous amounts of automatic cross links from the main site and forums to the glossary section.

It simply was not good enough that a link to the term "1080p" for example, would bring up just two lines of text telling you the resolution of 1080p and nothing else. So, our small team of English writers is taking on the challenge of getting this section of the site, along with others, up-to-date to regain a reputation we once held, and maintain those we still grasp.

KODAK has introduced its Professional Grade CD-Rs and DVD-Rs that offer a lifespan of up to 100 years, according to the company. The company is targeting photographers, music studios, and other businesses and professionals who want higher quality discs that will safely store their images, videos and data.

"We are introducing these new, professional grade discs for those who can't take a chance on short-lived silver CD-Rs." said Steve Mizelle, President of KMP Media. The firm operates under trademark license from Eastman Kodak Company.

The discs combine superior recording quality with durability that will protect images, sound and data for 100 years. Only archival KODAK 24K Gold Preservation CDs last longer. The advanced discs are manufactured using a patented, oxidation-resisting gold metallurgy process. This produces enhanced electrical properties, long archival life, significant reductions in error rates and the fastest write speeds available in archival media.

The disc's proprietary reflective surface alloy and high quality dye layer provides quality storage that is far superior to traditional silver discs. Silver discs also can deteriorate quickly when exposed to heat, humidity and ultraviolet light and many last only five years or less.

Traffic to the BBC's iPlayer service in the UK increased 14 times overall within the space of a month. The impressive gains were made between week ending 08 December 2007 and the week ending 05 January, with the service ranking 80th in the UK in the latter week, peaking at 62nd on New Years Day. Surfers looking to catch up on their soap operas gave a boost to the service, with Eastenders driving a large amount of users to iPlayer.

Other popular program searches were Live at the Apollo, Three men in another boat and Holby City. Over half of the traffic going to the iPlayer website came from other BBC websites, as the corporation has been aggressively promoting its service online. While such services from TV broadcasters are always a step in the right direction, the iPlayer still pales in comparison to the video heavyweight YouTube.

For the week ending January 5th, YouTube accounted for 8.75% of all UK Internet visits to Entertainment websites, over 12 times the market share of iPlayer, with YouTube being the 4th most search term in the UK currently. The average visit time for iPlayer is currently just under nine minutes, compared with almost 20 minutes for YouTube.

KODAK has announced its new AutoMagic self-burning CDs aimed at making it easier for novice computer users to burn their music, pictures and important documents to discs for archiving. The disc has built-in software for copying digital content onto the CD.

"This is great news for all the people who want to store images, music or data on a CD but lack the computer skills," said Jim Gordon, Sr. Vice President of Marketing for KMP Media. "Now they can avoid the hassle of downloading, installing and learning how to use a more complex software package."

The CD-R discs are designed for use with Microsoft Windows 2000, XP and Vista operating systems. When one of these CDs is placed in a computer the application pops up on the screen and the user can select and record images, music and other files with just a few clicks. The software takes up little space.

Users can preview, rotate and select photos and even record them directly from a digital camera. The discs also can be read into home video players and compilations of MP3 or WMA music can be made with KODAK AutoMagic CDs and played on any device that supports those formats.

The only thing that is known for sure about this year's upcoming Macworld Expo is that it most likely won't be nearly as interesting at last year's. Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs caused quite a stir in the mobile phone market by unveiling the iPhone, a touch-screen phone that could play music, video and could be used to browse the net among other great features. Like or dislike the iPhone, it has been a success and it put the Macworld Expo of 2007 in the books.

So what is expected from Apple this year? This is one of the most secretive companies in the business, so it generates quite a lot of rumors and speculation in the weeks before events or expected announcements. We previously reported that Apple may be offering Macs with Blu-ray drives, with the Mac Pro workstation rumored to be the first with Blu-ray.

The company is likely to announce movie rentals for the iTunes download store at Macworld. The expected cost will be $3.99 for 24 hours, a common offer in competing services. Apple has reportedly secured deals with 20th Century Fox and Disney studios, and may be close to signing deals with Warner Bros. and Paramount.

Sony has shown off a new wireless data transfer system that requires close proximity of devices, but provides a high data transfer rate to compensate. The TransferJet system requires that equipment be about 3cm apart to achieve speed up to 560Mbps. "Even if the conditions for transmission deteriorate, it will maintain the highest possible wireless connectivity by automatically lowering the data transmission rate," Sony stated.

Sony adds that the new technology promises minimal electromagnetic interference due to the low intensity of the radio waves employed. The 3cm distance might make you think the technology is obsolete at first, but on second thought it has a huge variety of uses. For example, it could be added to mobile phones to allow users to transfer huge amounts of data to and from each other in a short amount of time.

It could also eliminate the need for a USB cable between a computer and a digital camera, or remove the need for you to carry a connection cable around with a video camcorder in order to connect to a TV. As long as both devices are compliant, the system can offer a wireless solution that could make life a little bit easier.

RITEK was showing off several of its new innovative products at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this week. Among the new products was a disc that contained BD-R on one side, and HD DVD-R on the other, allowing you to record to both next-generation formats on a single disc. A high price for such a disc is to be expected but unfortunately RITEK did not shed any light on how much this disc would cost.

As for availability, the discs are expected to be available in the near-future. After Warner Bros. decision to drop the HD DVD format completely for the Sony-backed Blu-ray rival, a move that was then mirrored by other studios, some whispers of the end of the format war have been spreading.

So far however, HD DVD has not lost its support from Paramount, DreamWorks or Universal as rumored. Aside from RITEK's dual disc, the company currently offers 2X dual-layer HD DVD writable discs and expects to offer 2X HD DVD-RW DL discs by Q2 2008. RITEK also offers 4X BD-R media.

German studio Constantin Film AG has chosen the Blu-ray format for distribution of high-definition movies and other video content. Up to now, the company has supported both the HD DVD and the Blu-ray technology. Ever since Warner Bros. made the move to Blu-ray exclusivity, there has been speculation about what studios would follow. While the focus has been on major Hollywood studios, it is easy to forget the smaller players in the market.

"Last weekend, the major US studio Warner Brothers already rejected a dual-format strategy too and communicated its decision in favour of the Blu-ray technology. By taking this trendsetting decision, the market-leading US film group has helped to bring about faster the urgently needed clarification of the situation and to end the 'format war,' that has been going on for years now," Constantin's press statement reads.

"In taking our decision in favour of the Blu-ray format, we are clearly following the international trend. The longstanding dispute about the successor to the DVD caused considerable uncertainty among consumers in 2007 in particular and has led to a delay in the mainstream introduction of hi-def as a result. Clear positioning therefore has advantages for consumers, producers and retailers," said Franz Woodtli, Home Entertainment Director at Constantin Film AG.

Hauppauge Digital, Inc. demonstrated at CES 2008 for the first time their "HD PVR", a USB Personal Video Recorder which can record high definition TV video into H.264 in real time. The HD PVR can connect to high definition cable TV or satellite TV set top box receivers, and uses its on-board H.264 hardware encoder to record high definition TV programs in an ISO standard HD H.264 AVC format in real time.

The connections to the set top boxes are made via component cables, or the RGB connectors on HD set top boxes. The HD PVR includes a video player application which allows the recorded TV programs to be played back on a PC screen. To enable automatic recording of TV programs, the HD PVR recorder includes Hauppauge's IR Blaster, which controls the channels on most popular cable and satellite TV set top boxes in North America and Europe.

Yet another security flaw in how Apple's QuickTime software handles the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) has been revealed. If exploited by a malicious user, it is possible to run arbitrary code on a victim's computer. This flaw affects fully patched QuickTime version 7.3.1, running on Windows and possibly Mac OS X. It bares some resemblance to the QuickTime RTSP flaw reported in December.

Discovery of the latest flaw is credited to Luigi Auriemma, who has posted a concept exploit on his site. "For exploiting this vulnerability is only needed that an user follows a rtsp:// link, if the port 554 of the server is closed QuickTime will automatically change the transport and will try the HTTP protocol on port 80, the 404 error message of the server (other error numbers are valid too) will be visualized in the LCD-like screen," Auriemma wrote.

Source:
News.com

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Panasonic showed two new full-High Definition 3CCD camcorders, the HDC-HS9, a hybrid model that can record to either an SD (or SDHC) Memory Card or its built-in 60-GB hard disk and the HDC-SD9, the world's smallest and lightest SD card High Definition camcorder, weighing in at just 0.606 pounds. Both offer Full HD, 1080p recordings at 24 frames per second.

Both the SD9 and HS9 feature new Panasonic camcorder technologies called Face Detection and Intelligent Shooting Guide. "Consumers will be amazed by the richness and clarity of the video taken with one of these new High Definition camcorders, as this is quality they are accustomed to getting when they go to the movies," Alex Fried, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company.



Fried added: "Panasonic is bringing the benefits of High Definition right into the living room, so anyone can enjoy high-quality videos in the comforts of their home. And with new features such as Face Detection and Intelligent Shooting Guide, these new intuitive technologies help consumers easily produce video content they would be proud to view in High Definition."

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Hewlett-Packard (HP) showed off its MediaSmart Receiver, an addition to its home entertainment connectivity rollout. The MediaSmart Receiver is a compact Set-Top Box that can connect to a high-definition (HD) television set using the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard.

Once connected to a HDTV, it connects it to a home wireless network. WiFi a/b/g/n is supported and the devices is compatible with the UPnP and DLNA streaming standards. The set-top box provides access to Microsoft's Online Media download service. Pictures, music and videos from PC's on the same network can be streamed and viewed on any connected HDTV.



The device has a nice piano-black finish and blue feature lighting with a strange patterned top design. No details on pricing or availability have been released yet.

Nintendo's effort to make the Wii console an exercise and fitness accessory is paying off in the company's home market of Japan. The Wii Fittitle, unveiled at the E3 Expo in 2007, consists of a wireless balance board that uses pressure sensors to judge a player's movement while playing games like hopscotch, ski-jumping or 'chase the doughnut'.

The controller for the Wii is already seen to demand more physical activity from a player than any other home console (excluding add-ons like a Dance Dance Revolution mat) on most games, and the extra Wii Fit accessory just pushes the bar a little bit higher. The company is attempting to attract more than the traditional gamer to the Wii console, and this extra piece of hardware is just another way to re-enforce that effort.

Following its launch in Japan at the beginning of December, it has gone on to sell 1 million units, which is a good indication of how it may perform in other territories. However, Nintendo does not have complete overseas sales plans for Wii Fit just yet.

Source:
Reg Hardware

Microsoft Corp. has re-affirmed its sole dedication to the HD DVD format, despite comments made during this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a lot of attention on the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray following the decision by Warner Bros. to support the Blu-ray format exclusively.

Ever since then, there has been rumors and speculation about what studios or corporations would be willing to switch sides or drop a neutral stance, and several did. Comments made by Microsoft's group marketing manager for Xbox hardware, Albert Penello created a bit of a stir after being asked by Reuters if Microsoft would ever offer a Blu-ray accessory for the Xbox 360.

"It should be consumer choice, and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider," he responded. With the previous decision by Warner Bros. and then speculation that Universal and Paramount were getting ready to drop HD DVD too (both denied), the comments could not have come at a worse time for the HD DVD group.

According to a report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, daily Internet traffic to video-sharing websites such as Google Inc.'s YouTube doubled in 2007 compared to the previous year. The report stated that nearly half of adult Internet users have visited these video sites. In December 2006, 33% of of Internet users had been to video-sharing sites, and now it sits at 48%.

Of 2,054 adults surveyed between late October and early December, about 15% claimed to watched an online video the day before they were asked, which is up from 8% in 2006. Men continue to lead women in this area, with 53% of male respondents being frequent viewers compared to 43% of female respondents. However, average daily use among women did raise enough to contribute significantly to the overall increases.

The main reasons for the continued growth in online video is the increasing amount of homes with broadband and the rapidly growing catalog of video content on sites like YouTube. Far more people also posted their own videos to these websites than those who did in 2006. "Everything connected to online video doubled last year," said James McQuivey, an analyst at industry research firm Forrester.

It is rumored that Microsoft Corp. is looking to take-over Logitech, a company based in Switzerland that specializes in equipment for PCs, audio system, games consoles and more. Shares of the company surged in value on Thursday as rumors circulated amongst traders. Logitech has a market capitalization of around 7 billion Swiss francs, and Microsoft reportedly bid at 48 francs per share.

"Rumors are rumors. I can't make any specific comment on them," Daniel Borel, co-founder, and the company's largest shareholder, told Reuters. Logitech would be a good acquisition for Microsoft, which is always trying to further its stretch into the living room with Windows Media Extenders, like the Xbox 360 console.

Logitech recently showed off new products at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Source:
PocketLint.co.uk

In an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates said the company will not launch a mobile phone product to compete directly with Apple's iPhone. The iPhone was released mid-2007 and was a big hit with consumers. Of course, it has long been speculated that Microsoft would make something to compete with the iPhone and Apple.

"No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program," Gates said. "We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly more than if we would make our own mobile phone."

Microsoft already competes with Apple's iPod products by selling its Zune MP3 players. While the latest update to the Zune models has been seen by many as the best threat to the iPod so far, Apple remains far ahead in the market and isn't showing signs of budging.

Source:
Yahoo (Reuters)

Matsushita Industrial Electric Co., Ltd. is looking to change its name to Panasonic Corp., the strong, well-known brand name given to its internationally sold products. While the name change is being made to avoid consumer confusion and for the good of the company, there are mixed feelings about it, as it was originally named after its charismatic founder, Konosuke Matsushita.

Matsushita President Fumio Ohtsubo said that the name change would bring more value to the company than nostalgia possibly could. "We must create more than what we are giving up," he said Thursday, speaking from the Osaka headquarters. The name change was approved by a Board of Directors and will go into effect on October 1st, pending approval at an upcoming shareholders meeting.

Konosuke Matsushita, along with Sony founder Akio Morita, is credited with leading Japan's modernization and economic success in the post-World War II world. He died in 1989 at age 94 after inspiring Japanese corporate culture, remembered for making claims like only good companies that contribute to social well-being can be truly successful.

In Japan, he is known as "The God of Management"; a title that would seem impossible when he was working at a brazier store at age 9 after his family lost its fortune. Members of the Matsushita family were informed of the intention to change the company name, and reportedly welcomed the move for the good of the company's future.

Several days ago, rumors circulated that Paramount was preparing to drop the HD DVD format for the rival Blu-ray Disc format following a Financial Times report. Paramount denied the claim (not the first time a denial of this kind has been made before a switch) and now there is yet another report, this time saying that Universal Studios is preparing to dump HD DVD for Blu-ray.

"Universal's commitment to backing HD DVD exclusivity has ended," Daily Variety reported on Wednesday. Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation are the only major Hollywood studios left backing the Toshiba-developed HD DVD format.

Warner Bros., HBO and New Line Cinema recently decided to back Blu-ray exclusively in the format war, leading to speculation that the battle was coming to an end and Blu-ray would emerge victorious. Right now, retailers decline to give any input on which format will win, but it is obvious that Blu-ray is the stronger of both in terms of support.

Even Microsoft Corp.'s Albert Penello revealed at CES that the company would consider a Blu-ray Disc accessory for the Xbox 360 console if consumers would demand it. Microsoft is a strong backer of the HD DVD format. As for Universal, the only thing we are guaranteed of right now is the continued spreading of rumors throughout the media.

At the Adult Entertainment Expo, which opened in Las Vegas on Wednesday, some technology is being shown that will aid you in getting content for those nice and big flat-panel television screens shown off at CES at the exact same time. Miami-based entrepreneur Estefano Isaias is showing off Fyre, a Set-Top Box that delivers DVD-quality video content on demand. The entire catalog of Fyre is composed of adult video.

Fyre is simply connected via Ethernet to a network with a broadband Internet connection and hooked up to a TV. From there, a user can browse through a list of 20,000 titles that are already available. The device itself is free, but there are subscription options ranging from $10 to $100 per month.

For comparison, a mainstream service from Vudu Inc. offers up about 5,000 movies and works in much the same way as Fyre. The video is provided by the big names in Adult Entertainment, who get a share of Fyre's revenue from subscription fees. The content itself is protected from digital copying by use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.

Leggett & Platt Inc. is another company that wants to make people even more lazy around the house than they already are. Many people these days are used to having Internet access, television and many tech gadgets available in their bedroom, but this company has gone a step further and built them directly into the bed itself. The Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed was on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Available with the bed, besides the mattress, is built in wireless Internet connectivity, an iPod Dock, surround sound speakers, LCD projector, dual temperature controls and of course, a DVR. Another feature present would be very useful to at least one person that I know; it can detect if a "user" is snoring and will elevate the bed 7 degrees at that end and return to the original position once the snoring stops.

So if you are already smiling wide because now you have no reason other than the bathroom to leave your bed, then I hope you have an extra-fat wallet because this bed is expected to sell for between $20,000 and $50,000 when it becomes available this year. "I know it sounds like a lot, but you show me somebody that sleeps in a bed with someone that snores; I will show you a person that thinks $20,000 is a very small amount to pay to solve that problem," Mark Quinn, group executive vice president for Leggett & Platt's bedding division, said Tuesday.

DivX Inc. and Sony Pictures Television Inc. have announced an agreement that will permit online video download sources to sell content from Sony Pictures using the high quality DivX format. Sony Pictures produces TV series, telefilms, theatrical releases and family entertainment for network and Cable Television, as well as first-run and off-network series for syndication.

"We are dedicated to finding legitimate outlets for our content and to that end are excited to be working with DivX to provide retailers with an expanded ecosystem for the digital distribution and playback of our digital media," said Michael Arrieta, Executive Vice President, Digital Distribution & Mobile Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television.

Downloads in this format will be compatible with DivX Certified players, which are produced by a wide variety of manufacturers. "This milestone agreement lays the foundation for Sony to offer high quality video content in the DivX format to its retail partners for playback on next-generation DivX Certified devices," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd primary subsidiary Panasonic Corporation of North America is showing off its latest Blu-ray disc player. The DMP-BD50 supports the best of what the Blu-ray format offers, including its Full HD 1080p output. This model adds support for BD-Live, which brings web interactivity to the Blu-ray format, allowing users to download additional content.

VIERA Link technology is also built in to this latest player, which allows the control of an entire home entertainment system using one remote. The BD Live feature will eventually allow users to connect the device to the Internet and download extra content such as images and subtitles, and even play in multi-player games with friends.

The DMP-BD50 employs Panasonic's Uniphier system, which is composed of an PHL Reference Chroma processor and P4HD i/p conversion processor, producing sharp, crisp, natural colors that are extremely faithful to the original movie. The player can decode Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio for the best sound experience.

Following a price cut, improved game line-up and availability of a lower priced model, Sony managed to move 1.2 million PS3 units in North America during the crucial holiday shopping season, providing a significant boost for the gaming platform and - Sony claims - the Blu-ray disc format. The PS3 rivals Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii in the multi-billion market for video game content.

The PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld console also had a decent holiday season with 1.4 million units snatched up by consumers. To remind us that the previous generation of gaming is still alive and well, the PlayStation 2 (PS2) was very popular during the holidays in North America also, managing to sell 1.3 million units.

Adding up the figures for the three common PlayStation-branded items; PS2, PS3 and PSP, you get a figure of 3.9 million unit sales in North America during the holiday season for the devices. Last year, the PS3's launch was negatively affected by a high price tag, lack of attractive games and of course, the consumers' fascination with Nintendo Wii and DS Lite.

Verbatim Americas, LLC is featuring an expanded line of Blu-ray writable media at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. While already having 2x BD recordable (BD-R) and BD rewritable (BD-RE) media on the market, the company is showing 6 new BD products scheduled to begin shipping in the first half of 2008. The new products include 4x BD-R discs, Single-sided Double-layer (DL) 2x BD-R and BD-RE discs, Mini BD-R and BD-RE discs and 1-2x BD-R LTH TYPE discs.

Verbatim's 25GB BD-R 4X media allows a user to write an entire disc in approximately 23 min. The higher performance makes the 4x BD-R media suitable not only for recording personal high-definition video, but also for backing up PC data or archiving photo collections. To achieve the higher speed burning, the proprietary Metal Ablative Recording Layer (MABL) technology developed for the first Verbatim BD-R media has to be fine-tuned.

Verbatim will release its 25GB 4x BD-R media in Q1 2008. To meet demands for capacity, the company will release 2x BD-R DL media in Q2 2008, followed by 4x BD-R DL media later on in the year. With two recording layers on a single side, users can enjoy seamless recording of up to 50GB or about 4 hours of HD-quality video on a single disc without having to flip or change the disc.

Sonic Solutions has announced that RITEK Corporation has signed a Qflix technology and IP licensing agreement. The Qflix program offers a new means for content owners to release titles for custom production and sale over the Internet while maintaining the same level of copy protection used on commercially mass-produced DVDs. RITEK is now taking orders on specialized DVDs that will enable the on-demand recording of digitally distributed entertainment with CSS encryption.

"We are delighted to be an official manufacturer and distributor of Qflix DVDs and to be participating in the new entertainment value chain Sonic's technologies are helping to establish," said Eric Ai, RITEK spokesperson. "Our long-standing reputation for producing discs of uncompromising quality and compatibility will help ensure a consistent and reliable consumer entertainment experience regardless of whether content is ordered online, purchased at retail, or produced in the home."

The Qflix brand will appear on other consumer products and services including compatible drives and video download services as a symbol for consumers looking for legitimate "purchase, download, and burn" solutions. Qflix is also the label for the technology and licensing program that includes product and component certification to enable content owners, service providers, and manufacturers of recordable media, PC DVD writers, network-connected DVD recorders, set-top boxes, and software to create compatible and interoperable solutions.

LaCie is showing off the new LaCinema Premier multimedia hard disk drive that makes storing and viewing digital content easier than ever. Available in capacities of 500GB, 700GB and 1TB, huge amounts of digital video and audio files can be transfered directly from a computer via USB 2.0, and then played directly from the device on a connected TV.

An included remote control allows you to navigate through your stored digital content with an on-screen menu system. An optical output even enables surround sound enjoyment. While in operation, the device runs silent to avoid spoiling your viewing. Standard Definition content can be upscaled to 1080i if connected to a HDTV.

The LaCinema Premier supports...

• Audio: MP3, WMA, AC3, Ogg Vorbis
• Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DVD-Video (ISO, IFO, VOB)
• Photo: JPEG

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Sony demonstrated an upcoming addition to Blu-ray titles; lower-resolution versions of the video content. Using a PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles, which can read BD-ROM discs, and a PlayStation Portable (PSP) console with a MemoryStick Duo for storage, Sony inserted a Blu-ray title into a PS3 and produced a video compatible with the PSP.

The PlayStation 3 did not encode the video however, the copy for the PSP system is permanently stored on the Blu-ray title itself, with no expiration date and at apparently no extra cost. "There was always the promise of greater inactivity," said David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The new feature is not yet part of the company's release schedule, but Bishop said he expected to see Sony Pictures rolling it out this year. Not many details were given on whether the video content could be transfered to portable devices other than a PSP.

Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. is aiming to assist consumers in keeping vital digital media safe with its introduction today of five new computer drives offering high speed performance and multi-format compatibility. The internal and external DVD/CD writers offer computer users an impressive 20x write speed along with software from Nero for high quality as well as creative preservation and sharing of digital content.

Here is some brief info on each of the new drives...

Pioneer DVR-X152: External USB 2.0 DVD/CD Writer
Connected via USB 2.0 interface, this drive provides users quick connectivity and convenient portability among multiple computers, providing what Pionner describes as "simple 'plug and preserve' functionality".

The DVR-X152 provides 20X burning on DVD-R media by using industry-leading drive technology. It is bundled with Nero software to assist owners in creating and burning a digital library, and also supports Lightscribe functionality with compatible media.

Maxell Corporation of America has unveiled a lens cleaner for HD DVD and Blu-ray hardware, aimed at prolonging the life and quality of HD DVD and Blu-ray products. The cleaner features a patented Wind Funnel Cleaning System that can remove dust and dirt from sensitive equipment without the need for brushes or chemicals.

"As technology expands, proper care is needed to prolong the life and quality of products that consumers have invested in," said Gordon Tetreault, director of sales and marketing for Maxell's accessory products. "The new Blu-Ray Lens Cleaner will ensure you can enjoy the very best your media has to offer by delicately removing excessive build up and residue which can tarnish the viewing experience and even damage a player completely."

While the disc rotates in the player, it generates an air stream in a spiral motion which is used to remove dust particles from the lens without damaging the surface. Maxell's new Blu-Ray/HD DVD Lens Cleaner will be available in March 2008 for a suggested retail price of $24.99.

A Dutch organization that compensates artists with levies collected from sales of blank media has failed to remove a Government block placed on the formation of new levies for MP3 players and related hardware. The court in The Hague upheld the Government's previous decision to freeze possible levies for MP3 players because it found that the the artists' rights bodies were not distributing levies on blank CD and DVD media efficiently as it is.

The Government's defense is simple; why trust such organizations with the distribution of more revenue when they already do not function properly? "You cannot give such a system the responsibility for a new levy if you know that it is not working properly," a justice ministry spokesman said.

Marnix Langeveld, legal affairs executive of the rights organization Norma, accused the ministry of basing its arguments on old numbers. "Technology has advanced and people more and more use MP3 players and DVD recorders with a hard disk to copy instead of single CDs or DVDs," Langeveld said.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware indicated that Microsoft could consider making a Blu-ray accessory available for the Xbox 360 console even though it remains a backer of the HD DVD format. "It should be consumer choice; and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider," he said when asked if Microsoft would support Blu-ray if HD DVD failed.

He said the company does not consider Warner Bros.' surprise decision last week to back the Blu-ray format exclusively as having a negative impact on the Xbox 360 in the current "console war". "I fundamentally don't think ... this has a significant impact on Xbox 360 versus (Sony's) PlayStation 3," he told Reuters at CES.

"With the PlayStation 2, DVD was a big part in the beginning, but over time, people were not buying it as a DVD player after first year or two," Penello said. While you can purchase a relatively cheap HD DVD external drive for the Xbox 360 console for high-definition movies, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) comes loaded with its own Blu-ray player.

Sling Media, Inc. is demonstrating Clip+Sling at CES as part of the company's new SlingPlayer 2.0 client software. Clip+Sling gives Slingbox customers the ability to "grab" snippets of their favorite television content and instantly share them with friends. As part of the demonstration at CES, Sling Media is also giving a sneak peak of the forthcoming video destination site, Sling.com.

Slingbox customers can upload clips to Sling.com. Clip+Sling is made possible by Sling Media's new SlingPlayer 2.0, the client software for the PC that gives Slingbox customers the ability to 'placeshift' their television content to a desktop or laptop computer located just about anywhere.

"Clip+Sling will be another exciting feature for Slingbox owners to use and enjoy, but it will also be appreciated by millions of other people who may discover a new show or favorite movie, thanks to the recommendations of their friends," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sling Media. "Because of this fundamental shift in the way consumers create, share and interact with content, Clip+Sling will change the way people socialize around television."

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony Corp. is showing off one of the potential candidates to replace both LCD and Plasma display technology. A lot of media attention has been given to organic-light-emitting-diode (OLED) display technology in recent years, and for good reason. The technology offers lower power consumption at a time when the world is more conscious of energy consumption than ever, and a much brighter picture.

It is not without its problems however. First of all, it is incredibly expensive to mass-produce as a viable display option for TV viewing these days, and technical problems hold back displays from growing. There are issues to work out with how long an OLED display will "live" also. Nevertheless, consumer electronics companies are in a competition to make this technology usable and cheaper to manufacture.

Sony is to start selling an 11-inch OLED display immediately for about $2000, quite a bit more than you'd expect to pay for a much larger screen using a rival technology. It is just 3mm thick, and Sony is actually currently developing flexible OLED displays but that is still in the lab stages. "You are going to see us do bigger sizes down the road. It is a new technology that is going to take several years before it competes with plasma and LCD," Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow said.

Nero is showcasing the latest Windows Vista-enhanced Nero 8 software suite in the Microsoft booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Nero's latest package of applications gives consumers the tools to organize and manage their digital content more than previous versions of the popular software title. Nero 8 allows users to author and playback HD-DVD content; play and stream digital media through their digital home; rip, burn and back-up discs faster and easier, and more.

"Windows Vista is a crucial component in the next chapter of digital home technology. We worked with Microsoft to ensure that the Nero 8 software suite is an extension of the already strong foundation of the Windows Vista operating system," said Udo Eberlein, chief operating officer, Nero AG. "Windows Vista optimization adds significant value to Nero 8, providing enhancements that help meet the digital media needs of our users."

Optimized features of Nero 8 for Windows Vista include...

• Nero DiscCopy gadget: Gives users the ability to copy a disc with just one click and rests in the Windows Vista Sidebar, making it fast and simple to move content.
• Nero RichPreview: Easily browse and preview audio, video and images without opening it. Previews can be completed via Windows Explorer and/or the Nero FileOpenDialogue within Windows Vista.
• Live Icons: This feature streamlines the user’s ability to quickly view content with enhanced browsing of thumbnails, support for a wide range of multimedia files and the embedded album art for Nero Digital audio files.

Sling Media has given public demonstrations of its SlingCatcher product at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The SlingCatcher is a Set-Top Box that seamlessly delivers broadcast TV, Internet-based content and personal media to the TV, capable of pulling content from multiple sources and places while providing easy navigation and playback.

"We're thrilled to be showing the SlingCatcher with its full set of features here at CES and it's great to see the enthusiasm in the market for this product. We have been spending a lot of time perfecting new technology that is vital to the SlingCatcher's user experience but sometimes these things take longer than expected," said Blake Krikorian, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sling Media. "We had hoped to deliver the product for the Christmas holiday, but to plagiarize a well known wine maker; we shall sell no SlingCatcher before its time."

SlingCatcher is composed of SlingPlayer for TV, SlingSync and SlingProjector that combine to create a unified media platform to provide the owner complete control over their personal media. Being able to "sling" programming from one TV or device to anywhere in a home over a LAN or WLAN is one thing, but with the upcoming Slingbox PRO-HD, customers will be able to do the same with high-definition content.

According to a Financial Times report, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation may be ready to drop support for the HD DVD format following last week's shock announcement that Warner Bros. would support Blu-ray exclusively. Viacom-owned Paramount apparently signed a contract with the HD DVD camp that included a clause allowing it to switch sides in the format war if Warner Bros. should do so.

Last summer, Paramount, which distributes DreamWorks Animation films, threw its support behind the HD DVD format, joining General Electric's Universal Studios as the main backer of the format. Warner joined the ranks of Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer last week when it switched sides to back the Blu-ray format instead.

Paramount is expected to release several blockbuster titles this year including the latest installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. It is unclear whether DreamWorks Animation had the same clause in its contract as Paramount but the odds are high due to the close relationship between both. Each company signed a contract with the HD DVD group at the same time.

Westinghouse Digital Electronics has teamed up with Pulse~LINK, Inc. in the development and unveiling of the first fully integrated wireless High-definition television (HDTV). Both companies have the new HDTV on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Westinghouse is one of the top 5 LCD manufacturers, while Pulse~LINK is the UWB semiconductor performance leader whose integrated CWave UWB Wireless HDMI technology is featured in the HDTV set.

"Our focus at Westinghouse Digital has been centered around delivering the best HD has to offer," said John Araki, Vice President and General Manager, Commercial Business Unit, Westinghouse Digital Electronics. "HDMI digital transport provides the full HD resolution our customers expect and we are extremely impressed with the performance and capabilities of Pulse~LINK's Wireless HDMI solution. The fact that it is fully integrated into our HDTV display is unprecedented in the industry and will certainly raise expectations for high quality ready-to-mount wall display products in the marketplace."

Philips is showing off its latest Blu-ray Disc (BD) player, the BDP7200, at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. It is Philips' first BonusView compliant BD player, optimizing the complete HD experience and allowing viewers to enjoy the latest movie applications and features. It supports Full HD 1080p images for the best of HD video quality and supports multi-channel audio decoding for crisp sound and features digital audio optical outputs.




Standard definition DVD titles can be upscaled by the player to 1080p. The BDP7200 supports Full HD images at the original 24fps rate via High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and "Deep Color" support, capable of producing images with up to 1 billion colors. "Blu-ray Disc has rapidly become the format of choice for high-definition movies, music, games and more," said Andy Mintz, senior vice president, marketing management AM/VM, Philips Consumer Lifestyle North America.

Sony Electronics is showing off an affordable Blu-ray drive for PCs that the company claims can turn almost any modern Desktop into a Blu-ray-driven home entertainment center. The new BDU-X10S BD-ROM uses the Serial ATA (SATA) interface to connect to a motherboard and is designed for the Microsoft Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows XP operating systems.

It is bundled with the Blu-ray Edition of Cyberlink's PowerDVD Ultra for playback, supporting over 500 available commercial Blu-ray movie titles, recorded Blu-ray Home Video and of course DVD-ROM. "The BD-ROM drive's sub-$200 price tag offers consumers a very viable option to discover and enjoy the nearly 500 high-definition Blu-ray Disc movies released to date," said Bob DeMoulin, marketing manager for branded storage products in Sony Electronics' IT Products Division.

Following what seems to be a current trend, Napster will begin offering music downloads without any Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions within a few months. The brand "Napster" can claim a lot of the responsibility for building consumer interest in compressed digital audio files during its less-legitimate days as the dominant P2P application, but as a legitimate service it can only follow behind Apple's iTunes thus far.

Napster users will soon be able to buy DRM-free downloads of single songs or full albums from the service, but of course, the monthly subscription "rental" model should remain unchanged. While certainly a good announcement for consumers, Napster didn't have any extra details to offer up including any details about pricing or what major labels will be offering their DRM-free content through the service.

All the big four major record companies have either already started, or have announced plans to sell DRM-free music downloads through other outlets. "The ubiquity and cross-platform compatibility of MP3s should create a more level playing field for music services and hardware providers and result in greater ease of use and broader adoption of digital music," Napster CEO Chris Gorog said in a statement.

Seagate Technology has announced its brand new PipelineHD series of hard disk drives developed for use in digital video recorders at a time when increasing amounts of high definition video content are available to consumers. Initial capacities for the drives are planned up to 1TB, which the company claims allows for the recording of 200 hours of high definition video content, or 1,000 hours of standard definition video content.

Besides offering enough storage space for hundreds of hours of video, the new HDDs also have several other features that cater to the needs of home entertainment buffs. The drives have been designed for superior acoustic performance and Seagate claims they are virtually silent while used with DVR equipment.

Several key design elements of the new line of hard drives aims to keep power consumption low in all modes of operation, reducing environmental impact and energy costs when used with an energy-efficient DVR system. "Today’s consumer is no longer asking whether they need hard drive storage for their digital content – they're asking us how much we can deliver," said Patrick King, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate's Consumer Electronics Business Unit. "Today's announcement furthers Seagate's leadership in meeting the demands of the consumer's digital content storage, by offering the most dynamic hard drive for the DVR market."

Microsoft Corp. is touting impressive sales performance for the Xbox 360 console over the last three months of 2007. The Redmond-based software giant moved 4.3 million units over the fourth quarter of the year following excellent performances of titles such as Halo 3 and Mass Effect. This brings the total number of Xbox 360 consoles sold to 17.7 million since its November 2005 debut according to the company.

"Holiday 2007 was a blockbuster season for the gaming industry," Microsoft said, claiming the Xbox 360 kept a lead over rivals in terms of money spent on software and hardware. While neither Sony or Nintendo have released sales figures for the holiday season yet, as of September 2007, the Wii had sold 13.2 million units and the PS3 had sold 5.6 million units.

Microsoft's Xbox Live service suffered from performance problems over the holidays. Before the holiday sales surge, it had already 8 million members, many who pay a $50 yearly fee to play against friends over the Internet. "While the service was not completely offline at any given time, we are disappointed in our performance," Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten said in a statement

Japanese conglomerate Hitachi is set to show off a new 50-inch plasma television at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas that measures just 1.5-inches thick. That is less than one third of the average 5-inch or more thickness of plasma televisions. According to Bill Whalen, director of product development at Hitachi, this TV will come to the market in 2009 and will probably weigh about 90 pounds.

"It could be a new category in plasma," Whalen said. The television sets shown off at CES never fail to amaze the tech world, with a constant competition running for who can make the biggest TV. Last year, Sharp inherited the crown by showing off a 108-inch LCD TV, while this year Panasonic is expected to stun the attendees with a 150-inch plasma TV.

Along with offering the biggest TV sets, the TV makers also try to slim them down as much as possible. For example, JVC claims a 42-inch LCD TV that is just 22mm thick, while Sharp has a 52-inch set that is 20mm thick.

Source:
News.com

Sirius Satellite Radio managed to hit a previously set target by growing its base of subscribers to 8.3 million before the end of 2007. This represents a 38% increase in overall subscribers. In a statement, Sirius said it added 2.3 million net subscribers in the year, making it the highest number of gross subscriber additions in the entire history of the company.

"Based upon preliminary financial data, we expect to report significantly greater positive free cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2007 than the company reported in the fourth quarter of 2006," said Mel Karmazin, chief executive of Sirius, in a statement on Thursday.

At the beginning of 2007, Sirius revealed that it was aiming to add 2 million subscribers during the year in order to reach over 8 million in total. XM Satellite Radio said early last year it expected to end the year with between 9.0 and 9.2 million subscribers in total. Sirius is currently in the process of potentially acquiring XM.

Source:
Reuters

This year, the European Commission will make proposals for the creation of a single European market for online multimedia services that sell music, video and games content. As part of the objective, the Commission must make proposals on how to tackle illegal downloads, which have prevented many content providers from offering multimedia for online consumption.

"Europe's content sector is suffering under its regulatory fragmentation, under its lack of clear, consumer-friendly rules for accessing copyright-protected online content and serious disagreements between stakeholders about fundamental issues such as levies and private copying," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said.

A spokesman said that legislation is not the aim of the move. "At the moment we are at the beginning of the process," he said. While EICTA welcomed the move, it questioned whether the Executive's decision to make a non-binding recommendation on the steps to be taken was the right approach as opposed to just going straight for legislation.

"It means you are not going to see any really meaningful changes for consumers for at least a couple of years," EICTA Director General Mark MacGann told Reuters. "It may be too little, too late." The European Commission expects the market for Internet downloads to grow from from €1.8 billion in 2005 to €8.3 billion in 2010.

Motorola Inc. will be showcasing its new DH01 mobile live TV device at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), expanding its reach in the market for portable consumer electronics. The handset maker that has recently lost cell phone market share, also stated that the device will be capable of playing back on-demand video clips and programs saved on digital video recorders.

Wireless carriers are interested in new mobile TV and video products like the DH01, hoping they will boost revenues as cell phone service prices continue to fall. Motorola, along with Nokia, Samsung and LG, already sells mobile phones with live TV capabilities. While both Apple's iPhone and iPod can play video content, neither support live TV.

"I think we'll see more of these types of devices," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi, adding it is unclear whether consumers will decide to carry devices dedicated to mobile live TV along with a simpler cell phone, or a device that combines both. The DH01 sports a 4.3 inch video screen, a four hour battery and the ability to pause live TV for up to five minutes.

It is compatible with the DVBH standard that is backed by European regulators. DVBH services are already available in many countries including Finland and Italy. "It's going to take a few years for DVBH to take off in Europe," said Oppenheimer analyst Lawrence Harris. Motorola also plans to unveil set-top boxes at CES.

Users of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox Live service have been reporting performance problems over the holiday weeks. The service, which offers downloadable games, multiplayer gaming and Movie/TV Show downloads, was suffering due to record breaking traffic and new member sign-ups, according to Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live. "We are disappointed in our performance," Whitten wrote on the Xbox 360 support web site.

The issues reported by users included problems connecting to the Xbox Live service, downloading multimedia content and establishing connections with other users of the service for multiplayer gaming. The company has not publicly detailed the exact problems with the service, nor has it given any information on how it has addressed the issues.

Xbox Live members will be offered a free game download as an apology from Microsoft for the issues. It is unknown what the game Title will be, but it will be available from the Xbox Live Arcade. According to figures released by Microsoft, the Xbox 360 has sold more than 17.7 million units worldwide since its November 2005 debut.

Source:
Yahoo (AP)