Ready to jump on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, but don't feel like peeling ten Franklins off that bankroll? Sony's preparing to launch a lower cost Blu-Ray player this summer: the BDP-S300.
The S300's biggest selling point is its price: at $600, it's only slightly more expensive than a competing HD-DVD player. As such, it will also run about equal to the cost of the higher-end PlayStation 3, which was to date the cheapest Blu-Ray player available.
Strangely enough, Sony claims the S300 will have the "same capabilities" as its flagship BDP-S1 (pictured). Granted, in PR speak, that could mean anything from the exact same feature lineup to "yes, it also plays Blu-Ray discs." The S300 will also be physically somewhat smaller than the S1, about the same size as a conventional DVD player. It will do 1080p, and it will also play CDs, which the S1 won't.
Sony Electronics president Stan Glasgow also reputedly said that Blu-Ray players would drop below $500 by this holiday season. So unless you need one stat, you're probably better off waiting.
[via Engadget]
The two giants of satellite radio have announced a love match: XM and Sirius will combine in a deal worth around $13 million. Neither company is buying the other; rather it's "a merger of equals" where the final breakdown of stockholders will be roughly half from each company. XM chairman Gary Parsons will retain that post for the new company while Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin will take the chief executive position.
But are consumers the real winners here? The deal still faces regulatory hurdles, including a FCC that has previously stated its opposition to such a consolidation. Given, however, that satellite radio is positioned against media such as conventional radio, HD radio, Internet radio, and of course, MP3 players and CDs, and that both companies have had significant trouble posting profits, the FCC may change its tune.
My father is an XM subscriber, and while I can't say that he'll be chomping at the bit to get access to Howard Stern, the broadened lineup of sports programming will certainly appeal to him. No closing date for the merger has been announced yet.
Despite being cracked open faster than an ice cold beverage on a hot day, it doesn't mean that the next generation optical formats are going to back down. Au contraire. In Japan, Sharp is rolling out the BD-HP1, a Blu-Ray drive that not only plays back high-def content, but can also record it.
You'll need single-layer BD-R/RE discs for it to do its job, but using those you'll get over two hours of 1080p video or 6 hours of standard definition content. Besides its recording tricks, it can play back DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW discs over HDMI, S-video or composite, with optical and coaxial digital audio and surround sound support.
Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, there's a catch. Recording is accomplished via the BD-HP1's FireWire ports (though they're using Sony's iLink moniker), and as such only seems to work with Sharp's own Aquos LCD TVs. Supposedly you can also use the FireWire connection to copy material from a hard drive to a Blu-Ray disk, though Sharp says you'll need one of their Aquos HD Recorders.
The BD-HP1 drops in Japan on March 20th, though no official price has yet been announced.
[via Engadget]
What do you do when you want to put that new plasma TV you bought in your bedroom, but you just don't have anything to sit it on? You could mount it to the wall, but what if it doesn't fit with your décor? Not all homes are designed to work with 21st century geek, after all.
Well, assuming you're not using your valuable underbed storage space to keep rubbermaid bins full of vintage action figures, you could spring for this underbed lift by MK1 Studios. At the press of the button, the plasma will slide out and fold upwards so you can watch from the comfort of your bed, all within 45 seconds.
A king size bed has room to conceal a 50" panel, along with accouterments, but you'll need 8" of clearance under the bed (a queen can handle a 42" model). The price is in the if-you-have-to-ask range, but if you're shelling out for a 50" plasma, I imagine that you can spend a tad more.
I can see this as perfect for those cases in which your significant other doesn't want you to spend the money on a plasma. Just wait until they're asleep, and you can sneak it out. You might want to make sure that you're the one who cleans under the bed, though.
[via Oh Gizmo!]
On the off chance you've got more than one HDMI device sitting around and yet—horror of horrors!—you have but one HDMI input on your mega-monster HD display, relax. Evergreen's got an HDMI switch that should fix your problems all speedy like. It's a tiny little box that I'm going to have to describe in tremendous detail if I have any hope of making this post long enough. Simple enough: two HDMI signals enter, only one leaves. Well, at a time.
Anyway, jack in your PS3 and your HD DVD player and then hit the appropriate button to switch back and forth. Even a child can do it. Well, a child that knows how to press buttons. There's also an infrared remote that lets you do the switchy-switchy from the comfort of your couch, but the real high point is the device's low point: it's $82 pricetag. Nice.
[via GizmoWatch]
We've been talking up the LG Hybrid Player, ever since we learned of the super secret project surrounding its construction, deep in the bowels of LG's mountain lair. But now that the official ship date is mere days away, a few units have begun wending their way out to happy consumers. Gizmodo's Brian Lam just happens to be one of 'em, and he's posted his first review of the BH100.
Of course, the question on everybody's minds is whether or not this sucker will bring the next-gen optical format war to a close. The answer: mmmmm, probably not. For one thing, the BH100 seems to still lack full compatibility with HD DVD, making some of the spiffier features of that medium clunky at best, inaccessible at worst. There was also an issue getting it to output full 1080p resolution via HDMI to the display used, but your mileage may vary.
Still, the player gets a thumbs up for its sleek design, and for having decently speedy load times for both HD DVD and Blu-Ray (in the 30-40 seconds range). The BH100 will run you about $1200, which is actually slightly more than separate HD DVD and Blu-Ray players, so it's not likely to end battles any time soon. But if you're looking to cut down on clutter and don't mind sacrificing some of HD DVD's bells and whistles, well, this might be just the thing.
In case you haven't quite gotten the impression from my posts last week, CES is huge. For every gadget and gizmo I wrote up, there were a dozen or more that got left by the way side. In most cases, I was okay with that—you can't see everything.
But finding out that I missed an R2-D2 projector, well, that nearly killed me. Not only does R2 project 800x600 video out of his eye (the geek in me feels it necessary to point out that the actual holo-projector is the little lens next to the eye), but he has built-in speakers, a DVD player, and—the coup de grace—an iPod dock. And, apparently, you can make him follow you around via remote control, though I wouldn't suggest any place that requires the use of stairs.
I don't have price or availability information, or even a vendor, so I guess that means I'm out of luck for the time being. Maybe for my birthday this year, I can get a real R2-D2, instead of just the cake.
[via SCI FI Tech]
There's a whole lot of fighting to see who can make the biggest, bestest HD display. Among the contenders I've seen on the floor are offerings from Sharp, Panasonic, and LG, all of which are weighing it at over 100 inches. They vary in technology: Panasonic's model is a 103" plasma, while LG's 102" and Sharp's 108" are both LCD screens. At the moment, Sharp and Panasonic hold the world's records for largest plasma and LCD screens respectively: expect that to change before too long.
While hundred inch screens have a lot in the way of wow factor, I wonder if it's a size that is really only practical for the crème de la crème. I made a crack about not having a 103"-compatible wall, but as I started to think about it last night, I realized that it's actually true: there really isn't any place in my house that I think I could easily fit a one hundred inch screen. Then again, the pricetags are probably out of my reach as well. Of course, now that there's the AppleTV...
