Home video

Samsung shows off new Blu-ray player, has HDMI 1.3

Samsung was the first to roll out a Blu-ray player last year, and now they're the first company to roll out a standard form-factor player with HDMI 1.3. The new BD-P1200 offers many of the same features as last year's BD-P1000: 1080p playback; DVD upconversion to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p; and a stylish design. The BD-P1200's HDMI output is also compatible with the consumer electronics control (CEC) format, which should enable compatible products to send commands between each other--for instance, a CEC-compatible TV could send commands to the BD-P1200 and tell it to turn on and … Read more

An adapter for all kinds of media

At CES 2007, Zyxel announced the DMA-1000, a digital media adapter for serving up multimedia files from the PCs in your home to your home entertainment system. The small adapter resembles a wireless router and, in fact, supports both wired and wireless connections via Ethernet and 802.11g Wi-Fi. In addition, it offers a USB port so that you can play files from any USB-based storage device, such as a flash thumbdrive or an MP3 player.

The DMA-1000 supports high-def streaming (1080i) and includes an HDMI connector, as well as S-Video. Unfortunately, 802.11g throughput is insufficient for HD streams, … Read more

Warner details combo HD DVD/Blu-ray disc

As reported last week, Warner Brothers announced yesterday at CES its introduction of a new disc format that will contain both HD DVD and Blu-ray versions of the same movie, so it would work with either type of player. Warner calls the new format Total HD.

The studio fleshed out a few more details at the press conference. It announced that major retailers Best Buy and Circuit City, along with online retailer Amazon, will stock the discs when they appear in the second half of this year. It also specified, according to Reuters, that the discs could be either single- … Read more

What? You still want more Macworld goodies?

If you're still eager for more photo and video content from yesterday's bonanza at Macworld, look no further.

Video: First Look at the iPhone. Declan McCullagh braves the hordes of Apple fanatics to actually get a look at the hallowed iPhone, despite the fact that Jobs & co. won't actually let anyone touch it. Video: First Look at Apple TV. Unlike the iPhone, the Apple TV box was actually on hand for visitors to get their grubby fingers on it. Here's Declan's take. Video: Apple TV at Steve Jobs' keynote. It wasn't webcast, but … Read more

Catch ya on the flip-side

Warner Bros. will be making some of its films available on "Total Hi Def" DVDs, which are, ingeniously, HD DVD on one side and Blu-ray on the other.

The combo discs are the same size as always but contain both single and dual layers for both formats. A Total Hi Def DVD can have 15GB or 30GB on the HD DVD side and 25GB or 50GB on the Blu-ray side.

The Total Hi Def DVDs (THD DVDs? THDs?) will begin appearing some time after July, in conjunction with normal movie-to-DVD release schedules, Warner Bros. said at CES.

The … Read more

Nikko's nerdtacular Star Wars R2-D2 gear

These are probably the greatest gadgets I've seen at all of CES. Massive HDTVs and supercharged game PCs are great, but they can't compare to products fashioned to look and act like the galaxy's greatest astrodroid.

Electronics company Nikko, best known for its remote-controlled cars, has announced a DVD projection system and a wireless, networked Webcam, both based on Star Wars' R2-D2. The nerd truly is strong in these ones.

The R2-D2 DVD Projector is a 480p home-theater projector that looks just like the beloved robot. The 20-inch-tall projector features built-in speakers, an iPod dock, a memory … Read more

Neosonik home theater delivers wireless audio and video

Speaker wires and A/V cables are the bane of any home theater system. In recent years, most mainstream manufacturers have offered one of two options to cut the number of wires: produce virtual surround systems that offer only one or two speakers (plus a subwoofer); or utilize a wireless rear speaker module that eliminates the need to run speaker cables the length of the room (but still necessitates quite a few cables of its own). But true wireless A/V systems have remained elusive.

Enter Neosonik. The start-up hi-fi company is using CES to highlight its home theater technology … Read more

Viewing the spectacles in comfort

If you're not wandering the floors of Macworld, CES, the Detroit Auto Show or, for that matter, the neighborhood grocery store, you'll likely need some equipment of your own to virtually experience the spectacles in comfort. That's where Empower Technologies comes to the rescue with its iMedia Chair showcased this week on various displays this week.

Not only does this Barcalounger on steroids have a built-in 15-inch LCD, but it also boasts a THX-certified surround-sound system piped directly from your iPod controlled by a separate 3.5-inch touch screen, as BornRich points out. We also appreciate the … Read more

DVD recorders get digital ATSC tuners

DVD recorders are old news, but they've been given a little shot in the arm at CES 2007. Because of federal mandates that require any product with an analog tuner to also include a digital tuner, we've seen several DVD recorders with built-in ATSC tuners. That means you should be able to pull in free, over-the-air HDTV with these new DVD recorders and an antenna. The bottom line is that these recorders should be able to burn downconverted high-definition programs from the digital HD tuner in the correct wide-screen aspect ratio. Of course these burned discs won't … Read more

HP MediaSmart TV marketeer nimble on his flacking toes

I met with HP this morning to hear how its new MediaSmart TVs work with your Media Center PC ecosystem. (Takeaway: the TVs will play your PC-stored digital media, but you have to use Windows Media Player 11, and FairPlay-protected media from the iTunes Store won't work. Also, the built-in 802.11n wireless networking is a much-needed high-bandwidth touch.) The highlight of the meeting, though, was when a member of HP's PR team stepped in to hand the PR manager giving the presentation a write-up of the just-announced Apple TV device.

In a heretofore-unseen display of marketing agility, … Read more