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Panasonic makes your Blu-ray Discs portable

One of the biggest disadvantages to Blu-ray has been its lack of portability. While DVD players are virtually everywhere and portable DVD players are cheap, when you buy a Blu-ray Disc you're typically limited to watching it in your home theater. The Panasonic DMP-B15 looks to address this; it is the first portable Blu-ray player and it's also designed to be used easily around the house with a built-in stand. Here are the details.

Key features of the Panasonic DMP-B15:

8.9-inch WSVGA (1,024x600) LCD screen Three-hour rechargeable battery Profile 2.0 compatible Bitstream output for Dolby … Read more

iHome's chameleon iPod audio system

iHome is highlighting a few products at this year's CES and one of them, the iH15 LED Color Changing Stereo System, is actually available now for $59.99.

The concept behind this simple and compact iPod audio system is that you can customize its color thanks to an LED behind the iH15's translucent cabinet. It's unclear whether you get the full range of colors pictured in the photo or just four (as the specs imply below). We'll let you know was soon as we get that little detail confirmed.

Here's all the company has to … Read more

Acoustic Research bows two new universal remotes

Acoustic Research (a brand of Audiovox) has unveiled two new universal remotes that users can program directly (using a built-in code library) or via a PC. Both new models--dubbed "XSight"--look to be worthwhile contenders to our current favorite universal remote, the Logitech Harmony One.

Like that Logitech model--which costs between $200 and $250--the designs of the Acoustic Research XSight remotes mix hard buttons and color screens, and allow for task-based macro programming ("watch TV," "watch Blu-ray movie," etc.). But the XSight models one-up the Harmony with multiple user profiles and favorite channels lists, … Read more

Pocket Wall Street

The world of finance is sober, serious business--more so if your stocks or industry is struggling through a waning economy. Financial headlines, a ticker finder, and a fleshed-out index of world markets add up to make Bloomberg's native application for the iPhone and iPod Touch the window into Wall Street. A dark application, Bloomberg contains a read-only newsfeed and statistics on various exchanges in global markets. Highs, lows, and a graph of yearlong performance are displayed for each exchange--further charts and tables are available for industry and stock movers.

To discover individual stock performance, users simply enter the company … Read more

Do more than just tweak

TweakVista takes an unnecessarily complicated interface provided by Microsoft and simplifies it by organizing the myriad of system options into one clean design.

The app starts with a list of 10 options on the left nav, ranging from Start Up and Resources, down through Security and Power, and ending with Miscellaneous Tweaks. Each tab opens a new panel of topic-specific options, most with tabs of their own delineating between basic and advanced functions. For example, the Services tab controls access to many of the background processes. There are preconfigured Profiles for gamers, for saving memory, and so on. The Features … Read more

Tis the season to be a gamer

Not only are there some really good deals on game consoles this holiday season, but also on games. Starting December 7, Best Buy is cutting prices for one week on some popular titles for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, making all the serious gamers holiday dreams come true.

This is only on selected titles, for both consoles:

Xbox 360: Tom Clancy's EndWar for $39.99, Civil War for $29.99, Legendary for 39.99, and Far Cry 2 for $39.99.

PlayStation 3: Konami Corp's Metal Gear Solid 4 for $39.99, Dangerous Hunts for $… Read more

Full-screen control

Air Mouse for iPhone and iPod Touch gives you several reasons you would want to turn your iPhone into a remote control over your keyboard and mouse: ease, convenience, and a broad range of control. The gesture mode of navigation takes advantage of the iPhone's accelerometer to move your mouse across the screen. The touch-pad mode keeps your arm stationary while you trace the mouse trajectory on the iPhone face with your finger.

Add to those a full virtual keyboard with extra buttons, such as Control and Alt, that are compatible with your PC or Mac, a second keyboard … Read more