Archive for April, 2006
Philips has released its new DVDR9000H Hard Disk/DVD Recorder with Pixel Plus, built-in digital TV tuner and Guide Plus+ EPG.
This latest entry into the HDD/DVD Recorder market brings together all the latest technological innovations in video and audio, providing a superior visual and sound experience and an easier, more convenient package for playing, pausing and recording television content.
The DVDR9000H features optical disc recording and a Digital TV Tuner for direct recording. The 400 GB hard disk can hold more than 80 hours of TV programming in HQ (High Quality) mode and up to 650 hours in SEP (Super Extended Play) mode. For consumers’ convenience, the Pause Live TV function allows users to pause and resume live programming as it suits the viewer, with a six-hour time shift for convenience and control.
To guarantee reliable recording of program material onto optical discs, the DVDR9000H features Philips’ new SmartAlgo optical recording algorithm. This intelligent algorithm automatically analyzes the recording properties of any optical disc inserted into the DVD drive and chooses the optimum write-strategy (in terms of parameters such as laser power, write timing, etc.) to ensure optimum recording quality and maximum playback compatibility whatever make or quality of disc is used.
High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
DVDR9000H achieves clear sound and picture quality through High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), a direct digital connection that can carry digital HD resolution video as well as digital multichannel audio. By eliminating the conversion to analog signals it delivers perfect picture and sound quality, completely free from noise. HDMI is fully backward-compatible with DVI.
With Video up-scaling viewers can increase the resolution of SD (Standard Definition) video signals that DVD uses to HD (High Definition) so they will be able to see more details thanks to a sharper, more true-to-life picture. The resulting HD video resolution output signal can be fed to any HD display through HDMI.
The DVDR9000H is the first product outside of Philips’ TV range to incorporate the company’s award-winning Pixel Plus technology for more natural, vivid and detailed pictures. It utilizes a unique combination of picture improvement techniques to enhance the quality of virtually any video source by adding more detail, depth and clarity to the picture.
The Integrated DVB-T tuner lets the viewer receive Digital Terrestrial TV signals to watch or record. This allows for reception of more TV programming at higher quality with additional services, such as interactive teletext. With the HDMI input, the video signal is kept digital from the broadcaster to the TV without any analog signal conversion steps in between, to preserve the highest possible picture quality.
The DVB-T digital terrestrial tuner in the DVDR9000H also makes this unit ready for the roll-out of free-to-air DVB-T broadcast services in countries throughout Europe. Coupled with the DVDR9000H’s HDMI interface, this means that DVB-T signals received via a standard TV antenna are recorded in digital quality and can be played on a TV screen, thereby maintaining an unblemished picture quality. Because of the picture enhancement technologies built into the DVDR9000H, such as Pixel Plus and video up-scaling, DVB-T pictures can actually be improved over their standard digital broadcast quality.
The DVDR9000H’s digital 5.1 channel recording lets the viewer capture the original sound from digital multi-channel sources such as satellite receivers to store on the HDD. The DVD Recorder can record sound fed to the digital audio input, such as Dolby Digital, DTS or MPEG Multichannel.
April 27th, 2006
Only last week Yahoo! announced that they had bought the people and the technology behind the Meedio suite of products. Today they’ve launched a free beta version of Yahoo! Go for TV - software that provides media center functionality, including a DVR.
You’ll need a pretty well specced PC to make the most of Yahoo! Go for TV. The listed requirements are:
* Windows XP (Yahoo! Go for TV is not compatible with Macintosh or Linux)
* 1 GHz CPU
* 512 MB RAM
* 40 MB free disk space for installation
* 20 GB additional disk space for TV recordings
Some would say that 20GB of disc space is the bare minimum if you have any intention of using the DVR functionality.
Yahoo! also recommend a high speed internet connection, and of course, if you want to use the software on your TV you’ll need the relevant input connection on your telly.
If you want to use the DVR functionality you’ll need a tuner card. Yahoo! claim to only support these cards, although some of those cards are dual tuners, there’s no mention of dual support in the Yahoo! Go information.
* ATI TV Wonder Elite
* ATI HDTV Wonder
* AverMedia UltraTV 1500 MCE
* Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2
* NVidia Dual TVmce
For the complete low-down check out the Yahoo! Go for TV website.
April 26th, 2006
TiVo has announced the launch of the TiVo Series2 DT DVR, the first standalone dual tuner DVR with the TiVo service and features.
The TiVo Series2 DT DVR is optimized for cable households, allowing you to record two shows at once, so now you never have to miss any of your favorite shows - even if they’re on at the same time. The TiVo Series2 DT DVR also incorporates built-in Ethernet and USB ports, making it easier than ever to add the TiVo box to the home network.
“We’ve been hearing from our subscribers that they wanted a TiVo DVR that could record two shows at once,” said Jim Denney , Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo. “With the TiVo Series2 DT DVR, we’ve delivered that capability to our customers at a very affordable price.”
“We are excited to bring the new TiVo Series2 DT DVR into our stores,” said Rick Bickford, Merchandise Manager at Circuit City . “TiVo is one of our most well-loved brands and we’re confident that the feature enhancements and low price point are going to make the TiVo Series2 DT DVR a big hit.”
The TiVo Series2 DT DVR will join the existing TiVo product line, and is available in an 80-hour model priced at just $99.99, after rebate and service activation. It will also be available at tivo.com bundled with the TiVo service.
Exclusive TiVo service features will be available on the TiVo Series2 DT DVR including:
* TiVoToGo Transfers: Take your favorite shows with you on the road by transferring them to a laptop or select portable players.
* TiVo Online Scheduling: Schedule recordings from the office or on the road from anywhere you can access the Internet.
* TiVo Online Services: Broadband connected Series2 subscribers can view both their own photo slideshows and those shared by friends with Yahoo! Photos, and check local weather and traffic from Yahoo!. Additionally, subscribers can browse and buy movie tickets from Fandango, discover new music on Live365, and listen to entertaining podcasts.
* Coming Soon: TiVo continually updates the TiVo service with new features and capabilities. In the coming months, TiVo users will be able to program their TiVo box to record programs directly from select Verizon cell phones. And by mid-year, users will welcome TiVo KidZone into their home. TiVo KidZone will give parents the power to easily make sure that the television programming their children watch meets their personal family standards.
The TiVo Series2 DT DVR will be available beginning May 1, 2006 at retailers including Circuit City , Best Buy, and Amazon.com, and online at www.tivo.com.
April 26th, 2006
Linksys has announced the immediate availability of its Wireless-N Broadband Router (WRT300N) and Wireless-N Notebook Adapter (WPC300N), the first in a line of Wireless-N products available from Linksys that will be built to the 802.11n Draft Specification.
With up to four times the range and up to 12 times the throughput of Wireless-G*, the WRT300N and WPC300N deliver wireless networks with the capacity to surf the web, enjoy multiple streams of high definition video, listen to digital music collections and make Internet phone calls - all at the same time.
“The emergence of high-definition video, along with the growing use of Voice over IP, online gaming, and other applications by consumers requires network bandwidth that greatly exceeds what is available from 802.11g,” said Mike Wolf, principal analyst, ABI Research. “With these products based on the IEEE 802.11n draft specification, Linksys is enabling users to transform their home networks into media distribution platforms and access premium content around the home over a wireless network.”
“A substantial number of products for both homes and businesses will soon depend on compatibility with Wireless-N to reach their full potential,” said Malachy Moynihan, vice president and general manager, Home Networking, Linksys. “Because of the importance of the technology, we have taken the unique step of conducting extensive testing with multiple vendors to ensure that the greatest possible number of them will perform at peak levels when interacting with our 802.11n products.”
Expected to become the next standard for wireless networks, the 802.11n draft specification includes a number of mandatory features that help improve the overall user experience. These features include enhancements to both the speed and range of wireless networks and calls for mixed mode operation and backward compatibility.
Speed and Range Improvements Provide the Freedom to Do It All
Significant speed and range improvements compared to 802.11g are realized primarily through the use of MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology, which Linksys has employed in three generations of its award-winning SRX product family.
Like the SRX family, Linksys Wireless-N products utilize multiple radios to simultaneously transmit two streams of data over multiple channels, maximizing network performance. Using multiple spatial streams allows each 20 MHz channel to contain more than one stream of data, greatly increasing its capacity.
The 802.11n draft specification also allows Linksys Wireless-N products to transmit over two available channels at the same time, effectively creating a 40MHz channel that doubles the capacity for applications such as high definition video, audio streaming, online gaming and Voice over IP.
Mixed Mode Operation and Backward Compatibility
Two additional key pieces of the 802.11n Draft Specification are the requirements that products provide both mixed mode operation and backward compatibility with 802.11g and 802.11b. Mixed mode operation designates that, unlike previous proprietary networking technologies, 802.11n networks must maintain optimum speeds when operating with legacy products. Backward compatibility ensures that existing standards-based wireless products are able to work at their respective highest performance levels for that environment.
Security
As with all current Linksys routers, the WRT300N router can encode wireless transmissions with industrial-strength WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption to help protect data and privacy. It can serve as a network DHCP server, supports VPN pass-through, and has a powerful SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall to protect against intruders and most known Internet attacks. Enabling these security features is easy with the Linksys Web browser-based configuration utility.
Pricing and Availability
The WRT300N and WPC300N are available immediately through BestBuy.com at estimated street prices of $149.99 and $119.99 respectively. The products will soon also be available from other Linksys e-commerce retailers, retail stores, direct response, and VAR partners. Additional products from the Linksys Wireless-N family designed for both the home networking and small business will be launched in the second half of 2006.
April 25th, 2006
It certasinly wins the prize for oddest looking media center PC of the year so far. Maingear has launched the pyrimidical Prysma.
The Prysma features Intel VIIV Technology and a new style all its own, consisting of a custom pyramid chassis featuring shock absorbing hard disk mounts and full aluminum construction. The chassis also has a switch that can activate a beam of light that emanates from the top of the chassis.
Taking over your living room, the Prysma is breaking out of the box and into a form that can be decorative as well as compliment a current color scheme in the room it graces. Maingear offers a full range of color options the same of which is available to it’s F131 series.
When used in tandem with a wireless mouse and keyboard you can experience all your different sources of multimedia from the comfort of your couch. Take control of your music, videos, photos, recorded TV programming or on demand content. You can also connect to your media on your Prysma from anywhere in your home via your wired or wireless network thanks to Intel VIIV technology.
April 21st, 2006
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with HP, today announced a voluntary recall of 15,700 laptop batteries.
HP has received 20 reports of batteries overheating, including two in the United States. One minor burn injury has been reported. Eleven cases of minor property damage were reported.
The recalled lithium ion rechargeable batteries are used with various HP and Compaq notebook computers. The recalled batteries are a subset of those manufactured in early January 2005, and will have a bar code label starting with L3.
The batteries were sold as part of laptop systems between January 2005 andh December 2005, and also as standalone battery packs.
Consumers should stop using the ‘L3′ coded batteries immediately and contact HP to determine if the specific battery is one of the ones being recalled, and if it is, receive a free replacement battery.
For additional information, visit the HP Battery Replacement Program Web Site at www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement.
April 21st, 2006
Sony has cut $20 from the price of the Playstation2 in the USA in an effort to boost sales, flagging as consumers wait for the arrival of the Playstation3.
The price has been dropped to $129 from $149.
“While we continue to innovate and design groundbreaking new products, we remain dedicated to our long-term vision for the PlayStation 2 platform,” said Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive, Sony Computer Entertainment America, suggesting that Sony is to continue to develop titles for the PS2 long after the PS3 is launched.
Although the retail price of the PS3 has not yet been announced, market analysts are suggesting that it will be significantly more expensive than other condoles on the market, including the Xbox360. This high price is likely to keep the PS2 in circulation much longer than Sony would previously have anticipated.
The price was also cut by a similar amount in Canada, but UK consumers are still paying full whack for their PS2s as we go to virtual press.
April 21st, 2006
Resistance is futile! Meedio, the developer of popular home entertainment software, has been absorbed by Yahoo! It will add Meedio’s biological and technological distinctiveness to its own….
However, Yahoo! has not purchased the Meedio software suite, only the development team and technologies behind it, leaving loyal users in the cold with regard to support and upgrades.
A note on the Meedio homepage tries to paint this news in a positive light, but it essentially means the end of the Meedio family of software with only community support now available. Even EPG data will no longer be updated after July 1.
“I hope you are as excited as I am about our big news. I am really looking forward to being able to bring you more cool products from Yahoo! This is a beginning, not an end,” said Pablo Pissanetzky, Chief Technical Officer for Meedio.
Meedio announcement here.
April 18th, 2006
To meet fast-growing market demand for portable storage, Maxtor today announced it is shipping the new Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition drive, the company’s first small form factor external storage solution.
Designed with the mobile professional in mind, the slim, elegant and portable solution is the latest addition to the award-winning Maxtor OneTouch product family. Weighing in at approximately seven ounces, it is the first mobile storage solution in the industry that comes fully loaded with the latest software innovations to protect and manage digital content, including automated backup, data encryption, data synchronization and system rollback to restore applications and operating system while keeping digital files current.
“There’s been mounting interest from our global network of retailers and distributors to provide a strong portable offering,” said Mike Williams, vice president and general manager, Maxtor Branded Products Group. “Our latest innovation lets people easily take their digital content with them so they can access it whenever and wherever they need it. It also makes it easy for people to back up and synchronize business data and files, or to share and enjoy photos, music and video while away from home or office. It safely and simply unleashes digital content from the desktop.”
An increasing number of executives, small business owners, students and creative professionals are going mobile. A recent IDC research study predicts that the global mobile worker population will grow by more than 200 million users between 2004 and 2009. According to IDC’s analysis, there will be more than 850 million mobile workers during 2009, representing more than one-quarter of the global workforce. The United States, the country with the most mobile-enabled workers in 2004, is expected to reach over 70 percent penetration by the end of the forecast period.
“With the fast rise of mobile computing, our retailers are eager to supply the market with sleek and trusted storage for people on the go,” added Williams. “The Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition provides a high level of security for mobile users, along with some innovative software features
that make it easier to manage and protect files.”
To make it simple to share and update data and files between home and office, the Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition includes Maxtor Sync, a software feature that automatically synchronizes files between two or more computer systems on the same operating platform. Another innovation now standard across Maxtor’s third-generation external storage family is a system rollback feature that reverts a PC’s applications and operating system to a healthier point in time, while preserving current data. The feature helps combat spyware or adware that can slow a system to a crawl, or even bring it to a halt. Like all Maxtor OneTouch storage and backup solutions, the smallest member of the family includes automated backup software to ensure valuable files and content are backed up on a set schedule or with the touch of a button, a pioneering feature that Maxtor introduced to the marketplace in 2002.
The sleek, portable system, finished in titanium metallic paint, is equipped with black rubber side panels molded to fit above the housing on all sides, providing non-skid “feet” as well as added vibration protection. Because of its rugged industrial design and compact size, the system can be stowed and transported easily in a purse, backpack or briefcase.
For added data security, which is a particular concern for on-the-go business users, the Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition drive includes two levels of security: software encryption to safeguard its contents if the drive is ever lost or stolen, and Maxtor DriveLock(R), embedded firmware that further restricts data access should it fall into the wrong hands. The firmware is designed to deny access without the correct password even if the internal hard drive is removed from the casing and attached to another computer.
The Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition comes in a 60GB or 100GB capacity and easily connects to a Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP computer via a USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 port. Currently available at major U.S. retailers, distributors and online stores, as well as at http://www.maxstore.com, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for the 60GB is $149.95 and $199.95 for the 100GB. Worldwide availability varies by region.
April 18th, 2006
It appears that the job of ‘being’ Lara Croft is now more than wearing skin tight lycra and holding a couple of large weapons.
Eidos has entrusted the latest incarnation of the gun-happy, British heroine to actually speak, which is more than can be said for the first non-digital Lara, Nell McAndrew.
Apparentally, Karima Adebibe from east London was packed off on an intensive ‘Lara course’ before being paraded in front of the media. This included the obligatory weapons training, but also archaeology, deportment and elocution. However, she comes complete with fluent Arabic, so that was one aspect of the Croft skillset that didn’t need to be brushed up.
“I really do feel like Lara Croft now. It’s incredible,” gushed the 20 year-old inhabitant of the famous Croft hotpants to the BBC, before blowing away a couple of endangered species and throwing herself off a sheer rock face. OK, so we made the last bit up, but it’s easy to imagine the role becoming a little life-changing.
“I don’t like the shorts,” Karima told the Sydney Moring Herald proving that being Lara is not all a bed of roses.
The Guinness World Records recently named Lara as the ‘Most Successful Human Videogame Heroine’. This has left TechSmec.com scratching its virtual head for another human videogame heroine so perhaps competition wasn’t great.
Karima will be wearing her Lara Croft outfit at a shopping centre near you soon. She’ll be the one surrounded by salivating teenagers.
April 15th, 2006
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