Posts filed under 'Digital Home'
According to reports, Sony and Toshiba have received letters from the European Commission asking them to further explain their licensing rules for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.Although this falls some way short of an official antitrust investigation, it suggests that the EU has some cause for concern and that a full investigation is not out of the question if the answers they receive are not to their liking.
The nature of the potential breach of rules is unclear and even the European Commission are less than forthcoming. “We sent a letter earlier this month to the makers of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray to request information about licensing,” said a spokesperson, sounding more like he was interested in manufacturing a Blu-Ray player himself than launching a damaging investigation.
Toshiba have not commented on the matter, but Sony have confirmed that a letter was received, although they go out of their way to stress the informal nature of the enquiry. “There are no indications of any complaint, nor of any antitrust concerns on the part of the Commission,” they said. “Or anyone else,” added the statement just to be clear.
Among the issues the EC could be looking into are the ‘encouragement’ of studios and tech companies to support either format or the use of a strong position in a related market to drive sales, such as Sony putting a Blu-Ray drive into the PS3.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are only available in North America and Japan.
Source: DVD Recorder World
July 29th, 2006
Please Sony, you are spoling us with your many-featured HDD/DVD recorders!
As if the brilliant RDR-HXD700 wasn’t already enough for us, now Sony aims to trump it by releasing the RDR-HXD860.
They are also releasing an upgrade to the smaller capacity RDR-HXD500 in the form of the RDR-HXD560. The 860 has a 160GB hard drive, while the 560 has a smaller 80 GB of storage.
The 860 also has an HDMI port meaning it’s HDTV ready when the mood takes you. Both recorders can record from their built in digital tuners with 8 day EPG, or from an external source.
The RDR-HXD560 should be available now, priced £350, and the higher-spec RDR-HXD860 will be available in September, priced £400.
July 29th, 2006
Ulead Systems is bringing fresh enjoyment to home video projects by allowing users to create soundtracks in high-quality 5.1-channel surround sound. Ulead VideoStudio 10 Plus video editing software includes full 5.1-channel surround sound support with Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator.
“Surround sound adds enormously to the richness of the video experience,” said Eldon C. M. Liu, president of Ulead. “With VideoStudio 10 Plus, one click adds high-quality surround sound in the same format used by professional studios. The results are simply breathtaking.”
VideoStudio 10 Plus simplifies the process of enhancing home videos and DVDs with surround sound. A single button enables 5.1 sound in editing projects, automatically converting two-channel audio to 5.1 channels. Individual adjustments for center channel, subwoofer and overall level allow users to quickly mix audio in the video, overlay, narration and music tracks. For precise placement of sounds, a new Surround Sound Mixer lets users drag-and-drop audio to position it within the sound field.
“A simple technique for creating a pleasing surround mix for home movies with a music soundtrack is to leave the audio from the camcorder video untouched while zeroing the center channel level and reducing the overall level by 6 or 12 db for the background music in the music track,” said Vinson Chen, VideoStudio product manager at Ulead. “This ensures that important dialog remains clear but still lets you use music to establish mood and emotion. It’s what they do in the movies.”
“VideoStudio 10 Plus makes it easy for anyone to take video productions to the next level with dramatic and satisfying Dolby Digital 5.1 sound effects. We are very excited to see Ulead bring this powerful technology to home users,” said Greg Rodehau, Director, PC Business Segment, Dolby Laboratories.
July 26th, 2006
Movielink, the much maligned movie download website, has improved the usefulness of its offering by announcing that consumers will be able to burn purchases to DVD.At the moment, downloading a movie from Movielink ties you into watching it on your PC (or presumably the TV connected to your PC if you are so inclined). For most users this resulted in an unsatisfactory experience which didn’t inspire repeat shopping.
Movielink have now tied up this loose end by partnering with Sonic Solutions who produce the AuthorScript media burning software which supports a variety of DRM types. In theory this should prevent copying of the burned DVDs, but in reality they will be no harder to rip than any commercial DVD.
The only cloud on the horizon for Movielink, and it’s a big one, is that they aren’t being bowled over by movie studio support at the moment. Prior to this announcement there were rumours that Movielink was up for sale, bolstered by the news that some studios were signing digital distribution deals with other companies.
However, Movielink remains bullish. “We are anticipating an industry resolution to establish rules for converting secure Internet-delivered Movielink downloads into a secure format compatible with DVD players,” Movielink CEO Jim Ramo said in a statement.
Movielink is still only available to users in the USA.
July 18th, 2006
Neuros Technology has announced the Recorder 2’s compatibility with the new Motorola Q smartphone. The Neuros Recorder 2 records digital video content from any video source directly onto memory cards that can be instantly played back on handhelds such as the Motorola Q.
The Neuros Recorder 2 already has the functionality to playback digital video on smartphones, cell phones (including the RAZR V3), PDAs, the 5th generation iPod and the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). Since the product launch, Neuros has continued to release firmware upgrades that increase the list of supported devices and provide other enhancements.
“Neuros stands for openness and helping consumers to play their content when, where, and how they want to. Our products are highly versatile, allowing people to enjoy video programming across a wide spectrum of different devices,” says Neuros CEO Joe Born.
In the past, transferring video for playback on handheld devices has been limited, expensive or technically challenging. The Recorder 2 revolutionizes this process by eliminating fees, hassles, and the need to convert file formats. It records directly from standard video sources such as a TV, cable box, DVD player, DVR/TiVo or camcorder onto a Memory Stick Duo or Compact Flash (CF) memory card. The Recorder 2 is set up and used like a standard VCR, and produces digital video recordings that can be immediately and easily viewed on the Q and other handhelds without the need for a PC.
July 17th, 2006
Sky are to offer a remote recording service to Sky+ customers with immediate effect.Remote Record allows registered users to schedule recordings using a mobile phone either via an online interface or using SMS, costing 25p plus usual mobile network rates.
Later this summer Sky are also promising the ability to schedule recordings online through the Sky website.
July 12th, 2006
One Voice Technologies today announced the availability of its new version 2.1 of Media Center Communicator.New features in Media Center Communicator version 2.1 include:
* Apple iTunes compatibility for iTunes music using voice commands to play music by Artist, Album, Playlist or Genre. For more information on Apple iTunes please visit http://www.apple.com/itunes
* Visual display of Apple iTunes music from within the Windows XP Media Center experience for viewing and playing music by Artist, Album, Playlist or Genre
* DVD Changer compatibility for immediate access to your personal DVD library using voice commands to play DVD movies
* Increased voice recognition accuracy for very large digital content libraries containing thousands of music artists, albums, songs, videos, photos and recorded TV shows
* Free upgrade for registered Media Center Communicator owners. Send email to mccsupport@onev.com for upgrade instructions
One Voice’s Media Center Communicator is a complete in-home multimedia communications package for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 — enabling users to speak, using voice recognition, to play and view all their digital content from iTunes/MP3 music, digital photos, slideshows, videos, live TV and much more! Media Center Communicator also comes with a suite of communications features to send and read E-mail, SMS text messaging to mobile phones, Instant Messaging (IM), full motion PC-to-PC audio and video chat and PC-to-Phone calling to place phone calls worldwide.
Imagine walking into your family room and using your voice to tell your Media Center to play jazz music or play your favorite artist or album, play a photo slideshow, watch and record live TV, read and send E-mail, call to order a pizza or video chat or Instant Message with a friend. Media Center Communicator delivers on this vision today! For more information, please visit http://www.onev.com/mcc or for an online demonstration go to http://www.onev.com/videos/mccoverview.wmv or http://www.onev.com/videos/mcc.wmv.
July 9th, 2006
Sony’s LocationFree TV and Slingmedia’s Slingbox may have got there first, but that hasn’t stopped Novac jumping on the streaming TV bandwagon.The USP of the Novac solution is that it works via the videocall ability of Skype, which, of course makes it software based.
All you need at one end is the Novac USB 2.0 TV tuner plugged into a PC with Skype and a Skype-enabled PC at the other end. The device is only available in Japan at the moment and will set you back around $85.
PC only. Mac owners temper your underexcitement right now!
July 9th, 2006
Korean firm Modmen has launched a USB key with a difference. It has a built in digital TV tuner.It comes in two sizes, 512MB and 1GB, with all the drivers and software for the tuner stored in the flash memory, making it easily transferable to a different PC.
The storage capacity (even 1GB) isn’t going to let you record too much TV, but it’s a nice and obvious merging of technologies that we expect to see others copying.
July 6th, 2006
PC World has unveiled the latest model in its Advent range of Digital Home PCs that brings together a cutting edge black and silver design and the most advanced computing technology to deliver the very best in digital entertainment.The Advent Digital Home DHE X22 is one of the smallest Media Center PCs available in the UK. It features Intel Viiv technology running on an Intel dual core platform and packs more performance than many PCs five times its size. With a vertical profile similar to the width of a paperback book this Digital Home PC is so small and compact you can position it anywhere in your home.
What the Advent DHE X22 Digital Home PC lacks in size, it makes up for in features; boasting Viiv technology, Windows Media Center Edition software, a built-in digital and analogue TV tuner and a remote control. The PC can be switched on and off with the touch of a button, just like a TV, and the wireless keyboard and mouse make it easy to access digital content, such as music and photos, anywhere in the home, even from the comfort of a sofa.
The Advent DHE X22 is sleek and compact at only 42mm wide and 1.3kg in weight. It is wireless network ready and has 1,024MB of memory, a 100GB hard disk and superior graphics capability. A range of Internet security software is also included. The Advent DHE X22, base unit only, is priced at £899.00 including VAT.
PC World is selling two complete home computing bundles featuring the new Advent DHE X22: the first ‘Work’ package, is ideal for a home office and features a 19 inch Xerox flat panel monitor and is priced at £1,128.99 including VAT. The second option is designed to be used in the lounge or family room; this ‘Living’ option comes with a 32″ Lexsor HD ready LCD TV and is priced at £1,598.00 inc VAT. The Advent DHE X22 is available online at www.pcworld.co.uk now and will be in all stores by mid July.
July 3rd, 2006
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