Toshiba adopts Blu-ray for laptops, completes shame circle
by Joshua Topolsky 
posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 2:52PM
[Via Pocket-lint]
hd-dvd posts
[Via Pocket-lint]
Passive Technologies intros Blu-ray / HD-DVD combo media center
by Donald Melanson posted Dec 18th 2007 at 1:58PM
It's far from the first, but those looking to go format neutral while still keeping things neat and tidy in a media center now have another option to consider from the folks at Passive Technologies, which has just introduced its new LifestationHD unit. While exact specs are still somewhat light, in addition to that Blu-ray / HD-DVD combo drive, you'll apparently get "silent operation" courtesy of unit's DynaChill 3 cooling system, along with an AMD processor of some sort, SSD storage (or up to 9TB with the optional Lifeserver), and "audiophile grade" audio, with a Bluetooth remote and keyboard also available as an option. No word on a price, but given that these things come custom-installed, it likely won't be cheap.
Toshiba HD-A3 with 12 free movies available at Wal-Mart "secret" sale
by Donald Melanson posted Dec 6th 2007 at 4:36PM
There's certainly been no shortage of HD-DVD deals lately (or Blu-ray ones, for that matter), but it seem like those looking to get the biggest movie collection right out of the gate won't be able to do much better than Wal-Mart's upcoming "secret" sale, which includes a Toshiba HD-A3 player with twelve free HD-DVDs for $298. That, of course, includes the usual two movies in the box and five more by mail, plus an additional five that you'll get "instantly" when you buy the player (no word on what you'll have to choose from). You'll have to get up early if you want to walk away with that stash, however, as the sale gets underway tomorrow at 8 am sharp, when you'll also be able to snag a 50-inch Vizio plasma TV for $998 or a 40GB PS3 with a free $50 gift card for $399, among other slightly less notable deals.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Best Buy offers the Toshiba HD-A2 for $100, too, and other HD DVD deals
by Donald Melanson posted Nov 1st 2007 at 3:38PM
Wal-Mart may have been the first to tempt HD-fence-sitters with a $100 HD-A2 player (however limited), but it looks like it's not the only one, with Best Buy now also listing the very same player for the impulse buy-inducing price of $99.99. Of course, it's sold out online, so you may be better off trying your luck at your local store. Not surprisingly, the HD DVD PR folk are keen to talk up this recent spat of price reductions, including the still decent $197 price for the A2 at Circuit City and Amazon, and Sears's Black Friday price of $169 for the newer HD-A3 model, which also comes with two movies bundled in the box (not to mention the five free mail-in movies available with the purchase of any of the players).
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Switched On: Seeking neutrality in the hi-def format war
by Ross Rubin posted Sep 24th 2007 at 6:24PM
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
Paramount's recent announcement that it would (again) release future titles only in HD-DVD shifted that format's position in the high-definition disc war. HD-DVD had been resting on Universal's shoulders in terms of exclusive studio support. Paramount made sure to point out that Dreamworks' animated features would be exclusively on HD-DVD because it knows that parents don't want to have to tell their kids that they can't watch Shrek on that device, at least not in the full resolution of his flatulence jokes.
The Blu-ray Disc Association fired back to this blow after a few mixed retailer wins with Blockbuster, Target and BJ's by noting the strong supply of Blu-ray titles in the queue and the planned Blu-ray release of Disney's "platinum" titles, the crown jewels of the Magic Kingdom. Transformers Director Michael Bay then became one of the Bad Boys by dropping a Pearl Harbor-sized bomb on Paramount regarding its decision in a blog post since deleted and retracted, leading to speculation it was really the Decepticon version of Michael Bay that made the original posting.
The resulting world order has Disney, Lionsgate, Fox and of course Sony Pictures all exclusively on Blu-ray, Universal and now Paramount/Dreamworks exclusively HD-DVD, and Warner backing both putting its "Total HD" two-sided wonder on the back disc burner as it ponders exclusivity. As one PC vendor recently told me, "There are a lot of big checks being written."
Axonix's MediaMax HD plays any format you want... for a price
by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 16th 2007 at 4:07PM
Media centers are all the rage of late, and for those of you hemming and hawing over an HD DVD / Blu-ray decision, the MediaMax HD could make your choice a little easier... or harder. The two-part media center consists of the MediaServer unit, plus the MediaDeck 4 HD set-top box, and allows you to store any DVD-standard to disk and then distribute it to whatever room in the house you choose (provided that room has a MediaDeck 4 connected). The system uses its own proprietary interface to navigate through your collection, and can stream different movies to multiple rooms in the network. The MediaDeck 4 HD features HDMI, DVI-I, VGA, S-Video, and component video outs; optical and S/PDIF digital audio outs, plus up to 8-channels of analog audio. Axonix, the company which makes the systems, appears to offer two separate players for HD DVD and Blu-ray, though you would think for this money they would combine the two formats, but that doesn't appear to be the case. If you're still interested, the MediaServer comes in a variety of configurations starting at a bank-breaking $5,795, while the MediaDeck 4 HD varies from $3,495 to $5,995, and they're all available now.[Via Cedia News]
Fuh Yuan retracts $299 Wal-Mart HD DVD statement
by Darren Murph posted Apr 26th 2007 at 11:10PM
That sound you're hearing is your hopes of a $299 HD DVD player anytime in the immediate future deflating, that is, is Fuh Yuan is to be believed this time around. Unfortunately, it seems that the firm pulled the trigger a bit too soon on a hopeful order, as a recent retraction on the company's website insinuates that Wal-Mart simply inquired about their ability to "provide a schedule" along with "cost and quantity" details for Wally World to evaluate. Currently, it seems that the "capacity is still under consideration," but it did leave the door open to believe that this idea may still be churning in the background by cordially inviting anyone with an up-to-snuff manufacturing facility to ping them for more details. The good news is that a sub-$300 HD DVD player isn't a matter of "if," it's just a matter of "when," and as long as Wal-Mart keeps burning down price barriers, we're sure it'll surface (arguably) soon.[Thanks, Jimmy]
Update: Wal-mart concurs, stating today that "The article... was full of inaccuracies and we had no participation in it," and "Most of the facts, including the purchase, were untrue."
Zepto's Znote 6625WD does DX10, HSDPA, and HD DVD
by Darren Murph posted Apr 21st 2007 at 3:16AM
[Via Laptopical]
Samsung says Duo HD BD-UP5000 dual-format Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo player on the way
by Peter Rojas posted Apr 12th 2007 at 11:02PM
Samsung's been seriously non-committal about whether or not they were going to come out with a dual-format HD-DVD / Blu-ray combo player for a while now (they first said they working on one back in September of '05, only to retract that a few months later), but no more: it's officially happening. They've just announced the Duo HD BD-UP5000, their first player to support both HD disc formats. LG beat 'em to the punch with the BH100, but Samsung is promising that the Duo HD BD-UP5000 will have full support for HD-DVD (including support for HDi), something LG hasn't been able to offer with its player. We're still waiting to hear details about pricing and all that, but they are promising that the combo player will be out "in time for the holidays."How to cram three terabytes onto a CD-R
by Darren Murph posted Sep 27th 2006 at 3:40PM
Okay, so there's no magic product (yet) that will literally burn three terabytes onto a writeable CD, but Harvard researchers are certainly getting closer to making it happen. The group has developed an "optical nano antenna" that's built onto an inexpensive, off-the-shelf antenna in order to bypass that pesky diffraction limit that prevents current lasers from focusing light onto a smaller spot than half its native wavelength. By utilizing two gold "nano rods" separated by a 30 nanometer gap, they have devised a method for a laser sporting an 830 nanometer wavelength to focus its beam onto a 40 nanometer area, allowing for mind boggling amounts of data to be written to an optical disc. While the integrity of the burn is more than sketchy using such a high resolution beam, the team of engineers are hard at work trying to improve and perfect the space-saving process. Until then, we suppose we're still stuck paying an arm and a leg (or two) for those spacious, burnable Blu-ray / HD DVD discs.[Thanks, Adam]
ATI, nVIDIA graphics cards trump dedicated DVD players
by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Sep 2nd 2006 at 1:13PM
[Via Slashdot]
Blu-ray and HD-DVD delays due to blue laser shortage?
by Peter Rojas posted Aug 30th 2006 at 10:05AM
DigiTimes is reporting that a serious shortage of blue laser diodes is forcing many manufacturers to cut back on production of next-generation drives, which means the expected pre-Holiday flood of HD-DVD and Blu-ray players may not materialize as expected. They're also claiming that Sony, which is one of a handful of companies making the diodes right now, just suspended shipments to other companies so they'll have enough Blu-ray drives for the PlayStation 3. It's not entirely clear how this is going to affect the balance of power in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray deathmatch -- each format relies on 405 nm blue-violet laser diodes, so each may be equally affected -- but it looks like the battle royale between the two may have to be postponed until next year.[Via HDBeat]
Plextor Blu-ray PX-B900A burner to cost $1000
by Cyrus Farivar posted Aug 28th 2006 at 8:59PM
[Via TG Daily]
Denon's new 1080p upscaling DVD players
by Darren Murph posted Jul 28th 2006 at 12:25AM
Acer Aspire 9510 and 9110 HD-DVD-sporting laptops
by Evan Blass posted Jun 6th 2006 at 11:49PM
Along with the 15.4-inch 5670 and 20.1-inch 9800 notebooks that we'd already known about, Acer formally unveiled at Computex two other HD-DVD- and Centrino Duo-toting models from the Aspire line that we hadn't seen before: the 17-inch 9510 and 15.4-inch 9110 (pictured). All four models are being billed as all-in-one multimedia centers, and with all but the 5670 sporting 1,920 x 1,080 resolutions, S/PDIF and HDCP-capable HDMI outputs, optional analog and DVB-T tuners, and of course those high-def, backwards-compatible optical drives (still waiting on those Blu-ray models, though), it sure sounds like Acer knows what it's talking about. Both of the new-new notebooks also offer up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM and nVidia graphics cards, but the 9510 rocks the GeForce Go 7900 GS with 512MB of RAM and up to 240GB of hard drive space, while the 9110 has to settle for the GeForce Go 7600 with 256MB of RAM and a HDD that maxes out at 120GB. Unfortunately, Acer was so busy selling us on the benefits of all these new machines that they forgot a few important details, so both pricing and release dates for each and every one remain a big fat mystery for now.[Via Notebook Review]
