Erik Hanson

Computing

Computing By Erik Hanson

Life|ware launches entry level CableCARD servers

Life|ware has announced availability of the LMS-100 and LMS-150 Life|media servers, a pair of Windows Media Center PCs for home automation and digital media use. Both servers are powered by a 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, with a nVidia 8400 handling video duties. The LMS-150 includes two CableCARD adapters for recording onto a terabyte of disk space and retails for $3500, while dropping 500GB of drive and the CableCARD slots leaves you $1000 richer but still able to record over-the-air content.

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Underpowered projector, meet iPod dock

In yet another example of a weak product just totally enhanced by an iPod dock, Geniesys Technologies has announced a tiny 2.6-pound LED projector that rocks a whopping 8-watt bulb, a 480x240 resolution, and the ubiquitous dock for your 'Pod powered by 1-watt speakers. At least the OptiMax i can run for 50,000 hours on one bulb, has a wireless remote, and, of course, sweet iPod dockage, so hold onto your wallet until April when it can be yours for only $299.

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Samsung

Samsung By Erik Hanson

Samsung's SP-A800B DLP projector gets some deets

Announced way back in August at IFA Germany, Samsung's SP-A800B 1080p DLP projector never seemed to get many details when it comes to the US market, and now we at least have a US price listed. A mere $6,995 gets you a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 24p capability, and no mention of a release date.[Via About Projectors]

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PlayStation

PlayStation By Erik Hanson

PS3 owners demand porn, Digital Playground steps up to the plate

Digital Playground has moved from neutral to Blu in the format war. Given recent events, it's not a surprising turn, and the studio's Blu-ray library that debuted with "Pirates" will swell to nine movies by January 11 in February. Coming to the roster are: "Island Fever" 3 and 4, "Babysitters," "Jack's Teen America 3," "Jesse Jane: Sexual Freak," "Hush," "Contract Star" and "Jesse Jane Pink." Studio founder Joone (yeah, only one name) does not credit any picture quality issues in the decision, and even said there was no difference between the two formats. The real reason was consumer demand -- specifically PS3 owners. No mention of how the titles might leverage interactive features, although we're willing to, uh, review sample discs.[Update: Some commenters noted that we had our dates wrong, as it's "Pirates" that comes out on January 11, while the rest of the titles will be available in February. Thanks, everyone!]

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News By Erik Hanson

Most obvious statement of CES: To conserve energy, turn off power!

Belkin must need to score some points with Al Gore, because they announced an energy-reducing power strip that you can... turn off. The aptly-named Conserve has eight power outlets, six of which can be toggled on or off using a wireless remote. While the strip will shut down stores worldwide in the summer and fall for $49.99, you should know you can get the same effect right now just by flipping the "off" switch on your existing power strip.

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Reviews By Erik Hanson

Hands-on with Hitachi's 1.5-inch thin displays

Not to be outdone by what's shaping up to be the theme of the show when it comes to display technology this year, Hitachi launched their line of thin displays in 32-, 37-, and 42-inch sizes. Hitachi's 1.5-inch LCD displays may not match Pioneer or Panasonic in the sheer (lack of) depth column, but you will actually be able to buy these sets when they launch in the first part of 2008. And that's something impressive all by itself.%Gallery-12943%

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Hands-free with Panasonic's Wireless HD

After attending the kickoff Panasonic keynote earlier today at CES 2008, Engadget headed over to the Panasonic booth to check out the Wireless HD, 150-inch behemoth, and ultra-thin plasmas. The Wireless HD setup was, of course, a befuddling open space between a set-top box of some sort and a TV. A loop video played demonstrating the signal using "beam steering" to bounce around obstructions, much like our cameras trying to get around the gaggle of people huddled around Panny's products.%Gallery-12940%

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Reviews By Erik Hanson

Hands-on with the Pioneer 9mm-thick Kuro plasma

Engadget had the chance to get up close and personal with the recently-announced 9mm-thick Kuro plasma concept at CES, with Paul Meyhoefer, VP of Marketing and Product Planning, and Tony Ueda, Worldwide Manager of Display Technology, demoing at the Pioneer booth the night before the show floor opens. Pioneer gave the grand tour of two new technology concepts, with "advanced design" and "extreme contrast" displays. Pioneer has always claimed to target the high-end home theater enthusiast, and this 50-inch Kuro concept plasma shows that off in spades, being 9mm (0.35 inches) thick at the glass and only 24mm (0.94 inches) thick at its widest point. As seen in our gallery below, there is not even a hint of input ports or other distractions from its 40 pounds of sexy svelteness. We held up a BlackBerry Curve 8320 next to the plasma's glass, and dwarfed it with a whopping 15.5mm (0.6 inches) of depth.%Gallery-12844%

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Reviews By Erik Hanson

Hands-on with Pioneer's extreme contrast concept plasma

Pioneer put on an evening pre-CES demo for Engadget, showing off two concepts focusing on advanced design (the 9mm-thick Kuro) and extreme contrast. Bringing everyone into a darkened room, Pioneer VP of Marketing and Product Planning Paul Meyhoefer reiterated Pioneer's target audience of the high-end home theater enthusiast, and what better place could there be to demo a home theater display than in a darkened room? Once the lights went down, we were treated to a short film on contrast, and the challenges of producing a wide range of values. As anyone who has watched a display in a dark room knows, you can see the edges of the display from the faint glow of the backlight that always seems to be present, even in the darkest of scenes.That's when another image appeared literally out of the blackness, with a second plasma display turned on and showing a pitch-black background for the duration of the demo. Pioneer demoed their concept set directly next to the current 8th-generation PDP-5010FD 1080p plasma Kuro plasma, and utterly destroyed even its vaunted performance. The Kuro line dropped idle luminance by over 80% compared to the 7th gen plasmas, and this demo was intended to show just how far the technology can continue to go under Pioneer's guidance. Color us very impressed, and saddened by the realization that this concept could go a generation or more before it becomes fully integrated into the Pioneer plasma lineup.%Gallery-12842%

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Big Tech

Big Tech By Erik Hanson

Sony rocks out the HD radio

Sony's PR blitz continues with the announcement of two HD Radio products, a tuner and a radio-iPod dock combo. The XDR-F1HD Tuner and the XDR-S10HDiP HD Radio can both tune in the estimated 1,500 digital stations nationwide. The XDR-F1HD is an add-on tuner with LCD display and a wireless remote, set to launch in March for $100. The XDR-S10HDiP docking station sports an iPod interface and iTunes Tagging, the ability to tag songs while listening for later purchase using the iTunes Music Store. It will be available in the summer for $180.

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News By Erik Hanson

Sony XEL-1 OLED slips into US stores

As expected, Sony has released the first OLED display in the US, with the 11-inch XEL-1 available now at select Sony Style locations for $2,500. Japanese customers have been able to purchase the 3mm-thick XEL-1 since late last year for ¥200,000, but the US has had to wait until now to get its organically 1,000,000:1-contrasted fix. The XEL-1 also offers support for DMeX so consumers can download content via the BRAVIA Internet Video Link service. If you're hankering for something even thinner than a 9mm plasma and looking to spend a whopping $227 per inch, head on over to a Sony store today.

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News By Erik Hanson

Philips launches BDP7200 BonusView-enabled Blu-ray player

Philips has announced the second generation in its line of Blu-ray players with the BDP7200, sporting 1080p/24 and Deep Color support, and BonusView (aka Profile 1.1) picture-in-picture capability. The player can also upscale DVDs to 1080p, and control connected devices using the EasyLink HDMI Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocols. Philips will release the BDP7200 in April for a $349 price, putting it towards the low end on the Blu-ray player price list, but the one thing we wish Philips had let us know was the level of audio codec support, with no mention at all of DTS or Dolby's high-end audio formats.[Update: Also see our hands-on with the BDP7200.]Click on for a couple more photos

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News By Erik Hanson

Pioneer announces A/V receivers, DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD support

Pioneer is expanding its CES lineup with four new audio-video receivers, one of which supports the new high-definition audio codecs found in Blu-ray and HD DVD. The VSX-518-K, VSX-818V-K, VSX-918V-K, and VSX-1018TXH-K A/V receivers all feature Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration with an included microphone for tweaking acoustics in the room, three 1080p-capable component inputs, and Auto Level Control for equalizing volume between sources. The VSX-518-K, 818V, and 918V all feature P.H.A.T (Pioneer Hybrid Amplifier Technology) power sources and support for WMA9 Pro over 5.1 channels, with the 518 dropping support for XM and Sirius satellite, iPod, and HDMI inputs. The big news is the VSX-1018TXH-K, with its support for 130 watts over 7.1 channels using a Direct Energy power supply, HDMI upscaling to 1080p, six digital inputs, and support for the lossy Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD High Resolution, and lossless Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs. The VSX-518-K is priced at $199, the VSX-818V-K at $249, the VSX-918V-K at $349, all releasing in April, and the VSX-1018TXH-K will come to market in June for $599.

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News By Erik Hanson

LG takes thin to the next level with the 1.7-inch LGX LCD HDTV

LG's 2008 lineup continues with the 42-inch LGX Super Slim 1.7-inch LCD, combining that ultra-thin form factor that's so in vogue with high-tech features like 120Hz, 24p playback capability and ISFccc calibration. LED backlighting and a 15,000:1 contrast ratio bump up the visuals for viewers, while the red-colored back gives your living room wall a show too. The set sports four HDMI 1.3 ports and a USB jack for photos and music, and LG's SimpLink control protocol enables compatible equipment to chain together. Pricing and availability were not announced. %Gallery-12756%

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News By Erik Hanson

Vizio expands budget-conscious VW line

Budget shoppers flocked to Wal-mart this past year to pick up Vizio sets, helping them to become the top-seller of LCDs in the US. Vizio is expanding the VW series to include 19- and 22-inch compact models, as well as upgrading the 42- and 46-inch models with 1080p. The 19-inch VW19L and 22-inch VW22L will launch in May and July for $399.99 and $449.99, and are intended for gaming and computing. The top end is bolstered with the 42-inch VW42LF, retailing for $1,349 starting in May, and the 46-inch VW46LF, priced at $1,749 with a launch date in June. The two 1080p sets offer many of the same features found in Vizio's other series, such as three HDMI 1.3 ports, ATSC and QAM tuners, 178-degree viewing angles, and a detachable base.

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Accessories By Erik Hanson

JVC P-Series LCD line rocks iPod docks

Of all the things still lacking an iPod dock -- La-Z-Boys, parkas, and the Foleo -- you can cross off your flat-panel, as JVC has added an iPod dock to their P-Series line of LCD televisions. The iPod TeleDock sits at the bottom of the set, ready to accept your player for charging even when the set is turned off. Video and audio playback can be controlled with the clickwheel-esque TV remote and on-screen menus. The P-Series features 720p on the 32-inch LT-32P679, while the 42-inch LT-42P789, 47-inch LT-47P789, and 52-inch LT-52P789 sets bump the resolution up to 1080p, with availability starting in March.

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Reviews By Erik Hanson

HD decoding CPU usage shootout: ATI vs nVidia

While around here you're more likely to see a flame war erupt about Blu-ray versus HD DVD, on many computer gaming websites the war is over ATI and nVidia, with the two major video card manufacturers constantly leapfrogging each other in an attempt to benchmark the highest scores on games like Unreal Tournament and Doom. Ars Technica has a head-to-head comparison on how well the their latest offerings perform decoding high-definition content, using an Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive and some prerecorded 1080p and 1080i content. While both camps did similarly well, ATI was better at playing back VC-1-encoded HD DVD content, and nVidia held a slight edge on 1080i recordings. The benefits to both allow even older video hardware to take a load off the CPU, meaning home theater PC builders can pair a cheaper CPU and video card for playing back HD on the cheap.

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Computing

Computing By Erik Hanson

Don't like your pre-amp? Build your own!

If you're big into do-it-yourself electronics, and feeling like your existing off-the-shelf pre-amplifier just isn't cutting it, Hack a day has the plans for you, with schematics and photos of a 7.1-channel pre-amp design sporting RCA, SPDIF, XLR, and USB inputs, and a VFD display to show you what's going on. The design is very professional-looking, and despite the glaring lack of analog tubes, it's sure to please any soldering audiophiles.

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Reviews By Erik Hanson

Reboot your home theater remotely with PS Audio PowerPlay

While the corporate IT world has long had access to remotely-controlled power for servers and data centers, it's pretty cutting-edge stuff for home theater, with PS Audio releasing the first line of Internet-connected power management devices. Ranging in price from $600 to $1,995 and scheduled to release in Spring 2008, the four products in the PowerPlay line differ in number of switchable and isolated plugs, but all offer a web interface to toggle power, schedule reboots, and monitor power quality. There is an RS-232 port for hardwired power control as well as IR blasters for turning devices back on after a reboot. Now you can reboot your TiVo without ever stepping foot in the house.

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Marantz announces VP-11S2 1080p DLP projector

Marantz is jumping back into the display pool for 2008, announcing the new VP-11S2 model 1080p DLP projector. Compared to last year's VP-11S1H, this model adds a second HDMI 1.3 input, and Texas Instrument's DarkChip4 chipset, boosting it up to 800 lumens of brightness and a 12,000:1 contrast ratio. No price was released, but considering the previous models hover in the $15,000 price range, we expect no less quality -- or cost -- from this one either.

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Computing

Computing By Erik Hanson

LG prices wooden-framed 120Hz Xcanvas LCDs

LG has begun shipping those wooden-framed LCDs that were announced back in August, with three models priced at 3.4 million won ($3,621 US) for the 42-inch 42LY4D model, 4.5M won ($4,793) for the 47-inch 47LY4D, and 5.5M won ($5,858) for the 52-inch 52LY4D at Korean retailers. All sets include 178-degree "TruV" viewing angle, a USB port for multimedia content viewing, and the 120Hz 1080p XD engine. No word on whether you can get it in a black cherry finish to match your bedroom armoire.

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TV & Movies

TV & Movies By Erik Hanson

Return your HDTV? Or buy more stuff to go with it?

If you're one of the brave ones who went out today to return unwanted Christmas presents -- yeah pastel socks, we mean you -- perhaps you saw one of the estimated 10% who will return an HDTV set this season, as Information Week interviewed the analysts who are predicting poor consumer satisfaction for those who just bought a set and are expecting some magic increase in quality on their old collection of VHS tapes. Of course, you could also be one of the many who realize a good flat panel display deserves a PS3, Xbox 360, or HD DVD player to go with it to throw on some quality images, and dived in to buy some new gear, and a movie or three. So let us know in the comments, do you plan to return some swag this holiday? Or are you planning on getting some more? And if so, can we come over and check out your setup?Read - Up to 20% could return sets, or...Read - Shoppers return to buy more

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TV & Movies

TV & Movies By Erik Hanson

Warner to finally go Blu-ray-only at CES?

Another day, another format war rumor. Business Week has a lengthy writeup on the possibility of lone dual-format holdout Warner Brothers switching to Blu-ray exclusively, and how it could affect the outcome of the long-running feud between high-definition disc formats HD DVD and Blu-ray. The rumor gets its seed from vice-chairman of Lionsgate Michael Burns, who claims that Warner will be turning blue soon. With Warner on their side, the Blu-ray studios would hold a 70% market share for the DVD market. Of course, if Warner shifts red, then the studio market will again be split into two equal halves, and consumers are left to wait and see if one format can outsell, outspend, or outlast the other until only one format remains. The stakes are so high that top execs from both camps are banging down Warner's door with personal meetings -- and possibly even truckloads of cash -- to get Warner to turn to their side. One thing you can be sure of is that Warner is going to be keeping an extra close eye on the dual-format release of Harry Potter next week for guidance.[Thanks, Michael P.]

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BenQ announces SP870 business projector

BenQ has announced a new projector designed for big conference rooms in the German and European markets. The SP870 is a 1,024 x 768-native DLP sporting 5,000 lumens and a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, with a 33-36 dB noise range and DVI and VGA inputs. The 10.8-pound projector will sell for 2,999 Euros ($4,390), with no release date set.

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PlayStation

PlayStation By Erik Hanson

Sony rumored to give PS3 owners Blu-ray Profile 1.1 for Christmas

Sony is said to have yet another PlayStation 3 firmware update ready for download before Christmas, with the gift for movie-loving gamers being Profile 1.1 compatibility for Blu-ray Discs. Competing format HD DVD has had support for Profile 1.1 features such as picture-in-picture, secondary audio, and local storage since its inception, while in the Blu-ray spec they were optional. There aren't any Profile 1.1 Blu-ray titles on the market yet, and only a single 1.1-compatible player for sale from Panasonic, so this is really about having one more bullet point on a box for fanboys to argue about. The only major HD DVD feature that becomes required in Profile 2.0 is Internet connectivity, so downloadable content will still be optional for some 1.1-compatible BD players -- but not the PS3 with its built-in Ethernet jack. Considering the PS3 is still one of the cheapest and most widely-owned Blu-ray players, and Sony continues to improve its capabilities via firmware updates, PS3 fans and Blu-ray Disc aficionados have that much more ammo to use in the never-ending format war.[Thanks, ag23]

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