BdBurner
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Pioneer unveils world's smallest and lightest external Blu-ray burner
When describing the current fleet of BD burners on the market, one word that certainly doesn't come to mind -- sleek. Pioneer is aiming to change all that, though, with the BDR-XD04. What it lacks in a catchy name it makes up for with a slim and light clamshell design that doesn't make too many sacrifices in the features department. At just under 8.5oz and 0.55 inches thick, it puts most of its competitors to shame. Now, it settles for just a 6x write speed and skips USB 3.0 in favor of the more common (and slower) 2.0, but it is capable of drawing power entirely from your machines peripheral ports. (Though, you'll have the option of hooking up an AC adapter if you wish.) And don't worry about format support -- the BDR-XD04 will handle everything from quad-layer 128GB BD-Rs to old-school CDs with aplomb. The slim new burner will start shipping in the middle of this month for $150. Full PR is after the break.
Sharp releases 8 new DVR-packing LED backlit LCD TVs into the wilds of Japan
Sharp's 46-inch Quattron LE821E caught our eye in the UK a few months back thanks to its addition of yellow at the pixel level and its integrated Freeview HD DVR. Now Sharp Japan has jumped in on the all-in-one action with their announcement of two new series of LED backlit LCD TVs. On the higher end, the DR series will feature built-in BD burners and 500GB hard drives, while supporting full HD in the 40-inch version -- but only 1366 x 768 HD resolution in 32-inch model. Similarly, the DZ3 series will come with USB HDD DVR features and sell in full HD sizes of 32, 40, 46 and 50-inches, while 20 and 26-inch sizes will only support 1366 x 768 HD resolution. These combo sets are scheduled to hit Japan later this year, but if you ask us, we'll be waiting for even more bullet point features... 3D, anyone?
