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Boston Acoustics' VS 336 floorstanding speakers get reviewed
You remember the curvy-looking Boston Acoustics speakers that came in under the "Vista" name, only to get re-branded "VS" to avoid confusion with other products sharing the Vista moniker? Well, the top of the line model VS 336 floorstanders grabbed a pretty good review from CE Pro, with the soundstaging and bass response earning good remarks. But speakers being subjective, you'd be advised to kick the tires on the $3,400 per pair boxes before you drive them home -- the review turned up a bit of excess presence in the upper bass and midrange that gives a lot of detail but also turned into a "forwardness" as notes moved up the scale. If you're considering them, judge for yourself if you like the effect or not; at this price point you've got plenty of choices that combine looks and performance.
Latest CE Pro Magazine reveals the ZeeVee ZvPro
Well looky here, the wonders that is print media isn't useless just yet -- thanks to very long lead times and an ambitious postal worker, the latest edition of CE Pro Magazine reveals the evidently soon to be announced ZvPro. The ad doesn't offer up enough details for us, but it does look like some of our biggest gripes about the original ZeVee Box are addressed. For example, now we have component and Toslink input as well as RS-232 control and an IR port -- no indication if that is an input or an output. The rack mountable device is obviously geared towards the prosumer so it isn't too much of a stretch to assume this little baby will demand a premium price -- if we were the betting type, we'd have our money on over $800. But even at that price, we're sure this box will find at least a few homes as there are plenty of people trying to figure out how to send HD over the existing coax in their home without mounting a STB on the wall below the HDTV.[Thanks, Utah]
Hints on Media Center news to expect at CEDIA
Just hours away from CEDIA Expo 2008, and besides the Media Center TV pack, a few speaker systems and much-needed details to fill out vague IFA releases, who knows what awaits us in Denver? Apparently, our friends at CEPro, pointing out a new version of Niveus Movie Library, the potential for new media extenders, media servers and more to potentially fill out your Media Center life in '09. Punch the read link to get a heads up and be sure to check us out for plenty of updates once the show starts later this week.
Mark Levinson's new No. 53 amp is 20 better than predecessor
When most of us think of "high end" gear, we picture shiny tech that we might be able to afford if we got lucky in Vegas. But there's a whole other level of expensive gadgetry that schleps like us can't even begin to fathom; ironically, the closest we ever get to this gear is in Vegas during CES. Case in point: Mark Levinson's new No. 53 monoblock amplifier. This replacement of the company's top of the line No. 33 amp introduces Interleaved Power Technology (IPT), its foray into the world of digital amplification. That's right -- the old saw about digital amps being inferior is giving way, albeit slowly. And in this case, at a unspeakably-high price point. So if you're sitting on a pair of No. 33s, best put them up on eBay in preparation for the No. 53's summer availability; this new model is said to outperform anything the marque has done before. Our friends at CE Pro were mightily impressed, but these babies might as well be milled out of a solid block of unobtanium for us (you know, to tame resonances).
Blu-ray discs do exist, really
Contrary to what you may have heard, Sony is making Blu-ray movies on actual Blu-ray discs. Really. Our friends over at CE Pro visited a production plant in Indiana to check and say it is so. They saw busy robots pumping out as many copies of Hitch as you could ever hope to watch (which apparently is a number greater than 1, who knew?).It's not all good news however, as all the discs being produced are of the single-layer 25GB variety. While dual-layer 50GB discs are expected to hit shelves this fall, this presents an odd situation where while Blu-ray may be cheaper, HD DVD 30GB discs currently available will be larger. Remember those rumors about 50GB Blu-ray not being real? While "this fall" may not be the "many years" delay Microsoft alluded to , it certainly isn't as quickly as we'd hoped.
Viiv doesn't suck after all?
That's what CE Pro is suggesting. After questioning Intel's underwhelming initiative, they have now softened their stance offered an alternate perspective and given us some food for thought on why Viiv might actually be worthwhile. Chief among those reasons is transcoding. For example, your second-gen Viiv equipped PC should come with the capability to stream any type of media to an Xbox 360, without any workarounds or extensions.We'll wait until we see a Viiv PC with more useful capabilities, although this jibes with rumors we heard earlier about streaming functionality not coming alive until Viiv 2.0.
Windows Vista will support HD-DVD after all
Our good friend and Microsoft MVP Chris Lanier moved to clear up some controversy over whether or not Vista would include native support for any next generation format, confirming that yes, it will ship all right and ready for your HD-DVD's. Blu-ray support will need to come from a third party, so look for an extra disc of software when you pick up that shiny new Blu-ray drive for your PC.No word however on whether or not Vista will include the vaunted "write your blog posts while you lay on the couch and play Xbox 360" feature. We'll keep you updated.
LG: No Blu-ray player this spring, combo player in the fall?
CE Pro is reporting LG sent a memo to their dealers indicating that among other things, like removing LCoS screens from their lineup, they have cancelled their BD199 player due to "uncertainty in the market". Without even stopping to mourn the BD199 that never was, they go on to say they expect to launch a combination Blu-ray/HD-DVD player by late summer or early fall.A device that plays both formats would seem to be the holy grail of high def DVD's, but we seem to recall Samsung saying that due to licensing restrictions of both camps that it would be impossible to produce one. Now that AACS is somewhat settled, and Sony and NEC working together (although Samsung already similarly partnered with Toshiba), has something changed? The real question seems to be is there any point in HDTV owners buying a first generation player if combination units are right around the corner.
Think the Xbox 360 doesn't fit in with your home theater? Think again
Check out this installation done by Diversified Technologies, which combines an Xbox 360, Windows XP PC and a high definition video switcher and distribution system to play music, movies and pictures throughout the house. Although they are not streaming video from the PC because it isn't running Media Center, the Zektor video switch and Audio Authority distribution system display content from the 360 or satellite source to any of the connected TV's.Thats certainly an interesting approach, however one has to wonder about all the heat the 360 puts out, not to mention whether it has space for the hard drive on the side in that slot. That aside, the 360's smooth interface and wireless controllers make it ideal for this sort of application, I guess we'll see these showing up on the HD Beat flickr group soon.
CE Pro attempts to answer the question: "What is Viiv?"
Intel's new platform that so far has provided more questions than answers is the subject of an interview by the CE Pro Weblog. Installers and resellers are just as interested as everyone else in what Viiv can do, so will this quell the "Viiv is DRM" rumblings?Not exactly, although they do talk about transcoding, why Viiv is necessary despite DLNA, and Intel Virtualization Technology, so check it out.*Shrug*, sorry Intel, but no matter how many partners you have, I just don't think I'll be impressed until you show me some muscle to justify wearing the "verified Viiv digital device" yoke. We prefer our high definition content DRM-free, but who knows how possible that will be in the coming year.
Even the manufacturers don't know what is going on
More than a week later and I'm still trying to find out what Viiv is all about and why I should be excited. I'm not even the only one, our friends at Engadget have posted their reasoning for why no one knows the secret of Viiv, making for an entertaining read at the least.Also, over at CE Pro they're recounting just a few of the flubs and missteps live presentations had at CES, according to Intel with Viiv they have succeded in "making the PC more PC like". Yeah great job on that one guys.
