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Cyrus Farivar

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Philips SoundBar HTS8100 to simulate surround sound in one speaker

by Cyrus Farivar posted Jan 8th 2007 at 10:13AM

We're not entirely convinced that a single speaker could ever replace or even come close to simulating true 5.1 surround sound speakers, but that hasn't stopped companies from manufacturing products that try to do just that. The latest one that we've spotted is Philips' SoundBar HTS8100, a single three-foot long piece that uses "Ambisound technology" and "Smart Surround" processing, which is supposed to replace those pesky speakers that you already spent hours properly mounting in your living room. Still, Sci Fi Tech wasn't all that impressed, calling the CES booth demo "a little shill," -- but if you disagree with their assessment, the SoundBar can be yours this coming June for $1,000. Hmm, how 'bout if we told you that it has an integrated DVD player? It does.

HP announces bd135, company's first Blu-ray writer

by Cyrus Farivar posted Jan 8th 2007 at 9:23AM Breaking News

Like most companies here at CES, HP is getting busy launching stuff left and right. In addition to its usual assortment of laptops, desktops and servers, HP decided that it now wants to get into the Blu-ray game. While HP was already doing a fair bit of HD DVD stuff before, this is the company's first major foray into Blu-ray. Here's what we do know: the new burner will be called the bd135, and the word on the show floor is that it'll ship within the first half of this year, but we're still waiting on a price. We'll keep you posted as info rolls in.

Sharp offers up a trio of projectors, including a 1080p behemoth

by Cyrus Farivar posted Jan 7th 2007 at 11:30PM

You didn't think that the 108-inch LCD TV was the only big-ticket item Sharp was going to announce today, did you? It's got a trio of projectors to show off as well, the XV-Z3100, DT-510, and the XV-Z20000 1080p models. The XV-Z3100, a nice little portable unit, does 720p at a resolution of 1280 x 780 and has a 6,500:1 contrast ratio, with 1,000 lumens of brightness. Its sibling, the Sharp DT-510 also projects at 720p widescreen, and boasts a contrast ratio of 4,000:1, also at 1,000 lumens. Both of those models will be released in February, for $2,700 and $2,500 respectively. However, the pair of 'em pale in comparison to the XV-Z20000 (pictured), a full HD 1080p HDCP-compliant projector that shines at 1920 x 1080 with a contrast ratio of 12,000:1 and a brightness of 1,000 lumens. It will also upconvert standard resolution signals and is decked out with two HDMI ports. In other words, if you've got $12,000 burning a hole in your pocket right now, Sharp would like to talk to you pronto. Check the next page for some pics of the first two models.

Continue reading Sharp offers up a trio of projectors, including a 1080p behemoth

Sony Vaio XL3 media PC announced, boasts Blu-ray burner

by Cyrus Farivar posted Jan 7th 2007 at 9:04PM Breaking News

This evening, Sony launched an update the Vaio XL2, predictably named the XL3. As we told you earlier, this newcomer has a Blu-ray burner, NTSC and ATSC tuners (with CableCARD support), four flash card slots, four USB ports, two FireWire ports, and Ethernet, plus HDMI, component and S-Video jacks. But what about the true belly of the beast? How about an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GTL graphics card, 2GB of RAM and a so-so 500GB hard drive -- definitely a solid foundation. Oh, and did we mention that there's liquid cooling embedded inside this little bundle of joy? Intrigued? You've got until March to gather up $3,300. Check out the next page for a shot of the rear ports.

Continue reading Sony Vaio XL3 media PC announced, boasts Blu-ray burner

Sharp trumpets 108-inch LCD TV, world wonders why

by Cyrus Farivar posted Jan 7th 2007 at 3:41PM Breaking News

Sharp's just gone and announced the biggest LCD TV that the world has ever seen. Yes, this even beats out that 103-inch plasma we spotted about a year ago. Why anyone even cares about this horse race, we're not really sure -- but you can bet that one of these will probably end up on a future episode of "Pimp My Ride." Nevertheless, we'll post more pictures as soon as we get 'em.

Update: Ok, we got the official word from Sharp, and this 108-incher is a real monster. It's 93.9 inches high, 52.9 inches wide and 107.8 inches on the diagonal, and shines with 2.07 million pixels (1,920 x 1,080). So to recap, this thing is 7.8 feet high. We feel very, very small now.

Snappy updates HAVA software, adds 1080i and 720p support

by Cyrus Farivar posted Dec 22nd 2006 at 1:19AM

Snappy's HAVA is a bit of a dark horse in the remote TV viewing world, being overshadowed by Slingbox and all. But nonetheless, it soldiers on, sending your favorite programs out over your home network and then out over the great series of tubes. However, that little box just got a nice upgrade -- on Monday, Snappy Multimedia released a software update for the HAVA, version 1.6. This version will support 1080i, 720p, and 480p/576p inputs, and supports 16:9 aspect ratio for HD content. Further, the HAVA will now automatically detect the input resolution and adjust accordingly. Among the issues that this new software fixes is resolving incorrect video scaling and the ever-annoying "wireless configuration problems." We're constantly annoyed by our own "various problems" with our WiFi routers, so if Snappy wanted to share their insight with Netgear / Linksys / D-Link, we'd be much obliged.

LCD price-fixing probe targets LG.Philips, Sharp, Samsung

by Cyrus Farivar posted Dec 12th 2006 at 6:35PM


A number of TFT LCD manufacturers are under investigation by government regulators in Asia and the US for possible price-fixing. LG.Philips was subpoenaed by American, Japanese and Korean authorities on Monday, while Samsung was hit with legal papers on Tuesday. Further, Sharp was "contacted" by the Japan Fair Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice, though it's unclear if that meant it got a subpoena too. But the fun doesn't stop there, reports IDG News Service, with the European Commission now getting in on the act, too -- the EC said that it was trying to "ascertain whether there is evidence of a cartel agreement and related practices concerning price fixing." Of course, this comes hot on the heels of that video card investigation we heard about recently, as well as the RAM price-fixing fiasco that Mitsubishi (and previously Samsung) were involved in. We'll keep you posted if other display makers get swept up into this.

[Via Slashdot]

Dell XPS M1710 decks the halls with Blu-ray

by Cyrus Farivar posted Dec 11th 2006 at 1:22AM

While Panasonic, Acer, and Sony all beat 'em to the punch, Dell is finally ready to get tangled up in Blu. The Texan computer giant has just announced the XPS M1710, its first laptop decked out with Blu-ray, which will read and write CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs, and will do 1080p at 48 Mbps. It also includes an Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 or T7600G processor, an NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 FTX 512MB video card, up to 4GB of RAM, and up to 160GB of storage. But that tall order won't come cheap, no sir -- we're talking starting prices at $3,700. However, Dell says it'll have 'em ready worldwide just in time for the holidays. Just hope your loved one doesn't already have a library of HD DVD movies sitting around if you choose to give one as a gift.

[Via Laptoping]

Gefen Home Theater Scaler converts standard-def to high-def

by Cyrus Farivar posted Nov 10th 2006 at 9:05PM

At first glance, the Gefen Home Theater Scaler looks like just another cheap Mac mini knock-off, but it's so much more than that. Assuming that it works as advertised, the HTS will upconvert your standard-definition video to high-definition, all the way up to 1080p. That means you won't have to buy a new upscaling DVD player to use with your hot HDTV. Furthermore, it also works as a video switcher between a pair of component sources and two HDMI sources, which is pretty sweet as well. The Scaler will set you back four Benjamins and is available now from the company's website.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

Hannspree unveils new TVs with faux-wood curvature

by Cyrus Farivar posted Nov 2nd 2006 at 3:47PM

Most of those new HDTVs that we've seen more or less look the same -- from the side and the back, that is. Each one comes with basically the same generic plastic case wrapped around ports that we generally don't mess around with more than we need to. But these new Hannspree sets are something else indeed. Each Hanspree Lounge model is wrapped in faux wood paneling, and its curves give you something to admire whilst you're grabbing that next beverage from the fridge during commercials. These new HDTVs will display at 1,366 x 768 and come in three sizes -- 26-inch, 32-inch, and 37-inch -- whose prices range from $1,200 to $1,900, respectively. The New York Times reports that the smaller model will be available this week, with the 32-incher rolling in by the middle of the month and the 37-incher dropping "in early November." Um, isn't that around now? Oh, and each comes with a memory card reader (no word on what type) too.

[Via The New York Times]

Pioneer's BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player also delayed until December

by Cyrus Farivar posted Oct 31st 2006 at 5:56PM

There must be something really hard about making those Blu-ray players that no one seems to have anticipated. First Sony had to announce twice that its BDP-S1 was going to be delayed until December 2006 due to software bugs. Now Pioneer has been delayed too, for unspecified failure to meet "quality control requirements," which may or may not be related to the other assorted blue laser shortages. The BDP-HD1, which was due to come out this month (after having been delayed from its previous May launch), won't ship now until December as well. The price, however, has dropped since we last eyed it at CES -- it's now down to $1500. We're still not sure which is bluer, us consumers, who have been trying to get one of these Blu-ray players until we go blue in the face, or Pioneer, who is singin' the blues. (This entry has been brought to you by the color "blue.")

[Thanks, Junger]

ViewSonic Cine5000 projects at a 255-inch diagonal

by Cyrus Farivar posted Oct 4th 2006 at 5:32AM

As much as we love a good projector that can display our favorite TiVo'ed media in HD, most don't really handle stuff designed to be watched on a 768-pixel tall desktop dimension all that well -- you know, because we really need to be able to watch YouTube on a 255-inch diagonal, right? Well, thank goodness, because ViewSonic has come out with its latest, the Cine5000, which fires up at a 15:9 resolution (1280 x 768), displaying XGA or WXGA without scaling or compressing. Beyond that, the Cine5000 comes with HDMI (HDCP-compliant), component, composite and S-Video ports, offers a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and 1,000 lumens of brightness. It'll hit the streets later this month for $2,000, but while you're waiting go check out the snap of all the ports on the next page.

[Via AboutProjectors]

Continue reading ViewSonic Cine5000 projects at a 255-inch diagonal

Norcent's LT-3725 anchors its new LCD line

by Cyrus Farivar posted Sep 27th 2006 at 6:32PM

Norcent, our favorite TV maker in San Dimas, California (home of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," dude!), has just released a new line of five TFT LCDs, known in company parlance as the "25 series." These flat panels range from the 20-inch LT-2025 to the flagship 37-inch LT-3725, with all but the LT-2025 sporting a 16:9 aspect ratio, 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i compatibility, and 1266 x 768 resolution. Starting with the 27-inch model, the LT-2725, Norcent decided to toss in some HDMI action, along with ATSC, Clear-QAM and NTSC tuners. Prices on these televisions start at $340 and keep head north to about $1150.




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