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Joshua Fruhlinger

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Panasonic's EZ Touch multitouch remote control concept hands-on and video

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Oct 1st 2008 at 7:32AM


Panasonic is looking to reinvent the remote control with its EZ Touch Remote prototype that it is showing off here at CEATEC. Rather than rely on a touch-screen interface that forces one to look down at a remote (and away from the object of one's entertainment), the concept puts the visual feedback where it belongs: on the screen. The remote can sense left- or right-handed users and adjust the interface appropriately, moving important triggers around based on where one's thumb may (or may not) be. Dual touch pads allow for multitouch data entry and zoom manipulation, while gestures allow for quick scrolls, making this one of the most intuitive and drool-worthy remote controls we've seen in a while, or ever. We're so into it that we've provided a full gallery and three videos after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic's EZ Touch multitouch remote control concept hands-on and video

Sharp LC-65XS1U-S and LC-52XS1U-S X-Series AQUOS LCD HDTVs eyes-on

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Sep 29th 2008 at 10:44PM Featured Story


While we knew these new Sharp Aquos HDTVs were coming, we had no idea how thin and bright they were in person. Today at CEATEC 2008 Sharp officially announced its LC-65XS1U-S (65-inch) and LC-52XS1U-S (52-inch) AQUOS LCD HDTVs right at CEATEC Japan's opening bell. The displays' 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and 1080P panel are nice and all, but we now know they measure in at a super gaunt 2.28-cm (0.9-inch) depth and are outfitted with a 2.1-channel, three-way five-speaker system that Sharp jointly developed with Pioneer. Meanwhile, Sharp boasts some serious energy savings with the new displays, promising a 26% reduction in power consumption. Expect them to hit stores in Japan October 15 in limited numbers for an undisclosed (read: 'spensive) price. Check the emaciated photos in the gallery if you're so inclined.

Belkin's FlyWire does 1080P without wires

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jul 10th 2008 at 9:38AM

Belkin FlyWire
We've all dreamed of wire clutter-free home theaters for years (admit it), and Belkin is about to make things a lot easier with the FlyWire. The new wireless transmitter and receiver can send 1080p video over a 5GHz band. Belkin promises little to no interference and no latency even for you gamers. As for connections, we're looking at three HDMI ins, two component ins, one composite, and one HDMI out. Remote control is done via IR, which should be welcome news to those of you with universal remotes. FlyWire will come in two packages: The FlyWire AV69003 at $999.99 is meant for a whole-home solution with an IR backchannel for multi-room control, while the FlyWire R1 AV69000 at $699.99 is meant for a single room without the IR backchannel. Not exactly cheap, but a heck of a lot cheaper than those custom wireless installs, and a lot more pretty than ripping a hole in your wall for cables. FlyWire should hit store in October.

Acer rolls out the Aspire X1200 home theater-friendly mini PC for $499

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jul 8th 2008 at 11:49AM

Acer Aspire x1200
Always wanted to install a little computer into your home theater but none of the available options are cutting it, what with all the giant media files and HD displays you're rolling? Enter Acer's Aspire X1200, which for $450 includes on-board NVIDIA GeForce 8200 graphics, an AMD Athlon X2 2850e processor, and HDMI port. Acer promises full 7.1-channel audio support as well as the guts to work with H.264, VC1, and MPEG2 and the spunk to output 1080P. The whole shebang comes in a rack-friendly 10.6 x 4.0 x 14.4-inch enclosure. Of course, prices scale up to $699 based on your needs -- the latter coming with a 22-inch display -- but the base price will get you a 320GB SATA II drive and the start of what could be a sweet little home theater PC.

Comcast Center's video wall packs 10 million pixels into 27 x 87-foot display

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 19th 2008 at 5:46AM

Comcast Center Video Wall
When you're Comcast and you have some serious cash to throw at an installation in your new Philadelphia-based Comcast Center, you go all out on a $22 million high-definition video wall, of course. The giant display measures 27 by 87-feet and mashes 10 million pixels across modules linked by a central system that contains 27,000 GB of info, six DX700 LED digitizers, seven Encore video processors, and three Matrixpro routers. So what does it do? It's kind of a giant screensaver that may get old over time, if you ask us. It displays the time, shows figures pushing the panels open, and plays with the space in surreal, 3D-esque animations that are, admittedly, fun to watch. Check the video after the break.

Continue reading Comcast Center's video wall packs 10 million pixels into 27 x 87-foot display

Aiptek's HDV21X brings 1080p HD video to the sub-$200 Wal-Mart market

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 11th 2008 at 11:03AM

Aiptek Action HD
Aiptek is making a habit of bringing portable HD recording to some seriously affordable levels. The HDV21X Action HD 1080p High Definition Camcorder w/ Optical Zoom (known as the AHD Z500 Plus in Europe) records HD AVD HD (1,440 x 1080, 16 x 9) on a 5 megapixel sensor at 30 frames per second and 720P at 60 frames all for a paltry $199.99 at your local Wal-Mart. Expect to get up to 8 hours of 1080p video on a 32GB SDHC card. As for still images, the Z500 shoots at 8 megapixels and even sports a macro mode for both video and still. Also on board is a 3x optical zoom, CIF mode for easy YouTube uploads, a 2.4-inch swivel-mount TFT LCD, and component outputs for all the HD goodness. To top it all of, its diminutive size is worth mentioning: 4.4 x 2.75 x 1.3-inches.

Westinghouse releases slew of new 1080p and 720p HDTV LCDs

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 3rd 2008 at 4:43PM

Westinghouse HDTV
Westinghouse continues their habit of releasing well-spec'd but average-performing displays today with a slew of new LCD HDTVs. On the 1080p front, the TX Series comes in 42, 47, and 52-inch flavors along with the 40-inch VK-40F580D -- a 1080P DVD combo player that's (aside from the $1,099 price) ironically missing Blu-ray. The less-expensive 720p LCDs in the SK, PT, and W series come in anything from 16 to 32-inch screen sizes, the PT series being portable. So what's the big deal? The 1080p TX-52F480S 52-inch display retails at only $1,999 US, a tough number to beat in that spec range. Meanwhile, their respectably-sized 26-inch SK-26H730S is priced at just $599. So, hooray for affordable HDTV, and stuff.

Tranquil ships T7 and T2e Atom media PCs

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Jun 3rd 2008 at 2:01PM


Ignoring all those silly Atom shortages, Tranquil PC has their T7 and T2e Atom media PCs ready for delivery. As expected, the T7 is based on a fanless design for your uber-quiet home theater and measures only 8.8 x 9.1 x 2.2-inches with space for a 2.5-inch SATA drive. Meanwhile, the T2e can be fitted with a slot-loading DVD drive and comes in a more media rack-friendly form factor. They both pack the Intel Atom 230 at 1.6GHz and will set you Brits back starting around £189 and £284 (or $371 and $554 US), for the T7 and T2e, respectively.

Read - T7 Atom at Tranquil PC
Read - T2e Atom at Tranquil PC

First Blu-ray record, Divertimenti, released

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted May 29th 2008 at 10:02PM

Divertimenti Blu-ray recordFans of high-def audio rejoice: The first Blu-ray recording has been released. Fans of anything other than Divertimento, hold your horses: The first release is from Thondheimsolistene, an orchestra from Norway. "Divertimeni", as it is called, will be released by the 2L label in full HD audio glory along with a SACD track for those not on the Blu-ray bandwagon just yet. Formats include 2.0 LPCM, 5.1 LPCM, 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, 5.1 Dolby True HD, 5.1 Dolby Digital at 48KHz, and it has been confirmed to work just fine on the PS3.

[Via MiC]

Best Buy unleashes Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player for $349, PS3 yawns

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted May 24th 2008 at 2:03PM

Insignia NS-BRDVD
What's this? Best Buy finally released the Insignia NS-BRDVD blu-ray player for an affordable $349.99. The design, like other in-house Insignia-branded products, is questionable, but if you were looking into the PS3 as a player, this could be a $50 cheaper option if games aren't your thing. The unit outputs at 1080P, decodes Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD, and decodes 2-channel Dolby TrueHD. Outputs include stereo audio, composite video, component video, optical Toslink, digital coax, and HDMI. No word on image quality just yet, but based on previous Insignia products, we're not holding our breath.

[Thanks, Jordan]

Sony's Hot Ticket program brings live events to theaters at $20 a pop

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted May 22nd 2008 at 11:21AM

Rent with Joey Fatone
If you're a live event nut but live in the sticks, listen up: Sony is about to bring live performances to digital theaters with its new Hot Ticket program. Sony will broadcast Broadway shows, concerts, and sports events to around 500 digital theaters, live and in HD digital projection for about $20 a seat. The venture will launch with Cirque du Soleil's final performance of Delirium from London and for the two of you who haven't seen it yet, Rent's final Broadway performance will be shown in September. We have to admit, though, this could create some fun SuperBowl parties with rival factions on either side of the aisle, Congress style.

Sharp's new Aquos players mash Blu-ray and 1TB DVR together in unhappy marriage

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted May 19th 2008 at 9:25AM


The popular DVR / DVD combo trend continues with Sharp's new, just-released Aquos players. The three new combo machines -- updates from last fall's models -- pack Blu-Ray playback with DVRs of various sizes ranging from the 250GB BD-HDW22, to the 500GB BD-HDW25, to the 1TB BD-HDW30 big daddy of TV-recording doom. The Blu-Ray section looks pretty standard, but the DVR records in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 at three different bitrates - 4.8, 8, and 12Mbps. If you're thinking these will record from BD to HDD or the other way around, think again. The movie studios will have none of that.




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