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Toshiba's Cell TV still on for 2009 debut, now with Blu-ray

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 23rd 2009 at 11:52PM

Just in case there was any doubt, Toshiba has confirmed plans to launch its halo product, the Cell (for Cell Broadband engine, similar to the one in the PS3) TV, with all the LED backlit 3D GUI, 3840x2160 resolution, and DLNA streaming capabilities one could want, in Japan by the end of the year. Thanks to the company's new religion, it will also feature a Blu-ray recorder to go along with the 1TB hard drive, though we can bet that will be axed before making its way stateside in 2010. Of course we're still looking forward to the Media Center Extender packing display expected here some time soon, but when an executive promises the "ultimate entertainment machine" we can't help but wonder what's in store. More detailed specifications and any pricing info other than "it will be fairly expensive" are still unavailable.

Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player seen slumming it at CEDIA

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 10th 2009 at 4:03PM


If you thought Toshiba's IFA Blu-ray showing was weak, consider its CEDIA display: simply a BDX2000 player connected to nothing at all. We understand, the format war was long and bitter, but c'mon Tosh, you could at least act excited about offering customers 1080p disc players again.

Gallery: Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player

Toshiba makes timid Blu-ray showing at IFA, still believes in other forms of HD distribution

by Paul Miller posted Sep 4th 2009 at 2:07PM Featured Story


Aside from the new JournE touch, the other main thrust at IFA's booth is Blu-ray -- at least, one would think. In reality, when we finally found the lone BDX2000, the LCD it was plugged into was off, while numerous DVD players and upscaling tech demos littered the surrounding booth area. Once we got a rep to turn it on for us, the Blu-ray player seemed to work just fine, as should be expected. The new Blu-ray equipped P500, however, wasn't so successful: our colleagues at Engadget Spanish watched an attempted Blu-ray showing on the laptop go awry, and by the time we'd dropped by the booth, any Blu-ray models of the P500 had been pulled from the show floor due to crashiness. In talking with a Toshiba rep, it's clear that the company hasn't abandoned its ideas of internet distribution and other alternatives to the once rival format of Blu-ray. The company is looking into a solution that uses a Blu-ray disc and BD Live to stream internet media to the player, and has packed in decent codec support for playing back media off of the BDX2000's SD card reader. We're sure Toshiba will figure out its P500 woes before the laptop ships to consumers, but there's no lack of interestingness in these first displays of Toshiba's "commitment" to the Blu-ray format.

Gallery: Toshiba's BDX2000 'in action' at IFA

Toshiba announces new and improved XDE600KE DVD player

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 1:12PM


Toshiba may have finally bitten the bullet and announced a Blu-ray player, but it's not about to give up on the XDE DVD upscaling technology borne out of the format war, and it's now rolled out its latest XDE player alongside its Blu counterpart to balance things out a bit. As with the previous XD-E500 model, the new XDE600KE player promises to upscale your DVDs to full 1080p with noticeably better results than a standard upscaler, and give you all the features you'd expect from a non-bargain priced DVD player, including a full complement of outputs, and Toshiba's own Regza Link technology for all your Regza needs. Also new to this model is a USB port, which will let you view pictures, play MP3s and, yes, even DivX movies. No word on a price just yet, but Toshiba says it'll be available sometime this fall -- in Europe, at least. Head on past the break for a few more pics.

Continue reading Toshiba announces new and improved XDE600KE DVD player

Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player coming November for $250, gives HD-DVD the final cold shoulder

by Ross Miller posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 11:36AM Breaking News

And so it is. Toshiba, the one-time cheerleader for HD-DVD, has now officially gone to the azure side with the BDX2000 Blu-ray player. It supports BD-Live (Profile 2.0) and REGZA-LINK (HDMI-CEC), outputs 1080p at 24 frames per second, and does Dolby True HD / DTS-HD Master Audio... but really, all that needs to be said here is that it's a Toshiba Blu-ray player. Look for this one-time paradox this November for a penny under $250. As for yesteryear, we think this line from the press release says it best: "This product does not play HD DVD discs." It's at once both sad and poetic that this very well may be the last official line ever uttered in the once-promising format's story.

VIZIO keeps the LCD TV crown in Q2, but Samsung is closing

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 23rd 2009 at 6:32PM


Injunctions, hail, sleet or snow, VIZIO kept shipping its LCD HDTVs in large amounts during the second quarter, enough of them to account for 21.7% of the market, according to iSuppli. That was enough to narrowly hold off Samsung, which saw its numbers rise sharply from 17.8% in the previous quarter to 21.3%, reportedly due to its introduction and marketing of new LED sets, which contributed to 2.2 percent of all LCDs sold during the period. The analysts also see a growing trend of customers coming back for their second flat panel television to replace an older one, just the kind of people it thinks might gravitate towards features like skinny, power efficient LED designs. We'll see if that's enough to swing the balance Samsung's way, or if customers stick with VIZIO's approach.

Read - VIZIO Again Ranked #1 in U.S. LCD HDTV Shipments
Read - Samsung Cuts Into Vizio's Lead in U.S. LCD TV Market in Second Quarter

Toshiba engineering still holding grudge, saddles 2TB RD-X9 DVR with DVD

by Steven Kim posted Aug 11th 2009 at 2:31PM

Toshiba RD-X9 DVD DVR
It's not a big leap to assume that folks who can grab and actually use Toshiba's RD-X9 2TB DVR would want to occasionally archive some of their shows to an optical disc. Yes, plugging in an external USB drive for backups is probably a better approach, but those optical discs are just so bite-sized and bookshelf-friendly. Toshiba apparently agrees, because burning to disc is supported as well; but maybe engineering is still bitter about the whole Blu-ray/HD-DVD thing and isn't aware of the new company line, because the onboard drive is DVD, not Blu-ray. Hopefully the next iteration will get everyone on one page, and we can move on to a feature-competitive Blu-ray model.

Toshiba applies for BDA admission, Blu-ray players and laptops coming soon

by Darren Murph posted Aug 10th 2009 at 3:20AM Breaking News


We'd already heard that Toshiba -- the outfit best known for solidly backing HD DVD during the two-year format war of the early 21st century -- was preparing to swallow its pride and kick out a Blu-ray player by the year's end, but now it's official. The outfit just announced moments ago that it has "applied for membership of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and plans to introduce products that support the Blu-ray format." Sadly, Tosh doesn't bother to mention exactly what kinds of BD-capable wares it hopes to produce, nor is it ready to disclose product launch time frames. We'd tell you exactly how it wants us to just be patient and all, but you're probably better off hearing it directly from the horse's trap:
"In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA. Toshiba aims to introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year. Details of the products, including the timing of regional launches, are now under consideration. We will make announcements in due course."

Toshiba's Stainless Style 720p HDTV redefines kitchenware

by Darren Murph posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 3:23PM


Oh sure, outfits have claimed to ship kitchen-friendly TV sets before, but Toshiba just made 'em all look silly with the introduction of the 19LV612U. Less formally known as the first member of the Stainless Style TV series, this 18.5-inch set packs a built-in slot-loading DVD player, integrated ATSC / NTSC / QAM TV tuner and a 1,366 x 768 native resolution. Oh, and then there's the seductive stainless steel coating, which makes it fit in impeccably well with your modern day dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave oven. Other specs include 300 nits of brightness, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, five millisecond response time, HDMI / VGA inputs, a headphone jack and VESA mount support. It's expected to ruin meals regularly starting this September for $349.99

Toshiba launching Blu-ray player by year's end

by Darren Murph posted Jul 18th 2009 at 3:50PM Breaking News


Need a little something to get you over the Saturday lull? Gnaw on this. Japan's own Yomiuri is reporting today that Toshiba is expected to finally admit defeat and enter the dark, devious world of Blu-ray later this year. For those keeping tabs, we've heard both confirmations and denials about the outfit finally caving and supporting the format it once battled so valiantly, but this seems to solidify it. If machine translation is to be believed, the company's first DVD / Blu-ray deck is slated for release somewhere in the world by the year's end. The article also mentions that Tosh is strongly considering a Blu-ray recorder for the Japanese market, though no further details on that are available. C'mon Toshiba -- get this bad boy to the States before Christmas. We're anxious for a BD price war.

[Thanks, Rata]

Toshiba CEO mentions the possibility of supporting Blu-ray

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 24th 2009 at 6:27AM

Though some iffy poll results & a Chinese spinoff may have you thinking HD DVD is just on the cusp of a comeback, Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida suggested today that the company might join the rest of the consumer electronics community and support Blu-ray. In the midst of defeat last year he said it had "no plans" to switch sides, focusing on flash memory and DVD upscaling tech instead, but after a few billion in losses that might have changed, as the prez indicated just losing the format war wasn't enough reason to skip out on the Blu-ray market and that Toshiba "would like to keep our options open." Besides enjoying the good news that our exes have found gainful employment as executive speechwriters, we'll be keeping an eye out for another Cell-based Blu-ray player to join the PS3, if not tomorrow, someday.

Toshiba REGZA ZV650, XV648 and SV670 HDTVs hands-on

by Darren Murph posted Jun 10th 2009 at 4:21PM Featured Story


Remember that trio of HDTV families that Toshiba told us about this morning? You know, those models that you've been waiting for since CES? Yeah -- we just spent a few quality moments with the gang at an unassuming New York hotel, and while we can't speak for the refreshments, we will say we're digging the panels. Have a peek yourself below.

Gallery: Toshiba REGZA ZV650, XV648 and SV670 HDTVs hands-on

Toshiba ships REGZA ZV650 and SV670 HDTVs

by Darren Murph posted Jun 10th 2009 at 1:37PM


If you're not down with waiting for Toshiba's internet-connected range of HDTVs -- which, by the way, should be out before the dawn of 2010 -- here's a bit of excellent news: the REGZA ZV650 and SV670 series are now shipping. Both of the sets were initially announced way back at CES, and the latter of the two is Tosh's first-ever LED-backlit HDTV. Said set also packs local dimming, ClearScan 240 dejudder technology, PixelPure 5G 14-bit video processing and that questionably useful Resolution+ system. There's also a USB socket, four HDMI connectors, IR pass-through, a PC input and REGZA-LINK (HDMI-CEC). As for the other guys (yeah, there's more), head on past the break and take notes on the ones relevant to your interests.

Gallery: Toshiba ships REGZA ZV650 and SV670 HDTVs

Continue reading Toshiba ships REGZA ZV650 and SV670 HDTVs

WinFast HPVC1100 is world's first external SpursEngine encoder

by Darren Murph posted May 12th 2009 at 8:53AM


Toshiba's Cell-based SpursEngine HD video co-processor has made plenty of appearances within monstrous gaming machines, but this marks the very first time where it has stepped out of the laptop chassis and into a portable enclosure. Granted, the language barrier is killing us here, but it seems as if the Leadtek WinFast HPVC1100 wraps a SpursEngine encoder into an on-the-go solution that can be lugged around with a standard laptop in order to churn through video while on set, in the field or on the road. Other specs include 128MB of RAM, a PCI-Express slot and a weight of 1.54 pounds; there's no word just yet on pricing or availability. One more shot is after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading WinFast HPVC1100 is world's first external SpursEngine encoder

Toshiba's Cell processor powered TV still on for '09?

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 8th 2009 at 1:56PM


Latest word from Toshiba is that its Cell TV -- the network video slurping, six HD tuner recording, SD-to-4K upscaling, 3D GUI powered beast -- will launch in about six months in Japan. Previously we'd been expecting a 2010 debut, although both dates could be true, with Japan seeing the new technology first, Europe later and the U.S. likely somewhere in between. Can't wait until then? Check out our spy shots from the CES show floor or Toshiba's press conference.




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