We're not even going to front -- prior to this article, we hadn't heard of Bush (the consumer electronics manufacturer) nor the BD01. According to reports from the UK, though, the Bush BD01 has become the nation's first widely available sub-£100 Blu-ray player. At least at Argos, the deck -- which typically sells for £146.80 -- has just dropped to £97.86, and while the specifications aren't anything to write home about, it'll certainly handle the BD basics. You won't find BD-Live support and it won't help those in NTSC territories (PAL only), but it will upscale vanilla DVDs via HDMI and it won't totally demolish your savings. Better get a move on though, as we're told that stock is "very limited."

[Via ITProPortal]

The quixotic race to make the world's smallest HDTV got a little tighter today with this 15.4-inch TV / DVD combo from Bush. Featuring 720p resolution and an HDMI port, it's not the smallest HD-ready panel we've ever seen, but it's certainly the smallest you can actually go out and buy. While you probably won't be using this little guy to settle that 1080i-vs-1080p debate, we're not going to complain about hi-res panels filtering down to even the cheap-o TV / DVD player combo level. We are going to complain about the ridiculous £250 ($500) this thing will set you back, though, as well as the lack of a Freeview tuner, which means you'll need some kind of external box to view any HD content. No deets on availability, but with a plethora of solid 19- to 22-inch HD-ready displays at that price point, it's not like anyone's really chomping at the bit here.

Denver residents are so close to ending a 8 year battle in the name of digital TV. President Bush has the power to sign legislation that would allow 600,000 Denver-its to receive widespreed OTA HD signals via a brand spanking new broadcast tower on Lookout Mountain. We have a feeling that some of you need a bit of background on this crazy battle over digital signals. Apparently, there is a small group of homeowners that simply adore the four broadcasting towers currently occupying a wooded foothill by Denver. So much so that they have held up the construction of a new tower that while, yes, it will be taller, will also consolidate four towers into one. By the way, these are the same type of people that are afraid of the 'harmful' RF waves that digital towers emit. (That kind of sums it up right there doesn't) But the truth of the matter is that this new tower will emit 75% less then the total output of all four of the current towers in place and freeing up 75 acres of open space that the hippie homeowners should love. This battle needs to end sometime soon since that 2009 legislation requiring broadcasters to serve up digital OTA signals is right around the corner but we have faith in President Bush -- he seems like a casual TV watching sort of guy.

That's right, the ink is on the paper. Congress did their job last week and now Bush has done his. This has been a long time in the making and I for one am glad it is done. Now all we have to do is wait to see how the details are worked out. They have 3 years from Feb 17th to be exact, which also happens to be the date of the first "HDBeat Podcast".