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.

There's been a rash of in-wall speakers coming to market lately, and we're glad to hear installed sonics improving from the whole-home intercom era, but freestanding speakers (in floorstanding, stand-mounted, bookshelf and desktop flavors) are what most of us end up using. The choice of makes and models in the market makes the grocery store's cereal aisle blanch, but our friends at CEPro have done up a nice slideshow of some of the latest and standout offerings out there. From big to small, high to low, active to passive, ported to sealed and planar to cones, this sampling of speakers shows that there's still lots of creativity being poured into how to convert ones and zeros into waves; grab your wallet and hit that link.

With apologies to Shakespeare, something is brewing at VUDU. With CEDIA just around the corner, the company has laid off some of its staff, most notably some of its marketing higher-ups. Additionally, rumors are swirling regarding just about every aspect of the upstart company's future. CEPro got some talk-time with the VUDU's national dealer channel manager, and a theme of decreased emphasis on the retail channel seems to run throughout the conversation, punctuated by a end-of-life status on the VUDU X100. Meanwhile, the company is making some CEDIA promises for its custom-install-targeted VUDU XL: more HD content (1,000 titles), more connectivity (HD over component) and lifetime warranties on purchased titles. It's all rumor, but we wouldn't be surprised to see VUDU move exclusively into the custom-install market where it seems to have a toe-hold. So what say ye -- is something rotten in VUDU, or should we hang up the codpiece and get back to work?

[Image courtesy Blog of Wishes]

Read - CEPro's VUDU interview
Read - VUDU CEDIA plans

Speakers are probably one of the least-frequently updated components in a system, so it pays to take your time selecting them. For fans of Monitor Audio who have been waiting for the company to release the compact PLC150 center channel speaker, our friends at CEPro have some good news for you. The speaker is set to demo at next month's CEDIA, and should be available in October. Okay, "compact" is a relative term -- the speaker packs two 6.5-inch metal bass/mid cones and a ceramic-coated ribbon tweeter into its frame -- but that's what you'd expect from the company's top Platinum line, right? If you're tired of that hole where a center channel should be in your Monitor Audio setup, you've got a couple of months to save up $3,300 for your new toy.

[Image courtesy CEPro]

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).

Custom installers and everyday consumers don't always have the same requirements for A/V gear. As we've mentioned before, HDMI has had some problems, but it is taking off. Follow the "read" link to get CE Pro's suggestions on what HDMI can do to help win over installers; we've got a feeling the proposed changes would make Joe and Jane Six Packs alike happy, too. We'll start off with our biggest HDMI pet peeve -- captive/locking connectors! Simply put: HDMI needs 'em. Next up, the major teething problems associated with HDMI versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 seem to be behind us and 1.3 seems to be a stable spec; the task at hand is to spread this info among installers (especially ones who were bitten by earlier version problems). To CE Pro's list, we'd add that all the various flavors of HDMI-CEC need to be brought under control -- when units like the Onkyo TX-SA606X get singled out for interoperability, it means lots of consumers aren't enjoying any ease of use. What would you like to see in the HDMI spec?

While we all wait for Toshiba to make things official, we're starting to wonder if everyone is the HD DVD camp already has a plan that they haven't shared with us. We can't say we blame them, but just reviewing the series of events since Warner went Blu, it has us convinced that everything that's happened since, is according to schedule. Sure Netflix and the Wal-Mart aren't inside the circle, but it's reasonable to believe that when they got wind of the demise of HD DVD, it seemed like a great time to make an announcement for some shameless free press. If we were to guess, we'd say that Universal and Paramount feel like they're left holding the bag and we'd think that as far as they're concerned Toshiba can't call it fast enough. To add credence to this, the good old WSJ is reporting that both will be in the clear to announce titles for Blu-ray -- as well as for Warner to cease HD DVD production-- as soon as it goes official. We can certainly understand Toshiba's desire to string it out though, cause no doubt as soon as it's official many of the remaining HD DVD players will end up in a landfill somewhere and that's not good for anybody.

[Via CEpro.com]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.