Media centers are all the rage of late, and for those of you hemming and hawing over an HD DVD / Blu-ray decision, the MediaMax HD could make your choice a little easier... or harder. The two-part media center consists of the MediaServer unit, plus the MediaDeck 4 HD set-top box, and allows you to store any DVD-standard to disk and then distribute it to whatever room in the house you choose (provided that room has a MediaDeck 4 connected). The system uses its own proprietary interface to navigate through your collection, and can stream different movies to multiple rooms in the network. The MediaDeck 4 HD features HDMI, DVI-I, VGA, S-Video, and component video outs; optical and S/PDIF digital audio outs, plus up to 8-channels of analog audio. Axonix, the company which makes the systems, appears to offer two separate players for HD DVD and Blu-ray, though you would think for this money they would combine the two formats, but that doesn't appear to be the case. If you're still interested, the MediaServer comes in a variety of configurations starting at a bank-breaking $5,795, while the MediaDeck 4 HD varies from $3,495 to $5,995, and they're all available now.

[Via Cedia News]

Research analysts at The Diffusion Group have released an interesting study into the habits and knowledge levels of gamers in relationship to playing back videos, DVDs, and other video content on their consoles. Only 30% of console owners surveyed knew their game boxes were capable of playing back movies or other content, and only 13% were actually using it for that purpose. Read on for more.

Samsung's been seriously non-committal about whether or not they were going to come out with a dual-format HD-DVD / Blu-ray combo player for a while now (they first said they working on one back in September of '05, only to retract that a few months later), but no more: it's officially happening. They've just announced the Duo HD BD-UP5000, their first player to support both HD disc formats. LG beat 'em to the punch with the BH100, but Samsung is promising that the Duo HD BD-UP5000 will have full support for HD-DVD (including support for HDi), something LG hasn't been able to offer with its player. We're still waiting to hear details about pricing and all that, but they are promising that the combo player will be out "in time for the holidays."

Call it the Blu-ray effect. With the other high definition DVD format set to release in a few days, Universal is dropping prices on all their HD DVD releases from $34.95 to $29.95. Since retailers rarely sell the movies for the actual MSRP, we'll see what this translates to on store shelves and if when Blu-ray launches, it is actually cheaper than HD DVD.

In the second bit of Universal HD DVD news, also from High Def DVD Digest, they are following Warner Bros. lead and releasing hybrid HD DVD/DVD discs. Their first releases on the format will be National Lampoon's Animal House and Unleashed. They will continue to be listed at $34.95. Looks like competition is benefiting the consumer already. We'll be a little happier when we see price drops on the hardware and more content available however. Also, will Warner drop the prices on their movies, and what about Paramount's indefinitely delayed titles?

Read - Universal cuts prices on HD DVD
Read - Universal schedules two combo HD DVD/DVD movies

Hitachi and Mitsubishi have both announced today that (in Japan at least), they will be releasing single layer HD DVD-Rs, with RW and dual layer blanks to come later this summer. Still no recorders announced, but with their importance in the Japanese market and media now scheduled, they can't be very far off. Impress approximates the price at about 2,000 yen ($17.75 US), which is about  the same price as single layer Blu-ray media. What the press releases don't seem to say is whether this media is 1X or 2X speed rated; because of the difference in the specifications 1X (36.55mbps) media could still play HD DVD content, but would be a slower burner than the Blu-ray drives that are coming out rated at 2X (72mbps) or higher. Impress only mentions the Hitachi as being 1X.

[Via Impress Watch]

Read - Hitachi HD DVD-R/RW
Read - Mitsubishi HD DVD-R/RW

Not only is the RCA HDV5000 available now, the Toshiba HD-A1 may be a little easier to find in your neighborhood as they have announced they are shipping "to an increasing pool of retailers on a weekly basis". Much like the Xbox 360 last fall, the Toshiba HD-A1 and HD-XA1 have been almost totally sold out since release, but with such a limited quantity available it is impossible to know how much demand really exists. Also of note is that retailers share our frustration with constantly-shifting release dates, but remark that the few who have HD DVD players are buying nearly every copy of the titles that are available. We'd love to see the sales numbers of Rumor Has It. So if you need high-def DVD right now, keep calling retailers near you, even if they originally didn't stock it as Toshiba also claims they will be in more than 5000 storefronts nationwide by the end of the year.

Microsoft is pumping up their support of HD DVD, featuring it heavily at the WinHEC conference today and creating a webpage aimed at promoting the format to consumers. Not only did they confirm the upcoming Windows Vista OS will ship with all the drivers and other software necessary for playback, they showcased the software and hardware coming from partners like HP, Niveus and InterVideo focused on HD DVD playback and authoring.

All that is nice but when is someone shipping an HD DVD burner and media like Blu-ray already is?

[Via Chris Lanier]

Other than Keanu Reeves, star of The Matrix and Bill & Ted movies (the Bill & Ted flicks are far better as a series), the HD DVD release of Constantine that we mentioned earlier will also be the first to feature bonus content exclusive to the HD DVD version. Using what they are calling In-movie Experience (IME), you can watch an interview with the director while the film is still playing.

This seems to be the first disc to use any iHD features, it will be interesting to see how well received this is by buyers, not to mention what sort of special features Blu-ray discs will launch with. Until now HD DVD has only offered SD extras copied direct from their DVD cousins, hopefully this marks the end of that era.

Update: VideoBusiness has more information on Universal's release of The Bourne Supremacy, which contains similar interactive features and should be on store shelves near you for $34.98. Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (thanks WiFiSpy) and Dukes of Hazzard are also slated to get the interactive treatment, no release dates yet.

...is not one in which I would want to live. But that's the sort of world David Pogue seems to be suggesting today in the New York Times. A careful read of the article reveals that deep down, he's one of us. Despite the cynicism about consumer electronics companies and their motives he came away impressed by the visual quality of HD DVD movies and the improvements provided by the interactive menus. Of course as Ben pointed out, he mentions the debut Toshiba HD-A1 player has some warts, long initial load times being one of them. Add on DRM concerns, a brewing format war with Blu-ray and you have plenty of reasons to sit on the fence. How long consumers stay there remains to be seen.

Does that mean both formats could go the way of the Dodo, Laserdisc and other dearly departed items as he suggests they might? Severely doubt it, everyone has too much invested for that to happen. Companies on both the hardware and software (content) side have too much to lose for the formats to just fade away. What appears to be most likely, is an extended format battle in which choosing a side means potentially giving up some feature or movie you want that is only available on the other. The life of an early adopter is fraught with peril but maybe, just maybe the 1080i/p rewards for your HDTV are worth it.

Note: Even I haven't decided which -- if either -- format to purchase yet.

Dirty Harry is back, hitting your screen in high definition in a couple of different ways. First up is a new Dirty Harry videogame coming to next generation consoles (360, PS3, Wii?). To coincide with the game, Warner will be re-releasing all the Dirty Harry movies -- Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool -- on HD DVD as the definitive Dirty Harry Collection, along with a host of (mostly unspecified, but expect audio upgrades and behind the scenes featurettes) extras. No Blu-ray release mentioned, however the films will on a moratorium of at least a year starting September meaning two things. If you want them on DVD buy them now while you can still find them, and expect the game and movie pack next fall.

(You have no idea how difficult it was to write this post without including some "Do you feel lucky, punk?"-related humor.)

You heard right, these are shots of the expansion to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, if not in the wild at least roaming about its padded enclosure. And enclosure is the right word, as it appears it will be little more than a standard 5.25-inch PC drive inside a 360-matching box. No HDMI output in sight, just USB and AC hookups, nothing direct to an HDTV. Has no one told Sony and Microsoft about ICT?

Still no word on price or specifics about the release date.

If you can't  find an HD DVD player because they're all sold out you'll soon have another option. Toshiba is shipping the Qosmio G35 AV650 laptop this week. It also features a 2Ghz Core Duo processor, two 100GB hard drives in a RAID setup, 1 GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 videocard and HDMI output. All that plus Windows Media Center Edition adds up to 10 lbs of weight and $3000 lighter in the pocket.

[Via Engadget]