Now that the company formerly known as MusicGiants has branched into the movie business, both sides will now exist under one brand: HDGiants. To celebrate the company is launching a Windows Media Center app to deliver high quality music and movies over the internet. Not that we're knocking the old send-customers-a-hard-drive full of movies distribution model, especially since HDGiants actually has a major studio on board -- unlike some we could name -- but as a step forward from the exclusive domain of custom installed media centers, it's not a bad start.

Read - MusicGiants + VideoGiants = HD Giants
Read - HDGiants offers Media Center app

Brando's SATA HDD Stage Rack doesn't stay the same for very long, as it seems a new iteration keeps popping up every month or so. The latest (and greatest, might we add) is the SATA HDD Multimedia Dock, which enables users to slap in any ole 2.5- / 3.5-inch SATA hard drive and access it via USB. That's not all, though. This one also provides an SD card slot, S-Video / composite / component outputs and a bundled remote -- what for, you ask? So you can play back MPEG1/2/4, XviD and DivX (among others) files, of course. This takes multifaceted to an entirely different platform, huh?

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Keep an eye out for a new development at IMAX theaters near you, as it starts to roll out digital projection to its 296 theaters next month. Two sites in Washington and one in Philadelphia are first (not to mention those new theaters in Russia), with 50 expected to be complete by the end of the year. The big deal here is that the savings cost, switching from a $22,000 70mm IMAX print to $800 hard drive copies, along with more joint venture deals, should lead the company to profitability according to analysts. Look for more flicks available in IMAX format as a result, with Madagascar 2 making the first big jump to digital, with plans to hit 35 screens on November 7.

Just after Hitachi President Kazuo Furukawa announced that the company is digging in with its flat panel and hard drive business lines, two new CinemaStar hard drives get a June release date. First up is the 2.5-inch, 320GB CinemaStar C5K320, with SmoothStream to keep your video flowing, um, smoothly. If you need more capacity, there's the 3.5-inch, 500GB CinemaStar 5K500 (not to be confused with the 2.5-inch TravelStar 5K500), which is Hitachi's first drive with CoolSpin to limit current draw. We've never had a problem putting standard desktop hard drives to multimedia use, but limiting heat/power draw and acoustic noise are two area that you should factor in for drives destined for living room or bedroom placement; so if poring over specs like bels and Watts isn't your thing, maybe consider an "approved" video drive like these.

Hitachi, like most every other flat-panel producer out there, has hit some shaky ground of late. Still, the outfit isn't planning to ditch its bread-and-butter anytime soon, and that's straight from the mouth of President Kazuo Furukawa. During a recent corporate strategy meeting, the exec affirmed that it would continue to position its flat-panel TV and hard drive divisions as "core businesses," as he saw promise in the fact that "the flat-panel TV market is growing on a global basis." He also made mention of a "Wooonet" networking service for TVs, which would reportedly get going next month. Sure sounds inviting, yeah?

[Via Reuters]

If you're already taken care of on the HD media streamer front, Mvix is hoping you'll look its way for a more portable solution. The pocket-friendly MV-2500U checks in at just 5- x 3- x 0.8-inches and makes room for a 2.5-inch internal hard drive. The simple, LCD-less exterior means that you'll need to access the interface on-screen after plugging in the (component, we presume) cables to your HDTV, after which you'll be able to watch video files encoded in MPEG1/2/4, DVD (VOB, IFO), DivX, XviD, BivX or VCD (DAT) for both PAL and NTSC systems. You'll also find support for AC3, MP2, MP3, WMA, OGG and M3U audio formats, and even JPEG photos can be shown in beautiful 720p / 1080i. Unfortunately, this wee piece will run you a stiff $149 before you even go hard drive shopping, but Mvix will happily add an 80GB, 160GB or 250GB HDD in there if you've got the coin.

Amidst the onslaught of releases surrounding IFA comes one from Metz, which is introducing a pair of feature-laden LCD HDTVs for the European market. The 32 HDTV 100 and Linus 32 HDTV 100 R both tout 100Hz technology, integrated "double-hybrid tuners" for cable and aerial (DVB-C / DVB-T) reception, Dynamic Motion Compensation to nix the jaggies, and two "externally accessible input slots for CA modules with smart cards that open up the possibility of being able to receive various pay-TV channels." Moreover, the "R" model comes equipped with a 160GB hard drive, which enables users to store up to 200-hours of SD content, 30-hours of HD programming, or any combination of the two sans a traditional DVR. You'll also find a trio of HDMI ports, DVI, and even a USB interface for loading up photo slideshows. Mum's the word on pricing at the moment, but both of these sets should be hitting the streets next month.

[Via Messe-Berlin]

We know, no one likes paying extra for those built-in backup features that you reckon are just as easily handled by your own diligence, but TrekStor's latest external hard drive boasts even more fanciness for your hard-earned buck. Aside from coming bundled with Nero's BackItUp2 Essentials, the dashing aluminum drive packs an infrared remote, AV adapter, USB 2.0 connectivity, and a front-panel full of media-centric playback controls for times when the remote mysteriously vanishes. The unit was designed to capture your video files, pictures, and other multimedia, and then plug right in to any television for instant, painless viewing / listening. Additionally, it plays nice with OS X, Linux, and nearly every flavor of Windows, and handles MPEG1/2/4, AVI, DivX, XviD, MP3, WMA, WAV, and OGG file formats all on its own. HD freaks aren't forgotten either, as 720p / 1080i is also in the cards thanks to its component output capabilities, and the optical digital audio output can even pipe surround sound from the HDD to your AV system. The MovieStation maxi t.u comes in 250GB, 320GB, 400GB, and half terabyte sizes, but unfortunately, no pricing deets were readily available just yet.

[Via SvartLinks]

For Toshiba, kicking out a duo of new Regza lines a week or so ago just wasn't enough, as the firm has unleashed yet another pair of LCD displays in the rapidly-growing lineup with the C3000 and H3000. The C3000s (pictured after the break) will range from 26- to 42-inches in size, sport both digital and terrestrial analog tuners, dual HDMI inputs, VGA, S-Video, and built-in stereo speakers to boot. The H3000s, however, will range from 32- to 52-inches in size, sport a 300GB internal hard drive for recording your favorite shoes, HDMI / S-Video / composite inputs, an eSATA connector, integrated analog / digital tuners, and onboard Ethernet to top things off. The barrage of sets will be shipping from April to June depending on model, and while the cheapest of the bunch will run you just ¥140,000 ($1,177), the flagship 52H3000 will ring up right around ¥590,000 ($4,961).

Panasonic has announced five new high definition digital video recorder units for the Japanese market, with all models sporting hard drives from 250 GB (DMR-XP11 and DMR-XP21V) to 500 GB (DMR-XW31 and DMR-XW41V) to 1 TB (DMR-XW51) and DVD drives for burning archives or placeshifting content. Two of them (the V-series) also include VHS recorders for converting that old pile of Miami Vice episodes you've got lying around. The largest of the models has the one terabyte drive, which should get you, what, at least half of American Idol this season? Each of the five recorders has HDMI output, with the DMR-XW51 model using progressive scan 1080p, and all include S-Video and composite inputs for recording other sources. We'd imagine this makes them upscaling DVD players as well, but that isn't mentioned in the release. Most include an ethernet jack for getting program guides and downloading track data from the online Gracenote music database when recording CD audio onto the drives. They utilize a quick-start power-saving mode that allows them to begin recording in three seconds from standby. Because these are Japan-specific recorders, they include BS/110 CS digital or analog tuners, with the VHS-less models freeing up room for two tuners instead of one. They will be released in April and May with prices ranging from ¥80k to ¥200k ($669 to $1,688).

It's one thing when the most taxing task your DVR will ever face is the furious fast-forwarding necessary to get the next scene in your favorite recorded drama, but if you've got over 100 hours of HD VOD to churn through while recording tonight's game and sifting through next week's programming list, having a more intelligent hard drive just might help out. In an effort to reduce DVR hard drive fragmentation, lengthen the life of set-top boxes, improve the quality of service / speed to the end user, and give your average DVR the ability to "manage up to 14 HDTV (19.3Mbps) streams from a single 3.5-inch HDD," Hitachi has developed AVSM technology to help your DVR's HDD think things through before going through the motions. The background software differentiates between "streaming applications and best-effort, non-real-time applications" such as electronic program guides, IPTV downloads, and photo browsing in order to manage the line of tasks more efficiently. Overall, the software reportedly reduces duty cycles "by up to 60 percent" and all but eliminates disc fragmentation, but realistically, with new units popping up entirely more frequently than your average hard drive takes to perish, hooking DVRs up with all these smarts might be a bit unnecessary for those who stay on the bleeding edge.

Anyone who listens to the HD Beat podcast knows how Ben feels about the Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD DVR cable box, but we're sure even he would like it a little better if it had a lot more hard drive space. Some friendly Canadians have worked out a foolproof method for adding capacity with a standard hard drive to record many more hours of high-def programming. All you need is an SATA HDD, SATA 1 to SATA II HDD cable, an external HDD enclosure, and you will be in ready to go.

[Via PVR Wire]