We've seen a few HTIB systems trickle out from the Pioneer labs of late, but never four at once. Today, the firm has made official a foursome of home cinema systems slated to hit Europe in the fall, so we'll cut right to the chase. The LX03 is the lone system with a DVD / SACD player and USB port, while the others thoughtfully include Blu-ray decks. The LX03BD (satellite speakers included) and LX08BD (no satellites included) feature 500-watts of power, HDMI 1.3 sockets (2 in / 1 out), KURO LINK, an iPod connection and a 7-band equalizer. The LX01BD includes omni-direction speakers, 400-watts of power and pretty much everything else found on the LX08BD. For complete specifications, be sure to give the read link a visit; as for availability, you'll find the LX03, LX03BD and LX08BD systems in October while the LX01BD arrives in November.

Not that Pioneer's KRP-600M KURO plasma was any huge secret, but across the pond, the outfit just got official with it alongside three other 1080p sets and a fantastically sexy media receiver. The 50-inch KRP-500A and 60-inch KRP-600A each boast a 64-millimeter thin enclosure, "extreme contrast" levels, DLNA certification and a trio of tuners including analog, digital (DVB-T for Europe) and digital satellite (DVB-S/DVB-S2). Furthermore, the two "A" models come bundled with a whisper-quiet media receiver that appears to be nothing more than a sexy 4-port HDMI switcher. As for the 50-inch KRP-500M and 60-inch KRP-600M, those should ring up slightly cheaper due to the exclusion of internal tuners and the fact that the aforementioned media receiver isn't packed in. Speaking of Euros, there's no mention of price, though release dates span from August (600M) to September (600A) to October (500A / 500M).

Remember how your curiosity level shot through the roof when Pioneer abruptly discontinued the BDP-LX70A Blu-ray player in the UK? We're willing to bet this is why. Announced over on Pioneer's European website, we're being treated to three fresh faces -- the Profile 2.0-compliant BDP-LX91, Designer BDP-LX08 and BDP-LX71 -- along with one familiar face (the BDP-51FD). All of the new units will feature 1080p24 support, HDMI 12-Bit Deep Color support, KURO LINK, DTS-HD Master Audio / Dolby True HD compatibility and professional-quality Wolfson Digital Audio Converters (DACs). As for pricing and availability other than Europe, your guess is as good as ours, but we are told to expect the BDP-LX71 in September, the BDP-51FD / BDP-LX08 in October and the BDP-LX91 "later on in the winter."

We knew it was coming, and after waiting for quite some time for FreeSat to go from concept to reality, television viewers across the UK can finally indulge. If you'll recall, a recent survey found that just 5-percent of Europe's HDTV owners actually bothered to tune into HD programming, but now that number is likely to change. Effective today, 98-percent of the UK can fork out a one-time fee of £49 ($96) to £120 ($234) in order to acquire a FreeSat set-top-box, and after an £80 ($156) installation, users will have subscription-free access to BBC HD, ITV HD (coming soon), Channel 4's digital service and around 70 other TV / radio channels. Better still, that number is slated to rise to 200 before the year's end, and unsurprisingly, the launch is expected to boost available high-def offerings in the region. Anyone across the pond have their equipment set up already? How's the service?

[Thanks, Ivan]

Heads-up, OTA lovers. DViCO has just announced the formal launch of its FusionHDTV7 PCI-Express card, which claims to be the "world's first dual HD (digital or QAM) tuner PCIe card." The device is designed to pick up digital (ATSC) / analog (NTSC) terrestrial signals, and the twin silicon tuners also provide picture-in-picture support as well as the ability to watch and / or record two high-definition broadcasts simultaneously. And at just $140 (available now), we have a feeling this one's going to be a fan favorite.

[Via TVSquad]

Aw yeah, that sexy-on-paper Kuro projector you've been dreaming about the past few weeks just got real today in Munich, as Pioneer made official (even more official?) the KRF-9000FD. Said beamer will be packed with LCoS technology, twin HDMI inputs to go along with the component / composite / S-Video sockets, full 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution, 600 lumens and a 30,000:1 contrast ratio; you'll also find a RS-232c control port, a noise level of just 24-decibels in normal operation and a striking likeness to JVC's DLA HD100. Here's to hoping you weren't expecting this thing to be a bargain, however, as it's all set to land in the next week or so for a stiff €8,000 ($12,460).

[Via Heise]

You patient folks over in the UK have waited a long time for FreeSat to become a reality, and it seems as if that wait will come to an end this Friday. According to an anonymous source across the pond, his store has received a memo stating that the service will go live on April 25th May 6th. Additionally, professional installation is set to run customers around £80, while receivers will set citizens back £40 to £100 depending on which box you choose. We're also told that both SD and HD set-top-boxes will be available, and even though they're expecting a rush of orders from day one, installation should be taken care of within a week or so at the latest. Hopefully this little birdie isn't too far off -- guess we'll find out soon enough.

Update: It's looking like May 6th now.

While we had every reason to believe that InFocus had another swank 1080p projector waiting to be unleashed last month, it's always good to see a little reassurance from the outfit itself. As of today, the Play Big IN83 is really real, and it's looking to deliver Full HD imagery to your screen later this month. Packed with TI's DarkChip4 DLP chip, this unit sports a native 5,000:1 contrast ratio, 1,600 ANSI lumens, HDMI 1.3, Pixelworks DNX 10-bit video processing and 2.35:1 Cinemascope / widescreen aspect ratio support for good measure. The pain? $5,999 through "exclusive InFocus resellers and installers." Click on through the full release.

Just yesterday we learned that Hitachi's Ultra Thin LCD lineup would be gifted with ultra-wideband technology courtesy of Tzero, and now it seems that the family is edging ever closer to hitting storefronts outside of Japan. Reportedly, the series will include the 32-inch UT32MH70, the 37-inch UT37MX70 and the 42-inch UT42MX70, all of which will feature IPS LCD technology. Additionally, a digital tuner for the UT series should be available in October, and while pricing still remains a mystery, the smallest of the three is set to hit Europe in April while the larger two arrive in May and June, respectively.

Remember that intriguing KP-900 that came our way courtesy of the FCC late last month? Turns out, this creature is getting all official on us today, with Universal proudly proclaiming that its newest IR / RF dual-use remote will be debuting at the Electronic House Expo in Orlando next month. The multifaceted gizmo is made to be retrofitted into any home that could use a wall-mounted home automation controller and a sophisticated home theater remote, and it should be hitting authorized dealer locations next month for $599. Not bad, not bad at all.

[Via Widescreen Review]

Not even a month after Lumenlab loosed its luxurious Qmax on the world, the firm's Q42 has finally escaped beta and is ready to tackle your living room. This PC-in-a-TV features an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 processor, an optional NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 1TB of hard drive space, gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel surround sound, optional Hotwire networking technology, a silent cooling system, all aluminum frame and an optional (but totally necessary) Blu-ray drive to boot. As expected, everything's housed behind a 42-inch 1080p LCD panel, and for those still in shock over the Qmax's $10,000 sticker, the $3,850 starting price on this bugger should be a sight for sore eyes.

Just in case things weren't official enough for you, WWE has gone the extra mile and boasted about WWE in HD via an on-air spot. Starting a week from today (January 21st for those taking notes), Monday Night RAW will be broadcast in high-definition for the first time on USA HD. The very next night, ECW will air in HD on Sci-Fi HD, and if you're still itching for more, you can catch the first HD showing of Smackdown on The CW HD on January 25th. Oh yeah, and then there's that little Royal Rumble thing going down on the 27th -- we're hearing that will be available in crystal clear HD, too (albeit for $10 more than the SD version). Hit the read link for a look at the promotional ad, and feel free to dig up your stash of bandannas and ripped-up shirts up from the bottom drawer -- next week's gonna be pretty intense.

[Thanks, Dustin R.]

Earlier this month, Sling Media's Slingbox SOLO surfaced courtesy of the FCC, and now the firm's first box to be released with built-in component jacks is finally official. Granted, we already know that this FCC-exposed Slingbox is set to include these coveted ports as well, but this bad boy should be the first of the two to hit store shelves. Furthermore, it'll boast passthrough outputs to save you from scrounging around for a splitter, the ability to control a single set-top-box and support for incoming HD signals. Oh, and while the actual purpose of the built-in USB port has yet to be confirmed, we've all got external storage (and WiFi) on the brain. As for pricing and availability, look for this sucka to ship very soon for $179.99 in the US, $199.99 in Canada and £129.99 in the UK.

Earlier this month, we gave you a glance at Exceptional Innovation's (producer of Life|Ware) quad-CableCARD media server, and now the outfit is finally making things (extra) official. Two machines will initially be offered up with (count 'em) four CableCARD tuners within, and neither are likely to run ya cheap. Up first is the flagship LMS-754, which packs a quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme processor, 4GB of RAM, 4TB of hard drive space in a RAID 5 array, Ethernet, a slew of USB 2.0 ports, audio in / out, and a FireWire connector to boot. The slightly more affordable LMS-654 will probably ratchet things down a bit in the storage and CPU department, and while no specific prices are given, we are told that the Life|Media line now ranges from $3,500 to $15,000. Additionally, the firm introduced 8.9-inch and 12.1-inch widescreen Life|point touch panels with the new Life|slide function, both of which offer up 720p resolution and enable the user to "gesture right or left to quickly navigate the Life|ware gallery." Click on through for a shot of the front.

The constant stream of Toshiba news continues to flow in, and this go 'round its focused on the firm's newest generation of HD DVD players. After Amazon revealed most of the deets on these units, Toshiba seemed pressured to release the official details sooner than they wanted to. As expected, Toshiba is showing all three new models at CEDIA, like the low-end A3 that only supports 1080i, and the latter two that handle 1080p24 and CE-Link, but all three will reportedly be "approximately 1/4-inch slimmer than second generation models," which Tosh isn't forgetting about, as the long-awaited 1080p24 firmware update for the HD-XA2 and HD-A20 models is also going live, and it should be rolled out in "mid-September."