Archive for January, 2007

The iPhone is here.

Posted by on Thursday, 11 January, 2007

iphone.jpgAs Probably the worst kept secret ever in Appleland, we all knew the iPhone was coming this year. But nobody knew this is what we’d get, wow! This device has the potential to change the mobile game for good.

The iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device.

iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers.

There are still details to be worked out so who knows when this thing will hit the market.

Even cooler, our friends at pmpproducts.com are already working on iPhone skins. Hopefully they will be able to provide some protection for the touchscreen, or else this could end up being the devices downfall.


Introducing Apple TV – Your gateway to Steve Job’s wallet

Posted by on Wednesday, 10 January, 2007

Apple Store

Now there’s always something good on TV. With Apple TV, you can enjoy movies, TV shows, music, and podcasts in your iTunes library, plus photos and movie trailers, on your widescreen TV — wirelessly, from your Mac or PC.

Download – Sync & Watch

Apple TV automatically grabs the digital media on your computer and makes it available for you to enjoy on your TV. Best of all, whenever you add something new in iTunes, Apple TV updates automatically.

Thanks to the intuitive interface, finding what you want to watch is as easy as navigating a few simple menu items using the included Apple Remote. Just a few clicks and you’ll be enjoying all your favorites from the comfort of your couch.

Just introduced today, Apple TV will ship in February.
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Xbox 360 Carbon is your gateway to Internet TV (IPTV)

Posted by on Tuesday, 9 January, 2007

xbox360.jpg

Bill Gates has always believed the computer should be the centerpiece of your entertainment living room. Now with the strong sales of the Xbox 360 , the push is continuing towards that goal. In addition to the high definition movie download service Microsoft launched earlier this year, you can expect an IPTV service to launch towards the end of 2007, effectively turning the video game console into a personal video recorder and multimedia device.

You’ll be able to watch live streaming broadcasts, and you can even play a game while recording a program in the background. Of course you’ll get all the usual benefits of a personal video recorder, like an on-screen program guide and the ability to pause, rewind, and fast forward through recordings.

There are no details yet on pricing and whether you’ll need to install a larger hard drive on your Xbox 360 for the service to work, although I’d imagine that you’d really want more than 20GB. Ideally being able to save content to a networked device would be best, this would allow it to seamlessly attach to already in place home networks :0

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View engadget’s IPTV gallery

Xbox 360 IPTV (“Carbon”) Youtube demo:


Smooth as silk, LG shows off the slick BH100 Dual Blu-ray, HD-DVD player

Posted by on Monday, 8 January, 2007

bh100.jpg LG today unveiled the dual-format HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc player. Dubbed the Super Multi Blue Player – aka the BH100 – it’s due to go on sale later this quarter, the company said. The BH100 will retail for around $1,199.

The BH100 supports 1080p playback through HDMI, component- and composite-video outputs. It supports all the usual codec and multi-channel audio trademarks. The BH100 carries one other interesting feature: Chocolate-inspired backlit touch-sensitive controls.

LG is also debuting a PC version. The PC-oriented dual-format drive is the GGW-H10N. Like the BH100, it’s due for a Q1 release. While it supports all the DVD and CD recordable and re-writeable formats, along with BD-R and BD-RE, it’s read-only as far as HD DVD goes, and we understand the player won’t support some of the HD DVD format’s online interactivity features.

[via reghardware]


LG debuts hybrid Blu-ray / HD-DVD Player

Posted by on Thursday, 4 January, 2007

lg_hddvd_bluray.gif LG Electronics (LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, announced that it will launch the world’s first dual-format high-definition disc player, capable of playing both Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD content.

LG expects this technological breakthrough to end the confusion and inconvenience of competing high-definition disc formats for both content producers and consumers.

The unit will be released in the United States in early 2007. Details will be provided at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held January 8-11 in Las Vegas.

[via hidefdvd blog]


XBOX 360 leads the next generation again this Christmas

Posted by on Tuesday, 2 January, 2007

xbox360.jpgMr Gates is smiling this morning. The results are in and last year’s Next Gen winner, is also this years Next Gen winner, out gaining the long anticipated consoles from Nintendo and Sony.

According to NPD’s preliminary estimates, around 2 million Xbox 360 units were sold in North America from November up until December 25.

The figure for Nintendo Wii stood at 1.8 million units – despite the fact the console only launched in North America on November 19. Stock shortages were an even bigger problem for Sony. Around 750,000 PlayStation 3 units were sold during the same period.

NPD is expected to release complete figures later this month.

[via GameIndustry.biz]