European Blu-ray Chairman calls HD DVD Group’s actions “unbelievable”

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

While it’s not exactly a surprise that the Blu-ray folks are getting in yet another tussle with their counterparts in the HD DVD camp, the latest comments by the Blu-Ray Disc Association’s European Chariman Frank Simonis do up the ante quite a bit, with some alleged misrepresentation of data on the HD DVD Group’s part drawing most of his ire. More specifically, according to Tech.co.uk, Simonis is upset at the significantly higher “attach rate” that the European HD DVD Group recently touted, which Simonis now says was a “gross misrepresentation of data.” Simonis goes on to claim that the HD DVD Group “manipulated” the data, adding that, “you can see this because they did not even supply access to the original source of their numbers.” As if that wasn’t enough, he then further slams the HD DVD folks by saying, “Honest to God, the Blu-ray Disc Association would never do this. We’ve seen so much rubbish come from the HD DVD Group it’s unbelievable.”

[Thanks, Micheal]

 

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Strijd tussen blu-ray en hd-dvd in impasse beland

Volgens Sony-baas Howard String is de strijd tussen het blu-ray- en hd-dvd-formaat in een impasse beland. Aanvankelijk leek blu-ray aan de winnende hand, maar nu Paramount besloten heeft exclusief voor hd-dvd te gaan zit er weinig beweging meer in de markt.

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Strijd tussen blu-ray en hd-dvd in impasse beland

Volgens Sony-baas Howard String is de strijd tussen het blu-ray- en hd-dvd-formaat in een impasse beland. Aanvankelijk leek blu-ray aan de winnende hand, maar nu Paramount besloten heeft exclusief voor hd-dvd te gaan zit er weinig beweging meer in de markt.

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Laptop op loopband

Ook al sta je maar een half uurtje op de loopband, iedere minuut zonder PC is er één teveel. Mocht je er ook zo over denken, dan is er gelukkig TheNetRunner. Hiermee kun je een laptop of draagbare DVD-speler op de console van een loopband in de sportschool bevestigen. Moeten ze op de sportschool natuurlijk […]

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Nintendo stelt Wii met dvd-speler-mogelijkheden uit

Nintendo zou aanvankelijk eind dit jaar met een nieuwe Wii-versie komen die ook als dvd-speler zou fungeren. Inmiddels is deze nieuwe Wii van de baan, althans, voorlopig. Nintendo wil eerst voldoende Wii’s van de eerste generatie op de markt zetten; er zijn immers nog steeds tekorten.

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Sony’s Stringer: Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle a “stalemate”

Filed under: HDTV

Things have been a bit rough for Blu-ray lately. Those massive price cuts gave HD DVD a boost in market share and Paramount’s abrupt departure was certainly a tad, shall we say, embarrassing. So we wonder, just what does Sony’s boss, and figure-head of the smack-talking Blu-ray Disc Association, have to say about the state of the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD war? It’s a “stalemate,” according to Sir Howard Stringer. He goes on to downplay the winner as nothing more than a matter of prestige while lamenting the lack of a unified standard. A far cry from the BDA’s boastful claim of victory just 11 months ago.

[Thanks, Andrew]

 

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McPerson’s 37-inch I-TV does it all… or nothing

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

There’s a select group of red flags that appear when a product is, or is dangerously close to becoming, vaporware, and we’ve seen just about all of ‘em when looking at McPerson’s I-TV. Apparently, this so-called do-it-all LCD TV first appeared last year, but now it sports a different look and a flashy website that will make you wish your speakers were inoperative. The set supposedly functions as a home automation controller, DVR, DVD player and Media Center PC, and just in case you doubted its prowess, this thing is somehow Viiv-certified and able to run OS X. Specs wise, you’ll find a 37-inch 1080p panel, dual 40-watt speakers (um, right), 7.1-channel audio out, built-in WiFi / Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet and a slew of ports. Considering McPerson threw nearly everything in here save for the proverbial kitchen sink, it’s not all that shocking to find a £3,924.49 ($8,235) pricetag floating around the intarweb, and if anyone has any actual proof that this thing exists, feel free to dash our doubts in comments.

[Thanks, Giorgio]

 

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Sharp kicks out trio of new Internet AQUOS desktops

Filed under: Desktops, HDTV

Those completely sold out to the AQUOS brand and in the market for a desktop should certainly give Sharp’s latest trio a look. The revamped Internet AQUOS machines don’t come bundled with an LCD, but it’s probably safe to assume that you’ve already got that taken care of. Nevertheless, the PC-AX30V sports a very pared down list of specifications, including a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron M 520 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 160GB hard drive, while the PC-AX80V mimics the aforementioned machine save for the built-in digital TV tuner and HDMI input that it receives. The flagship PC-AX120V ups the ante by packin’ a 1.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 processor and 250GB HDD, and all three boast a multicard reader, dual-layer DVD writer, HDMI / VGA outputs, audio in / out, four USB 2.0 sockets, a FireWire connector, remote and a keyboard with built-in trackpad. The lineup rolls out at various times within the next two months, but your guess is as good as ours when it comes to pricing. Check out the other two hues after the jump.

[Via Impress]

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SlySoft’s latest AnyDVD beta cracks BD+

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Regardless of what those oh-so-knowledgeable analysts had to say, we all knew this day was coming. Yep, that highly-touted, totally “impenetrable” copy protection technology known as BD+ has officially been brought to its knees, and it’s not at all surprising to hear that we have SlySoft to thank. The AnyDVD 6.1.9.6 beta has quite a comical change log too, and aside from noting that users now have the ability to backup their BD+ movies and watch titles sans the need for HDCP-compliant equipment, it also includes a candid note to Twentieth Century Fox informing the studio that its prior assumptions about BD+’s effectiveness were apparently incorrect. You know the drill, hit the read link below to try ‘er out.

[Thanks, Aaron]

 

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90,000 HD DVD players sold in one weekend

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We were wondering how well HD DVD was doing with those new price cuts, and now here’s Video Business with the answer: according to sources at retailers, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Circuit City — among others — were able to move 90,000 stand-alone HD DVD players this weekend. Most of them were last year’s entry level HD-A2, which sold for the low, low price of $99 — but not all. This dramatically increases the user base for the HD DVD camp, but that’s not saying much since the format only sold about this many stand-alone players in its first year. In the world of consumer electronics, 90k isn’t that impressive, but considering the estimated loss Toshiba took on each unit, we can see why they’d want to limit the supply. The problem for the HD DVD camp is that they’re really up against the PS3’s sales, and even though only 40% of PS3 owners realize that there is a Blu-ray player built in, that’s still about 750,000 people in the US. But ultimately, this format war is about selling movies, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the weekly sales numbers to assess the impact of this early holiday sales blitz.

[Thanks, Utah!]

 

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