~Tech Angel~

Xbox 360 may eventually use HD DVD Drive?

At yesterday's press conference with Toshiba, Bill Gates announced the following:

 

“The initial shipments of Xbox 360 will be based on today's DVD format,” Gates confirmed. “We are looking at whether future versions of Xbox 360 will incorporate an additional capability of an HD DVD player or something else.” source: TeamXbox

 

~Sony's PS3 will ship with a Blu-Ray drive and will most likely be an important factor in the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD "war".  Although Bill Gates has announced that Microsoft is neutral in their support of either format, aligning themselves with HD-DVD would give Toshiba a much better chance of becoming the winning format.~

Tags: Xbox, Xbox 360, HD-DVD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Microsoft, Toshiba, electronics, home theater, entertainment, technology

Problems with IPTV

What is IPTV (Internet Protocol TV)? In a nutshell, it's TV over the Internet.

 

The news has been littered with reports on problems with IPTV.  Today's latest article focuses on SBC's deployment of the technology, labeled "Project Lightspeed".  Apparently, the project is not living up to its name due to various legal, technical, and programming problems.  It's unlikely that the company will meet its goal of offering IPTV to 13 states within the next three years.  Microsoft has recently run into problems as well, with Austrialian telephone company, Telstra, canceling a field test of the product.  Swisscom, another overseas telephone company, has delayed the deployment of Microsoft's IPTV technology until 2006.

 

Many companies (and of course, Microsoft) are very hesitant to blame the problems....

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD negotiations fail

Sony Computer Entertainment boss, Ken Kutaragi has officially confirmed that talks between Sony and Toshiba have ended.  The two companies were in negotiations to hopefully unify their two standards, Blu-Ray (Sony) and HD-DVD (Toshiba).  Blu-Ray discs hold 50GB of information while HD-DVD only hold 30GB but are cheaper to manufacture. 

via|gamesindustry.biz

~This is VHS and Betamax all over again....My suggestion would be to wait and see who will prevail and remain happy with your DVDs for the next year or two or three.  Personally, I think Blu-Ray has the upperhand considering the PS3 will be shipped with a Blu-Ray drive.~

Technorati Tags : Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, Sony, Toshiba, DVD, VHS, Betamax, PS3, technology, home theater

DivX releases new, high-quality video format | CNET News.com

Link: DivX releases new, high-quality video format | CNET News.com.

DivX released a new version of its video tools yesterday, claiming it matches or surpasses the latest technologies from Apple or Microsoft.  The new version of tools will be compatible with millions of DivX Certified DVD players and other devices. 

DivX 6.0 allows for menu support, subtitling in multiple languages, addition of extra audio tracks, and quick conversion from other file formats into DivX.

Technorati Tags : DivX, Apple, Microsoft, film, DVD, video, technology, entertainment, software

High Definition Simulators

Would you like to get HD quality from non-HD sources like cable, DVD, or VHS?  Of course you would!
Well, NEC has made it possible with the PlasmaSync 61XR3.

For the paltry sum of $13,995, this beauty can be yours and you can start watching reruns of Good Times in all of its HD splendor.

via|Cnet

Tags: NEC, plasma, plasma tvs, high-definition, HD, HDTV, home theater, cable, DVD, VHS

Summer of Mobility Giveaway

In more Tivo news, you can enter their Summer of Mobility Giveaway for a chance to win a travel entertainment package to take along during your many summer getaways!  From June 21 through September 6, 2005, Tivo will be giving away a Windows based Mobile Creative Zen Portable Media Center and a 40-hour Tivo Series2 DVR.  One winner will be picked daily (Monday through Friday).

You can enter here.

Tags: tivo, dvr, contests, creative zen, portable media player, handheld

Toshiba develops recordable high-def DVD

Toshiba announced today that they have developed the technology to mass produce recordable high-definition DVDs.  This new technology will enable the manufacture of single-recording HD-DVD disks with 15-gigabyte storage capacity.

Optical disc makers Hitachi Maxell and Mitsubishi Kagaku said they would start marketing the HD-DVD-R discs next spring when Toshiba begins selling HD-DVD recorders.

This is the latest advance in the "war" between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray technology.  The Blu-Ray disc has the capability of storing 50GB compared to HD-DVDs 30GB read-only discs.  However, HD-DVD is cheaper to produce because of its similarity to current DVDs.

~It would be great if they could just finally sit down and agree on a common standard instead of introducing two new technologies.  However, it doesn't look that's happening.  Since we'll definitely be buying the PS3 (that comes equipped with Blu-Ray), you know whose corner I'm in.  I certainly can't afford to have three DVD technologies in my home, the current DVDs, HD-DVD, and Blu-Ray.  I imagine that most households feel the same as well.  Most households won't even think about HD-DVD or Blu-Ray for the first couple of years of their debut into the market.~

Read more.

Tags: Toshiba, HD-DVD, high-definition, mitsubishi, blu-ray, technology, home theater, film, entertainment

New high-speed standard will enable HDTV streaming

Due to bandwidth limitations, streaming HD content over the web has been impractical.  That's all about to change due to the new high-speed standard called VDSL2 that was ratified by the International Telecommunication Union.

VDSL2 is said to reach speeds of up to 100Mbps downstream and upstream.  Currently, cable and DSL can only reach up to 3Mbps and DVDs take up 4-7Mbps and MPEG-2 HDTV content requires over 19Mbps. This new standard can operate on standard copper telephone lines with existing equipment.

BellSouth has already announced plans to use this with systems they've installed over the past 10 years.

via| Ultimate AV

Tags: HDTV, HD, high-definition, streaming, VDSL2, MPEG, DVD, movie, film, television, technology

Tonight's HBO HD lineup

For HD fans that have HBO, be sure to check out tonight's lineup:

6:15 pm - Shrek 2

8:00 pm - Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

10:30 pm - Bad Boys II

1:00 am - Identity

~All four of these movies should look great on HD.  I've already seen Shrek 2 in HD and it is truly stunning.  I believe this is the premiere of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on HD, so if I'm home I will definitely watch it or at least record it on my HD DVR.~

Tags: HD, HDTV, HBO, movies, film, technology, television, Harry Potter, Shrek, DVR, personal

BenQ offers new projector and free trip to Thailand

BenQ announced a new projector targeted towards the mobile/executive community.  The BenQ PB2250 comes with the following special features:

• DLP projection system
• Eight preset modes
• Password protection
• 3000 hours of lamp life
• Wide-angle lens
• RGB color reproduction
• Compatible with high-definition television and Macs