Other World Computing on Tuesday announced that it is now offering a Mercury Pro external Blu-ray drive with a quad interface. Users can choose between USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, or eSATA connection methods. The company claims the Pioneer BDR-205 can reach burn speeds of up to 12X on Blu-ray discs, 16X with DVDs, 4X on DVD-DL media, and 40X for CDs.
Best Buy today struck a deal with Roxio to create a unique online and DVD hybrid movie service for the big-box retailer. The unnamed project hopes to give users buy once, play anywhere privileges: those who buy a DVD in-store will then have access to a CinemaNow-based portal for watching movies both on computers as well as on smartphones and Internet-aware Blu-ray players. Many of the movies will be new releases instead of reprints or old titles.
Walmart will be selling Xbox 360 Arcade edition for $199 bundled with a $100 gift card this upcoming Saturday, Kotaku reported on Tuesday. If true, this would be the best deal for the popular gaming console to date. At the same time, the leaked inventory screen capture reveals a number of other items on sale, including a $148 Sony Blu-ray disc player and a 42-inch Sharp TV for $498.
Acer chose a rare Monday evening launch for an update to its Aspire notebooks. Acting as the new flagship, the 8940 takes the lead from the 8935 and use the same 18.4-inch screen but with a much faster 1.6GHz Core i7 in place of the Core 2 Quad. It further brings considerably newer GeForce GTS 250M graphics to better drive the 1080p display and, as with other Acer updates, replaces Vista with Windows 7.
JVC entered into the low-cost Blu-ray player field on Wednesday through the XV-BP11. It recognizes only Blu-ray Profile 1.1, omitting Internet features, but also measures just 1.5 inches tall. It still carries a front-panel USB connection for plugging in and viewing content from camcorders, digital cameras and USB thumb drives. It natively recognizes AVCHD (H.264) video used in HD camcorders along with recorded Blu-ray, CD and DVD discs.
Sony is being subpoenaed by the US Justice Department regarding its US optical drive division, says a Monday WSJ report (subscription required). The company's Optiarc America division, which sells optical discs and drives for computers, is now under investigation for antitrust concerns. While not many specifics were revealed, Sony did say both the Justice Department and other, unidentified agencies outside of the US are "investigating competition in optical disk drives."
Netflix this morning broke its once-exclusive Xbox 360 deal with Microsoft by offering Netflix for PlayStation 3. The link will let any US-based PS3 owner with a Netflix subscription stream movies and TV shows online; they can also add movies to the queue and rate titles. Early on, the service will depend on customers owning a free Blu-ray disc that draws on BD-Live for Internet access, but the service should eventually be integrated into the PS3's firmware.
FCP World has announced new Blu-ray templates for the latest version of Final Cut Studio. The company's plug-in delivers 60 background templates, on top of the original five that come with FCS. All of them can be used for both Blu-ray and AVCHD discs; each is fully animated and looping, with room for customization in the form of personalized logos and titles.
Xbox Live Programming Director Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb tonight quickly denied Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's statements pointing to an Xbox 360 Blu-ray player. He now claims that Ballmer was referring to PC drives and repeats Microsoft's frequent public statements that it has "no plans" to add Blu-ray. He maintains instead that the Zune Video Marketplace will be the only HD video option in the near future.
Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer may have inadvertently tipped off his firm's plans for an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 in a talk in advance of today's Windows 7 launch. The executive is doubtful that it will ever be built-in but does tell Gizmodo that an external Blu-ray drive will be an option. He doesn't provide details but is unexpectedly confident that the hardware is enroute.
Netflix this week partnered with Best Buy to endow the retailer's Insignia-brand Blu-ray players with the ability to stream Netflix movies and TV shows. This partnership has resulted in two Insignia Blu-ray players with this capability, including the Insignia Advanced Series Blu-ray Player (NS-WBRDVD) and the Insignia Connected Blu-ray Player (NS-BRDVD3). Either is Internet ready, though the former uses a Wi-Fi connection for access, with the latter relying on a wired Ethernet connection. Both are Energy Star certified and feature Dolby TrueHD sound capability. Either can upconvert standard DVDs.
Blu-ray drives were pulled as an option for upcoming iMacs with little time to spare, anonymous sources claim. People described only as "close" to Apple say that Blu-ray support was originally anticipated for a near-future iMac refresh, but that it was nixed just before the computers went into production last month. Regardless, buyers would only have been able to get a Blu-ray drive as part of a custom order.
Samsung and Blockbuster have announced a collaborative effort to bring additional content to Samsung's HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and Blu-ray home theater systems. Owners of select devices will be able to access Blockbuster's range of on-demand content available for rent or purchase.
HP this afternoon held a rare UK-first debut for one of its notebooks. The Pavilion dv8 is now HP's largest non-HDX notebook and carries an 18.4-inch, 1080p display that lets it replace a desktop. A 1.6GHz Core i7 and a dedicated GeForce GT 230M also put the dv8's performance closer to that goal.
HP early today is making an aggressive push into touchscreen PCs with two key updates to its TouchSmart home all-in-ones. The TouchSmart 300 and 600 add true multi-touch input and have significantly expanded use for the technology: they can not only use pinch-to-zoom, flicks and other gestures in the general operating system thanks to Windows 7 but in several new touch apps for the systems' custom front end. They can now navigate Hulu or Netflix streaming video, stream Pandora or Rhapsody music, or update and follow Twitter feeds all primarily using touch.
BFG on Monday ventured into mobile computing for the first time with the Deimos, an 18.4-inch desktop replacement notebook meant for gamers. Like the Phobos desktop, video performance is the centerpiece and always has at least dual GeForce GTS 260M graphics; top-end models have twin GeForce GTX 280M chipsets. Unusually, none of the systems use Core i7, capping off at a 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme, but in return they all have at least two RAID-striped hard drives with the option of a third drive for either a backup or to make 1.5TB of combined space.
The last of Sony's three notebook updates Wednesday evening was the VAIO CW. It brings a 16:9 aspect ratio 14-inch display (versus 16:10 before) and is the first mid-range Sony notebook to carry Windows 7. In keeping with earlier VAIO C systems, the CW is style-centric and comes in glossy colors both on the outer shell and on the palm rest.
Sony at an event tonight launched a trio of new systems, starting with its first touchscreen PC. The VAIO L supports Windows 7's own multi-touch elements for scrolling and zooming through content without needing special software. Like Gateway and HP, Sony has its own custom touch portal, here called Media Gallery, that lets users rely on touch to edit photos and videos.
MSI on Monday said it will soon follow up its first quad-core Core i7 powered notebook, the 15.4-inch GT640, with the larger 17-inch GT740 gaming notebook. Like the smaller PC, this new one will also ship with Windows 7. Another shared feature is the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M 3D graphics chipset, which should give it added performance beyond just the faster Intel processor.
Despite implications of Blu-ray Macs soon, the rumored iMac overhaul isn't slated to get the better disc format, tech writer John Gruber claimed on Sunday. Known for sources that have accurately predicted iPhone details, he said that Blu-ray was once considered likely but that the "new word" is that it has been dropped. Why this might be hasn't been addressed.
Dell this morning added a new mid-range tower to its home and small business line. The Vostro 430 is Dell's first system in the range to use Intel's Core i5 and, even in the base model, starts off as a quad-core desktop. Dell claims that its least expensive system is as much as five times faster than a 3.6GHz Pentium D in some tasks.
Dell today unveiled a new flagship business notebook that should mark a number of firsts not just for itself but for the industry. The Latitude Z is the thinnest and lightest mid-size notebook to date at just 0.57 inches deep and 4.4 pounds despite its 16-inch display, courtesy of its use of ULV Core 2 Duo processors. However, it's also one of the first that can charge wirelessly: an inductive charging plate in the notebook bottom can power the system as quickly through contact with an optional charging stand as quickly as the optional AC adapter, Dell claims.
HP inadvertently confirmed its own notebook plans this morning by posting specs of its own in a technical brief. The Pavilion dv8 (not yet pictured) will be its first 18.4-inch notebook and its second system after the Envy 15 to use a mobile Core i7 processor. While it's unclear if there will be multiple stock configurations, the one model on show has the base 1.6GHz Core i7, which can clock up to 2.8GHz when less than four cores are needed.
Sony will bring 250GB versions of its new slim PlayStation 3 gaming console to the UK, bundled with various video games and Blu-ray movies, Pocket-lint reported on Friday. Priced at the equivalent of $455, there will be one bundle that includes FIFA 10 and another one with Need for Speed: Shift. On October 1st, more bundles will be introduced, including with two various Platinum titles and one with the open-world game inFamous.
Quickly following the UK release, Toshiba has brought out an American version of the Qosmio X500. The 18.4-inch desktop replacement notebook is the PC builder's first to use a Core i7 processor and revolves around the 1.6GHz quad-core chip's added power for games and movies. It similarly comes with a 1GB GeForce GTS 250M for video. The 1080p display is stock, though for the US release Toshiba notes that not every model will have a Blu-ray drive.
Toshiba UK on Wednesday announced it has added a new flagship gaming notebook, the 18.4-inch Qosmio X500. The system is just the second notebook driven by Intel's mobile Core i7 CPU, which normally runs at 1.6GHz but can operate at 2.8GHz when in Turbo Boost mode. Toshiba also regards it as a media system beyond the processor and gives it both a 1080p display as well as a Blu-ray burner and HDMI-CEC support for remote control from other peripherals.
Netflix should not only branch out to other game consoles but also mobile devices like the iPhone as well, CEO Reed Hastings said later on Monday. Although Microsoft claims an Xbox 360 exclusive for game systems, Hastings expects the streaming version of his video service to eventually arrive on "all" consoles as well as Blu-ray players and TVs. He doesn't have a timetable for when the exclusivity would end.
Sharp on Friday revealed a blue-violet laser that it says could lead to triple-layer or even quad-layer Blu-ray discs. The light is as strong as 500mW and achieves the feat by putting an aluminum oxynitride layer between the laser's crystal and the usual dielectric film meant to protect the laser, eking out more output than would normally be possible with just the dielectric element alone. It would not only allow a drive to read twice as deep as current dual-layer Blu-ray drives but would let it write at 8X speed on all four layers.
At the CEDIA show on Thursday, Sharp announced it will soon launch a new Blu-ray player, the BD-HP52U. The reader will have the ability to connect to the web, and Sharp will partner with an unnamed service provider to bring premium streaming video content. This partner is expected to be named later in September. Other known features of the BD-HP52U include Blu-ray Profile 2.0 support and the ability to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound formats.
LG on Wednesday announced that its BD390 Blu-ray player now supports video streams from VUDU. The service will allow users to view content such as movies and TV shows, with over 2,200 movies available in 1080p resolution paired with 5.1-channel audio. Other supported sources for streaming video include Netflix, Roxio, CinemaNow and YouTube.
Continuing its home theater launches for CEDIA, Sony tonight added its first truly network-aware Blu-ray player. Although earlier players have had BD-Live features, the BDP-N460 can stream videos from Netflix and YouTube as well as get music streams from Slacker, regardless of the attached TV. In a unique touch, the movie player is specifically optimized for Linksys' (Cisco's) WET610N Ethernet-to-Wi-Fi bridge and improves the stability of streaming over the wireless connection.
Dell quickly seized on the launch of Intel's Lynnfield architecture by introducing a new system to take advantage of it. The Studio XPS 8000 is a smaller, less costly counterpart to the Studio XPS 435 (to be rebranded as the 9000) and starts off with a 2.66GHz Core i5 and more modest Radeon HD 4350 dedicated graphics to give most of what higher-end users expect but without having to scale up to a full Core i7 system and mid-range visuals. It continues to share the basic chassis concept of the 435 and has both a tray for peripherals and cooling designed for airflow first.
ASUS on Friday announced it will soon add two notebooks to its multimedia N-series, including the 16-inch N61 and 17.3-inch N71. Among the improvements, ASUS is touting a new SonicMaster amplification system that includes new paper-foam cones for the speakers that are said to improve sound quality. Both the N61 and N71 will be available with Intel's Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad CPUs and with up to 4GB of RAM.
Toshiba picked IFA to make its first real entrance into Blu-ray following last year's exit from HD DVD with both its first dedicated movie player and a notebook to match. The BDX2000 catches up with full BD-Live support for movies with Internet features on an Ethernet connection and an SD card slot for playing the user's own content, including H.264 (AVCHD) videos. A flip-down front door is rare in the breed and keeps the design uncluttered either mid-movie or when it's not in use.
Sony has announced an initiative to bring 3D visuals to several of its products, beginning sometime in 2010. Central is a 3D-compatible BRAVIA TV, which should use a frame-sequential display, and require active-shutter glasses. The company is promising a high framerate, as well as a 1080p resolution for each eye. No prices or narrowed release dates have been suggested.
Apple's rumored September 9th iPod event has gained credibility with a second purported confirmation on Wednesday afternoon. The tipsters speaking to AppleInsider claim that Apple has settled on the 9th after weeks of debate and that iPods will form the backbone of the introduction. It's now virtually certain that both the iPod nano and iPod touch will include cameras, but it's also said that the photo and possible video functions will be "just one piece" of the iPod updates.
Sony's slim PS3 gaming console, originally slated for an early September release, is already showing up in some Best Buy stores in Florida. One buyer has already bought the console in a Brandon, Florida Best Buy location, while a Tampa-based Best Buy employee is reporting that his store is authorized to sell the redesigned game console as of today.
Attempts by many Windows PC builders have pushed Blu-ray as a major feature of their systems have largely fallen flat, iSuppli said in a new study published today. The optical drives should only appear in about 3.9 percent of PCs this year but, even by 2013, aren't expected to occupy more than 16.3 percent of desktops and notebooks. It's not clear when or if Blu-ray would ever replace DVD drives as the primary optical format.
ASUS today catered to the US with three new Eee Top all-in-ones. The regular ET2002 and touchscreen ET2002T are the first of the systems to use NVIDIA's Ion hybrid graphics and system controller and consequently have much better graphics performance than Intel's own parts without the cost of a dedicated chipset. Both 20-inch units also break out of nettop limits with dual-core 1.6GHz Atom processors, 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drives and DVD burners in addition to the usual 802.11n Wi-Fi and webcams.
Panasonic in Japan on Thursday introduced the first Blu-ray player made for cars with its CY-BB1000D along with a conventional but HD-capable counterpart, the HX-3000D. The former sports an HDMI input and 7-inch display with 1280x720 resolution that will play the Blu-ray content in HD. While the player will support Bonus View content on compatible BD media, accessing BD-Live content that requires an Internet connection isn't an option.
Sony today confirmed the existence of the slim PlayStation 3. The new console is built on smaller, cooler Cell and RSX processors and as a result shrinks in size by exactly a third and sheds 36 percent of its weight. It further gets a larger 120GB hard drive without sacrificing the existing features of the PS3, including Blu-ray, two USB ports and built-in Wi-Fi.
Sony launched a new rang of bookshelf audio systems specifically meant for Best Buy. The Altus line is all built on Sony's S-AIR wireless system and is designed for multi-room audio as well as simply reducing the number of wires. Topping the range are two systems intended for iPhones and iPods: the ALT-SA31iR includes both a central dock for an Apple device as well as two wireless speakers, each with their own remote controls and on-speaker buttons. The AIR-SW10Ti has just one speaker that itself has the iPhone or iPod dock but has a wireless subwoofer and puts out a total 60W of sustained power.
Apple's rumored music event for September has been narrowed down to Wednesday the 9th, a source close to the company says. True to the company's past practices, the event is likely to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and should focus on both Apple's now habitual iPod upgrades as well as a new version of iTunes that the All Things D tipster says may involve a "social element" like the Facebook, Last.fm and Twitter integration recently mentioned in a photo leak.
Toshiba started the week by revealing that it hopes to join the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The company explained the move as a reaction to "recent growth" in the amount of hardware supporting Blu-ray along with high-enough demand from the public itself. If accepted, the Japanese firm plans to make both Blu-ray movie players, drives for computers and notebooks themselves using the large-capacity format.
iTunes 9 could center on the addition of Blu-ray movie playback, according to a rumor floated on Saturday. A veteran source for BGR says that the Apple jukebox software, which currently can't play any videos on disc, will gain support for the HD movie format. It would also reportedly gain some level of interaction with Facebook, Twitter and potentially the Internet radio service Last.fm. It would also supposedly be possible to reorganize iPhone apps.
The next revision of Apple's iMac should bring at least a pair of much sought-after features, a teaser rumor puts forward. A veteran source for AppleInsider claims that at least two often-requested features should make it into the next revision. One vague claim says the all-in-one will address a 'wish-list' feature, but another is purported to address the semi-pro audio and visual editing segment.
Sharp Japan on Friday announced it has added five new HDTVs as part of its AQUOS DX2 lineup, with all sporting built-in Blu-ray disc recorders that are claimed to fit seven times more recorded content on them than a traditional Blu-ray disc without sacrificing picture quality. The new LCD HDTVs are available in 26-, 32-, 40-, 46- and 52-inch sizes, with the top three models sporting 1080p, 15,000:1 contrast ratios and 3 HDMI inputs, while the 26- and 32-inch models make do with 720p resolution, 7,000:1 contrast ratios and 2 HDMI inputs each.
Maingear this afternoon launched its fastest 15-inch notebook in a bid to capture gamers looking for regular-sized notebooks. The eX-L 15 focuses on gaming first with a 1GB GeForce GTX 260M as standard in every system. Each system also has at least a 1680x1050 display resolution; custom-ordered models can come with up to a 2.53GHz Core 2 Quad, 8GB of RAM, a Blu-ray drive and either a 500GB conventional hard drive or a 256GB solid-state drive.
Lexicon has recently announced it will soon begin shipping the BD-30 Blu-ray player, which supports BD-Live thanks in part to its Ethernet connection as well as the picture and picture BonusView feature. The player can also reproduce DVD content, which it will upscale to 1080p, as well as DVD Audio, SACD and CD formats. Lexicon is also quick to point out the BD-30's USB connection, which allows users to play back files from thumb drives and external hard drives, though there is no word on which types of audio or video file formats will be supported.
Sony could be in the last stages of winding down existing PlayStation 3 sales in preparation for its slim 120GB version launching soon. A leaked note from a Japanese retailer has the 80GB PS3 unavailable for order after August 9th as the result of a Sony request; the move also asks the store to take down displays advertising the 80GB console. As the 160GB edition isn't sold in Japan, the move would leave the retailer without any PS3s until a future revision.
