July 4 - 9:00am EDT   Gefen on Thursday introduced its newest connectivity product, the HDMI IR Extender. Aimed at custom installations, the HDMI IR Extender will allow users to control their HD source units from another room without having to purchase and run lengthy HDMI cables through their walls. The Sender and Receiver connect via two standard Ethernet (CAT-5) cables, and can deliver 1080p resolution video signals over up to 300 feet or 1080i resolution over up to 150 feet. Audio is likewise transmitted. [full story]

June 18 - 7:10am EDT   Gefen has announced the availability of its new DVI-1500D DVI extender system, designed to offer a DVI cable extension of over 500 meters without signal loss or delay. Leveraging both sender and receiver units connected to the data source and display location, the solution connects via 4-Link LC-LC multimode fibre cable and can deliver hi-def video at full 1080p or 1920x1200, for up to 500 meters. According to the company, HDCP-compliant video also may be extended through the system using a CAT-5 cable -- up to a distance of 100 meters for DDC transmission. [full story]

May 28 - 4:55pm EDT   Hitachi on Wednesday unveiled a pair of new hard drives to add to its CinemaStar line, with the C5K320 and the 5K500. The former is a 2.5-inch hard drive with up to 320 GB capacity, while the latter is built around a 500GB, 3.5-inch hard drive. All of Hitachi’s CinemaStar hard disk drives are designed to extend the recording capacity of DVRs in home theater setups, but can also work with media center PCs. [full story]