Skip to Content

Exclusive: Rock Band Unplugged Track List
AOL Tech

Tim Stevens

-

Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 7 LCD grows to 55-inches, makes room for Blu-ray not frugality

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 11th 2009 at 6:19AM

Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 10 LCD grows to 55-inches, has room for Blu-ray, none for frugality
Willing to pay anything for your home entertainment system so long as it's Danish? There's a good chance that Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 10 40-incher just wasn't enough for you. If you're dropping the kind of dough that thing costs ($8,700) you want something impressive, right? Enter the BeoVision 7, shipping in a few weeks. Despite having a lower model number it receives a 15-inch boost, up to 55-inches total, but drops the refresh rate to 120Hz from the 10's 240Hz. It's LED-backlit with local dimming to boost contrast, has not one but two different motorized stand options, and manages to make room inside for a Blu-ray player. The cost? $18,700 with (non-motorized) stand and the custom-tailored center channel speaker you see above -- roughly twice the BeoVision 10 and a good bit more than this was originally supposed to launch for. Consider this the recession-buster cousin of the $93,050 BeoVision 4.

Sony streaming Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs free to new customers, expensively to existing ones

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 9th 2009 at 7:16AM

It wasn't long ago that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was packing theaters, but given how quickly things hit DVD and Blu-ray these days we're surprised to learn this one won't be flinging vermicelli to disc until just after the holidays. Fear not carb-lovers: similar to the Hancock deal last year, new purchasers of internet-capable Sony TVs and Blu-ray players will be receiving one free stream of the film starting on December 8; that's nearly a full month ahead of the retail release. The stream will be in 720p and will allow full control during 24 hours. What if you've already purchased your Sony setup? The company is happy to extend the streaming offer to you as well -- so long as you don't mind paying a mere $24.95. Yes, a one-time 720p rental that costs as much as a Blu-ray. That's value.

ViewSonic's VMP70 media player does 1080p for less than a hundie

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 5th 2009 at 7:41AM

ViewSonic's VMP70 media player does 1080p for less than a hundie
The WD TV is still more or less the king of the tiny media player boxes, but now Viewsonic is getting into the game at a lower price point -- and minus the whole network compatibility bit. The VMP70 is a "direct connect" media device, so it will play content from your choice of USB-compatible storage, pumping it at up to 1080p to your display over HDMI or component cables, also sporting composite for lower-def fare. It packs an S/PDIF port to get clean audio, and supports a slew of formats including the usual suspects (DivX,Xvid,H.264) along with some slightly less usual ones (RM/RMVB, DTS, OGG). It's all available for an MSRP of $129.99, but order now and you'll get special holiday pricing of $98.99. Operators are standing by... somewhere... probably.

XBMC ARM port teased, will manage HD playback from pocket-sized Beagleboard (video)

by Tim Stevens posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 10:05AM

XBMC ARM port teased, will manage HD playback from pocket-sized Beagleboard (video)
There was a time when the X in XBMC stood for Xbox, but now just look at it. The open source project is showing up on everything from MIDs to Apple TVs and soon will be in the wild running on ARM-powered devices, with the development team posting a teaser video of the software running quite well on a tiny 600MHz Beagleboard. It's a fraction of the size of most HTPCs and, at $150, a fraction of their cost, too. Right now the software seems to be struggling a bit with what looks to be 480p wide content, but the devs promise proper HD playback in the full release -- though they're not saying when that full release will be.

[Via Hack A Day]

Continue reading XBMC ARM port teased, will manage HD playback from pocket-sized Beagleboard (video)

Sears Black Friday ad revealed, we'll be sleeping off our tryptophan hangovers

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 30th 2009 at 8:34AM

Woe betide the Black Friday bargain hunter; where once there were stellar deals on giant televisions and hard disk drives now there are slight discounts on underwear and handbags. Sears' ad for this year has been unearthed and, while it naturally has an eclectic selection of goodies on sale ranging from power tools to KitchenAid mixers (and that's just on the front page), from a gadgety perspective we're not finding anything quite worth lining up at 3:00am in November for. There's a 40-inch Samsung 1080p LCD for $599, about $50 cheaper than we can find it for online, and a similar Sony model for $664 -- a whole $10 less than Amazon is asking for a comparable model with free shipping and no uncomfortable small talk with other half-frozen shopaholics. A raft of cheap but mediocre games and movies will be available, some soon to be obsolete GPS devices, and lots of other random things stuffed into the PDF scan linked below. Not into the whole hunting for deals thing? The other link has everything listed out, making for easy text searching -- and for guilt-free snoozing the day after Turkey Day.

Read - PDF scan of Sears 2009 Black Friday ad
Read - Listing of Sears 2009 Black Friday deals

AUO previews lots of fancy displays, clownfish-approved 1080p 14-inch OLED monitor

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 27th 2009 at 9:09AM

AUO previews lots of fancy displays, including clownfish-approved 1080p 14-inch OLED monitorFPD International 2009 is nearly upon us, and as we've seen in years past it's a time of wondrous innovation and gratuitous side-shots of impossibly thin displays. Leading off the pack this year is AUO, teasing a number of new panels and technologies that may or may not rock your living rooms sometime in the next two to four years. Chief among them is a 14-inch, 1080p OLED display with a 100,000:1 contrast ratio and 16 million colors. There will also be a range of switchable and glasses-free 2D/3D displays ranging from 8- to 65-inches, a ridiculously wide 58-inch 2.35:1 TV with a 2560 x 1080 resolution, and, naturally, a skinny LCD -- in this case the 65-inch beauty pictured below that's just 7.9mm on the Z plane despite pumping out a claimed 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Good stuff? Yes. The craziest displays we'll see this week? Not a chance.

[Via OLED-Display.net]

Continue reading AUO previews lots of fancy displays, clownfish-approved 1080p 14-inch OLED monitor

Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter will take your Mac mini to HDMI town

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 5th 2009 at 9:03AM

Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter will bring your Mac Mini to HDMI town
Your Mac mini cranks out its video via DisplayPort and audio via a mini Toslink. Chances are your home entertainment system doesn't like either of those. It will, however, like the Kanex Mini DisplayPort Adapter, which can turn a DisplayPort video signal into a 1080p signal over HDMI, and will even integrate either digital or analog audio into the mix. It's USB powered, so there's no need for a clunky power adapter, and while $70 isn't particularly cheap for a chubby cable ($50 for the USB analog audio model), it's about the cleanest way to get your Mini pumping tunes and vids through your system.

[Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog]

GoPro releases first footage from 1080p HD Hero Wide helmet cam

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 29th 2009 at 8:51AM

GoPro releases first footage from 1080p HD Hero Wide helmet cam
GoPro announced its 1080p HD Hero Wide helmet cam earlier this year, back when people were jumping off of high things and speeding around other things whilst wearing helmets. Now the summer adventure season is drawing to a close, the winter one is starting to develop, and the company has released a series of high-def, high-adrenaline clips to show what that camera can do -- most filmed when the days were still long and the sun still high. Sadly the videos are not embeddable, but click on that read link for your morning dose of speed. The company has also released a good bit of information about the cam, that it's 30fps at the full 1080p or an optional 60fps mode at 720p. 720p footage is recorded at a particularly wide 170 degrees, while 1080p footage is slightly less wide (though still rather broad) 127. Also, the company promises that the microphone will actually be usable at speed, a rarity in this sort of device. It's all slated to ship this fall, and we look forward to putting one through its paces then.

Video: VIA's VB8003 Mini-ITX board has dual-HDMI, could rock your HTPC's world

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 8:27AM

Video: VIA's VB8003 Mini-ITX board has dual-HDMI, could rock your HTPC's world
Remember when the PlayStation 3 was going to have dual-HDMI ports so that games could pump 1080p video to two displays simultaneously? Ahh, those were good 'ol days. That configuration obviously didn't come to pass, but VIA's looking to deliver dual-HDMI and more in its next integrated Mini-ITX solution, the VB8003, which also packs DVI and VGA ports, as well as an LVDS output, meaning it could control five displays at once (though with only four discrete signals). It uses the Trinity Platform with a 1.6GHz Nano processor, a VX800 Media System Processor, and an integrated S3 GPU, all paired with up to 4GB of memory. 1080p playback is said to be easily handled, with the system supporting resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600, even though such an onslaught of pixels would surely turn your HDTV into a smoldering ruin. There's no mention of price or availability yet, so you current set can relax -- for now.

Continue reading Video: VIA's VB8003 Mini-ITX board has dual-HDMI, could rock your HTPC's world

Yamaha combines receivers with subwoofers and soundbars for trio of HTIB offerings

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 18th 2009 at 7:26AM

Yamaha combines receivers with subwoofers and soundbars for trio of HTIB offerings
Receivers keep growing more channels, but few people have developed an affinity for running more speakers and their tethers 'round the living room. Yamaha's doing its part with a series of products that integrate things together -- soundbars, HTIBs, and the like. On the lower end are the YHT-S350 and YHT-S400, pictured after the break. Both offer a receiver with an integrated subwoofer, through which your various devices can be connected and the output end of their HDMI cables tickled with bass. The two differ only in how they get their highs out, with the S350 including a pair of squat stereo speakers and the S400 offering a three-channel "air surround xtreme" soundbar. On the higher end is the updated YSP-4100, above, a rather tall but only 9cm deep soundbar with the receiver integrated that can be mounted on the wall right beneath your giant HDTV and then paired with a selection of wireless transmitters for iPods and the like. It includes a whopping 40 4cm speakers arrayed within, with a further two 11cm woofers, delivering what Yamaha calls 2.5.1 channel sound -- though it looks as if it can power two additional speakers at the sides if you want something a little closer to 7.1. The YHT-S350 and -S400 are due to hit Japan in time for a Halloween marathon, while the YSP-4100 should release in time for the holiday specials on TV. No prices just yet.

[Via AV Watch]

Read - YHT-S350 and YHT-S400
Read - YSP-4100

Continue reading Yamaha combines receivers with subwoofers and soundbars for trio of HTIB offerings

58 percent of salespeople recommend Samsung HDTVs, 100 percent like big commission checks

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 11th 2009 at 7:36AM

Survey finds salespeople love Samsung HDTVs, commissions
We're sure that none of our stunningly attractive, gadget-expert readers would ever think about walking into an electronics retailer and asking the opinion of the teenagers in blue shirts and name tags. But, we also know that there are plenty of other folks out there who do, and when they do they're told to buy Samsung HDTVs a whopping 58 percent of the time. There's certainly nothing wrong with Samsung sets, but there are certainly plenty of options out there, too. These numbers come from the always quotable J.D. Power and Associates, which also found that salespeople are becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend. We'd never hope to be able to get inside the head of one of those doing the recommending, but as always we would recommend reading a few reviews and going to the store to see what you like best -- after you ask to turn down the lights and use the right cables, of course.

[Via PC World]

Zero Creative's 71-inch 3D LCD will make environmentalists weep

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 9th 2009 at 10:56AM

Zero Creative's 71-inch 3D LCD will make environmentalists weep
As Sony's notoriously power-thirsty PS3 receives a major boost in efficiency, you might think the age of the gluttonous gadget is at an end. Zero Creative, however, is here to show us that some manufacturers just aren't interested in being green. The company has created a 71-inch version of its xyZ (not xYz) lineup, a 3D LCD that sucks down an impressive 1 kilowatt when turned on. Given your average eco-friendly display tends to require something like 20 to 50 watts to bring you an image, that's quite an energy premium to pay -- and that's on top of the €70,000 price tag (about $100,000). Of course, what those purportedly eco-friendly LCDs can't do is give you a 3D image even without glasses, a feature that is the very specialty of the commercially-minded xyZ lineup. An inability to display anything in plain 'ol 2D is something of a shortcoming, but we're told switchable versions are coming -- as is an even bigger, 100-inch screen that will surely ship with a dedicated coal-fired power plant.

74 percent of PS3 owners have watched a Blu-ray, but how many have watched two?

by Tim Stevens posted Sep 2nd 2009 at 9:16AM

74 percent of PS3 owners have watched a Blu-ray, but how many have watched two?
Sony may be working to expand the perception of the PS3 as a media powerhouse with half-hearted bundles and new advertising campaigns, but according to SCEA Director of PlayStation Network Operations Eric Lempel, it's already doing quite well in that department. He indicates that 74 percent of all PS3 users have "spent some time" watching Blu-ray movies, with barely a quarter left shunning the machine's high-def creds. Of course, the real question for Sony's sake is how many have gone ahead and purchased some of those fancy discs, a stat that Lempel doesn't share, but regardless we have to think it's time for Sony to stop putting tedious advertisements for Blu-ray players at the beginning of its Blu-ray discs -- we've already got one, you see? It's very nice!

[Via Joystiq]

Man turns luggable 25-year-old cellphone into OLED-packing HTPC

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 27th 2009 at 9:46AM

Do you remember the Mobira Talkman? No? That's okay, you may not have been born yet. In 1984 this was what all the sierra hotel financial traders had glued to their faces -- and clutched to their hips, since the thing was as big as a briefcase. 25 years later skilled modder Jani 'Japala' Pönkkö came across a free (and fully-functional) example and set upon completing his dream of turning it into an HTPC, which he has called the Dataman. Inside he managed to pack an Intel T5500 Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 32GB SSD, and a wireless network card. The 40-hour mod is laboriously detailed in photos at the read link, while the fruits of all that labor are shown in videos after the break, the first showing the pre-mod phone still working perfectly -- but complaining about the lack of network (like the Russian Empire's rule of Finland, the NMT network is long gone) -- and the second showing that green LCD replaced by a rather more colorful OLED one.

[Via The UberReview]

Continue reading Man turns luggable 25-year-old cellphone into OLED-packing HTPC

Sony introduces five new feature-packed, confusingly-named Blu-ray DVRs

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 27th 2009 at 9:23AM

Sony introduces five new feature-packed, confusingly-named Blu-ray DVRs
Now that Toshiba's getting in on the Blu-ray train, Sony needs to up its game. Enter a quintet of new players, each packing TV recording tech, overlapping feature sets, and seemingly nonsensical names. Starting at the low end is the BDZ-RS10, which sports a measly single digital tuner and 320GB worth of storage. Next up is the BDZ-EX30, adding a second digital tuner and a Blu-ray recorder into the action. Then the BDZ-EX50 moves up to 500GB of storage and adds PSP support, the BDZ-RX100 goes up to a full 1TB, and the BDZ-EX200 2TB. All but the lowest two support DLNA and can spin an hours worth of video to a PSP or X-1000 in under two minutes, meaning you could sync the entire Battlestar Galactica series in just over two hours and get your Cylon fix wherever you like.




AOL News

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

Joystiq
Download Squad
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
BloggingStocks
Joystiq Xbox
Autoblog
Big Download
Fanhouse NFL Blog