Posted 11/07/09 at 06:39:20 PM by Justin Kerr

The first Managed Copy enabled Blu-Ray disks will be hitting store shelves soon, unfortunately, it will be well ahead of any hardware that can make use of it. For those that haven’t heard of Managed Copy, it is a system that allows you to make legal copies of Blu-Ray disks, but spawned versions of the content are very heavily protected by DRM. Any user trying to play the copied version needs to contact the studios DRM servers which decide if you can watch it, and even how many times it can be copied.

Dedicated Blu-Ray hardware isn’t expected to implement this feature anytime soon, but PC jukebox software will likely be available within the next few months to take advantage of the fact that all disks sold after December 4th will need to be compliant. It remains to be seen if this is true of just new releases, or if the entire back catalog of Blu-Ray disks will eventually be updated. Either way, expect it to be a confusing mess until packaging updates roll along in the Spring.

Many wonder if Managed Copy will satisfy consumers ever increasing demands to “liberate” their digital content from the medium, but consumers historically haven’t embraced solutions that trade one DRM implementation for another. This is especially true when competing technologies such as those from Slysoft accomplishes the same thing, and without any additional usage restrictions.

Want to learn more about HD Video Encryption? Check out our White Paper for the low down.

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Posted 11/06/09 at 04:25:36 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Asus has extended its O!Play HD media player family to include the Air HDP-R3, the first model in the series to feature WiFi connectivity and a multimedia card reader. Nothing else has changed apart from these two additions. The O! Play AIR HDP-R3, as the new media player model is called, features 802.11n WiFi, HDMI 1.3, a multimedia card reader, a USB 2.0 port, one eSATA/USB2.0 combo port and a RJ-45 LAN port. The Air HDP-R3 retains the aesthetics and the dimensions (181x125.3x47.7mm) of the original O! Play player - one without WiFi. The only departure from the original's design is in the form of the WiFi indicator on the player's front. Its price hasn't been revealed.

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Posted 09/03/09 at 08:00:40 AM by Paul Lilly

Onwers of LG's LH50 LCD series and PS80 plasma series can now access VUDU's library of on-demand 1080p movies via LG Netcast.

"LG is proud to lead the charge on delivering high-quality streaming movies for the high-def family-room experience," said Peter Reiner, senior vice president, marketing, LG Electronics USA. "VUDU offers content in 1080p resolution with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound, enabling the ultimate streaming movie experience on premium LG HDTV models."

After applying the automatic software update (if applicable), owners of the above mentioned models will be able to rent the first HD or HDX movie free of charge. After that, normal rental charges apply, which ranges from $0.99 to $5.99 per movie with no subscription or monthly fees.

Full press release here.

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Posted 09/02/09 at 07:45:26 AM by Paul Lilly

Excuse us while we clean up our morning coffee off of our keyboard and desk - Panasonic wants how much for its 85-inch plasma display? The answer is $30,000, but hey, if you wait long enough, maybe you can catch one on sale for 'only' 20 Gs.

According to Panasonic, the exorbitantly priced TH-85PF12U is the industry's first 85-inch full HD, 1080p plasma display and equivalent to four 42-inch plasmas. The company also claims its Neo plasma display panel technology has made it possible to keep the 85-incher "significantly thinner and lighter than past plasmas," measuring 3.9 inches deep and checking in at 260 pounds.

Sounds groovy and all, but how do you convince your significant other that a $30,000 TV set would really complete your living room? Answer that question and you're halfway there.

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Posted 08/18/09 at 12:39:32 PM by Paul Lilly

Let's face it, most webcams leave a lot to be desired, including some of the higher end models boasting fancy lenses and advanced features not found on entry-level models. But the picture still ends up being grainy, which almost makes that live striptease performance not worth watching. Almost.

Enter the LifeCam Cinema, a high definition webcam Microsoft hopes will shake things up. The LifeCam is the first consumer webcam to support 720p video at 30fps, boasting 1,280x720 compared to most 2MP webcams topping out at 960x720.

But high resolution isn't the only thing the LifeCam has going for it. Other goodies include a glass lens, auto focus, 4x digital zoom, and a digital noise canceling microphone. It sports Windows 7 compatibility out of the box, though only those with a comparatively hefty system need apply - nothing less than a dual-core 1.6GHz, and Microsoft recommends a 3GHz dual-core chip and 2GB of RAM.

Look for the LifeCam to show up in retail on September 9 with an MSRP of $80.

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Posted 08/14/09 at 12:55:50 PM by Paul Lilly

Microsoft's upcoming Zune HD will get more than a little help from Nvidia in going toe-to-toe against Apple's iPod and every other handheld media player on the market. Providing extra processor oomph, the Zune HD will use Nvidia's multi-core Tegra processor.

"Nvidia brings power graphics to the portable media player. This is a unique capability," said Jeff Orr, senior analyst for mobile content at ABI Research.

What makes Nvidia's Tegra so special -- and the Zune HD so promising -- are eight independent processors, which will go a long ways in helping the Zune HD handle high definition video and Flash content on its OLED touch screen without necessitating a bulky formfactor.

"Apple probably builds a pretty good SoC [System-on-Chip], but in terms of what they have already enabled [on the iPod Touch], I don't believe it has nearly the graphics and power management that Tegra does," said Mike Rayfield, a general manager at Nvidia. "We've benchmarked against everyone out there, and we are the most advanced in terms of graphics and overall power management."

The Zune HD will be just one of many devices to make use of Nvidia's Tegra processor. According to Nvidia, there are about 50 other gadgets in design right now with Tegra.

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Posted 07/27/09 at 10:30:05 AM by Paul Lilly

It appears CBHD (China Blue High-Definition), formerly known as CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD), has a shot at doing something HD-DVD never could: Beat Blu-ray. Or at least that's the case in Japan.

Apparently a Japanese news station ran the numbers and confirmed that the CBHD format holds a 3 percent market share lead over Blu-ray, FormatWarCentral.com reports. The revelation was presented as part of a documentary, which you can view here, though you're on your own in translating the dialogue.

Under its former designation, the CBHD format was first announced in September 2007 as a joint venture between OMNERC and the DVD Forum, the latter of which was responsible for the failed HD-DVD format. CBHD supporters hope the format will succeed where HD-DVD didn't by offering better copy protection features. However, Warner Brothers is so far the only Hollywood studio to support CBHD.

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Posted 07/10/09 at 08:00:38 AM by Paul Lilly

On the outside, it would be easy to mistake the F88 clamshell netbook with Asus' Eee PC 1002HA, but appearance is about all the two have in common. Unlike the 1002HA, the F88 packs a VIA Nano processor (1.6GHz, 800MHz frontside bus) with S3's Chrome graphics and boasts 1080P playback on its 10.1-inch LED display.

Further distancing itself from the netbook-norm, the F88 comes configurable with up to 4GB of DDR2-667 memory and up to 500GB of hard drive storage. Not bad for a market used to seeing 1GB of memory and 160GB hard drives.

Other specs include WiFi, Bluetooth, a 1.3MP webcam, HD audio, multi-card reader, three USB ports, HDMI output, and a 6-cell battery.

There's a good chance the F88 will appear in rebadged form, though in the meantime, no word on price or availability.

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