Posted 11/12/08 at 01:10:00 PM by Paul Lilly

Pocket-sized HD camcorders appear to be all the rage lately, and Pure Digital looks to answer the question of 'how small can you go' with its new Flip Mino HD. From the same maker of the Flip Video, Pure Digital's new camcorder checks in at just 3.3-ounces, which the company claims is the "world's smallest HD camcorder."

"Consumers have embraced Flip Video because it delivers on the promise of making video simple, affordable, and fun," said Jonathan Kaplan, Pure Digital's chairperson and CEO. "Flip Mino HD, along with FlipShare software, now make it easy for anyone to capture and share their stories in stunning HD quality."

We'll reserve judgment on the quality of its HD video, but at least on paper, the Flip Mino comes prepared to shoot up to 60 minutes of 720p HD content. Other notable specs include a 1.5-inch anti-glare LCD display, one-touch recording with 2x digital zoom, touch-sensitive buttons, 4GB of internal memory, integrated video publishing to YouTube, MySpace, and AOL Video, and the ability to capture still photos from video.

MSRP for the Flip Mino HD has been set at $230.

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hd, consumer electronics, camcorder, flip mino

Posted 10/30/08 at 02:40:37 PM by Alex Castle

It was at the beginning of 2008 that the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war came to an end, and it looks like the beginning of 2009 is going to see the start of a new battle. Blu-ray just got a new competitor, and if maker Royal Digital Media can deliver on their promises, it could mean big trouble for Sony’s format.

News of the new format broke by way of a press release from DreamStream, who RDM has contracted to provide military-grade, 2,048-bit encryption for the discs. Compared to Blue-rays paltry 128-bit encryption, the new format should prove significantly more of a challenge to crack, which must look good to publishers looking to protect their IP.

RDM says that their as-of-yet-unnamed HD disk will be able to hold 100GB of data, and will support 1920p video. That means that a single disc will be able to hold about 4 hours of super-HD content.

The best part about RDM’s new format? According to the press release, it’s based on “inexpensive red laser technology” and therefore the discs and players will cost about as much as traditional DVDs and players.

The format is scheduled to launch as soon as the beginning of 2009. It’s going to be interesting to see if they can keep their promises. If they can, is this going to spell the end of Blue-ray? Tell us what you think after the jump.

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hd, Blu-ray, optical drive, hardware, consumer electronics, royal digital media, 1920p

Posted 10/29/08 at 08:15:17 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Microsoft has joined forces with Akamai to provide a consummate high-definition video streaming experience for PCs. The two companies announced that Akamai will launch a beta version of its HD video streaming service christened AdaptiveEdge Streaming for Microsoft Silverlight in early 2009. The beta release will only be accessible to a few of Akamai’s own customers (content providers).

Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Silverlight will form the skeletal base of the service. Akamai’s service will exploit Microsoft’s new Web server technology, called Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7.0) Smooth Streaming, which is aimed at delivering uninterrupted streaming videos – sans any buffering. “Smooth Streaming is an evolution of proven Silverlight technology that has powered global online events,” said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Division at Microsoft, in a press release.

Microsoft clearly hopes that high-definition streaming video can help its Silverlight platform turn the tide and gain more traction. Of course, if Akamai’s service finds favor among providers, it will automatically endear Silverlight to all such content providers. The camaraderie between Microsoft and Akamai dates back to 1999, when the two first strung together a similar partnership.

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microsoft, Software, hd, streaming video, high-definition, Silverlight, Windows Server 2008, web server, iis7, smooth streaming

Posted 10/23/08 at 01:58:56 PM by Paul Lilly

Netflix continues to lay the groundwork for subscribers to stream movies and television shows to their TV sets with yet another partnership announcement. This time around, it's Samsung who the online rental service is cozying up to, as owners of Samsung's BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray disc players now have the ability to instantly stream content from Netflix's catalog.

As you might recall, a similar announcement was made with LG last summer. In addition to the $99 Roku set-top player and upcoming fall dashboard update to Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, Netflix subscribers have a bevy of options to choose from in streaming content to the living room.

"Samsung presents a new value proposition for Blu-ray players by posititioning it as a portal to a world of engaging digital content, be it Blu-ray discs, movies from Netflix, or other online content," said Reid Sullivan, VP of Marketing, Audio/Video & Imaging at Samsung.

Both Blu-ray players sell for about $400, and Netflix points out that existing owners can upgrade their device at no cost by flashing the firmware. Once upgraded, BD-P2500 and BD-2550 will have access to Netflix's growing library of 12,000 movies and TV episodes.

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streaming, samsung, movies, hd, Blu-ray, NetFlix, high definition, BD-P2500, BD-P2550

Posted 10/21/08 at 10:23:13 AM by Paul Lilly

Whether you're looking to purchase a standalone Blu-ray player or going for the entertainment combo kill with Sony's Playstation 3 console, the cost of entry remains a prohibiting factor for many consumers. This gets compounded by the fact that upscaling DVD players cost far less than Blu-ray while still offering a better picture than standard DVDs. But what if you could pick up a Blu-ray player for under $100?

Now you can, in a roundabout sort of way. Best Buy has started selling Insignia's NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player for a cent under $200 and with it a coupon book for $100 worth of Blu-ray flicks from Disney, Touchstone, and Miramax. The player itself is pretty spartan with few of the features found on higher end models, and it remains to be seen whether $100 in free movies will prove enticing enough (for $1 extra per month, Netflix subscribers can add Blu-ray titles to their queue), but it is the least expensive Blu-ray player around. Kinda.

Know of any good Blu-ray player deals? Hit the jump and post a link!

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movies, hd, Blu-ray, high definition, consumer electronics, best buy

Posted 10/07/08 at 05:30:17 PM by Andy Salisbury

So you’re enjoying watching the baseball playoffs in HD, are you? Well, imagine yourself in the next 10 years watching these same playoffs in 3D. Dr. Nasser Peyghambarian (say that three times fast) of the University of Arizona is claiming that this could be possible, all thanks to hologram technology.

Dr. Peyghambarian, the chair of photonics and lasers at the University of Arizona’s Optical Sciences department claims that his crack team of scientists have broken a barrier by creating the first updatable three-dimensional displays with memory. "This is a prerequisite for any type of moving holographic technology. The way it works presently is not suitable for 3-D images," said Peyghambarian.

In order to create a television that’s capable of displaying 3D images they’ll need to create displays that can update multiple times per second, whereas they’ve only created displays that can update on a minute-by-minute basis.

Dr. Peyghambarian’s team has been hard at work on the technology since 1990, and believes that now that this breakthrough has been made the rest of the essentials will soon follow. "It took us a while to make that first breakthrough, but as soon as you have the first element of it working the rest often comes more rapidly," he said. "What we are doing now is trying to make the model better. What we showed is just one color, what we are doing now is trying to use three colors. The original display was four inches by four inches and now we're going for something at least as big as a computer screen."

There is some criticism though. Justin Lawrence, an authority on Electric Engineering at Bangor University in Wales said that while small steps are being made on technology like 3D holograms, but he can’t see it being available within the next ten years. "It's one thing to demonstrate something in a lab but it's another thing to be able to produce it cheaply and efficiently enough to distribute it to the mass market," said Lawrence.

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hd, 3D, hardware, 3d monitor, Holograms

Posted 09/16/08 at 01:10:23 PM by Florence Ion

HP released two new high definition notebooks today, adding to a variety of model releases from the company this year.  The notebooks were designed for high-def entertainment purposes, with one model boasting a full 1080p display while the other has 780p.

Both notebooks are packed with hardware, including an Intel Centrino 2 processor, an Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card, and up to 4GB of RAM. The HDX18 (which has an 18” screen) and contains dual HDD bays with 250GB SATA drives in each and a LightScribe Blue-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer. The HDX18 costs $1550, while the HDX16 costs $1300. Both models contain two headphone jacks, HDMI and VGA plug-ins, and a remote control.

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mobile, hp, hd, Blu-ray, high definition, notebooks, Hewlett Packard

Posted 09/04/08 at 01:15:24 PM by Paul Lilly

If Samsung is to be belieived, the future for Blu-ray doesn't look so bright. Despite burying its rival, HD-DVD, and gaining market penetration thanks to Sony's Playstation 3 console, Samsung sees the high definition format as being on life support.

"I think it has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10," said Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung UK.

With such a pessimistic outlook, Samsung must be looking towards digital downloads as the next big thing, right? Surprisingly, no. According to Samung, the successor to Blu-ray will be OLED displays. Huh? Odd as it sounds, the company is touting high definition displays while downplaying a media format that could show off the new displays.

"We will launch the OLED technology when it's at a price that will be appealing to the consumer, unfortunately that's not yet," explained Griffiths.

Griffiths went on to say that OLED could be become a mainstream technology by as early as 2010.

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samsung, movies, hd, Blu-ray, high definition, consumer electronics