At a recent press event, Sony Japan unveiled its new line of Blu-ray Disc recorders. All six models feature support for BD-Live and come equipped with Sony's new CREAS chip, which upscales 8/10-bit TVs to 14-bit through "Super Bit Mapping for Video".

sony bdz-t75.png

On the low end, you have Sony's new T-Series. The BDZ-T55 and BDZ-T75 feature a built in 320GB hard drive, a digital tuner, 24p True Cinema and, in the case of the later, support for DNLA. The BDZ-T55 and BDZ-T75 will be available on October 10th and are priced at $1,000 and $1,300, respectively.

sony bdz-x100.png

For the mid-range, Sony has introduced its new L-Series. The BDZ-L55 and BDZ-L95 share the same features as the L-Series, but add an HDV/DV input as well as two USB ports. The BDZ-L95 ups the ante even further with a 500GB hard drive, memory card reader, DLNA and support for “One-touch” and Handycam dubbing. The BDZ-L55 and BDZ-L95 will go on sale on September 29th and are priced at $1,200 and $1550, respectively.

Last but not least, you have Sony's Z-Series. The BDZ-X95 and BDZ-X100 include most of the features found on the T and L-Series as well as larger hard drives, dual tuners, Sony's Cross Media bar GUI and the new Digital Reality Creation - Multi Function version 3 (DRC-MFv3) chip. On top of that, they can transcode and transfer video to the PSP, Walkman and mobile phones. Like the L-Series, the BDZ-X95 and BDZ-X100 will hit stores on September 29th and are priced at $1,800 and $2,500, respectively.
Add a comment
CyberSnipa Sonar 5.1 Headset @ Rbmods
GIGABYTE EP45-Extreme Motherboard @ TweakTown
GlacialPower GP-AL650 Power Supply @ Virtual-Hideout
Lian Li PC7B Plus II Mid-Tower Case @ Benchmark Reviews
MSI P45 Platinum Motherboard @ InsideHW
NMEDIAPC Wireless Keyboard with Track Ball & Remote Combo Set @ ThinkComputers.org
Palit GeForce 9800GT Sonic 512MB Video Card @ ThinkComputers.org
Seagate Cheetah X15K.6 Hard Drive @ HotHardware.com
SteelSeries IKARI Laser and Optical Gaming Mice @ Metku.net
Stix 200 Wii-like PC Controller @ I4U
Zalman HD160XT Plus Premium HTPC Case @ Tweaknews.net
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 260 AMP! Edition Video Card @ Futurelooks Add a comment
DivX, Inc. announced today that Funai's latest Blu-ray Disc player has been certified for DivX playback. According to their press release, the B1-M110 will be launched in the European market in October.

funai b1-m110.png

With DivX Certification, Funai’s new Blu-ray player, the B1-M110, is capable of seamlessly playing back high-quality DivX® video. DivX technology enables a premium visual experience in digital video while considerably reducing its file size. The B1-M110 will allow consumers to play back DivX video that has been burned to DVDs and CDs. Funai’s newest Blu-ray player expands the DivX ecosystem within the Blu-ray device category and joins over 100 million other DivX Certified® devices shipped by DivX licensees into the market including digital televisions, mobile phones, digital cameras, personal media players and set-top boxes.  

Add a comment

Transcend announced this week that it will be introducing a 64GB version of its JetFlash V20 flash drive. This value-priced drive features a pearl-white chassis as well as semi-transparent color-band that lights up during use. The JetFlash V20 also comes with Transcend’s JetFlash elite software package which includes functions like Autologin, PC-Lock, Mobile E-mail and DataBackup.

transcend v20 64gb.png

Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a leading manufacturer of flash memory products, proudly introduces its new 64GB JetFlash® V20 high-capacity USB flash drive. The versatile V20 features an attractively shaped pearlescent chassis with a semi-transparent color-band that lights up during use. Its smooth contoured design fits comfortably in your hand and slips effortlessly into any pocket or purse. With the V20’s huge amount of storage space, users can easily backup and store all their essential files, music, digital photos, and high resolution videos and still have space left over for work or school documents.
Add a comment
DivX and LG announced this week that LG's newest DVD player, the DVS450H, has been certified for DivX playback. The DVS450H is also capable of playing back high-definition DivX videos burned to DVD or stored on a USB flash drive.

lg dvs450h.jpg
DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX), a digital media company, and LG Electronics, Inc. today announced the DivX Certification™ of a new DVD player from LG capable of playing high-definition DivX® video.

Incorporating a stylish and sleek design capable of being mounted on a wall, LG’s new DivX Certified® DVD player, the DVS450H, allows consumers to play their personal libraries of high-definition digital content. With this device, consumers can enjoy high-definition DivX videos burned to DVD’s or stored on USB flash drives. Typical HD video requires a considerable amount of digital storage space, but DivX HD video provides a superior media experience by maintaining the highest visual quality while significantly reducing the digital file size of the video. Using DivX technology, a full-length high-definition movie is able to fit onto a standard DVD.
Add a comment
Samsung recently announced its fifth generation Blu-ray Disc player, the BD-P2500. The player offers support for interfactive features like BD Live and Bonus View as well as Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processing. The BD-P2500 can also output Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and dts as an uncompressed PCM signal, as a bitstream or via its 7.1 analog output.
samsung bd-p2500.png

Samsung Electronics, a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics, introduces its most advanced Blu-ray player to date with the BD-P2500. Building upon key features and design elements from past Samsung Blu-ray players, the BD-P2500 is compatible out-of-the-box with the latest Blu-ray interactive features available including BD Live™. The BD-P2500 also offers breakthrough enhancements such as Hollywood Quality Video™ (HQV™) processing and 7.1-Channel analog audio outputs creating a powerful HD audio-visual experience.

Add a comment

At this year's IFA, Sony unveiled what they call the "world's most advanced Blu-ray Disc Player." Designed to make the most of Blu-ray Disc movies, the BDP-S5000ES uses the HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping to increase the colour depth and deliver the best possible video quality. The player also offers Linear PCM and HD audio decoding with bitstream output and can handle all formats up to Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. To top it all off, the BDP-S5000ES is compatible with BD-Live and BonusView.

sony bdp-s5000es.png
Sony has put all its expertise in video and audio processing into the BDP-S5000ES, making it the best player yet. The combination of the HD Reality Enhancer and Super Bit Mapping takes the picture quality way beyond what has previously been available from Bu-ray Disc, ensuring a stunning image whether you use a BRAVIA™ LCD TV or a home cinema projector from Sony.

The HD Reality Enhancer continually analyses the image coming from the disc, sharpening edges while not over-emphasising other elements of the picture, reducing the effect of grain on the original filmstock, and increasing the colour depth from the 8 bits on the disc to the equivalent of 14 bits. Meanwhile Super Bit Mapping, which uses unique processing based on human visual sensitivity, enables the player to deliver the best possible quality over HDMI™, with smoother colour tones.

Add a comment

Apevia X-Sniper G-Type Mid Tower Case @ ThinkComputers.org
ASUS Eee PC 901 @ Phoronix
ASUS Maximus II Formula Motherboard @ Rbmods
ATP ToughDrive 4GB Camo USB Flash @ ASE Labs
Belkin N1 Vision Wireless N Router F5D8232-4 @ Benchmark Reviews
Foxconn A79A-S vs. MSI K9N2 Diamond @ TweakPC
NZXT Tempest Case @ HardwareLogic
Palit Radeon HD 4870 Sonic Graphics Card @ TweakTown
Thecus N3200 NAS Device @ High Tech Reviews
Thermaltake Bigwater 780e ESA 3-Bay Liquid Cooling System @ ThinkComputers.org
Vantec NexStar MX eSATA Dual HDD Enclosure @ Virtual-Hideout
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ Graphics Card @ TweakTown Add a comment
Lite-On has officially announced its new line of external slim DVD writers. The eSAU108 and eSAU208 can be powered through a USB connectioin and are capable of 8x DVD±R, 6x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds. The eSAU208 ups the ante even further with support for LightScribe.
lite-on esau108.png

Lite-On announces the introduction of a new generation external slim DVD writers. The eSAU208 is a fully featured, USB-powered, 8X slim DVD writer. A perfect solution for those users who are looking for a compact, stylish and portable DVD writer.

Mobility is an important aspect of the eSAU208. The drive can be powered through a USB connection instead of a traditional power adapter, so the mobile user does not longer needs to rely on a power socket to operate the DVD writer. The drive will consume its power directly from the notebook trough the USB cable. Even though the eSAU208 is USB powered, the retail pack still includes a power adaptor for those users who prefer to use a direct power source.

Add a comment

SanDisk announced this week that it has set a new speed record with its line of SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards. Developed for Nikon's D90 DSLR camera, the SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC cards make it possible to record 39 images in continuous shooting mode at 4.5 frames per second with a file size of 6.0 MB per image.

sandisk extreme iii sdhc 30mbs.png

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today set a new speed record of 30 megabytes per second for SD™ flash memory cards with the introduction of the SanDisk Extreme® III 30MB/s Edition line of SDHC™ Cards. The new cards, expected to be available worldwide in September in 4-gigabyte (GB), 8GB and 16GB capacities, are designed to deliver peak performance when used with the new digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera, Nikon D90.

Add a comment