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Home Entertainment
With Samsung's combo Blu-ray/HD DVD player hitting store shelves later this year, there has been a lot of speculation regarding its price. While some sources have stated that the BD-UP5000 would be priced at only $545, others have reported that it would cost $550 more than Samsung's single format Blu-ray player. Samsung has finally come out and announced the player's price. According to a blog post at CNET News.com, the BD-UP5000 will retail for $1,049.
Samsung announced final official details on two expensive Blu-ray players today, including the HD DVD-playin' BD-UP5000 we wrote about before, and a new home theater-in-a-box (HTiB) that incorporates a Blu-ray player, the HT-BD2. We're now told the BD-UP5000 will retail for $1,049, and the HT-BD2 will sell for $1,499. Both will ship sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, and will round out the company's five-model series of 2007 Blu-ray players.
The BD-UP5000 will reportedly feature ethernet and HDMI 1.3 ports, HQV video processing and the ability to output 1080p/24 video from Blu-ray discs. Oddly enough, it does not support 1080p/24 when playing HD DVD movies. If you'd like to read more, the entire blog post can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
LightScribe announced today that 12 more companies, including Sony and Kodak, have licensed their direct disc labeling technology. Here's part of their press release:
LightScribe today announced that an additionaltwelve hardware brands, personal computer and optical drive manufacturers, mediabrands and disc publishing systems manufacturers have licensed its direct disc labelingtechnology. These new licensees include hardware brands Apricorn, Ativa, Gear Head,and Sony; personal computer manufacturer MESH Computers; optical disc drivemanufacturer Sony NEC Optiarc; media brands Ativa, Intenso, KODAK Media Products,and Vakoss; and disc publishing systems manufacturers Advanced Digital Research,Amtren, and Mexty Productions.
If you'd like to read more, LightScribe's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Denon recently announced their new high end Blu-ray Disc player, the DVD-3800BDCI. This $1999 monster is the first player to feature support for BD-ROM Version 1.1 which, among other things, allows for playback of picture-in-picture content. The DVD-3800BDCI also features the Silicon Optix Realta chipset, which provides enhanced video performance with upconversion and IP scaling to 1080p.
Denon Electronics, a world leader in high-performance home entertainment products, today announced the upcoming introduction of two groundbreaking DVD products, the new reference-standard DVD-3800BDCI BD-ROM Profile 1 version 1.1 Blu-ray Disc Player and the DVD-2500BTC BD-ROM Profile 1 version 1.1 Blu-ray Disc Transport. The DVD-3800BDCI (SRP: $1,999) is the world's first BD-ROM Profile 1 version 1.1 Blu-ray Disc Player from a Blu-Ray Disc Association member featuring the acclaimed 10-bit Silicon Optix Realta chipset. It provides users with the highest resolution high-definition video available today via HDMI connection, as well as the ultimate in audio performance, including high-definition audio decoding and DDSC-HD audio output. The DVD-2500BTCI outputs audio and video signals and requires a connected audio/video receiver to do the decoding. Both BD-ROM Profile 1 version 1.1 Blu-ray units are slated to ship this fall.
As impressive as this sounds, it will be interesting to see how many people will shell out $1999 for the DVD-3800BDCI. If you'd like to read more, head on over to Gizmodo. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Toshiba announced today that they've starting shipping the Qosmio G45-AV680. According to their press release, the Qosmio is the first notebook computer in the U.S. to feature an HD DVD-R drive.
Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of the Qosmio G45-AV680, a cutting-edge audio-video notebook computer with Dolby surround sound technology and the first U.S. model to feature an HD DVD-R optical drive and full 1080p playback resolution.

As the first U.S. notebook computer with an HD DVD-R optical drive, the Qosmio notebook provides users with a state-of-the-art multimedia machine that can burn up to 30 GB of data, including home-videos, entire photo albums and music libraries onto a single HD DVD recordable disc. In addition to storage capacity, the HD DVD-R optical drive also plays HD DVD movies at a resolution six times sharper than the DVD format.
The Qosmio G45-AV680 also comes equipped with a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 17-inch widescreen LCD, GeForce 8600GT graphics card and dual 160GB hard drives, resulting in an estimated price of about $3200. More information, including a full list of specs, can be found here. Add a comment

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Home Entertainment
Helios Labs has announced their latest DVD player, the H2000. While priced at only $99, the H2000 offers features like HDMI output and the ability to upscale DVD's and videos in MPEG-4, XviD, DivX and MPEG-2 format.

Helios Labs announces today the H2000, an HD upscaling DVD player that allows you to experience the most from your HDTV set all at an affordable price. Helios Labs, known for their innovative X-series line of networking DVD players, is poised to release an affordable option for their customers.

The H2000 is a region-free DVD player capable of upscaling a variety of formats including: MPEG-4, XviD, DivX and MPEG-2 to 1080i resolution via Component, HDMI and VGA; not to mention upscaling your entire DVD collection. Furthermore, it can output 480i/576i unprocessed digital signal via HDMI. But what does this mean for you? Helios Labs’ CTO, Roy Ping, weighs in on this feature.

“H2000 offers the most HD upscaling options. You can let it upscale all your content to 720p/1080i, or you can allow it to output an unprocessed 480i/576i video signal and allow your TV/external video scaler to do the work. This will help customers maximize its performance and consequently, ensure you have a much clearer, distortion-free image.”
The H2000 will launch in the US on August 10th. More information is available on Helios Labs' website. Add a comment

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BenQ DC C610 Digital Camera @InsideHW.com
Cooler Master Cosmos Case @DV Hardware
Foxconn 8600GTS-256 OC 700/2200 Videocard @HardwareLogic
Intel QX6850 Quad-Core CPU @Tweaktown
MSI NX8600GTS Diamond Plus @Hardware Zone
NZXT Zero Case @TweakPC
Powercolor Radeon HD 2400 XT Video Card @Madshrimps
Thrustmaster T-Charge All NW Nintendo Wii Remote Charging Stand @I4U
XFX Fatal1ty Geforce Overclocked 7600 GT Videocard @Tweaknews.net
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Verbatim Europe has announced that they will be unveiling a number of new products at this year's IFA. Along with their 30GB HD DVD DL media, the company will be showcasing their new external hard drives and computer mice.
At IFA, Verbatim is unveiling a raft of new products in the fields of Optical Media, USB Storage Media & Memory Cards. In addition, a highlight will be the worldwide market launch of Verbatim’s external hard drives in the 2.5” and 3.5” format. With these and other products from the Memory Card and USB key sector, Verbatim is expanding its strategic position as the leading provider of high-quality Digital Storage Media. The Verbatim stand can be found at Hall 15.1 My Media, at stand 131 during the IFA trade show on the trade fair grounds in Berlin between 31st August and 5th September.

At IFA, the world’s largest consumer Electronic trade show in Berlin, Verbatim will be unveiling its new external HD drives. Other innovations include the first generation of the HD-DVD DL Dual Layer with 30 GB of storage, the SDHC and CompactFlash Flash Memory cards with 4 GB and 8 GB of memory, plus the USB 2.0 Store 'n' Go with a massive 16 GB of storage space.
Verbatim currently plans to release their HD DVD DL media and external hard drives to the European market in September. Full details can be found here. Add a comment

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Canon PowerShot SD1000/IXUS 70 Digital Camera @Madshrimps
Cooler Master Aquagate S1 INTEL/AMD Water Cooling System @Tweaknews.net
Cooler Master COSMOS PC Case @I4U
DFI nForce 680i LT-T2R Motherboard @Madshrimps
Logitech MX Revolution Laser Mouse @The TechZone
Planar PX2611W 26" Widescreen LCD Monitor @Benchmark Reviews
Tagan A+ Black Pearl PC Case @ThinkComputers.org
XpertVision Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB GDDR3 Sonic @Hardware Zone
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Optical Storage
Ricoh recently exhibted a new optical device that enables the playback of multiple formats using a single objective lens. According to Tech-On!, Ricoh's Multiple Format Compatible Plate (MFCP) diffracts a laser's beam differently, depending on the disc being read.

When used in the optical system of the optical head in an optical disc drive, the device can eliminate the need of so-called two lens setup in which two lenses are provided for use with CD/DVD and the next-generation DVD such as Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD.

The company said that, while MFCP is required to be added, the number of optical parts in the entire optical head may be decreased compared with the case of the two lens setup, thereby reducing the size of the optical system of the optical head.
Tech-On! reports that Ricoh's optical device can only be applied to read-only applications. However, the company is continuing development, hoping to push prices below $1. If you'd like to read more, the entire article can be found here. Add a comment

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Optical Storage
Verbatim's parent company, Mitsubishi Chemical, has announced that they've developed a new type of CD-R media for people with weak or no vision at all. These new discs feature a special surface where information like the type, capacity and rated speed are printed in braille code. Here's part of their press release, translated from Japanese:

Mitsubishi chemical media corporation (head office: The tokyo Minato-ku, president: Otsuka it is heavy virtue and below “MKM”), the Braille attachment CD-R which can grasp the letter of the disk surface with feeling (postscript type) we sell the disk in this year 8 end of the month. Besides the fact that the Braille convex (with densely) by the fact that letter is printed on the disk surface, standard and capacity etc of the disk can be read, the identification of the inside and outside becomes easy.
No word on price or availability. If you'd like to read more, Mitsubishi's entire press release can be found here. Add a comment

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