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HDTV rollout from Toshiba
At the rate things
are happening in the land of TV, there will soon be few non-HDTV TVs. Which is
a good thing. Toshiba
has just released three new HD-ready LCD TVs, the 32WLT58,
37WLT58 and 42WLT58. All have resolutions of 1368 x 768 and come with an
integrated digital tuner for picking up Freeview digital TV channels. All have
not one, but two HDMI slots to
accommodate your new high definition DVD player, Xbox 360 or Sky's
forthcoming HD receiver – the latter which will begin pumping out HDTV signals next
year.
Other connections include component – the best there is at the
moment – a very handy three Scarts, S-Video and a subwoofer output for beefing
up the TV’s natural sound. Prices for the 32in start at £1,400 and scale up to
£2,700 for the 42in model.
tv toshiba HDTV home entertainment
Home cinema receiver with DAB
Digital
Audio Broadcast (DAB) radios are generally not cheap so it’s nice to see one
rolled into a full-blooded 7.1home cinema receiver. With iPod and MP3 player
features now appearing as standard in many new receivers, it’s a welcome suprise to see a DAB
radio tuner being bundled with the TX-SR653E from Onkyo, which sits just above the midrange TX-SR603 (pictured). Due next month, it will retail for
a shade under £500. It boasts 7 x 125W per channel, AM/FM and DAB with 40
presets, dual 32-bit sound processors, plenty of connections and support for
most sound formats including DTS, DTS 96/24, DTS-ES Discrete/Matrix 6.1, DTS
NEO:6, Dolby Digital EX, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx. Set-up is automated through
the use of a microphone, it’s controlled by a learning remote and you can get an
optional iPod dock for £60.
movies home cinema onkyo DAB ipod
Sky launches ‘My Sky’ for everyone
You can also
access Sky Active content including news, games and celeb interviews. Unsurprisingly,
you will also be presented with an array of upgrade options, which no doubt
will appear on your new, easy to access bill. Lucky you’re sitting down.
Meet the first high-definition DLP projector
The
end result is a claimed brightness of 2500 Lumens – which is exceptionally bright – and an
outstanding contrast ratio of 7500:1. Availability is expected in the coming
month but there are no prices yet.
home entertainment DLP texas instruments projectors movies
Rear-projection stunner from SIM2
Big TVs
aren’t dead, just on a diet. Traditional rear-projection TVs were truly
gigantic in proportions but a new generation of slimmed down TVs using DLP technology are holding their own against the tidal wave of flat
panel TVs. The latest from projection specialist, SIM2, is a perfect example.
The Domino 55M is a 55in TV using the HD2+ chip from Texas Instruments and
a 'silent' six-segment colour wheel for richer colours. 
It has a native resolution of 1280
x 720, making it high-definition (HD) ready, and a contrast of 1800:1. It also sports a HDMI
input and two internal 15Watt speakers.
It is priced at approximately £4,000.
TV home entertainment sim2 DLP
The coolest racing simulator ever
The country that gave us pizza, Ferrari and the Corleone family is looking hot to take the crown for the coolest racing simulator yet created. Designed for the home, the Gran Turismo Cockpit (GTC) from Italian firm Movetech takes racing enthusiasm to a fanatical level. Throw away those steering wheels and wee, rubber pedals and strap yourself into this simulator for PS2 and PC driving games – especially Gran Turismo 4 and GTR. The roll-cage supports a fully adjustable, leather covered racing ‘bucket’ seat and realistic, adjustable driving pedals with a very considerate footrest for your left foot. Obviously, you’d think such customised gaming technology would come with a staggering price tag but you’d be wrong – for a change. How does £240 sound? And did we mention that it can be turned into a normal office chair and computer table when not being used to win the World Rally Championship? Outstanding. See some more photos here.
Sony rolls out AV heavy metal
Sony is planning to release a new
top-end SACD and DVD 7.1 amplifier that promises an ear-shattering 200W of
power into all 7 speaker channels. The TA-DA9100ES is an amp
with a difference since it plays back DVDs and Super Audio CDs (SACDs) too. It
uses the new 32-bit S-Master PRO digital amplifier technology and supports two separate 7.1 speaker
set-ups. All the latest surround sound formats are catered for, including Dolby
Digital EX, Pro Logic II X and DTS-ES Matrix and DTS 96/24 5.1 decoding. In
terms of digital connectivity it comes with an i.Link (FireWire) input as well
as all important HDMI inputs and outputs. 
Topping off the package is a
‘two-way learning LCD remote’, which we presume remembers your favourite clicks
and settings. It’s not hit the UK yet but it will and you can expect a price
tag in the region of £3,500.
movies Sony home cinema hdmi hdmi DVD
World’s smallest MP3 player hits UK
After all, if we wanted the 'random music factor' we'd just flick on the radio. It weighs in at just 18g and can be powered
off any USB socket to provide a claimed 17 hours of playback. It plays MP3 and WMA
audio files and features a voice recorder. It comes sizes ranging from 256Mb to 1GB
with prices starting at £69 here. Rumour has it that Dixons and Currys will have it soon but nothing so far on the Web sites.
Discreet home cinema with Bose CineMate
Others going the virtual sound route include Yamaha, Marantz and Kef. The
system also features something Bose calls Videostage 5 decoding circuitry that
can generate up to six channels of audio from your older non-surround DVDs and
VHS tapes. Due out soon it will cost around £300.
movies bose home cinema home entertainment surround sound audio
Bluetooth iPod gets thumbs down
We think that for the true freedom of being able to wirelessly listen to your
audio around the house without having the iPod on you - or needing third-party kit - people would get over
it. Still, Steve has been known to change his mind before. Intel chips inside Apple Macs, anyone?
ipod Apple Music bluetooth steve jobs
High-definition projectors to become the norm
Following in the footsteps of TV, high-definition projectors
are on the road to becoming the norm following the release of the first 1080p DLP resolution chipsets from Texas Instruments (TI). The new chipsets, launched at Cedia 2005, will allow
projectors at all levels to offer the top HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
Texas is the inventor of DLP projector technology, which is fast replacing LCD as the key projection technology. 
According to market watcher
Pacific Media Associates, DLP is now the dominant front projection technology
in the US, controlling almost 70% market share. The list of those lined up and eager to use the Texas 1080p chipsets is
long and impressive, including: Barco (pictured), BenQ, InFocus, Marantz, Mitsubishi, Panasonic,
projectiondesign, Optoma, Runco, Samsung, Sharp, SIM2 and Yamaha. The latest
launch follows the introduction of its BrilliantColor technology for single-chip
DLP chipsets in June.
movies projectors texas instruments DLP hd home entertainment
Runco's heavyweight projector
High-end projector maker Runco has topped out its Reflection
series of DLP projectors with the CL-810Ultra. The new model follows hot on the
heels of the recently introduced CL-810 and is part of the company’s ‘Bringing
Hollywood Home’ series. Like the 810, the new model is a native 16:9 projector
with a high definition (HD) resolution of 1280 x 720, a brightness of 1250
Lumens and a high contrast ratio of 3100:1. Recommended picture size is 96in
and it boasts a lamp with two intensity settings depending on the ambient light
in the room. It also uses Runco’s ViViXT digital video processing to provide
artifact-free scaling and enhanced picture quality from digital and analog
sources. The CL-810Ultra boasts more advanced software and optical lens
components to provide improved picture clarity and colour saturation. 
It also
sports a wider variety of throw distances and support for Runco’s
CineWide technology, which allows for movies to be shown in their native 2.35:1
aspect ratio with higher resolution and brightness. No prices yet but the
existing high-end Reflection projector, CL-710 (pictured) costs £10,000.
movies film projector Projectors runco DLP Home theatre
Sharp previews new Aquos line-up
The
world’s largest supplier of LCD TVs is about to take the market by storm yet
again with a line-up stretching from 37in to a massive 65in. Even better,
every one of the new Aquos V line-up (the UK model numbers may differ) from Sharp are full, high definition TV (HDTV)-ready
with resolutions of 1920 x 1080 pixels (1080p). All will boast HD tuners but what’s
even better is that Sharp has tackled the age-old problem of flat screen
tallies: motion blurring. Response times on thr 65in is a reputed 12ms which is
respectable on a panel so big but on the 57V it’s as low as 4ms, which is
blistering fast and should result in no blurring. 
As you can expect from the
Aquos range – and especially this giant HD-ready line-up - owning one will mean making some not inconsiderable sacrifices. The 37V will start at around £2,700, spiraling up
to about £8,500 for the 65V monster. UK shipping has yet to be formerly announced but we expect them next month.
Net TV to become major player
TV over the
Internet will be a key TV platform within 10 years according to the latest report
on the growth potential of broadband technology. Lovelace Consulting and
informitv claim that TV over broadband - or Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) will result in a new Web-like TV
environment where viewers will be able to browse and download millions of
shows. It will also represent a real threat to the current dominance of digital
satellite, terrestrial and cable transmission. 
The most important change will
be the growth of ‘pull’ TV as opposed to the current regime of ‘push’ TV where
broadcasters decide what, and when, programmes are put out. Pull TV, the report claims, will
put viewing control in the hands of us viewers. Although there is a certain amount of user control arriving with digital TV, it is still very limited. Imagine that though, great TV all of the time when it’s
convenient. Seems too good to be true. Full story here.
TV Entertainment internet broadband news
Big screen movies in 10 minutes
While some will be happy projecting movies onto the nearest
wall there is no substitute for a good projector screen. Screen-maker, Draper has just
launched its latest motorised screen - Salara - which has been designed to be unpacked, hung on
the wall, plugged in and working in around ten minutes. It comes in 4:3 and 16:9 formats with a 10-ft power cable that
can be plugged into any socket. It can be operated by both a wireless wall
switch or remote control. 
It comes in a variety of sizes ranging from 65ins to
105ins diagonal. Prices start at roughly £500. Draper has also introduced it’s
latest lightweight portable screen, the Piper, for those times when you just have to
bring the home cinema with you.
movies projector screen home cinema Home theatre home entertainment
Vinyl-to-PC made idiot-proof
Replacing your vinyl treasures and cassette tapes with CDs is both expensive and a much-begrudged spend.
While some will never swap the clinical sound of CDs for the ‘warmth’ of vinyl
sound, the rest of us would actually like a simple method of getting them
into MP3 format or onto some blank CDs. Terratec is hoping to do just that with
its Phono Pre-amp Studio USB. Hook up your turntable to this little gadget and
attach it to your PC’s USB port and off you go. Terratec says you need no
drivers, no sound card and no power supply – it powers itself off the USB port.
The accompanying software includes a tool called SoundRescue 2.0 from
Algorithmix which can remove any pesky hiss and crackle. Even better you can
also hook up a cassette deck so that you can save all those dodgy compilation
tapes you made in the 1980s. Shipping now for around £65.
Music vinyl PC gadgets audio Geek
Gas-power your MP3 player
You might think 20 hours battery life for your MP3
player is pretty hot but whiz-kids at Toshiba have created a gas-fuelled
cartridge that will extend iPod battery life for another two and a half days.
Lithium-ion is yesterday’s news as far as Toshiba is concerned, as fuel cell
technology finally starts to move beyond the prototype stage. Toshiba’s direct
methanol fuel-cell (DMFC) is a cartridge with a concentrated dose of methanol
that produces electricity by causing a chemical reaction. Fuel cell technology
has been touted as the successor to lithium-ion batteries for years but there are few
commercial products out there. Some experts think 2006 is the year we will see
them in our mobile phones and other portable devices. Toshiba is hoping to have
a separate fuel cell offering for Flash-based and mini- hard disk drive players
but, not until 2007. 
It should be remembered that we were promised commercial versions of DMFC cells for 2005. Don’t let the photo here fool you either since Toshiba has no plans to
let us normal, accident prone folk to take on the potentially flammable task of refilling our own batteries. Full details here.
technology MP3 iPod toshiba news science
BenQ's home cinema on a budget
BenQ has
taken the wraps off its latest budget projector for the home market. The MP610
is a no frills entry-level projector costing under £700 with a native
resolution of 800 x 600, a brightness of 2000 Lumens and a contrast ratio of
2000:1. All of this means it will throw up bright, DVD-quality images, even in
semi-dark rooms. Disappointingly, its native viewing mode is 4:3 and although it supports 16:9 widescreen, a projector with a native 16:9 viewing mode is always going to be better at reproducing your widescreen DVDs and upcoming HDTV broadcasts. 
Read this to help you decide what's best for you. Lamp life is a respectable 3,000-4,000 hours so even a cinephile
using it 20 hours a week should be good for three years before needing to
replace the lamp. It comes with nine application modes that shift color,
brightness and contrast levels based on whether it’s being used for games or
watching movies. More details here.
Movies projector BenQ home cinema TV HDTV
Official countdown to digital TV begins
The
official UK changeover timetable to digital TV has been announced by Culture Secretary
Tessa Jowell. The bearer of good news said lucky viewers in the
English-Scottish borders will be first, switching over in 2008. The rest of the
country will follow in stages with the final switchover expected to take place
in 2012 – just in time for the London Olympics. The implications of
interference with the Games was not lost of Jowell, who joked: “I can assure
you that I did not slog for two years to bring the games 
here just to see
Londoners reduced to huddling round the wireless to find out who won the
hundred metres.”
Thankfully the UK, in equipment terms, is well ahead of the government’s plans.
According to Ofcom, around 63% of UK households have digital TV, up over 1% on
the last quarter.
Television digital TV HDTV olympics sport news
Tweens get hi-tech home cinema toys
What happened to ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front
teeth?” Toy-making giant Hasbro has just rolled out a series of hi-tech
gadgets, including a projector and portable media player (PMP) aimed squarely at
'tweens'. While you might scratch your heads at what’s the appeal, just look at
the proposed prices. The Zoombox is a projector with in-built DVD player and a
host of connections to hook up to other AV sources and games consoles. This is
not the first all-in-one projector and there no details on resolution but, at
around £200, who cares? That makes it the cheapest projector/DVD combo out
there and for those not too hung up on pixels i.e. tweens, 
they'll be able fire 60in wide movies and games onto their bedroom walls. The Vugo PMP has a feeble 128MB of
memory but is capable of holding up to one hour of video, six hours of music
or 1,200 photos – all of which can be played back on the screen. Again image quality
is unknown but it will cost roughly £70. 
Did we mention you can hook it up to
your TV and record programmes too? The US launch takes place this December but
they are expected to cross the Atlantic in the New Year. Details here.
gadgets kids projector toys pmp hasbro
Designer home cinema from AE
Bringing a
little designer style to the midrange speaker market is the new Linear series
from Acoustic Energy (AE). This shiny 5.1 home cinema set-up is designed to look good
while peak power handling of up to 175Watts means they’ll match up well with
any high-power AV amplifier pumping out the latest action blockbuster. The
flagship is the three-way floor standing Linear 3 speaker, accompanied by the bookshelf two-way Linear 1, and the Linear Centre.
The subwoofer is
a big beast, boasting a 220mm downward facing driver backed up by a 200Watt
amplifier stage. The speakers and subwoofer can all be bought separately but AE
says you’ll save £60 if you fork out £1,300 for the full set. Due out next
month, there are more technical details here.
audio movies speakers acoustic energy surround sound home entertainment
Xbox 360 is yours on Dec 2
After much speculation and false starts, the Xbox 360
will officially hit UK stores on December 2 – perfect timing for the Silly
Season rush. Microsoft confirmed the launch dates saying that Xbox will arrive
in the US on November 22, Europe on December 2 and Japan on December 10.
That's 78 days for those of you that will be counting down from now. Considering that the arrival of the Xbox 360 will be one of the largest console
launches in recent years (not forgetting the fast-selling Sony PSP) you can expect shortages. 
Games expected to be ready at launch will include Call of Duty 2, Final Fantasy
XI (pictured), Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Resident Evil 5, among others. Microsoft
has not yet said what kind of allocations have been made but said production
has started and it will have "millions" of them ready to go. Smart shoppers know
that launch allocations will be tight so pre-ordering now is the smart move.
Pricing details are here and you can catch up on yesterday’s Xbox Live online
pricing announcement here.
Games xbox xbox 360 gadgets microsoft Sony PSP
Bush’s tiny Freeview receiver
Sometimes it’s just not possible to fit another piece
of consumer electronics under, over, or beside your TV. If you want all those
free digital TV channels though, you usually have to invest in a standard personal
video recorder (PVR) with a Freeview tuner in-built. Now there’s a way
of getting them without cluttering up your room. 
Bush has announced what it claims is the first plug and play digital
Freeview TV adaptor. It’s about the same size as a pack of cards and slots into
any free Scart socket. It will receive all of the Freeview channels and
supports the all-important 7-day electronic programme guide and interactive
services. We’ve seen two names for this so far so if you want one look out for
either the iDaptor or Freeview Stik. Shipping in October, it will cost a penny under £60.
TV digital TV freeview gadgets technology
Meridian shrinks luxury speakers
Luxury
audio specialist Meridian Audio has announced a new compact speaker boasting Digital
Signal Processing (DSP) technology. The bookshelf DSP 3100 speaker from the
Cambridge-based company replaces its DSP33 and can also be used on
specially-built aluminium stands.
You can get the whole family involved at this point since the stands are
designed to be filled with sand – a common home cinema trick - which improves
stability and reduces the impact of vibration on the sound. 
Meridian’s
speakers are unique in that they build the DSP technology into the speaker
cabinet which improves the sound and explains the price tag. A pair of these
babies with stands will set you back, roughly £3,000.
sound speakers audio meridian audio DSP home entertainment home cinema
B&W sounding good
The XT series comprises three new models,
the XT4 floor stander (pictured) , XTC centre channel, and XT2
bookshelf speaker. B&W claims that the XT range is a deliberate
effort to recreate its famed, natural high-end sound in something normal folk
could afford – but don’t expect to find them in Dixons. The XT4, XTC, and XT2 will ship this month with
price tags of approximately £1,400, £450 and £550. Details here.
sound home entertainment speakers
Denon expands universal DVD line
It supports regular
DVDs, blank CDs crammed full of MP3 and WMA9 files, is DiVX certified and will
play back both DVD-Audio and SACD discs. Audio is handled by 24-bit/192kHz
Audio DACs. This model, which sits above the recently launched DVD-1720 (pictured), also
boasts Faroudja DCDi PAL progressive scan processing for improved image quality.
Microsoft reveals pricing for Xbox Live
Microsoft is hoping to radically boost its online community
by announcing an aggressive package of the Xbox Live options. Anyone that buys
an Xbox 360 will automatically get Xbox Live Silver membership free but just £39.99 will boost that to a year’s Gold
membership. That’s just over £3 per month around for online multiplayer gaming,
enhanced matchmaking, downloads, feedback tools and some ‘exclusive privileges
and rewards’ on Xbox Live Marketplace. Games like Halo 2 and Fable are already
very popular online and as pricing for online gaming goes, this is reasonable. Microsoft is
being smart by making annual membership so attractive since it ties in the
user. 
For instance, quarterly membership has been priced at £15 per quarter and
monthly membership at £5 per month. That’s £60 a year for either of those
schemes. We predict that take-up of annual membership will be big. Xbox
Live membership passed the two million mark this summer and although it’s
overshadowed by the online Playstation community, this move might help narrow the
gap. Bagging an Emmy award yesterday won't hurt either.
Game xbox playstation Gaming gadgets emmy
Pirate DVDs flood UK
Last week,
police raided a £400,000 counterfeit operation in Southall - the biggest in Europe - seizing over 50,000
DVDs and CDs including versions of unreleased movies like Mr & Mrs Smith
and War of the Worlds. We've seen a lot of pirated DVDs - especially those of just-released cinema movies - where it looks like everything was filmed in a snowstorm. The quality is dodgy, as are the dealers. Save your fiver, wait a few months and pay £10 for an ex-rental with all the extras, and no snowy-vision.
Film movies news DVD piracy crime
Would you sell your home for this?
Krell are
already renowned for bringing on a coronary with just a price tag but this
latest piece of AV royalty redefines
the term ‘high-end’. The HEAT system, unveiled at Cedia 2005, is well named
since it will burn a hole in your wallet, your pocket, your leg and your life.
HEAT is a 7.2 surround system that combines seven monaural Evolution One
amplifiers with a pair of LAT-1000 tower speakers, LAT-C1000 centre speaker,
four LAT-2000 bookshelf/surround speakers and two Master Reference Subwoofers
to pump out an earth-shattering 11,500-watts of power. Forget blowing the roof off your house though
since to own one you’ll be living in a tent. Anyone got £190,000 to spare?
Anyone?
technology AV home entertainment home cinema krell
SED TVs aim to conquer plasma
How would
you like a flat panel TV with the brightness and contrast of a CRT television,
no picture blurring or ghosting and which consumes just one-third of the power
of a plasma display? Toshiba and Canon are promising just that by March next
year. The TVs are based on SED (Surface-conduction Electron emitter Display)
technology which has been knocking around for the best part of two decades.
Last month, both companies announced that production was about to get under way
and Toshiba is now saying that the first 50in SED display will hit the streets in
March 2006. Apart from brightness/contrast/power benefits, the displays
will have a native high definition TV (HDTV) resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels
and a response time of under a millisecond. Plasma might be SED's first target but they have a long uphill battle to displace what is essentially the most affordable, flat panel technology. 
Also, this is new technology. In a nutshell, it means that availability will be tighter
than Anne Robinson’s smile and they will cost more than their LCD and plasma
equivalents. Still, we feel that something which that finally equals, and
possibly betters, CRT on a performance footing is something worth waiting, and saving, for.
Television HDTV SED technology toshiba canon
Apple conjures up Hogwarts iPod
Anyone with little, aspiring wizards and witches running about the home may want to
check out Apple’s movie/book tie-in. The company whose credo seems to be ‘If it moves,
market it’, has managed to disapparate itself onto the Pottermania Express with
the launch of some Harry Potter inspired iPods. The inspiration, however, seems
limited to a engraved Hogwarts logo on the back of a 20GB iPod, where
the inscribed motto reads “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus” or, “Never tickle
a sleeping dragon”. 
The launch relates to - not the Potter movies - but a deal to let iPod users
download all six of the Potter audio books and J.K. Rowlings' biography at a
$100 discount. That’s about 100 hours of listening and, as Apple points out, you
don’t have to import 82 CDs.
ipod Apple harry potter books gadgets
Bang & Olufsen hits the road
Car audio is a hit and miss affair depending on where you
are sitting. In the back, at normal volume, radio and CDs sound like two mice
pillow fighting in a padded box. This is the sad scenario high-end sound maestro, Bang
& Olufsen (B&O), is hoping to capitalise on as it takes its first tentative steps
into the car audio market. The good thing is that B&O claims the new system
will
distribute stereo sound perfectly regardless of where you are sitting in the
car. 
The bad news is that it will probably cost around £50,000. Stop choking,
it will cost that much because it’s attached to the forthcoming Audi A8 which
is on show at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt. The sound is
achieved partly by the use of Acoustic Lens Technology used in the very funky BeoLab 3 and
5 series loudspeakers. In total, there are 14-speakers capable of making your
head explode with 1,100 watts of power. There are no immediate plans yet to
launch the system as a standalone kit. After all, do you really think the desigh-conscious B&O wants to
become the sound system of choice for souped-up Micras?
car bang & olufsen audio audi Geek technology
Dolby gets thumbs up from rival DVD camps
Toshiba and Sony might not be mature enough to resolve the
ongoing HD-DVD Vs. Blu-Ray disc war but at least they’ve decided on the sound
format. However, since Toshiba is now hinting at a 2006 launch for HD-DVD
players you can forget watching the HD-DVD of Batman Begins for Christmas and
having your ears blown off by Dolby TrueHD. Even the Blu-Ray camp have given it
the thumbs up and Dolby says the sound quality is equal to the
"highest-resolution studio masters currently available". That means it’s
probably good enough for us. 
The company is currently showing TrueHD off at
the big US consumer electronics show, Cedia 2005. The technology builds on the
MLP Lossless technology that Dolby introduced for