There’s not a lot of reasons to buy a high definition (HD) movie player right now. The choice of movies is dismal and the cost of players is high, particularly so on the Blu-ray front where’s you’ll be lucky to get change out of £600. This is why DVD players that can upscale your existing DVD collection to near-HD quality are becoming increasingly popular.

You can get inexpensive models from under £150 but if you have the budget, there’s always Denon. The company has announced the UK availability of the DVD-2930 player, which can upscale DVDs to near-1080p quality.

It may have a price tag of £650 but it boasts the same Silicon Optix Reon chip that appears in its £2,700 DVD-A1XVA professional model. Throw in a decent set of connection options and the ability to play all formats of high-def audio discs, like SACD, and you have something to keep both audiophiles and movie buffs sweet.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 28, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Music, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2)

A report from Screen Digest into the brutally competitive games industry has forecasted that most games developers will not see any profits on titles until at least 2008.

Rising development costs and small user bases will insure that only a small proportion of console games for single or multi-platform release will achieve profitability in the short term. This is leading major games publishers to revise their own strategies, mainly through risk reduction strategies. These include outsourcing, releasing games on as many platforms as possible, making sequels to popular titles and basing games around popular movies.

According to the report, “Next Generation Consoles: Games publishing, hardware analysis and forecasts to 2010”, Sony's strategy has been to make more of its own games. It has doubled the size of its internal development resource since the launch of PS2. Only Ubisoft and Electronics Arts are bigger.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has aggressively built exclusive relationships with top games developers to make titles only for the Xbox 360. This is proving to be a success, said Screen Digest, with top selling game, Gears Of War [pictured], raking in the cash.

According to report author, Ed Barton:

"While the previous generation was quickly dominated by Sony's PlayStation 2 across all major territories, this time we anticipate a more competitive situation where market share is likely to be split on a territorial basis. Xbox 360 has a 12 month advantage, but whilst it has built a strong position in the US, it hasn't been able to achieve the traction needed in Japan, and Southern Europe remains a challenge."

Most interestingly though is the assertion that Sony, thanks to massive games investment and the PS3 having a Blu-ray drive for playing high-def movies, will have the largest community by 2010.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 27, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Games, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

The British Film Institute (BFI) is offering visitors to its soon-to-open Southbank centre in London a chance to view rare films and TV shows using a digital jukebox.

In partnership with HP, it has created the Mediatheque, to allow visitors access to archive footage from the last 100 years, ranging from the 1966 World Cup to the Queen’s coronation. Thankfully, there are other things which have not been done to death on TV already, including Audrey Hepburn's first screen test.

Visitors will be able to access the content through 17 PCs. There will be around 300 items on offer from the outset but thanks to a two-year deal with HP, the BFI is planning to expand this to thousands.

Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI says:

“One of Britain's richest cultural treasures is its film heritage and together the BFI and HP are making sure it can be enjoyed and appreciated by a broader, more diverse audience. With the opening of BFI Southbank imminent, we look forward to throwing open the doors to visitors from all over the UK, from around the world and from the local community and welcoming them to a day-long destination where, thanks to HP's technology, they can experience the wonders of the archive and enjoy and explore film in new ways.”

This is good news for movie buffs since most movies are stored on nitrate film stock or acetate, neither of which is all that reliable for preserving things over the long term. The BFI maintains one of the largest archives in the world, with more than 50,000 fiction films, over 100,000 non-fiction titles and around 625,000 television programmes. BFI Southbank opens on March 124 and you can find some more information here.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 26, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

You have to give it to people that can take something old, marry it with something new and come up with something truly wonderful. This is the Steampunk IBM keyboard. Anyone that has ever worked with a regular old IBM keyboard may notice that this one has undergone a little work.

The people at Steampunk Workshop revel in taking the modern and giving it that retro twist. You can’t buy something this cool but, even better, you can do it yourself since the site provides all the instructions and photos you will need to create something this cool.

I thought the ultra-modern Optimus keyboard was hot stuff until I saw this. Time to dig out one of those old discarded IBM keyboards in the attic. 

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 23, 2007 in Active Home, Games, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mordaunt-Short has launched a new 5.1 surround sound system boasting some solid performance in a stylish, small set-up that’s designed not to take over your living room.

The Alumni series has four Alumni 2 satellites, an Alumni 5 centre speaker and Alumni 9 subwoofer and costs a shade under £600. Of course, you might balk at this when you consider how many major consumer electronics brands now flog 5.1 systems with DVD players through retailers for £150 and up. Still, you get what you pay for and Mordaunt-Short is an audio specialist that's perfected the art of delivering big sound from little things.

The speakers boast some new technologies, like a light, but rigid, 25mm aluminium dome tweeter for reducing distortion and 3.5in Continuous Profile Cone (CPC) mid/bass drivers for producing fast response and power in such a small speaker. The 120W subwoofer also sports an 8in ultra-long throw woofer, the centre speaker plinth can be adjusted to exactly the right angle and the satellite speakers come with dedicated stands.

They are available in very fashionable, glossy piano-black or white finishes. If you’re ready to move beyond the wimpy surround speakers that came with your all-in-one DVD player then these could be worth an audition.
 

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 22, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Music, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

The government has rejected calls to ban the controversial Digital Rights Management (DRM) copyright system used to ‘protect’ the copying of downloaded music and videos.

The petition, registered on the Government’s e-Petitions site, had the backing of 1,400 users but despite the increased arguments over the need for DRM lately, the government has no plans to upset the apple cart.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, recently announced that DRM should be scrapped by the music studios. Considering Apple’s iTunes is one of the most copyright protected download services, this was quite a U-turn. Since then, some music studios have countered that they have no plans to ditch DRM.

The petition was submitted by a member of the anti-DRM group, Defective By Design, and claimed that DRM locked users into certain services. In it’s official response, the government said:

“DRM does not only act as a policeman through technical protection measures, it also enables content companies to offer the consumer unprecedented choice in terms of how they consume content, and the corresponding price they wish to pay. It is clear though that the needs and rights of consumers must also be carefully safeguarded.”

DRM is certainly the hot potato right now and something will happen this year. It just takes one big music publisher to dump it and the others will be forced to either follow, or greatly loosen the DRM noose. Which one will be first though?

Read the full government response here.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 21, 2007 in Active Home, Music, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

Headsets that make you believe you are watching a 40in TV from eight-feet away have never really captured the public’s imagination nor, more importantly, their wallets. Having tested a few, the experience can be a little underwhelming, thanks to image quality.

Icuiti, which makes a lot of these, thinks it has a new way to market: gamers. The VR920 picked up an innovations award at this year’s CES 2007 show but it is almost ready for launch and is hoping this can drive mainstream business.

This is a virtual 62in display viewed at nine feet, with headphones that can be upgraded or removed and a noise canceling microphone for in-game chatting to other players over the Internet.

It has twin 640x480 VGA progressive scan LCDs and weighs in at just 3oz. It also comes with USB which will make it a snap for hooking up to PCs, laptops or consoles Icuiti is hoping that players of online games like World of Warcraft will see the appeal. If the company manages to get the price right, maybe they will, although I don't expect these to come that cheap.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 20, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Games, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyone with kids will appreciate the value of in-car entertainment for those long journeys.

Roadstar has just launched a useful looking 7in widescreen TV for those testing times, boasting not one, but two, TV tuners. The LCD7082D comes with a digital tuner for picking up the Freeview channels and an analogue one for when you lose the signal. The company claims the purpose built antenna and circuit deliver top pictures but I’d like to see it tested first since TV-on the-go is not exactly known for its 100% reliability.

It can be run from mains or 12V and comes with a car adapter kit. There’s also a handy AV output for hooking it up portable DVD players. At £150, it won’t break the bank either.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 19, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Television, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

Up to half of home broadband connections are susceptible to a new kind of attack, called 'drive-by pharming’, according to security firm Symantec.

Pharming is the term used for when an attacker redirects your efforts to get to one Web page and sends you to a bogus, but visually similar Web page. This is often done by changing the host file on your computer or by manipulating the Domain Name System (DNS), which is responsible for your IP address – or unique identity – on the Internet.

The newer ‘drive-by pharming’ happens when you visit a malicious Web site and the attacker can change the DNS settings on your broadband router or wireless access point. This can happen if the router is not password protected or you haven’t bothered to change the default password – which many attackers will know. Malicious sites – especially bank sites - often look very like the original one and once you enter your name and password, some out there can steal your information and then rifle your accounts.

“This new research exposes a problem affecting millions of broadband users worldwide. Because of the ease by which drive-by pharming attacks can be launched, it is vital that consumers adequately protect their broadband routers and wireless access points today,” said Oliver Friedrichs, director, Symantec security response.

The moral of this story is change your router’s password now, into something not easily guessed by the bad guys. A mix of letters and numbers usually does the trick. 

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 16, 2007 in Active Home, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Philips has joined the growing numbers of companies offering voice over IP (VoIP) phones to home users looking to cut call costs. The company has just unveiled its good-looking VOIP841 model, claiming it’s the first Skype-certified DECT phone that works without being connected to a PC. This is certainly a useful feature.

The phone allows users to make free Skype-to-Skype calls without having to have the PC turned on. According to Philips, just hook it up to your broadband modem/router and you’re good to go. The phone can also be used for regular national and international calls.

It can store up to 500 names and Skype contact details, which can be browsed from the full-colour display. It also lists their current status. There’s a hands-free speakerphone, a choice of 15 polyphonic ringtones and a up to 12 hours talktime. It’s due to hit the streets in March for £130. Find out more here.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 15, 2007 in Active Home, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

The much-hyped copyright security system used on high definition Blu-ray and HD DVD movies has been dealt another crippling blow by a lone hacker that has managed to unlock the master key.

The copyright system, known as AACS (Advanced Access Content System) cost millions of dollars and years to create. It was circumvented by another hacker last month, as we reported here, but this approach by a hacker called 'arnezami' on the Doom9 Web site is much simpler, involving no reverse engineering or hacking tools.

By watching changes made to his computer memory while watching a HD DVD movie he was able to capture the key. So far, his approach has meant all current Blu-ray and HD DVD tiles can be cracked, copied and potentially pirated.

Shooting another hole in a copyright protection system will no doubt add ammunition to the increased calls for copyright protection of digital material to be dropped.

That said, there’s a better chance of Hell freezing over before Hollywood gives away the crown jewels.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 14, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

While much of the world will be swamped in chocolate and flowers tomorrow for St. Valentine’s Day, it will also be remembered for some major changes to UK broadband services.

Consumers are going to find it lot easier and cheaper to switch from one broadband supplier to another thanks to new changes coming into force on Feb 14.

The rule changes from the regulator, Ofcom, will stop broadband firms charging people to change.

Much of the hassle has been down to Migration Authorisation Codes (Mac), which are long numbers issued to customers by a supplier when they want to move to another supplier. Many have found it hard though to get hold of the number from some suppliers or were being charged for getting one.

From tomorrow providing MAC numbers is compulsory and people should get one within five days.

Claudio Pollack , Ofcom Director of Consumer Policy said: “Increased competition in broadband has led to falling prices and a wide variety of services. These new rules are intended to ensure that switching is a quick and easy process for all.”

This is a big step forward for consumers and should make switching broadband suppliers a lot less of a headache in the future.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 13, 2007 in Active Home, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (3)

The sound produced by many TVs is fine for casual listening but you will never get that big surround sound from the in-built speakers of your skinny TV. And let’s remember, not everyone wants speakers and wires cluttering up their Habitat-inspired living rooms.

Evesham has announced another product in its growing home entertainment range, designed to beef up your sound while also making the most of your shiny new HDTV.

The Sound Stage X1 is a good-looking TV stand - in piano black and clear glass - but with a difference, since it houses a battery of speakers and a subwoofer to create the movie experience. The discreet speaker fronts can be left on without distorting the sound but can be removed [see photo] for that full-on look.

In all, there are nine speakers, each pointing in different directions to bounce sounds from your walls to create a more realistic pseudo-surround system. The subwoofer is rated at 50W, while the speakers range from 20W to 30W. You can also hook up your MP3 player.

Obviously, this is not as sophisticated as the Yamaha one-speaker approach but for £300 you get a designer TV stand and surround sound system without messy wires.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 12, 2007 in Active Home, Music, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

The rocketing growth in home entertainment and digital home solutions has finally gotten the attention it deserves.

The technology trade group, CompTIA, has launched the first UK certification scheme for professionals dealing with a wide range of digital home applications. The Digital Home Technology Integrator Plus (DHTI+) exam will cover many digital home skills, from audio/video installation to networking, PCs, telephony/VoIP, home automation and surveillance and security systems. The move comes as a response to the chronic shortage of suitable professionals targeting the home market as well as people’s lack of skills in integrating newer technologies.

“Digital home networking will never develop as an industry without qualified technicians to deliver service and support,” said Matthew Poyiadgi, European regional director, CompTIA. “This qualification will help create an army of skilled specialists, increase the credibility of skills for home networking and improve the legitimacy of the digital home industry overall.”

The certification is recommended for those already working in the home market, from electricians and plumbers to IT professionals. DHTI+ will be taught in training centres throughout the UK from March including the Technology Innovation Centre in Birmingham and Bedford College.

For struggling consumers and home workers, this can only be good news.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 9, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Games, Music, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pioneer previewed its latest 60in plasma, the PDP-607XD, back in September last year but now it’s arrived in the UK. This beauty comes in a glossy, piano black finish and features a 7^th generation high definition (HD) panel.

It has a native resolution of 1365 x 768, a contrast ratio of 4000:1, and a DVB-T digital TV tuner for receiving those free-to-air Freeview channels. There’s a CI Slot too for inserting your top-up or pre-paid TV subscription card.

It sports a handy pair of HDMI inputs (one for a games console and another for a HD set-top box, Blu-ray or HD DVD player) as well as a PC input for streaming high-def material to the panel, or, playing games in HD. There are also component, S-Video and a generous, three Scart sockets.

The panel is a PureBlack 2 panel which is designed to create better blacks and reduce unwanted light output. It’s certainly a looker. Now all you need is around £6,000. Read more here.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 8, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

When Microsoft’s Flight Simulator on the PC is no longer doing it for you, you need to build something a little bigger. How about a homemade flight simulator for just £125,000?

Australian hobbyist, amateur pilot and truck company owner, Matthew Sheil, spent eight years building this replica of a 747 cockpit. Visuals are provided by a high definition, 42in Philips Ambilight display while 13 Quad-core Voodoo PCs are hooked up to provide the juice.

From his perch, nine feet off the ground, Sheil can fly a whole lot safer and cheaper than the real thing. The set-up even provides real-time weather reports, pre-flight checks and air traffic control updates from other simulation players. Is it finished?

“It’s like a painting,” he says. “It’s never done.”

[More]

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 7, 2007 in Active Home, Games, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

HMV is coming under fire for attempting to squeeze UK customers financially in order to secure a PS3 console at launch.

The PS3 is expensive. When it arrives on March 23rd UK punters will have to shell out £425 for the 60GB model since there will be no 20GB version at launch. Hmv_2 The pre-ordering frenzy is just getting underway now, with HMV opening its virtual doors for business.

It claims to have 5,000 on order and if you want one all you will need is £675. Pardon? That’s right, for the honour of guaranteeing that you get a PS3 at launch or thereabouts, before those that just order the console, you also have to buy a 4GB PSP for £250. This bundle isn’t even good value because the PSP and the two bundled games can be found for less than £200 online.

This is a real slap in the face for UK gamers, who already have to pay out more than other gamers around the world for the PS3.

Shame on HMV for trying to exploit the enthusiasm of console fans.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 7, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Games, Music, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1)

In a turn-up for the books, the PS2 has notched up stronger sales than the newer PS3 games console in Japan. For the last week in January in Japan, unit sales were 20,995 units versus 19,996, in favour of the seven-year old PS2. The results show that Sony is still having problems hitting its delivery targets.

The company aimed to sell two million by the end of 2006 but only passed the mark last month. It’s still confident of hitting six million by the end of March. Buoyed by the PS2 upsurge though, Sony has revised its PS2 shipment forecast up from 11 million to 13 million for the year.

The figures, from the research agency Media Create, show just how popular the PS2 still remains, and not just in Japan either. It might seem odd that the PS2 is doing so well now that the PS3 is here but there are compelling reasons to invest in a PS2.

First off, and most importantly, the PS2 is now cheap as chips - £75 - compared to the £425 price tag for the forthcoming PS3, due here in March. The games catalogue is also massive, with most of them now available second-hand from games shops and DVD rental clubs. As a cheap console for the home, or second one for the family, the PS2 is hard to beat especially with so many kids games on offer.

Expect the PS2 to remain the console king for some time to come.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 5, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Games, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

Keeping video and a decent music library on mobile phones is always a problem thanks to the lack of storage space. Seagate thinks it has the answer with the launch of a tiny, wireless hard disk drive aimed at phone users.

Called DAVE (Digital Audio Video Experience), it will be a 10GB or 20GB drive the same size as many slim phones, designed to hold a variety of digital content as well as letting users access the content wirelessly. A 10GB version using 1in perpendicular hard drive technology is due this summer. It will use both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology.

“Products using DAVE technology will enable digital content, whether for business or entertainment use, to be stored, moved, and connected in ways never before possible. Mobile carriers can use this technology for creating value from their investments in high-bandwidth networks, and mobile handset manufacturers have another tool for turning the multimedia phone into the centre of the mobile consumer's digital life,” claimed Patrick King, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate's consumer electronics business unit.

No prices yet. Read more on DAVE here.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 2, 2007 in Active Home, Film, Music, Television, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

The BBC has received the backing of the BBC Trust for its plans to allow viewers to download popular TV shows via broadband. This a vital first step in the BBC being able to compete effectively with Sky, Channel 4 and others entering the online TV market.

The announcement means that people may soon be able to view online or download top shows like Doctor Who, Planet Earth among many others. It is expected that full approval will arrive in May, after which the BBC will launch it’s iPlayer application. This will allow people to view or download any TV shows from the last seven days. They can then store them for 30 days – but not the 13 weeks the BBC had wanted.

Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee and Chair of the PVT Steering Group, said: “The BBC Trust has a duty to ensure the public receives value in return for paying the licence fee. Our view is that the BBC’s new on-demand services are likely to deliver significant public value, and should be allowed to proceed, but subject to certain conditions in order to reduce the potential negative market impact.”

However, the Trust imposed some restrictions on the Beeb’s plans. For instance, the on-demand service is using digital rights management (DRM), or copyright protection software, developed by Microsoft. The Trust wants the BBC to use a platform-independent system that will allow Apple and Linux users to access the service too.

In addition, the Trust wants the BBC to come up with a way of ensuring that children are protected from accessing unsuitable content. Read more here.

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Posted by Martin Lynch on February 1, 2007 in | Permalink | Comments (6)