Viewsonic’s 24in Display Doubles As HDTV
The new VX2435wm is certainly one of the biggest desktop monitors out
there and it comes – unusually – with HDMI inputs so that users can easily use
it as a HDTV, by hooking up a PS3, Sky HD box, Blu-ray or HD DVD player or high
definition-enabled Xbox 360. 
Most monitors still only feature the older DVI input for
showing high-def sources. It also sports component, S-video and composite
connections.
The display has a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, a high contrast ratio of 1000:1, a reasonable response time of 8ms and a brightness rating of 500cd/m². It features in-built stereo speakers and can also be wall-mounted to help save on that valuable desktop real-estate.
Out now, it costs around £530 and you can find more details here.
The PSP Phone From Sony and BT
The PSP is
set to become a phone, Internet browser and video conferencing tool thanks a
new deal between Sony and BT.
BT and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
(SCEE) have signed a four year deal to help transform the PSP by adding
wireless broadband functionality including high quality handheld video calls,
voice calls and messaging. The announcement confirms rumours that Sony was planning to expand the
PSP beyond its gaming and entertainment roots.
There are
24 million PSPs around the world, 8 million of them in EMEA. A deal like this
is certainly going to give some Apple honchos something to think about, just a month
before the official US launch of the iPhone.
BT will be
Sony's lead wireless communications 
partner across 102 SCEE territories but the
UK – for a change – will be the first the to get the new PSP extras. Whenever
it arrives, that is, since no date has been set. The technology used will based
on BT’s IP-network, 21CN, and will add BT Broadband and other ’softphone’
products to the PSP.
Sony
recently launched its clip-on Web-cam, the Go-cam [pictured] and it’s now good to know
that the PSP with added wireless broadband features, will be able to do more than just capture that video.
Steve
Andrews, BT chief, mobility and convergence, commented: “The PSP is an
excellent device for both gaming and communications, because of its high
quality screen and audio capabilities. With over 8 million PSPs shipped across
Europe, we are very excited by the opportunity to give customers a whole new
communications experience, connecting and seeing friends across the world
through BT’s technology.”
The First HDTV Fridge
This double door 
LG fridge, sporting an ice-maker on one door and a 15in
HDTV with digital TV tuner on the other, was unwrapped at the recent 2007
Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas. There’s also an FM radio and
a port for hooking up a DVD player.
For those that can’t be bothered to look out the window, the new fridge will also deliver personalised weather forecasts based on your geographic area. It features a ‘recipe bank’ that stores a 100 pre-installed recipes from the Culinary Institute of America.
There’s also a handy child lock to keep little Johnny away from the
Haagen Daaz. It’s due out next month – in the US to start – and will cost
£2,000.
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Pioneer’s Luxury LX01 Home Cinema
Pioneer has just announced the LX01 Home Cinema System, centered around
its 250GB hard disk drive recorder, with in-built digital TV tuner, HDMI
support and 1080p upscaling for DVDs.
The stylish dodecahedron shaped speakers have been designed to throw
sound around the room for a ‘fuller’ surround sound effect. We’re not sure how
this 'omni-directional audio' approach will work since there are just four
speakers, with the front two combining to replace the dedicated centre speaker
[dialogue] found in most 5.1 
surround sound set-ups.
Pioneer claims that these speakers will allow you to get the full
surround effect anywhere in the room, without the usual careful placement of
speakers. Again, we’ll believe our ears rather than the press release.
Beefing up that sound is the imposing sub-woofer and there’s a stylish
LCD touch-screen remote thrown in too. This glossy black number – which matches
the new HDTVs - will be arriving in October and it’s safe to say it will not be
cheap, so start saving now.
home cinema audio movies pioneer
Lewis Unveils HD DVD Movie Server
Now this is some serious hardware for you movie buffs.
Lewis, makers of classy media PCs and DVD servers, has just unwrapped
the MS4800 and MS9000 HD DVD/DVD servers which are capable of storing – wait
for it – 4.8TB or 9TB of video content.
This is the equivalent of 160 high defintion HD DVD movies, 685 DVDs or 8,000 CDs for the
MS4800, 
and 300 HD DVDs, 1,285 DVDs or 15,000 CDs for the MS9000. The storage
capacity is made up from 12 fault-tolerant hard disk drives - 400GB drives for
the MS4800 and 750GB drives for the MS9000. They employ Raid 6 which means two
drives can fail without impacting your precious collection. They come with dual HDMI inputs.
The servers can also record from two digital sources and can output in all high-def formats - 720p, 1080i and 1080p.
You may want to check your bank balance, and your heart
rate, first though as all of this HD movie luxury will not come cheap. The MS4800 and MS9000 cost a cool £9,000 and £11,500, respectively.
movies music HD DVD home cinema
Pioneer Plasmas Go Back To Black
Pioneer
has unveiled a new range of high-definition TVs (HDTVs) that it claims take plasma
picture technology to a whole new level.
Codenamed
‘Project Kuro’ (Kuro is Japanese for black), its eighth-generation panels
feature a contrast ratio of 16,000:1 – four times that of its existing screens. 
Along
with improved image processing, this results in images with far deeper black
levels, richer colours and more enhanced detail.
A
recent demonstration in Rome showed a clear improvement on current models,
which have already earned a Buy It! award.
With
the rise of Blu-ray and HD DVD, the company has also started to emphasise the
option on its TVs to play back video at 24 frames per second – or, as Pioneer
says, ‘exactly as movie directors intended’.
As
pointed out in Active Home, this feature removes the juddering seen on slow
camera pans and scrolling text, such as credits, when watching HD movie discs.
The
new range starts at 42in with the HD-ready PDP-4280XD and 4280XA, featuring
digital terrestrial and analogue TV tuners respectively. Moving up, the 428XD
incorporates a USB socket and a memory card slot for displaying camera pictures
plus options for professional picture calibration.
Those
looking for larger screens can opt for the 50in PDP-5080, 5080XA and 508XD.
Prices for the new screens have yet to be set but are expected to be set around £500 higher than the current seventh-generation models, starting at around £1,700.
At
the same time, 
Pioneer also announced the BDP-LX70 Blu-ray player and the LX01
– a minimalist home cinema system with a 250GB hard disk DVD recorder with
digital tuner, HDMI with 1080p video scaling and surround sound speaker design
technology unique to Pioneer.
Apple Promises To Be A Greener Apple
Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has written a document entitled ‘A Greener Apple’
in which he refutes claims by leading environmental action group, Greenpeace,
and takes a few swipes at the green policies of rivals Dell, HP and Lenovo,
among others. More importantly though, he has committed Apple to an ambitious
series of measures to improve the company’s planet-friendliness.
Greenpeace recently ranked 
Apple last again in its quarterly ranking of
environmentally friendly IT companies, based on Apple’s policies on recycling
and use of toxic substances in its products.
Today, Apple set out to clear up any misconceptions and improve its image,
by firstly pointing out that it stopped making CRT displays, which are filled
with lead, back in 2006 – while certain rivals still do [Dell, HP, Gateway].
Apple plans to completely
eliminate the use of arsenic in all of its displays by the end of 2008 and will
stop using mercury in its displays when moving to LED backlighting becomes more
“feasible”. It will also stop using PVC and brominated flame retardants, or
BFRs, by the end of next year.
On the recycling front Apple is planning to extend its free recycling of
people’s old iPods to all of its global stores this summer, not just the US
ones. In addition, it will offer consumers a 10% discount on the cost of new
iPod when they turn in the old one.
Jobs said: “It is generally not Apple’s policy to trumpet our plans for
the future; we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished.
Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and
the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener.
“Our stakeholders deserve and expect more from us, and they’re right to
do so. They want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other
areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy.”
Read the full document here.
apple greenpeace environment ipod
Gamers Get Hi-Tech Bean Bag
The traditional
Bean Bag has well and truly been pimped with the arrival of the Slouchpod
InterActive XT gaming chair.
The
Slouchpod is essentially a Bean Bag with a lot of in-built functionality,
including a digital control panel for controlling games consoles, MP3 players,
TVs, DVD players and stereos. 
To bring all that gaming and audio to life
though, it also boasts a pair of 5Watt speakers and a 10W subwoofer.
In terms of size it’s almost 80cms wide by a 33cms high and is "fire retardant to UK standards", which is reassuring since your butt will be the first to know about any electrical faults. The bag comes in six flavours from black, red, white and cream to the more lurid lilac and pink.
You may also need to save a little harder since this futuristic Bean Bag will set you back £299.
HDTV Sales Set To Soar
Seeing as you can barely find a fat CRT TV on the High St. anymore, it’s
not surprising that high definition TV (HDTVs) sales are set to rocket.
According to Strategy Analytics, sales of HDTVs and high-definition (HD)
video devices will jump 158% in 2007 to reach 28.1m units. By 2012, 70% of
European homes will own at least one HD-capable telly, up from just 8% in 2006.
In addition to that, most HDTV customers will also buy a HD set-top box, movie
player, games console or digital media player too.
“Europe's high definition TV transition is well under way,” says David
Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics. “European consumers are
beginning to buy HD-capable devices in huge quantities and there is a terrific
opportunity for content providers and distributors to meet the growing desire
for HD programming.”
The report compared adoption forecast models across different emerging
HD device segments. It also claimed that by 2012, 44% of European homes will
own HDTV receivers, like set-top boxes or integrated digital TVs. By that time 27%
will have HD digital media players, 26% HD disc players, and 15% HD portable
devices.
LG's Blu-ray/HD DVD Drive For PCs
The snappily titled GGW-H10N drive can record up to
50Gb of data on a dual layer BD-R or BR-RW disc at up to 4x speed – i.e. 25Gb
in 25 minutes according to LG. 
It will also read and write CDs and DVDs.
It remains to be seen if it will allow users to access the interactive
special features on HD DVD discs – something its standalone Blu-ray/HD DVD
player, the Super Multi Blue BH-100, has been rightly panned for. No official price but industry
whispers have clocked it at a wallet-wrenching £600.
Check in later when we'll have something on the UK price for the BH-100, which ‘officially’ launched today.
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