Atlantic Technology's newest subwoofer is a piece of gear you'll want to hide away in a corner of your home theater - but not because it looks ugly. (I've seen it, and it doesn't.) The 10 CSB is specifically designed to be placed in corner for two very good reasons.
HD DVD may be delayed here in North America, but that hasn't stopped Toshiba from rolling out the first commerically available HD DVD player to the Japanese market today.
On March 28 at BB King's Blues Club and Grille in New York City, Panasonic announced several new models in their plasma line. In addition to upgraded 42-inch and 50-inch products, Panasonic took the wraps off a pair of 58-inch plasma TVs, announced a ship date and retail price for their 65-inch 1080p plasma, and claimed their 103-inch model, shown at CES, would be at retail by the end of this year.
RCA is now shipping the impressively named LYRA X3000, the company's flagship Personal Multimedia Recorder that was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The new portable has a 3.6-inch TFT color LCD screen with 320 x 240 resolution, weighs less than eight ounces, and is 0.75 inches thick.
<B>HD DVD Player Launch To Synchronize With Warner Software Launch Date</B>
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As anticipated, Toshiba has officially announced it will delay the launch of its HD DVD players to synchronize with the availability of HD DVD software from Warner Bros. Toshiba has been touring the country with HD DVD demonstrations for several weeks in support of the hardware and software launch originally scheduled for March 28th. Warner Home Video, the only studio with titles officially scheduled to support the format's launch, recently announced that it would not be able to make that date with its HD DVD software. Warner is currently scheduled to release three titles on April 18th, and apparently Toshiba will have players ready on that date.
Sony's 2006 line show for dealers and press offered few surprises. Yes, there was the new BDP-S1 Blu-ray player, planned for release in July at $1000. But it must rankle Sony every time they announce that the first Blu-ray player to market, day-and-date with the first Blu-ray titles in late May, will be from Samsung (if you haven't already heard, the delay of the PlayStation3 gaming console/BD player until November has created that awkward situation.)
<B>Three Warner HD DVD Titles To "Launch" HD DVD</B>
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The HD DVD launch is beginning with a whimper. Warner Home Video, the only studio committed to supporting the March 28th debut of HD DVD hardware has officially announced it will not have software titles ready until April 18th, citing technical issues as cause. While more titles are to follow in subsequent weeks, exactly three titles are currently announced for the new April start date, <I>Million Dollar Baby</I>, <I>The Phantom of the Opera</I>, and <I>The Last Samurai</I>.
Sony finally admitted the inevitable this week, announcing that the Blu-ray Disc-based PlayStation3 will be delayed until November. According to Sony, the much-anticipated game console will be available in stores worldwide in November just in time for the holiday season. The console will apparently not be available concurrent with the launch of movies available on Blu-ray Disc, which are currently scheduled for release May 23rd.
<B>V, Inc. Plasmas On Sale In Time For NCAA Tourney</B>
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V, Inc. broke into the industry with a bang a few years ago by not only offering an upconverting DVD player (the Bravo D1), but by making it scary good and very cheap. V, Inc.'s HD plasmas have been well received as bang-for-the-buck champs too, and V, Inc. is dropping the prices on its plasmas even lower, just in time for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The VIZIO P42HDTV and P50HDM will now sell for just $1499 and $2299, respectively.
TiVo officially announced revised, "simplified" pricing plans that will go into effect for new subscribers to the TiVo service beginning the week of March 13. Previously, TiVo subscribers paid for a TiVo box and the TiVo service separately. Under the new plan, new customers will be able to "bundle" the purchase of a TiVo 80-hour Series2 box and the service together for a price based on a one-, two-, or three-year service commitment.
<B>Program Your TiVo From Your Cel Phone</B>
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It was only a matter of time until someone rolled out this killer app: TiVo and Verizon have struck a deal that will allow TiVo subscribers to program their DVRs using a Verizon cel phone. Called TiVo Mobile, this service will be offered later this year. No pricing has been announced yet.
Can't watch the NCAA March Madness tournament in the cozy confines of your living room because your kids are watching their favorite episode of SpongeBob Squarepants (again)? Or maybe you need a way to watch the games at the office and still look like you're doing real work. The NCAA feels your pain.
While the good news is that we now apparently know when Blu-ray is going to launch, a pair of news stories from last week dovetail to paint a fairly ugly picture for the Blu-ray Disc. If the reports of the <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/022606ps3delay/"> delay of PlayStation3 </A> hold, that means there will not be a single BD player available at launch for less than $1000. Add to that the uninspiring list of titles announced to accompany Blu-ray’s May 23rd launch and you’ve got to wonder, who’s going to bother?