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Home Entertainment
Belkin boosts HD streaming with Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit
By Paul Best
18:32 June 23, 2009 PDT
As web viewing figures begin to put on serious weight, so grow the demands on households’ internet connections. Recent stats show that more than four in five people are watching more internet video than a year ago and the number of videos being viewed has ballooned 10-fold in a couple of years. But speed and bandwidth, which are critical to quality video streaming, remain issues. Belkin’s new Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit adapter is helping the challenge of delivering mass entertainment over the internet, achieving 1000Mbps using the home’s existing powerline network. Read More
Hillcrest motion sensing mouse keeps you in the Loop
By Jude Garvey
20:27 June 21, 2009 PDT
Almost three years after we first encountered the Loop pointer, Hillcrest Labs has announced that its uniquely designed motion sensing mouse is available direct to consumers. Read More
Bigger night in with Sony movieIQ and cinechat
By Paul Best
20:26 June 21, 2009 PDT
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment hopes to give BD Live – the feature that puts Blu-ray Disc (BD) players in touch with a web-load of online extras – a shot in the arm with the launch of movieIQ and CineChat – and one to its bottomline, as the blue-laser video platform begins to gain some traction, with US hardware sales ballooning 400 percent in first-quarter results. Read More
Media streamers – the future of home entertainment
By Paul Lester
19:00 June 21, 2009 PDT
In the not too distant future, the most essential set-top box for the modern home will not be the Blu-ray player, freeview box or even a satellite or cable receiver, but the home media streamer. While still at a relatively early stage of development, a streamer offers a similar service to the humble MP3 player in its ability to support playback of digital media formats, most notably video. So what exactly do these devices do, why are they so special and what do you need to look for before making your purchase? Read More
LG entering OLED-TV market
By Darren Quick
02:19 June 19, 2009 PDT
The OLED TV market is ever so slowly heating up with the announcement from LG that it will launch a 15-inch OLED TV in the Korean market at the end of the year. LG first revealed a prototype 15-inch OLED TV at CES 2009 in January where it impressed with the incredible contrast and 0.8mm thin profile that OLED technology provides. Read More
No PC required: Brando SATA HDD adapter plays media straight out of the box
By Alan Brandon
18:29 June 17, 2009 PDT
If you like your gadgets to be functional but without all that fussy “styling” or aesthetic design, the Brando SATA HDD Multi-Media Player Adapter may be for you. This no-frills adapter is literally a black box device that lets you play media files from a SATA hard disk, SDHC card or USB storage device on your TV – without the need to use a computer. Read More
Toshiba introduces LED TV with local dimming and motion enhancement
By Darren Quick
00:34 June 15, 2009 PDT
Toshiba’s flagship REGZA SV670 series that first caught our eye at CES 2009 is set to hit stores alongside the REGZA XV648 and ZV650 series. The SV670 is Toshiba’s first-ever LED-backlit HDTV and incorporates the company's FocaLight Full Matrix LED with local dimming instead of the standard edge LED lighting used in many other LED TVs. This ability to turn off individual groups of LEDs where required allows the SV670 to achieve deep blacks without sacrificing peak brightness and according to Toshiba, delivers a dynamic contrast ration of 2,000,000:1. Read More
Movie studios look at the big picture (and small) with Epix service
By Paul Best
20:10 June 10, 2009 PDT
A triumvirate of major movie studios – Lionsgate, Paramount and MGM – is planning to launch a new TV service called Epix that will screen recent catalogue titles in HD. But what’s interesting is the group's move to bundle it with a Hulu-like on-demand, commercial-free service that streams the same films in 720p HD. Read More
Bang & Olufsen announces the BeoVision 7-40 with Blu-ray
By Mick Webb
18:43 June 6, 2009 PDT
Bang & Olufsen has announced the release of the BeoVision 7-40 flat-screen LCD TV, incorporating a Blu-ray player and double-frame-rate technology. Read More
Gesture controlled entertainment system lets the TV watch you
By Gizmag Team
01:52 June 4, 2009 PDT
In the past few years there has been an increasing effort toward creating 3D computer interfaces and televisions. Now, it’s the television’s turn to see us.....in 3D! Since its foundation in 1999, Canesta has been working on a family of low-cost, chip-based 3-D sensors that can be built into virtually anything – from TVs and PCs to cars and industrial equipment - and now the technology is filtering through to real-world applications like Kicker Studio's gesture control entertainment system. Dr. Peter Puya Abolfathi - Biomedical Engineer, co-inventor of the Rehabilitation Glove and now a member of the Gizmag Team - takes a closer look at how this technology works and what it's bringing to our living rooms. Read More
NAD Masters Series M2 Direct Digital Amplifier
By Tim LeFevre
21:34 June 2, 2009 PDT
We’ve been living in a digital age for a while now and many of us access all our music from digital formats like CD and MP3. But has anyone managed to perfect a purely digital amplifier? NAD believes it has with the Master Series M2 Direct Digital Amplifier. Read More
Hands-on: LG's BD370 Blu-ray player
By Loz Blain
01:12 May 27, 2009 PDT
LG clearly has a vision where home entertainment is going and it is pressing ahead into the connected TV world by making sure that even its affordable entry-level products are shipping with some very cool new features. We've just spent a week with the LG BD370 Blu-ray player, which features LAN and USB connectivity, YouTube video streaming, Netflix downloads and BD Live content downloads. It's a fair swag of add-ons for a simple Blu-ray player, but perhaps the BD370's greatest strength is how well it does the basics. Read More
LG HD 3D monitor with twice the brightness of existing 3D LCD panels
By Mike Hanlon
00:20 May 27, 2009 PDT
LG Display today announced it has developed a full HD 23-inch 3D LCD panel with twice the brightness of conventional 3D LCD panels. 3D LCDs apply time-sequential technologies so that the right and left eyes see different images, tricking the brain into seeing them as three-dimensional. In conventional 3D LCDs, the technologies are installed outside the panel or into the viewing glasses. Though the detail of the technologies has not been revealed, LG is reporting that the new 3D LCD embeds most of the 3D technologies directly into the panel, enabling 3D viewing with low-priced polarized glasses rather than expensive special viewing glasses. Read More
KEF Concept Blade loudspeaker reveals its cutting edge
By Tim LeFevre
19:09 May 24, 2009 PDT
Three years of exhaustive research, testing and experimentation has resulted in the KEF Concept Blade loudspeaker. In particular, the loudspeaker showcases KEF’s cutting-edge capabilities and commitment to furthering innovative design. Read More
LG's Wi-Fi enabled BD390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player
By Darren Quick
23:36 May 21, 2009 PDT
At CES earlier this year LG signaled its intention to release stablemates for its first entry into the Blu-ray player market, the BD300. Having already delivered the BD370 earlier this year, LG continues to expand its Blu-ray offerings with the BD390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player. The new player includes all the bells and whistles of the BD370 and adds expanded online content, wireless connectivity and 1GB of built-in storage to the mix. Read More
Panasonic 2009 TV range wrap-up
By Darren Quick
00:40 May 7, 2009 PDT
Although LCD has been clearly outselling plasmas TVs in recent times, plasma still maintains a number of advantages over its rival format, most notably in contrast ratio. So while some manufacturers, such as Pioneer, have ceased making plasma panels, Panasonic is persisting, with plans to launch 11 new VIERA plasma models this year. Although the company understands the value of LCD, too, with nine LCD models included in the 2009 VIERA TV line-up. Read More
Emerald Physics CS3 Loudspeaker
By Tim LeFevre
23:37 May 6, 2009 PDT
Premiering recently at AKFest 2009, Emerald Physics CS3 loudspeaker joins the acclaimed CS1 and CS2.3 as part of the company's unconventional line-up. Similar in concept to Tannoy’s Prestige range of speakers, the CS3 employs a 12 inch point source driver with a compression tweeter mounted in the center of the driver. This coaxial design is also far more efficient than conventional driver arrangements, making better use of your available amplifier power. Read More
Panasonic shows slimline prototype plasmas
By Darren Quick
01:58 May 1, 2009 PDT
Panasonic is giving Australian consumers a glimpse of future plasma display technologies first showcased at CES 2009. The two 50-inch prototype plasma TVs demonstrate next generation improvements to materials and processes, cell design, and circuit and drive technology, resulting in less energy consumption and twice the luminous efficiency of earlier models, all in an ultra-thin 8.8mm thick package. Read More
Bang & Olufsen launches a whale of a TV for a whale of a time
By Paul Best
02:14 April 30, 2009 PDT
If Bang & Olufsen’s spanking new BeoVision 4 103-inch plasma TV were a mouth it would swallow you whole – and you wouldn’t even touch the sides going down. That’s how big it is – and one of the biggest going around – with a pretty big price to match. Read More
QPD Motorized Speakers help find the right angle
By Tim LeFevre
19:40 April 28, 2009 PDT
The majority of the “effects” you get from your surround speakers are quite directional, so ensuring that in-built speakers are pointing the right way is an important part of nailing your home theater set-up. Entering a relatively new area of the market is QPD Speakers with its range of motorized in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. These units use an adjustable design that caters for 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50 degree angles, allowing tweeters to fire directly towards the listening area rather than straight down or across. Read More
Improved technology and design in new Elios speaker line
By Darren Quick
01:12 April 27, 2009 PDT
As any home cinema buff will tell you, a good picture is only half of the equation when it comes to a truly superior home theater experience. The other half is of course good sound, an area that unfortunately often takes a back seat when it comes to setting up a first rate home cinema. The new Elios line of speakers from ELAN Home Systems boasts some new technology aimed at those who recognize the need for good sound reproduction as well as new designs that make the installation of the speakers into a wall or ceiling a much simpler task. Read More
iHome iH15: the chameleon of iPod docks
By David Greig
18:26 April 21, 2009 PDT
If you are looking for a design twist that will set-your iPod dock apart from the crowd and audio quality isn't your highest priority, the color changing iH15 Stereo System from iHome may be just the answer. Read More
Cisco Linksys Media Hub promises intelligent multimedia management
By Karen Sprey
17:25 April 20, 2009 PDT
‘Whatever you want – wherever and whenever you want it' is pretty much today’s philosophy, especially when it comes to music, movies and photos. We’re used to getting our content at the click of a mouse, button or scroll-wheel and it's this kind of flexibility and simplicity of access that Cisco's Linksys Media Hub aims to bring to personal media collections, delivering up to a terabyte of storage capacity backed by an intuitive interface and remote access functionality. Read More
Inflatable Movie Screens turn a backyard into a Home Theater
By Mike Hanlon
23:34 April 7, 2009 PDT
April 8, 2009 Open Air Cinema gets a regular write because its giant inflatable movie screens really do offer the ultimate backyard cinema experience at a ridiculously reasonable price. The lightweight Open Air Home Screens are now available up to 18 feet in size, with the biggest running to just US$1150 and weighing just 17 pounds - just the thing for keeping the troops busy while mom and pop are doing some home entertaining. Read More
Samsung trims the fat for LCD videowall TVs
By Darren Quick
20:59 April 5, 2009 PDT
While a thick bezel surrounding a TV screen is hardly a problem for home users it can quickly ruin the effect of a video wall made up of multiple screens. Samsung’s new 460UT, 460UTn and 460UTn-UD Series 46” LCD Professional Displays are designed specifically to minimize this problem with a super-narrow bezel measuring just 2.4mm (right and bottom) of the screen and 4.3mm (left and top) to deliver a total of 7.3mm bezel between live screen areas when tiling multiple units. Read More
Celeste H Calabro
- July 5, 2009 @ 22:20 UTC
