Notable this past week was the release of the latest Mvix Media Center, the Mvix MX-780HD. The MX-780HD has HDMI out, supports up to 1080p and can now take either an IDE or SATA drive in its case. Still in the multi-media world, the Kaossilator Touchpad Synthesizer doesn't need keys or buttons to play musical notes.

A peppermill gadget? Yup. And get this, it's modeled on Star Wars' R2-D2. If you're into toys, check out the Mini Rubber Band Artillery. Take your basic rubber band finger gun to the next level!

USB has really revolutionized computer accessories; there's a USB gadget that does everything. Here's one for aromatherapy fans – the USB Aromatherapy Oil Burner. Now, you can get aromatherapy-relaxed while computing. Just plug this device into your USB port, add some oil and you're good to go.

For you retro-gamers, MAMEUI, the latest MAME for Windows was announced last week. Still in gaming, it appears that Mac gaming is making a comeback. Windows and console games have dominated the gaming world for years, after Macs showed how great games could look on a computer. Let's hope

Of course, arguably the biggest tech news this week was that Toshiba has dropped out of the DVD format war, with the HD-DVD format being pronounced dead. Sony's Blu-Ray format is what you'll be getting used to for the next 5 years at least.

Source: Gizmos for Geeks.

Labels: dvd, gadgets, games, HDTV

Celebrities are complaining lately about looking less-than-perfect (and often times just plain bad) on HDTV. TVPredictions.com's Phillip Swann lists and comments about stars who look best or worst in high-def.


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Labels: HDTV

Think paying $800 for a Series3 HD TiVo box without service is insane? You are not alone. Consumers weren't exactly excited about coughing up that much $$$ for the Series3 and TiVo sales have slumped. In fact, TiVo just reported a Q4 net loss of $18.7 million.

With products like Apple TV and a Windows Vista CableCARD coming out soon, TiVo has to do something before they are quickly phased out of the digital living room.

So what's their solution? Just make it cheaper I guess. TiVo CEO Tom Rogers had this to say in his quarter results commentary: "We will be highly focused this year on launching a lower-priced, mass appeal High Definition product."

That vague quote doesn't exactly guarantee a cheap HD TiVo during 2007, but hopefully they can come up with something during the next 9 months. Whatever they are going to do, they better do it quick. I already pre-ordered an Apple TV and if it lives up to expectations, my Series2 TiVo will be making a brief cameo on eBay before it leaves my living room.


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Labels: HDTV

From our friends at How Stuff Works comes a great review of Panasonic's TH-50PX60U, a stylish 50-inch plasma HDTV that delivers great performance. This silver flat-panel set comes with a pedestal stand that can be removed for mounting the monitor on the wall, although a separately available bracket is required. The 16:9 screen is perfect for wide-format DVD movies and HDTV.

The native resolution is 1,366X768, and all images are displayed at 768p. A motion-adaptive 3-D Y/C digital comb filter eliminates dot crawl and rainbow effects, and the picture is further refined with several noise reduction and color management functions. The TH-50PX60U can display nearly 29 billion colors, so images appear very lifelike.

Stereo speakers are built into the area below the screen, and they deliver 20 total watts of audio output and can simulate surround sound. An SD memory card slot lets you view digital photos on the big screen. Convenience features on the TH-50PX60U are relatively standard for a large plasma HDTV, including an adjustable sleep timer, video input labeling, memory for the video settings for each input and closed captions.

Unlike some competing models, the TH-50PX60U does not offer any PIP functions such as split-screen or inset-window viewing, and it lacks a PC input. Another notable omission is a CableCARD slot. The TH-50PX60U does have an integrated QAM tuner, but you should check with your cable provider to ensure digital cable compatibility.

The front of the TH-50PX60U has quick-connect composite video and S-video inputs, while the rear panel has numerous additional inputs and outputs for use with associated components. The options include two more composite video inputs, two more S-video inputs, two component video inputs, two HDMI inputs, a composite video output and an optical digital audio output.

The TH-50PX60U comes with a universal remote control that includes DVD controls. As plasma HDTVs go, Panasonic's TH-50PX60U certainly delivers in the performance department, but it lacks some key features that are common in other models.

And if you want a kick-ass remote to run this and your entire system, check out this Harman Kardon remote.

read more | digg story | treblemaker.com

Labels: HDTV