Hasta La Gadget!

Pioneer is releasing Blu-ray disk player “BDP-160″ with Wi-Fi Direct functionality that allows wireless connections to smart devices without a Wi-Fi environment.

“BDP-160″ also has Wi-Fi functionality so it can connect to a smartphone wirelessly by using a Wi-Fi network.

It’s able to play smartphone/PC contents, 3D still image file (MPO), BD-R/RE(BDAV), DVD (AVCREC/VR mode/CPRM), AVCHD images. Also, JPEG, MP3, WMA, WMV, FLAC, MKV etc files saved in USB memory can be playable.

It has an HDMI terminal, optical digital output terminal, analog 2ch audio output terminal, LAN terminal and USB terminal.

Release date: June
Size: 435 mm x 58 mm x 250 mm
Weight: 2 kg

Kaleidescape launched its online offering in beta late last year, and now it’s officially open, becoming what it claims is the first store to provide “internet delivery of Blu-ray quality movies.” The Kaleidescape Store goes beyond other 1080p services (Vudu, iTunes, Xbox and PSN come to mind) by promising the disc-equaling higher bitrates, extras and lossless audio options they don’t have. There’s no streaming to be had here, only downloads, with file sizes we saw ranging from 23GB (Austin Powers) to as much as 55.4GB (Inception) and everywhere in between.

While the store is only built to work with Kaleidescape’s high-end disc-playback systems — these usually start in the thousands of dollars, and you’ll need M-Class hardware for HD — it currently offers movies from Warner Bros. with an Ultraviolet copy attached, so buyers can play them back on mobile devices through apps such as Flixster and Vudu. Ultraviolet support also means $6.99 upgrades of DVD purchases to Blu-ray-quality HD, and potentially disc-to-digital type features later. Naturally, anyone interested will need an internet connection with a generous / non-existent bandwidth cap, but we imagine that’s not out of the price range for these niche owners. Still, it does provide an idea of the difficulty others like Sony and Netflix will face when trying to digitally distribute feature films in 4K to a wider audience. Check out a few screens of the store in the gallery, and the Random Thoughts blog link below for firsthand impressions from a beta tester.

Filed under: HD

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Source: Kaleidescape, Kaleidescape Store

Given Sony’s heritage, it’s no surprise that the company loves its audio — but we can imagine that some might be overwhelmed when the company has priced and dated the cores of its 2013 home and shelf audio lineups in one sitting. Don’t worry, we’ll break it all down. On the home audio side, both the BDV-N7100W and BDV-7100W home-theaters-in-a-box (N8100W shown above) are already shipping at respective $599 and $699 prices with 1,000W 5.1-channel output, internet-linked Blu-ray players and both Bluetooth as well as OneTouch NFC pairing. TV watchers who can wait until June will also see the STR-DN1040, a $599 7.2-channel receiver with 4K upscaling, Bluetooth, WiFi and 165W per channel; the $449 STR-DN840 receiver, which scales back to 4K passthrough and 150W per channel; and the $399 HT-C660 soundbar, which adds NFC pairing to the same wireless mix as the receivers.

Shelf audio is simpler, with every new entry arriving May 27th. Both the LBT-GPX55 (below) and LBT-GPX77 mini stereos offer a respective 1,600W and 1,800W of output alongside Bluetooth, NFC, a CD player (!) and dual USB ports at a $499 starting price. Those who don’t need their walls rattled quite so thoroughly can spring for the $349 RDH-GTK37iP boombox, which puts out a still-substantial 420W on top of Bluetooth, NFC, an iOS dock and attention-getting strobe lights. That’s a lot to process, we know. If you’re not satisfied even after that deluge of information, however, Sony’s pressers await after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, HD, Sony

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Source: Sony

From Sharp comes the latest from its AQUOS line with an emphasis on compatibility and coordination with smartphones – the MX Series LC-24MX1, due to be released on May 30. It comes in 3 colors: green, orange and silver.

Sharp announced the release yesterday and the LC-24MX1 was reviewed by ASCII.jp which I would like to share with you.

Strictly in terms of viewing specs, there is nothing special here. It’s a relatively small size 23.6 inch with standard 1366×758 dot resolution. There is 1 built-in tuner and is compatible with USB HDD and can record for a long period of time.

The best characteristic of the TV seems to be the built-in 2.1ch speaker. When the TV is in standby mode, they speakers can be accessed through the user’s smartphone and automatically come alive to play music from the smartphone.

The speaker unit is 5W+5W output, with a 10W subwoofer, built by Pioneer. When connected to a smartphone, it turns to “music mode” which will make better high pitch and low pitch sound than regular TV audio play mode, which helps make the TV audio better to listen to.

Also when playing Blu-ray, surround-sound mode can be employed.

So, despite its small size and and basic resolution, the viewing experience is fairly enjoyable.

Through its Miracast functionality, images from your smartphone can be wirelessy broadcast to the TV screen, and it can be used as a custom remote control device.

Another big feature of this TV is introduction of the specialized “AQUOS Connect” application. The TV screen and your smartphone screen can simultaneously show the same content.

It will automatically compensate for the horizontal TV screen interacting with the vertical smartphone screen to properly show content on both. And interaction of sound between TV and smartphone can be adjusted by waving the smartphone.

AQUOS Connect also gives “Keyword Search” functionality. Keywords related to a TV program currently on air are automatically extracted, and you can search further information by selecting a keyword you want to know about.

AQUOS Connect can be used through both wireless Miracast and wired MHL, but when you use wired MHL you need to have a wired internet environment.

AQUOS Connect provides an Android version and iOS version, however iOS devices are not compatible with Miracast or MHL. So in that case, a wired internet connection is needed for Miracast and HDMI output adapter is needed for MHL.

The bottom line assessment by Ascii is that it is useful for (mainly younger) people who are used to accessing and viewing content through their smart device and wanting to use the TV as a larger, viewing aid, with better audio, for their content.

Estimated price: 69,800 yen
Display: 24 inch (1,366 x 768)
Size: 56.5 × 17.5 × 41.8cm
Weight: 7kg
Tuner: Digital terrestrial broadcasting, BS/CS, analog broadcasting
Audio output: Max 20W (5W＋5W＋10W)

Mitsubishi Electric is releasing 2 new models of its LCD TV “Real LaserVue” series in late May. Both feature a red/blue/green laser backlight for more vivid and higher quality images.

We saw a 55 inch previous version last year.

Bluetooth compliant devices can connect to the TVs wirelessly to play music. Both blu-ray disk drive and hard disk (1TB) are built-in. They are capable of recording full HD movies for max 12 hours and 3D content is viewable (3D glasses need to be purchased separately).

To increase viewing enjoyment, Mitsubishi Electric has the following “Raku Raku Assist (Easy Assist)” functions built into the new models:
– “Oto Hakkiri (Clear Sound)” function that outputs clear sound even when sounds is turned down low
– “Shaberu TV (Talking TV)” where the TV reads aloud letters showing on the screen
– “Auto Turn” that controls the angle of the screen by remote control and so on.

LCD-50LSR4 (50 inch)
Size: 113.2cm x 81.1cm x 36.3cm
Weight: 27.8kg
Screen aspect ratio: 16:9
Number of speakers: 10 speakers (4 side speaker, 2 center speakers, and 4 woofers)

LCD-39LSR4 (39 inch)
Size: 88.9cm x 67.4cm x 36.3cm
Weight: 22.1 kg
Screen aspect ratio: 16:9
Number of speakers: 10 speakers (4 side speaker, 2 center speakers, and 4 woofers)