Hasta La Gadget!

We hate to harsh on Toshiba here, we honestly do, but what in the world is it thinking? As if its clearly unimpressive Super Resolution Technology wasn’t embarrassing enough, we’re now hearing that the outfit is expected to release a line of prototype players at CES next week that tout SD card slots. Why, you ask? To accept the flash card movies that — you guessed it — no one on the entire planet is interested in. Okay, so maybe a handful of people (you know, the same characters who thought slotMusic was a solid idea) will buy in, but seriously, this has failure written all over it. The move comes hot on the heels of a Toshiba / Mod Systems tie-up to establish kiosks that sell films on SD cards, though we’re still curious as to whether these SD card players will be of the standalone variety or integrated into upscaling DVD decks. We’ll keep an open mind ’til we see the final product(s) at CES, but it’ll take a belated Christmas miracle for this to be even halfway awesome.

[Via Video Business]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage

Toshiba introducing SD-friendly players for flash card movies that no one buys originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you were hoping that another no-name company would release a $400 Blu-ray player, then today is your lucky day as ezGear is very proud to share the details of its BluCobra Blu-ray Disc Player. The BluCobra — love the name btw — features 7.1 analog outputs, SACD, TrueHD, DTS-HD HR&MA and the cutting edge profile 1.1, otherwise known as Bonus View. Luckily Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic can rest easy until at least March when this beast is scheduled hits the streets. Oh, and just a little prediction, no way the BluCobra will sell for its MSRP.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

ezGear gets in the Blu-ray game with the BluCobra Blu-ray Disc Player originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTPCs may still be a niche market, but getting one equipped with a CableCARD for under a grand could do great things for adoption. Little-known Ace Computers will reportedly debut such a rig at CES, and the machine will be known as the LMS 250. It’ll be made available in a few configurations, one of which includes a triple-core AMD Phenom X3 and one that houses an Intel Core 2 Duo E7300; the former will be built around AMD’s Maui entertainment platform, while the latter could quite possibly be the last to use Intel’s own impossible-to-understand Viiv technology. Prospective customers with fatter wallets can upgrade the baseline rigs with a Blu-ray burner, but even the $999 edition will include 2GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD, internal ATI Digital Cable Tuner and between 8 and 12 USB ports. Sadly, we’re not tipped off on a release date, but hopefully we’ll learn of that — along with many other delicious, heart-healthy tidbits — in just a few days.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Ace Computers promises $999 CableCARD HTPC at CES 2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While we feel that some objects shouldn’t be solar powered for the sake of being solar powered, we can’t help but dig Nextar’s approach here. The NXBT-001 / NXBT-002 seem to primarily differ only in the amount of charge they can hold, with the former offering 250 hours of standby time / 10 hours of talk time and the latter boasting 150 hours of standby time and 6 hours of yappin’. As for functionality, both devices are designed to enable handsfree calling in the car with any Bluetooth-enabled mobile, and of course, they each soak up the sun while you’re out cruising about. The best part? The fact that you no longer have to run yet another power cable to that 8-port cigarette adapter hub sitting in your center console. The pair will ship this Spring for $59.99 / $69.99 (thanks to a bundled caller ID display), respectively. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Nextar cuts the cord with solar-powered in-car handsfree kits

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Transportation

Nextar cuts the cord with solar-powered in-car handsfree kits originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Never satisfied with offering only a Blu-ray disc player (see 2007’s BH100 Blu-ray + HD DVD combo and 2008’s Netflix-streaming BD300), LG is upping the ante for ’09, promising support for YouTube and CinemaNow videos on its next gen decks. Along with the now-standard Netflix, owners can browse CinemaNow pay-per-view offerings (or other stores powered by the service) abd thumb through YouTube’s catalog directly from the device. Unmentioned in the PR fluff is additional info like price and more detailed specs, but expect all to become (hopefully) clear January 7 in Las Vegas.

Filed under: CES, HDTV, Home Entertainment

LG plugs YouTube, CinemaNow into next year’s Blu-ray players originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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