Hasta La Gadget!

A handheld gaming console that plays Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Halo, Uncharted 3 and Day Z ? We’re intrigued. The Cross Plane resembles a Wii U GamePad and the two have something more in common than just a launch price: both mirror video and audio output to their respective controllers. The difference is that unlike Nintendo’s faltering console, the Cross Plane uses wireless HDMI to do so and (as demonstrated in the video after the break) can basically stream content from any device with an HDMI port — including Ouya, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Whatever it’s plugged into bears the processing load, meaning that if your PC can’t run Crysis 3, neither can the Cross Plane.

Designer Advanced Gaming Innovations (AGI) also implemented swappable cartridges (the red bit sticking out in the above picture) containing system-specific hardware support. This serves two functions: One, it cuts down on “interference and issues” between the analog and digital layouts of certain architectures. Next is that it ensures you only have to buy carts for the systems you want, presumably cutting down on price. Speaking of which, a $349 pledge snags you a unit with one system cartridge and $410 nets you a handset with two. Both of these help push AGI closer to a $350,000 Kickstarter goal that even the company admits is lofty. It’s not like more expensive ideas haven’t been crowdfunded before…

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Kickstarter

It’s only been about a week since Lovefilm struck an agreement with Viacom, but the Amazon-owned service is already preparing to add more video content to its streaming repertoire. As part of yet another deal through Warner Bros., Lovefilm’s going to be distributing a plethora of animated series owned by the renowned movie studio. This means Lovefilm users will have access to “more than 15 years worth” of various Batman animated series, as well as others like Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Thundercats (yes, that includes the 1980s original). We’re interested to hear which series you’re looking forward to the most, so feel free to sound off in the comments below. Oh, and don’t forget: thunder, thunder, thunder, Thundercats ho!

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Lovefilm

Sony’s betting big on 4K, with its movie studios shooting movies and television in 4K using its pro cameras. And now, to get that content to all those Ultra HD TVs, the company is rolling out its long-awaited Video Unlimited 4K download service. As of today, there are 70 native 4K movies and shows available — Sony’s aiming to have over 100 by the end of the year — and users can rent or buy content through the service. Of course, you’ll need one of Sony’s FMP-X1 media players and an appropriately rezzed Sony screen to actually consume said video. Single show episodes are $3.99, with movie rentals starting at $7.99 for a 24-hour viewing window. Looking to buy? $29.99 gets you any film for good.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Sony didn’t mention this during its IFA press event, but it just unveiled a big treat for home theater fans: meet the S990A, the world’s first curved-screen LED TV. The introductory 65-inch, 1080p model uses the same color-rich Triluminos display technology that we’ve seen in Sony’s recent TVs, just in a more immersive (or at least, more impressive-looking) form factor. Its built-in sound quality reportedly gets a boost, too. Since the eight built-in speakers are angled at different directions, Sony can simulate surround sound more convincingly than it could with a flat-panel set. As you’d expect, the TV also includes mobile-friendly features like Smart Connect media sharing, One-touch NFC remote pairing and second screen interaction through SideView. The S990A won’t ship to the US until late October, but Sony is taking pre-orders today — and at a $4,000 asking price, the curved LED set is much more affordable than its OLED counterparts.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Source: Sony

We assure you, the camera above is not Sony’s HDR-AX200. While it shares a similar body, this is the new FDR-AX1 that leaked this morning — a fixed lens 4K videocamera for prosumers, priced at a cool $4,500. Although JVC beat Sony to the market with its $5,000 kit, Sony’s vying to have the upper hand with the tech inside its take, namely by using its XAVC S format. It works by capturing video in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Long GOP and audio in linear PCM, which all gets saved in an “MP4 wrapper.” To handle the massive amount of data throughput from its 4k/60p stream, the camcorder records to QXD cards (two slots are onboard) which, until now, haven’t had much use outside of Nikon’s D4. A 64GB card will net you two hours of 4K video, while downscaling to 1080/60p adds an extra hour on top of that.

Video gets captured by a 1/2.3-type Exmor R CMOS sensor and a 20x optical zoom (31.5-630mm) G lens, which comes equipped with a trio of ND filters and Optical SteadyShot. As you’d expect, there are a plethora of manual controls, powered stereo XLR inputs, a 3.2-inch display and a viewfinder on back. It’s worth noting that while the AX1 won’t be HDMI 2.0 compliant at first, Sony’s planning a firmware update down the line to enable it. Until that occurs, it’ll only be able to transfer HDMI video over to Sony’s existing 4K TVs. We’re also told that the camcorder will work with SD cards for shooting in HD.

If you don’t care for the flexibility of interchangeable lenses or need something more affordable than the likes of a RED Scarlet, the FDR-AX1 can be yours this October. Sweetening the deal just a little more, Sony will also throw in a 32GB XQD card and a full copy of Vegas Pro 12 to ensure you can get started out of the box. Check out our eyes-on gallery with the prototype seen above in the meantime. %Gallery-slideshow79389% %Gallery-slideshow79406%

Filed under: Cameras, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Source: Sony