Toshiba is delivering on its’ promise to include HD DVD in future generations of notebooks with the introduction of the new Qosmio F45-AV412 A/V notebook. This 15.4 inch multimedia system is loaded with an HD DVD drive, 720p compatible display, and Dolby Home Theater technology. Want the HD picture on a larger screen? No problem - simply connect the HDMI output to an HDTV set and you’re ready to go. Specs to the Qosmio F45-AV412 include the following:

• Windows Vista Ultimate
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100  running at 1.8 GHz
• 2 GB of RAM with a max of 4GB of RAM
• 250GB SATA HDD
• HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti drive
• 15.4 inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite display with 1280 x 800 native resolution
• Mobile Intel GMA X3100 GPU
• Two integrated Harman Kardon stereo speakers with subwoofer
• Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN
• Integrated webcam and microphone
• Fingerprint reader
• HDMI output
• S/P DIF output

The new Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV412 has a starting price of $1649 but there’s also a 50 dollar rebate at this point - bringing the price down to $1599. You can check out the Toshiba website for additional information on this model.

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Technorati Tags: Toshiba, Qosmio, F45-AV412, HD DVD laptop

Now here’s an interesting thought. Even if the HD DVD format should falter in the U.S., there’s a good possibility that it will succeed in other parts of the world - in particular in the U.K. and Europe. How could this happen? It again boils down to movie studios - this time the big ones vs. small ones. While large Hollywood studios are the primary source for movies in the U.S. (and also for the most part the primary backers of Blu-ray), the same can’t be said of Europe where approximately 50 percent of movies are actually produced by smaller studios independent of Hollywood. These same independent studios actually prefer HD DVD since the format has lower production costs which will result in higher profit margins. Yes it comes down to dollars and cents.  Obviously the folks behind HD DVD realize this and as such are keeping Europe in their crosshairs. Meanwhile, Blu-ray has largely ignored Europe and continues to work on the U.S. audience.

Another piece of interesting news comes from Microsoft. The Xbox 360 HD DVD player is apparently the most successful Xbox 360 accessory ever - selling more than 155,000 units in the U.S. alone. Good job Microsoft! You can read my original review of the Xbox 360 HD DVD player over at Krunker.com.

One final interesting if not somewhat flawed statistic. The very same article from CNET claims that consumers who purchased HD DVD players are buying more content than folks who purchased Blu-ray players. The ratio is something on the order of 4 to 1 - HD DVD to Blu-ray. 

The basic problem I have with this statistic is not knowing whether the numbers counted the HD DVD player promotions that are normally found with each new player sold. If you’ve been following the HD DVD player market, you’ll know that Toshiba often allows you to get up to five free HD DVD titles for every HD DVD player purchased. Does the study count these five titles per HD DVD player purchase? If so, then the study would be flawed - especially since the Blu-ray camp doesn’t offer the same type of promotions. It’s still relatively good news to HD DVD but let’s not celebrate the format too much shall we?

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Those of you interested in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format wars will be interested in reading this article over at BusinessWeek.com. It’s entitled “In DVD War, Body Blows for Toshiba” and it’s a good analysis into the current state affairs for Toshiba and the HD DVD format. The article claims that while HD DVD and Toshiba has suffered some blows in recent months, the company and the format is certainly not down for the count - at least not yet. There are still several factors that can help the HD DVD format rise from its current condition to effectively battle against Blu-ray. Since BusinessWeek articles sometimes disappear after some time, I’ll try and summarize the basic points in the article here.

• While Blu-ray appears to be winning, don’t count Toshiba and HD DVD out yet
• In response to Blu-ray’s initial dominance, Toshiba lowered prices for HD DVD players
• However, Blockbuster recently decided to stock Blu-ray discs over HD DVD discs although they have not officially declared a winner as of yet
• HD DVD is still a strong player in the online rental market with both Netflix and Blockbuster Online carrying the format
• While Blu-ray titles have outsold HD DVD titles 2 to 1 since January, there is still no clear winner since sales are overall very sluggish
• Sales of Toshiba HD DVD players have risen since the price cuts in May while Blu-ray player sales are still sluggish
• Toshiba is encouraging the Chinese government to adopt HD DVD for internal use with two large Chinese DVD manufacturers committing to do so.
• If the Chinese enter on the side of HD DVD, component prices could fall rapidly which could result in cheaper prices - but this could also hurt Toshiba should Chinese HD DVD players make it to the US
• Hollywood backing of HD DVD is still critical since the majority of the studios still back Blu-ray. However high definition content has not been very compelling thus far
• The computer market for HD DVD and Blu-ray is still a non-factor - at least until prices come down for drives and media.

The final paragraph to the article is probably the most important advice that HD DVD and Blu-ray could heed. “The solution [to the war], is for each side to call a truce and revive talks that failed two years ago to marry the two formats”. Let’s hope they do so soon before both formats become irrelevant as some have predicted.

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Technorati Tags: HD DVD, Blu-ray, Toshiba

News.com had an interesting article here detailing the next generation OMAP processor coming from Texas Instruments. Dubbed the “OMAP 3″, the new mobile processor is slated to hit the market sometime in 2008 and will provide capabilities never before seen on mobile devices such as phones and PDAs. The OMAP 3 will make possible enhancements such as delivering high definition video at 1368 x 720 resolutions. It’ll support 12 megapixel digital cameras on mobile phones (or four 3 megapixel shots taken in burst mode). Overall, mobile devices will have far greater performance - whether it’s watching videos over the net or surfing the web for news and content.

The TI OMAP 3 will be designed around the ARM Cortex A8 processor core and will be manufactured on a 65 nm process. OMAP 3 will also come with integrated graphics and cores for handling other functions. There will be several OMAP 3 processors for different markets. The OMAP 3430 will support HD video and 12 megapixel digital cameras. The OMAP 3420 will support 5 megapixel digital cameras and VGA quality video. Finally, the OMAP 3410 will support 3 megapixel digital cameras and lower-resolution video.

You can read more about this at News.com here.

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Technorati Tags: TI, OMAP 3, HD Video

Since I just mentioned about the July 1st rule change for cable companies, I thought it would be good to briefly mention what this FCC rule change is all about and how it affects you - assuming you’re a cable subscriber that is.

On July 1st, the FCC will require cable companies to make hardware changes to all new set-top boxes.  The changes, which is really the second phase to a law enacted many years ago, amounts to separating the security functions from the navigation functions on the set-top box. This rule only affects customers with digital cable. If you’re an analog cable subscriber, then you’re not affected by this rule (although you might still end up being charged a higher cable fee). Right now, set-top boxes distributed by cable companies have both the security and navigation functionality rolled into a single package. The first phase of the law required cable companies to roll the security features into a separate component - hence the CableCARD concept. The second phase which starts up on July 1st, requires cable companies to provide new CableCARD enabled set top boxes to new subscribers or to existing subscribers that request new boxes. Existing subscribers can still keep their current set-top box if they want to.

The original goal for the FCC rule changes was to help spur competition in the cable industry. The hope was that by introducing CableCARD, consumers would be given additional product choices in what kind of set-top boxes they could use. Case in point - one could purchase a TiVo Series 3 DVR instead of renting a DVR box from Time Warner Cable and still have it work with TWC because of the CableCARD support.

Keep one thing clear though - this rule change says nothing about enhanced features that cable companies can provide such as pay-per-view or on-demand programming. If you opt for a third party set-top box using your cable companies’ CableCARD, then you’ll miss out on the enhanced features. Of course if you don’t use them, then you won’t miss them will you.

There’s a good writeup to this over at CNN.com here.

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Technorati Tags: FCC, CableCARD

If you’re a Comcast cable subscriber, you should be aware of an upcoming price increase to  your monthly cable bill. On July 1st, the FCC will finally enact the integration ban which requires cable companies to provide CableCARD compatible set top boxes or CableCARDs themselves to new or existing subscribers that want them for their  own television sets or personal DVRs like TiVo. This change in the law will require cable operators to stockpile new set top boxes with CableCARD support built right in. In order to recoup the costs of obtaining new set top boxes, Comcast plans on applying incrementally higher fees across all markets.

According to Sena Fitzmaurice, Comact Senior Director of Communications for Government, “We’ll recover our costs”.

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association predicts that the work necessary to enable set top boxes to utilize CableCARDs amounts to approximately $72 dollar to $93 dollars per set-top box. This translates to approximately $2-3 dollars more per month per subscriber.

The real kicker in the Comcast scenario is their intention to charge everyone with the same increase - whether the subscriber has a CableCARD enabled box or not. Heck - if that’s the case, all Comcast subscribers should just ask for the new set-top box!

I’m not on Comcast myself but I can’t wait to hear what Time Warner has in store for this FCC rule.

[Check it out via HomeTheater Mag]

Technorati Tags: Comcast, CableCARD

HDMI cables are a great thing - video and audio combined into a single thin cable. How much better can it get for a home theater enthusiast? How about wireless HDMI connections? That’s the promise behind Gefen’s latest product, the Wireless for HDMI Extender which utilizes the WiMedia specification (WiMedia is an ultra wideband wireless specification). Gefen claims the device is able to wirelessly transmit 720p/1080i content over a range of 10 meters (or 33 feet). Now you can have your video source equipment in one location while setting up your flat panel display and receiver in a totally different location without worrying about cumbersome cables - even if they are just HDMI cables. Gefen’s extender has a throughput of 480Mbps and the package comes with a wireless HDMI extender, one 6 foot HDMI cable, two 5V Power supplies, and a user’s manual.

Here’s the feature list from Gefen’s website:

• Guaranteed bandwidth reservation: Full Quality of Service (QoS) based on WiMedia Alliance MAC specification
• Real-time, visually lossless HD compression
• Multiple video formats: 480p, 720p, and 1080i @ 24/30 resolution
• High error resiliency: Wavelet transform provides high-quality image under varying channel conditions
• Dynamic bit rate adjustment: Predictable, on-the-fly control of channel bandwidth consumption
• Fully compliant family of HDMI/HDCP products

Here are the specs:

• Data rates : 53.3 to 480
• Frequency band: : 3.1 - 4.8 GHz
• Resolution support : 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i
• HDMI v1.2a: Compliant and interoperable
• Consumer Electronics Control (CEC)
• Tzero RF Radio Chipset
• ADI JPEG 2000 visual lossless compression
• Power Supply: 5V DC
• Power Consumption: 20 watts (max)
• Dimensions: 8.75″W x 1.625″H x 5.875″D
• Shipping Weight: 6 lbs.

My only complaint - lack of 1080p support via wireless connectivity.

You can pre-order the Gefen Wireless for HDMI Extender right now for $699. Not exactly cheap is it?

[Check it out via CrunchGear]

Technorati Tags: Gefen, Wireless for HDMI extender

Dan Costa over at GearLog.com published an interesting editorial on Thursday entitled “No One’s Winning the High-Def Format War”. His arguments are straightforward actually. While the high definition format wars continue, the consumers ultimately will not care in the end because they will have chosen the format of choice - and that’s to download HD content over some pipeline (probably the Internet).

Costa bolsters his argument by using the music industry as an example. Until MP3 files and digital music players became popular, people were stuck to CDs. Yet when given the choice of quality CDs vs. downloadable digital tracks, the consumers chose to download content instead. Look at the results now - CD sales are down and digital music stores are on the rise.

He applies the same notion to movies. Optical discs are a thing of the past Costa argues. The way to distribute going forward is via the Internet with many companies and products already trying out various services to see if this is viable. Now granted - there are many more obstacles in the way when it comes to movies. You need more storage and download times take a good deal longer than say downloading music. However as download speeds improve and as storage costs plummet, the optical disc - whether Blu-ray or HD DVD - will become obsolete in favor of a new video distribution method over the Internet.

It’s definitely an interesting argument although I do think there’s a place for either Blu-ray or HD DVD in the high definition arena. There will be consumers who will want downloadable high definition content, and there’ll be folks who want to own something on a disc format. Ultimately the key to all of this IMHO will be cost. If Blu-ray or HD DVD players lower in cost dramatically - say to something like DVD players, then I think you’ll see rapid adoption for either format. If products come out that make downloadable HD content affordable and easy to use, then I’m sure you’ll see that market expand rapidly also.

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Home Theater Blog has a solid review of the new Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player here on their website. The BDP-S300 is Sony’s cheapest Blu-ray player selling for an MSRP of $499. Home Theater Blog does an excellent overview of the capabilities of the device as well as picture performance - especially in comparison to the PS3’s Blu-ray performance. One of the unfortunate missing capabilities from the player is the lack of a network connection but really - shouldn’t this be a mandatory feature on all players? Can it really jack up the cost of a Blu-ray player that much? I doubt it.

Specs for the Sony BDP-S300 include the following:

• BD-ROM, DVD Video, DVD+R/+RW/DVD-R/-RW, CD playback
• AVC-HD media playback with x.v.Color output
• Supports MPEG2/MPEG4-AVC/VC-1
• Full HD 1080/60p and 24p True Cinema Video Output
• DVD upscaling to 1080p via HDMI
• Support for BRAVIA Theater Sync
• Cinema Tuned Picture Presets
• Support for Uncompressed Multi-Channel Linear PCM output, Dolby Digital Plus decoding, Dolby Digital and dts 5.1 channel output
• BD-Java interactive capability
• Screen saver
• MP3 and JPEG playback from DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW
• Measures 17 x 3 1/8 x 14 7/8 inches and weighs 10 lbs

In any event, here’s the current recommendation from Home Theater Blog on the BDP-S300:

At this point if you’re looking for a stand-alone Blu-ray player I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the BDP-S300 quite as easily as before these issues came to light. It’s still a good player, but certainly not quite as good as our first impressions indicated.

If you’re interested in reading the instruction manual, check out the PDF link here at SonyStyle’s website.

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DigiTimes is reporting that Funai Electric will be launching a new 42 inch LCD television set as well as a new Blu-ray disc player in North America this coming fall. The 42 inch LCD TV will utilize panels made from Taiwan with unit shipments expected to number between 100,000 to 200,000 units in the batch.

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Technorati Tags: Funai Electric, LCD TV, Blu-ray player