New Archos 5 and Archos 7 Players on Sale

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The newly announced Archos 5 and Archos 7 series portable media players are on sale on Amazon.com.
The top of the line Archos 7 features a 7 inch screen and a huge 320GB hard-drive. An Archos 7 with a smaller 160GB HDD is also available. The Archos 7 320GB sells for $549.99 on Amazon.com.
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Posted on Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba XD-E500 DVD Player is I4U Top 100 Holiday Gift Tip #3

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We are starting easy on the Hometheater components holiday gift tips as we still expect several new announcements in the Blu-ray and video streaming categories. The new Toshiba XD-E500 upscaling DVD player is possibly the best affordable DVD player out there this fall.
Toshiba threw all their anger from loosing the HD disc war with HD-DVD into making the XD-500 DVD player. The new DVD player features Toshiba's XDE technology.
XDE takes according to Toshiba the DVD picture quality to a whole new level. In addition to providing upconversion from 480i/p up to 1080p, XDE offers user selectable picture enhancement modes that allow for greater detail, more vivid colors and stronger contrast that bring standard DVD quality closer to the HD experience. Read more

Posted on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Locoroco 2 on PSP does Multi-player

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The fun Locoroco is a surprise hit on the Sony PSP. The game appeared already in 2006. Now Locoroco 2 is on its way and it will actually support an ad-hoc multi-player mode for 2 and 4 players.
Other features of Locoroco 2 include 25 new stages including hidden challenges, cast of new characters, and new actions such as climbing inside shells to destroy thorns, jumping from grass blade to grass blade and swimming underwater. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:42:48 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

RealPlayer now available for Intel Atom based Netbooks

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RealNetworks is announcing the availability of its popular RealPlayer on Intel Atom netbooks and nettops at the Intel l Developer Forum (IDF).
By working with RealNetworks, the netbook and nettop OEMs can bundle a Moblin-optimized media player that includes the most sought-after media format support, decreasing their development, legal and administrative costs and reducing time-to-market.

Devices that use the Intel Atom processor with Moblin based OS will have the added benefit of highly optimized performance and battery life when playing media content. RealPlayer can be used to play content in a browser window for an embedded Internet experience, and also as a stand-alone media player. Read more

Posted on Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba XD-E500 DVD Player with XDE unveiled

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Toshiba as you know lost the HD DVD format war and had to bury their HD-DVD format and leave the field to Sony's Blu-ray.
Today Toshiba announced a new DVD player technology dubbed XDE. XDE takes according to Toshiba the DVD picture quality to a whole new level. In addition to providing upconversion from 480i/p up to 1080p, XDE offers user selectable picture enhancement modes that allow for greater detail, more vivid colors and stronger contrast that bring standard DVD quality closer to the HD experience.
This is a nice try by Toshiba to reduce the value of Blu-ray by improving the DVD picture quality. Read more

Posted on Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:29:14 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft's Zune Player seeking Hollywood Stardom

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 By Andrew Wallenstein

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Microsoft's Zune is looking to Hollywood to gain an edge on Apple's iPod.

Microsoft executives have been making the rounds at talent agencies and production companies in recent months in hopes of licensing exclusive original video programming for the portable media player, which has struggled to gain traction in the marketplace.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:27:45 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 Public Beta Review

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Sling Media released a beta of the SlingPlayer 2.0 beta for Windows.
SlingCommunity published a detailed review of the new SlingPlayer.

Quote from the review: "SlingPlayer for Windows 2.0 Public Beta is, on the surface, not entirely different than the SlingPlayer of yore. Yet, when you first start using it, it will feel strangely foreign. Read more

Posted on Thu, 7 Aug 2008 20:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

SKC Announces Plextalk Pocket Digital Recorder/Player

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Shinano Kenshi Corporation (SKC) announced it is launching a new Plextalk Pocket digital recorder and player. The device is pocket-sized voice and book recorder and player that SKC says is the world's first crossover media player/recorder.

The recorder weighs 3 ounces and can fit in small shirt pockets and listeners can use it to play Daisy Digital Talking Books, music, and more. It features a bookmark feature to allow users to return to where they left off the last time the device was used. The player also includes ear buds and can directly read HTML input from SD cards and USB memory. The battery in the device is good for ten hours. Read more

Posted on Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New LG BD300 Blu-ray Player streams Netflix

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Netflix gets another hardware device that supports their on demand video service. The Roku Netflix player was launched in May. Now LG announced the LG BD300 Blu-ray player with Netflix movie streaming capability.

Available this fall, the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player will play high definition Blu-ray discs, up-convert standard DVDs to 1080p and allow Netflix subscribers to instantly stream more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the TV for no additional charge. Read more

Posted on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New Spy Camera Sunglasses with MP3 Player

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These new sunglasses take the Oakley Thump MP3 glasses to the next level by integrating a hidden photo camera.

The USB Spy Camera Sunglasses has a built-in 2GB flash memory which can store more than 15,000 photos.
The integrated 1.3MP camera takes pictures in 1280x1024px resolution. Read more

Posted on Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:39:46 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Dell tests Music Player to renew iPod Battle: Report

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BANGALORE (Reuters) - In recent months, personal computer maker Dell Inc. , has been testing a digital music player that could go on sale as early as September, the Wall Street Journal newspaper said, citing several Dell officials.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony BDP-S350 BD-Live Ready Blu-Ray Player on Sale

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Sony announced the BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player back in February. The BDP-S350 has now started to ship on Amazon.com and other retailers.

The Sony BDP-S350 supports BonusView (Profile 1.1) (picture-in-picture), which is featured on select new Blu-ray Disc home video releases, and is also BD-Live ready, with an Ethernet port for easy firmware updates and access to Internet-based interactive content features. A firmware update enabling BD-Live is planned later this year. Read more

Posted on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Kodak Unveils Theater HD Player

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Kodak isn’t only about film and cameras these days. Kodak also has a range of other electronics like the new Kodak Theatre HD Player. The device is a HD media player that uses Wi-Fi to access different content online through Kodak media partners.

A wireless remote pointer allows navigation through the content. The player will stream music, pictures, video and podcasts using a Wi-Fi network in the home. The videos and pictures can also be from a user’s personal library of home video and images. The device measures 6” x 8” x 1” and be available starting in September for $299.99. Read more

Posted on Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:10:56 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder Review

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Today we are looking at the VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder. The device allows you to record movies and TV shows from your TV to the VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder internal HDD. You can also copy files and images directly from camcorder and digital cameras.

The VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder works well enough, but the image and video quality isn’t tops. Still if you are looking to transfer video files to a PMP or view them on any TV screen the VOX TV-R HDD Media Player/Recorder is a nice little device. Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jul 2008 13:57:09 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Casual Wedding Game Aimed at Female Players

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Casual games are a big market for many publishers. A new casual game has been announced from iPlay today and is part of its Dream Day series aimed at female gamers. The game is called Dream Day Wedding: Married in Manhattan and is for the PC.

The game allows players to create a New York City wedding in settings like the Upper East Side to Greenwich Village. In all there are 42 different levels of play and 27 locations in total. Players can also unlock honeymoon levels and Wedding Crisis levels. The game can be downloaded July 24th for $19.95. Read more

Posted on Thu, 3 Jul 2008 08:43:23 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New Samsung YEPP P2 DMB and YEPP S3 Players unveiled

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Samsung introduces the Yepp P2 DMB enabled portable video player and the Yepp S3 DAP.

The new Samsung P2 features besides DMB TV a large 3 inch touchscreen and the slick player is only 11.9mm thick.
Other features of the Samsung P2 include Bluetooth 2.0, and 4GB, 8GB, 16GB capacity options.
The Samsung P2 sells for 259,000 won (~$249), 309,000 won (~$297), and 389,000 won (~$374) respectively in Korea. Read more

Posted on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:05:01 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Netflix Player from Roku Uses Linux Tech

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Trolltech announced today that the new Netflix player from Roku utilizes its Qt for Embedded Linux. Qt for Embedded Linux was formerly known as Qtopia Core. The application is designed to allow manufacturers to build devices for one specific purpose.

"As we developed the Netflix Player by Roku we were keenly focused on creating the best possible user experience for Netflix's eight million-plus customers," said Tim Twerdahl, vice president of consumer products, Roku, Inc. "Qt provided us with the tools to implement our elegant and powerful user interface quickly, providing an important time-to-market advantage." Read more

Posted on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:44:53 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

SlingPlayer TV Client for Apple iPhone

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Sling Media informed us that they are working on a SlingPlayer mobile for the Apple iPhone and will demonstrate it today in the vicinity of the WWDC 08 in San Francisco.

Sling Media will show a working proof of concept on a jail-broken iPhone. Sling Media is waiting for the official release of the iPhone SDK and the iPhone 2.0 firmware to develop the final version for release to the public. Read more

Posted on Mon, 9 Jun 2008 01:35:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Wal-Mart pushing Sales of Blu-ray Players

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - With the high definition DVD format war settled, Wal-Mart Stores Inc is now aggressively promoting sales of Blu-ray players.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 4 Jun 2008 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

U.S. Internet will shrink to 2 strong Players: Report

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An Internet analyst for a major Wall Street firm argues in a new report that Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc will be long-term winners, while Yahoo and IAC InterActiveCorp fall by the wayside and eBay Inc becomes a merger target.
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Posted on Tue, 3 Jun 2008 17:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Roku Netflix Player versus Apple TV

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AppleInsider compares the new Roku Netflix movie streaming device to the Apple TV.

Quote: "Like Apple TV, the partnership between Netflix and Roku has given way to a compact box for streaming select movies and TV programs directly to your television. The $100 box serves up unlimited content from Netflix's "Watch Instantly" section as part of the standard subscription price of its DVD by mail service. Read more

Posted on Mon, 2 Jun 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr