Filed under: CES, HDTV, Laptops, Storage

Toshiba's done a little bit with HD DVD burners in its laptops in the past, but the Qosmio G45-AV690 looks to be the first to hit the States with a HD DVD-R/RW drive. The rest of it is typical Qosmio excess, with a 17-inch 1920 x 1200 display, HDMI out, 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, 3GB of RAM, dual 160GB SATA drives, an external HDTV tuner and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 512MB of RAM. The laptop should be available soon for the low low price of $3,200.

 

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

Short on details but with a big name behind it, the two new Mark Levinson high-end surround sound systems from LG are coming out sometime in '08. The LHT888 (pictured) is for décor-conscious movie-and-music fans, which includes a 700W 5.1-channel DVD player with near 1080p upscaling -- whatever that means. The other detail we'd love to know more about is the "built-in wireless kit." We're not totally useless as we know what HDMI-CEC does, and we know we really miss all the new audio codecs that are required to make the most of our high-def media. There is also the AP133 -- no idea what it looks like -- which is supposedly built around the Super Blu dual-format player, which is especially curious considering it also seems to be missing the latest audio codec support. But hey, at least it's HD Ready capable.

 

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Filed under: CES, Storage

Hitachi had to hack it to produce a 500GB 2.5-inch laptop drive, adding another platter (and a few millimeters thickness) that make their new 5K500 impossible to install in most standard laptops and enclosures -- but not Samsung. The Spinpoint M6 500GB drive brings a half terabyte at the standard 9.5mm height, and should land some time in March, meaning your current laptop -- and not just those new Asus machines -- should be able to accommodate one or two of these massive mothers.

[Via Pocket-Lint]

 

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Filed under: CES, Portable Audio

Sure, they're not the hot new AVIC-LINC or SCD car entertainment rigs Pioneer was hyping today during its press conference, but these four new Bluetooth-enabled, HD Radio-ready decks are pretty hot in their own right. Pioneer says the double-DIN FH-P8000BT and FH-800BT have "better than OEM" appearance, with a 3-line OLED display, while the single-DIN DEH-P7000BT (pictured) and DEH-P700BT make due with a single line display. All the units come with built-in microphone for handsfree Bluetooth calling, a USB port for playing files off flash drives, and the iPod integration features have been beefed up to include new alphabetical search modes and -- a feature we've wanted for years -- the ability for a passenger to use the iPod itself to select and play tunes. All these should hit sometime in March for between $290 and $330.

 

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Filed under: CES, Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Every once in a while we'll come across a mystical product that gets scooped really early in its development cycle, goes years without release, and makes a CES cameo or two before becoming available to the now-underwhelmed throngs. Such is the case with Haier's Ibiza Rhapsody, a decidedly metallic PMP that features WiFi, Bluetooth, and support for both Rhapsody and AOL Video. Granted, those are still somewhat impressive specs even by 2008 standards, but the capacities top out at 30GB (weak sauce) and the physical appearance of the device is definitely an acquired taste. Anyway, we happened to catch the Ibiza Rhapsody in final retail packaging in our travels and stopped for a few brief sentence to snap a shot or two; do enjoy them, won't you?

 

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Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio

If you were with us during the Pioneer press conference, then their new AVIC LINC system is old news to you tough guy. However, the details are new. Designed to integrate with any factory car audio installation, Pioneer's new AVIC-F500BT system offers the ability to add in-car navigation and extended entertainment without modifying your existing car stereo. The primary feature is the VoiceBox Conversational Voice Search Platform -- an advanced voice technology for control over Apple's ubiquitous iPod and Bluetooth enabled devices. It's sophisticated enough to analyze and then execute on commands as varied as "I want to hear the artist U2" or "play U2" or even a Foghorned, "Why I say, why I say boy, um, play U2." It also features a 5.8-inch, WVGA touch screen, text to speech, and the ability to accept media via a USB bunged device or SD cards for MP3 or WMA playback. New POI's can be added via SD cards and a rechargeable battery lets you take it on the go. Look for it this Spring for an undisclosed price.

 

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Filed under: CES, Displays, Features, HDTV

As you've surely saw in our liveblog of the Toshiba press conference, the firm went wild with new LCD releases for 2008. The overriding theme was thinness and early release dates, with essentially every set listed shipping by April. We'll get down to the dirt: two new 720p sets were introduced -- the AV500 and REGZA CV510 -- the first of which will be available in sizes ranging from 19- to 42-inches and feature DynaLight, HDMI and a PC input, while the latter will only be available in 32- / 37-inch sizes and sport PixelPure4G 14-bit internal processing, a 1.5-inc ThinLine Bezel design and a trio of HDMI 1.3 ports. For more on the outpouring of 1080p sets, click on through.

Continue reading Toshiba announces slew of LCDs for 2008: hands-on

 

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Filed under: CES, Displays, HDTV

LG's 2008 lineup continues with the 42-inch LGX Super Slim 1.7-inch LCD, combining that ultra-thin form factor that's so in vogue with high-tech features like 120Hz, 24p playback capability and ISFccc calibration. LED backlighting and a 15,000:1 contrast ratio bump up the visuals for viewers, while the red-colored back gives your living room wall a show too. The set sports four HDMI 1.3 ports and a USB jack for photos and music, and LG's SimpLink control protocol enables compatible equipment to chain together. Pricing and availability were not announced.

 

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

LG revamps their Plasma lineup with eight new HDTVs spanning four new lines. All of them include LG's new Clear Voice feature which help to hear the dialog over the sound effects for those without a proper surround sound system, as well as HDMI 1.3 with Deep Color. The top of the line PG70 line -- available in 50 and 60-inch sizes -- is of course 1080p, has 30,000:1 contrast, four HDMI inputs and optional wireless "transmission component," as well as being THX Display certified and "ISFcc Calibration Ready." The PG60 is available in the same sizes and goes feature for feature with the PG70, with the exception of the optional wireless features. Moving down the line, the PG30 drops the higher end ISFccc and THX features, and only has three HDMI 1.3 ports. And finally, the PG20 line is the only two remaining 720p sets in the lineup and is available in 42 and 50-inches, with a contrast ratio of 15,000:1. Unfortunately, pricing and availability are unknown, but we'd put our money on the summer of '08.

 

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Filed under: CES, Networking

If you were following our Netgear liveblog, you'd have seen that the networking company's dropping all sorts of gear on CES. We've got a quick roundup of all their bridges and extenders. First up is the gear for those of you looking to get your bits shoved through the network of Romex electrical wiring snaking through your apartment/house/castle. The Powerline AV Ethernet Kit (XAVB101) and Powerline HD Plus Ethernet Adapter Kit (HDXB111) - based on the HomePlug AV and UPA-based standards respectively - feature built-in power sockets so you're not losing your pad's valuable gadget-juice ports and built-in quality of service (QoS) so you're not losing your bits either.

Continue reading Netgear's CES lineup bridges and extenders

 

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