Samsung's External Blu-Ray is something special to look at. Looks kind of...consoley. Especially in that blue light. The drive writes BD-R discs at 4X and BD-RE at 2x. It uses a second laser to handle DVD and CD burning (I believe burning), and does it all via USB2.0 and Firewire. Coming in 2008.–Brian Lam
Samsung SE-B046 [PC]

This Thursday, download the PS3's v1.6 update. You know, the update version 1.6, famous for channeling the super-console's spare floating-point power towards finding a cure for Alzheimer's. Get it, cheetoh-fingered gamers, and you can be a real hero, not just a guitar hero. The update also provides a remote play to those loser 20GB PS3s, updated background DLing, a split on-screen keyboard in the browser, but maybe most interestingly to Giz readers is the updated stack that allows use of Bluetooth keyboards and meeces.
Release after the jump.
FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced that the next regular system software update for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system (version 1.60) will be available March 22, delivering features such as Folding@home connectivity, enhanced downloading of content from the PLAYSTATION(R)Store, support for Bluetooth(R) keyboards and mice, and an opt...

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Add one more dual format disc type to the pile, as Bandai Visual will bring the HD DVD/DVD Twin disc to the U.S. June 26, with the release of its bestselling OVA Freedom, and will also be one of the first releases to include HDi network capabilities. As opposed to the combo releases so far that have HD DVD on one side, and DVD on the other, the Twin disc allows up to three layers of either HD DVD or DVD content on the same side of the disc, no flipping necessary. Your old-school DVD player might have trouble with the disc, so its been limited to Japan-only releases so far. Bandai's been working with Microsoft and Memory-Tech to tweak the VC-1 codec for Japanese anime, and the company says after this they will start releasing other HD DVD and Blu-ray titles in Japan and overseas. The SRP for Freedom Vol.1 (of 6) is $39.99 and while we don't know much about the series beyond its mix of CGI and 2D animation, it does heavily repre...

It looks like the Blu-ray camp managed to scare the pants off Toshiba with all of their world domination talk so in response, Toshiba has lowered the MSRP on the HD-XA2, the HD-A20, and the HD-A2 down to $799, $499, and $399, respectively. If accurate (right now we're relying on an early OneCall catalog), the price drop will start on April 1st. Either way, a price drop may be what HD DVD needs to boost those lagging sales, so if it's bunk Toshiba would be wise to consider it anyways. – Louis Ramirez
Toshiba's MSRPs Beginning April 1st [AVS Forum]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

At just about the one year anniversary of the format war, it looks like Toshiba is throwing the next punch. HD DVD will be one step closer to that magic price point of $299, with that latest update of the MSRP of their HD DVD players. According to a few retailers at the AVSFroum on April 1st Toshiba will change the MSRP and the least expensive model; the A2 will now have an MSRP of $399. The A2 isn't the only model with a new price, as the other two models see a drop as well, the A20 will be $499 and finally the high end model, the XA2 for $799. So if price was the only thing stopping you from getting in the HD DVD game and the Xbox360 add-on just isn't your style, then now might just be the time. Of course some of you will still be waiting for the $600 Blu-ray player instead.

[Thanks, WiFiSpy] 
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transfor...

What do you get when you take an indoor pool, a sedentary family, and an insatiable desire for Judge Judy? A spacious home theater with stadium-style seating. Among the impressive equipment they used to fuel this home theater are a Marantz projector mounted to the ceiling, 106-inch Draper screen, wiring through the pool's plumbing, and six stadium-seats in the back for when their friends come over.
Cool, yes, but we'd actually prefer both a pool and a theater. Perhaps a Jacuzzi theater where we can lounge while watching our Blu-ray and HD DVDs. – Jason Chen
Pool Transformed Into Home Theater [Electronic House via Neatorama via Uber Review]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

It really doesn't take a keen eye for news these days to spot the all-out PR blitz by team Blu-ray to convince the masses that the format war is over and Blu-ray has won. Now Toshiba is finally sticking up for itself, in specific response to Blu-ray's recent CeBIT press conference. Olivier Van Wynendaele, Deputy General manager of HD DVD at Toshiba, calls the Blu-ray claims "propaganda" and disputes the Blu-ray points. For instance, the new 3:1 sales figure being touted by the Blu-ray Disc Association in regards to Blu-ray to HD DVD sales is claimed by Wynendaele to be artificially inflated by free Blu-ray movie vouchers being redeemed by PlayStation 3 owners. He also notes that Toshiba has sold 200,000 HD DVD players in the US, in comparison to the 30,000 standalone Blu-ray players sold, and that it's not clear yet how many Blu-ray movies the two million PS3 owners are going to be watching. Olivier also promised that Toshiba will under...

It's not often you get a CEO to sit down and talk candidly about their company, so props to the folks at Smart House who got Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer to dish out some dirt on their competition and their place in the gadget kingdom. Throughout the interview Stringer talks about his personal life (he was once a journalist alongside Dan Rather) and gives us his opinion on Nintendo's Wii, Apple, and Sony's own problems....

Stringer on PS3 "Wii is a wonderful device...if we fail, it is because we positioned PS3 as the Mercedes of the video game field." Stringer on Blu-ray We are selling 3-to-1 vs. them. At some point Blu-ray will take over." Stringer on iPhone "Steve Jobs spotted a trend that we've seen. We are all building variations on the same theme." Stringer on iPod "In 1997 we were working with IBM on electronic music distribution and could have put this out five years earlier [than iPod]. But we couldn't get our people to understand software." Stringer on Steve ...

Pioneer's consumer plasmas tend to be near perfect, so we can't imagine the kind of image clarity you'll get from this TV, their first 50-inch, 1080p professional model. The display comes with both HDMI and DVI inputs (the latter with HDCP support), but because it's pro series, it packs some extra features you won't typically find in any plasma. For starters, it was designed to provide brighter and smoother images. So smooth that. . . .

this set will be used to check out new high-def Blu-ray DVD discs. The PDP-5000EX will also smart-convert standard-res content, so you'll get a sharp picture no matter what you're watching. And because it uses one less layer of glass, it'll look good regardless of any light reflection. There's no word on pricing yet, though considering Pioneer's history, it'll probably set you back a few paychecks. – Louis Ramirez
Press Release [via Electronista]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Another day, another all-in-one solution for copying AACS-protected HD DVDs hits the streets. Fengtao Software has thrown support for the next generation format into the latest beta version (3.0.9.0) of its DVDFab copying software. Following in the steps of Slysoft's AnyDVD HD, the maker of DVDFab HD Decrypter says Blu-ray backup support is "coming soon", and that it's capable of copying an HD DVD to the hard drive -- sans any copy protection restrictions -- in less than one hour. Of course the changelog doesn't provide details on how DVDFab does it's unDRMing thing, but with so many methods available, does it really matter which one? Still no word on how AACS LA plans to respond to the growing availability of easy hacks and DRM-free HD editions of Hollywood's latest, but at this rate we'll have a war between various makers of one-click backup software to rival Blu-ray vs. HD DVD.

[Via AfterDawn] 
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