Filed under: Desktops, HDTV, Media PCs

Before Shuttle goes and entertains any potential bids to sell itself, it's answering the demands of HTPC admirers hankering for a small-form-factor barebones system that integrates well into an AV setup. The SG33G5, straight from the egotistical Glamor series, sports an Intel G33 Bearlake chipset, 250-watt power supply, supports Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad Intel CPUs, handles up to 4GB of RAM, and features the company's own I.C.E. cooling technology. Furthermore, you'll find a PCI Express slot, Intel's GMA 3100 graphics set (weak, we know), 7.1-channel audio, Dolby Digital / DTS support, gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, SATA compatibility, VGA output, and the obligatory HDCP-compatible HDMI port. Of course, picking up a quasi-stripped box in order to snag the HD DVD / Blu-ray drive of your choice won't come cheap, as the currently available SG33G5 will set you back a whopping €303 ($405) right from the start.

[Via PCLaunches]...

Filed under: Desktops, Media PCs

Hey, we all knew good and well VidaBox was sparing no luxury when crafting the CableCARD-ready, HD DVD / Blu-ray supporting HTPC it affectionately dubs the Magnum, but even the well prepared may be a tad taken aback by the price. While the vendor's website still requests that you swallow a chill pill and calmly call for any pricing inquiries, AudioJunkies has apparently done us all the favor. Wrapped up in what appears to be OrigenAE's oh-so-sexy aluminum chassis, the VidaBox Magnum reportedly starts at a dollar under eight grand, and while we're sure the base configuration is more than plenty, why not throw in an extra stick of RAM and a few terabytes of HDD space to ensure your next media PC costs more than a new Kia Rio? 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming
The 1.80 PS3 firmware update might have just went out the door, but they aren't letting the coders sit still in Japan. In an interview with AV Watch, Sony Computer Entertainment managers Kawanishi and Kanehide let it slip that Sony isn't content to simply match the visual quality of upscaling TVs and DVD players, since the Cell is capable of doing much better. Sony expects to improve the quality of the image another 30 - 40% when all is said and done, and is waiting on a stable version of the Blu-ray spec so it can enable scaling of 1080i BD content to 1080p. The duo also hinted that a remote media playback solution that doesn't involve having to leave the PS3 on at all times is in the works, and that Sony plans on updating the PS3's firmware every quarter. No word on when we might see rumble finally show up, but we'll take what we can get -- maybe the upscaling will actually make a difference this time around.

[Via PS3 Fanboy] 
...

Filed under: Desktops

Sony looks to have heeded the calls of those bemoaning the single Core 2 Duo processor powering its otherwise top-end VAIO RM HD editing workstation, as its now taken things all the way up to a Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor in its latest RM1N model. As before, this one boasts a dual-box design, with the main PC components housed in one box, and the optical drives (including a Blu-ray one), hard drives, and memory card reader stuffed in the other. In addition to that new quad-core processor, the RM1N also gets a new NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card, along with the same 2GB of DDR2 memory and dual 500GB 7200rpm SATA hard drives as before. Also getting a boost is the price, with it now running just shy of $5,000.

[Via Reg Hardware]
 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Syntax-Brillian joined the huge-screen LCD club today at Infocomm with its Olevia 665i 1080p LCD TV (similar model pictured above), featuring a big ol' 65-inch screen and that Silicon Optics Realta HQV video processor that's captured the hearts of many a TV watcher. That's a great little piece of electronics to have around if you're scaling up standard definition video from DVDs into that much-coveted 1080p format. Heck, it's occupying space in all the toniest receivers, Blu-ray and HD DVD players, so it must be good.

But then, we were never fans of upscaling anyway, even if it does have 10-bit video processing, pixel-by-pixel noise reduction and motion adaptive video de-interlacing. Phooey. If upscaling is so goddamn great, why go to all the trouble of actually having 1080p HDTV sources?
Anyway, we do happen to like 65-inch screens displaying genuine (not upscaled, but the real thing) 1080p video, so this would be a prime candidate for our consideration, especially...

Filed under: HDTV

Some people still haven't figured out that DRM doesn't work, and in yet another attempt to "enable content" the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is proud to announce that BD+ is available. The recent exploits in AACS have been rumored to slow down the release schedule for Blu-ray titles from FOX and Disney and many believe this is because they've been waiting for BD+, -- an additional optional layer of DRM available to Blu-ray. This new code will run in a virtual machine while the disc is in use and can do just about whatever it deems necessary to validate that your player is secure before allowing the movie to be played. What BD+ cannot do is modify your player, so once the disc is ejected, the process is gone.

[Via Blu-ray.com] 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Blockbuster's decision to support Blu-ray in all of its 1,450 stores is having a bigger impact than it seems. A tipster at an unnamed retailer tells us they've had more HD DVD player orders cancelled over the last few days than they've seen over the entire lifecycle. The kicker? All of them were cancelled because of the Blockbuster announcement.
Not only that, new sales of HD DVD players are nonexistent, with Blu-ray being the only things moving now.
The more tech savvy of us rent our stuff on Netflix or Blockbuster Online (which is still supporting both formats for now), but this announcement—covered in many mainstream media sources—had a big impact on people who actually rent at Blockbuster.
Any of you tipsters working at other retail outlets see something similar? Email us if you have. – Jason Chen
Thanks tipster!

Filed under: HDTV, Storage

Even at this stage in the game, there aren't many drives out there sporting both logos, but LG's HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H10N 1.01 drive -- better known as the Super Multi Blue to the layperson -- has the Blu-ray and HD DVD logos sitting up front in perfect harmony. Announced at this year's CES, the drive can playback Blu-ray, DVD and HD DVD media, along with 4x recording and even rewriting of Blu-ray Discs. Now that the drive is finally out, CDRinfo has a ridiculously extensive review that really puts the $1,200 lens menagerie through its paces. In all, the dual playback makes this one a winner, and the Blu-ray, DVD and CD recordings turned out quite well to boot. The error correction for CD and DVDs is a bit lacking, but we're guessing anyone willing to fork over this much cash for a drive -- or crazy enough to read this whole review -- has bigger fish to fry.

[Thanks, Macris A] 
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Office...

Just this one time we'll forgive you, dear readers, for not showing up last weekend. It was Father's Day, the one day for men to celebrate spreading their seed properly. And we'd never deprive you of such a reward for such hard work. Here's what you missed:
YouTube is mobile, baby.
A few Blu-ray discs may be rotting.
SideShow gadgets will start at $80!
We're looking for a new writer.
Next weekend: be there or be square. – Mark Wilson

Film rental firm Blockbuster says it will rent only Blu-ray high-definition DVDs at 1,450 of its US stores.