Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Face it, Windows Vista is just so played these days. With that preliminary biz release under its belt, we're ready for bigger and better things, and luckily a certain "jameskyton" drive-by-blogger has the low-down for us on Vista's successors, Fiji and Vienna. James calls Fiji a sort of "Vista R2," which should include most of those fancy features Microsoft had to cut out of Vista to get it released this century. Highlights include the reappearance of WinFS, which will sit on top of the NTFS file system; a more full-featured sidebar app; tight Windows Live integration, especially when it comes to media; built-in playback of HD-DVD; Next-Generation Secure Computing Base; and possibly even a Garage Band clone called Monaco. There will also be the usual interface and other minor enhancements you can expect from such an update, but Fiji has nothing on Vienna, which is purported to feature a complete overhaul of the OS, including a break in compatibili...

A hacker claims he has cracked the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the standard that is currently to protect high-definition HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs.

Remember American Express, Audi, Casio, Circuit City, DICE, Don Julio, Fox Soccer Channel, Future Weapons, Genji, HD-DVD, Intel, LG VX8600, Logitech, Mio, Nokia, P.C. Richard & Son, Parrot, Pioneer, Playstation, SV Supreme Vodka, Shure, Smarthome, Sprint, Texas Instruments and Zune to always wear your hair up on New Year's Eve. I rung in 2004 by holding a girl's hair up while she gave the toilet more action than I received all night and I don't want it to happen again.
Don't forget your New Year's party favors.

If your 42-inch plasma isn't getting enough oohs and ahhs from your neighbors, maybe this will. The Zgiga TV 2 is a hyrbid TV/shelf unit that combines the latter with a multi-format Blu-ray/HD DVD player called the Zgiga Cube (in black). Designed by Ori Takemura, the Zgiga TV 2 just won this year's red dot design award in the design concept category. In other words, you can't buy this, which may be a good thing cause that extra wide bezel around the display kills it for me. – Louis Ramirez
Product Page [via Coolest Gadgets]

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment
It's one thing to be fashionably late, but to arrive at a party that essentially ended months ago (at least) and expect to shake things up is probably an ill-advised move. Nevertheless, Japan's ByD:sign (badged as EyeFi here in the States) is offering up a 42-inch plasma TV (PE-4202DFK) that sports a built-in digital terrestrial tuner and manages to include an HDMI input, but somehow touts a completely uninspiring 852 x 480 resolution. Just in case the rest of the specs even matter after that blow, it also features 1,500 cd/m2 brightness, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, Genesis DCDi chip, S-Video / composite, VGA, analog / optical audio, and removable 10-watt stereo speakers as well. While the lowly resolution may suit your Wii playing needs just fine, you won't enjoy any crisp HD DVDs or Blu-rays in their full, unadulterated glory here, and at a whopping ¥170,000 ($1,430), you can do a whole lot better for your money anyway. 
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We have to hand it to Muslix64. Not only did he have the brains to break HD DVD's AACS protection, but he made a damn fine video demoing his feat. In honor of Muslix64's accomplishment, we've rounded up our 5 all-time favorite hacker videos. Some hacks are more complicated than others, but we're basing it on the video itself and not so much the hack. Make sure to vote for your favorites in the comments section.
Topping our list is...



1) HD DVD's AACS Protection Cracked
I don't know if it's the soundtrack or the fact that someone proved those DRM knuckleheads in Hollywood wrong (again), but this video is simply put, amazing.


2) Wiimote Controlled Smarthome
If this doesn't make you wanna buy a Wii, I don't know what will. Major props to LiquidIce for putting this lengthy video together along with the accompanying Euro-techno soundtrack.


3) Gutted Teddy Bear Reincarnated Inside Robosapien...

The average consumer. It's confusing enough for them to figure out that HD DVDs and Blu-rays don't work in standard DVD players, as seen in this picture taken at Wal-Mart. But how are they going to know that Blu-ray discs won't work in HD DVDs, and vice versa?
To both the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps, we just want to congratulate you all on a job well done. And you're wondering why sales of next-gen discs and players are so slow? – Jason Chen
Thanks tipster!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment
Toshiba has launched its first second generation HD DVD player, the HD-A2, but the more fully featured HD-XA2 will not see daylight until 2007. We had expected to see the player this year, but a dealer's post on AVS Forum indicates the first shipment isn't expected to hit until January 3rd due to production delays. AV Watch confirms the player has been pushed back to January in Japan as well, while the rest of the world should still see this hardware later on in the year. DTV Tivo Dealer on AVS Forum also noted that while 1080p/24 playback -- currently only an option in a couple of Blu-ray players -- won't make launch, he is "100% sure" a future firmware upgrade within a few months will add it as an option. That puts the $999 HD-XA2 on the long list of next gen players with future firmware updates on the way, but we'd settle for it actually being available in the first place.

Read - AVS Forum
Read - AV Watch 
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Filed under: Displays, Gaming, Transportation

It's not often that companies hit it big twice in a row, but we'd say Suzuki's SXBox concept car is just as nifty (albeit in a very different manner) as its previous carpet-ready ride, the MIO. Although this is likely a case of great engineering that'll never see any real-world play, Suzuki is still tooting its own horn at the 2006 San Diego International Auto Show by letting gamers gaze at the entertainment mecca that is the SXBox. Part of the "Suzuki LIVE Series" of concept cars marketed at various realms of "enthusiasts," this whip is based on the 2007 SX4 and features a dashboard-integrated Xbox 360, which is coupled with a "close proximity digital projection system to display games or watch a HD DVD movie on the interior of the vehicle's retractable hood." Additionally, a second console is connected to two separate LCDs in the seat backs for folks riding in the rear, and there's even a retractable 30-inch rear projection sc...

They told us it was bullet-proof, unbreakable. Yet in a mere eight days, a hacker by the name of Muslix64 has managed to single-handedly break the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), the standard that Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Sony, and others developed to protect HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. The BackupHDDVD software is posted online on a Doom 9 forum thread along with the volume and title keys needed to decrypt Full Metal Jacket, Van Helsing, and a few other popular HD DVD titles. Time to, er, back up those movies. – Louis Ramirez
Doom 9 Forum