Filed under: Home Entertainment

We know that AACS, the DRM shared by HD DVD and Blu-ray, is touted as being practically unbreakable and impenetrable -- much like its predecessor CSS (and we all know how well that went). Last week we saw the launch of BackupHDDVD the first tool claiming to break down AACS, but a lot of people were left wondering -- us included -- exactly what does it do? Does BackupHDDVD really actually crack AACS? Well, yes and no. With the release of version 1 of the app today, muslix64, the app's author, helped out by shedding a bit of light about exactly how this thing works. (We'll assume you know a bit about public key crypto -- if not, see here, here, and here.) One of the tenets to advanced crypto and this particular DRM system is key revocation, which for AACS means that as soon as a content publisher or industry group gets wind of some funny business, they can revoke crypto keys and push an update down the line that basically invalidates whole grou...

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless

Okay, so we had a sneaking suspicion that this whole "uncompressed streaming of high definition video sans wires" was a bit too good to come true at CES 2006, but once again AMIMON is promising to showcase its WHDI (wireless high definition interface) at next week's Vegas extravaganza. Providing a little backbone to the claim is Sanyo, which is slated to showcase the "world's first wireless HD projector" using AMIMON's technology. The demo will utilize a yet-to-be-named Sanyo PJ and will reportedly beam unadulterated imagery via an "802.11a/n RFIC chipset" from an HD DVD player without the help of wires, and the quality should look exactly the same as if you were using a DVI / HDMI cable. Current developer platforms allow connections from any device outputting in HDMI, component, S-Video, composite, or VGA, and WDHI operates in a "5GHz unlicensed band" which enables video streaming "of up to 3Gbps" from 100 feet away...

Just as everyone expected, Toshiba's HD-XA2 is ready for a January release. How ready? Well, they're already in stores.
Reader Pete's neighborhood Value Electronics got in about 200 in two days, and they've all surprisingly been sold out. Really? $999 HD DVD players are that hot right now? How will that affect the cheaper HD DVD players we're expecting next week at CES? – Jason Chen
Value Electronics - Thanks Pete!

Despite Sony's "official" statement that their BDP-S1 standalone Blu-Ray player only uses similar parts to the Pioneer BDP-HD1, there's been more than a few similarities noted in their reviews. The Pioneer and the Sony players all have the same format support, menus, disc drives, back panels, and load times. Now, with the release of The Descent they crash and burn in exactly the same way.
Reason? Both players don't support BD-J (Java enhanced discs), which is what Lionsgate produced The Descent in. Gee, if people are having a hard time telling DVDs from Blu-Ray and HD DVDs, how do you think they'll react when you tell them their player won't support BD-J discs? The PS3 plays back these discs just fine, and Sony's said they will release a firmware update to upgrade to BD-J support "sometime early this year". – Jason Chen
'The Descent' Playback Problems Reported on Sony and Pioneer Blu-ray Players [HighDefDigest]

•Toshiba to Roll Out Cheaper HD DVD Players Next Week?
•Avis Bringing WiFi to Their Rental Cars
•LG DN191H Upconverting DVD/DivX Player Hands-On
•Walletex Credit Card-Sized MP3 Player
•A Man 32-Years Removed from Television Buys First HDTV, Tells Tale
Comment of the Day: Avis Bringing WiFi to Their Rental Cars
"Great, now [My Company] will have a reason to not even get me a hotel room. I can see it now: 'your car gets internet, just sleep in there'."--CaptainRoin

At a price of under $100—and possibly under $80 if you look in the right place—the LG DN191H is a pretty thrifty option for upconverting your old media. With an HDMI connection (not component), the 191 will play back DVDs at up to 1080i, provided you've got an HDTV.
It's slim, light, and it looks quite stylish next to either a black or silver HDTV. The buttons are all on top, and discs are tray-loaded (some box shots may erroneously say it's slot loaded). However, the remote is somewhat unintuitive, and requires some getting used to. For example, if you put in a disc of DivX files and pictures, the player will load the picture list first and you have to press the "return" button to get to the movie listing. This isn't written on the remote itself—you'll have to find it on screen.
But the performance is pretty impressive for such a cheap player.
On our test 46-inch DLP set, the upconverted DVDs looked noticeably better than standard DVDs, as you'd ...

Toshiba is taking the gloves off next week at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where the company might introduce a third line of HD DVD players that will be even cheaper than its current versions. Toshiba chief Yoshihide Fujii offers this tantalizing hint: "At first I thought the price threshold is $499. Maybe coming next is $399 and after that is $299."
Perhaps Fujii isn't aware that Toshiba's much-improved HD-A2 player (pictured above), released a couple of months ago, can now be found on the web for $399. But that $299 price could be a number that opens the floodgates for HD DVD player sales. We'll be at Toshiba's CES press conference on January 7, and we'll bring you details as they happen. – Charlie White
Toshiba Plans HD DVD Push [PC World]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Engadgetdamus bids you greetings; in the wake of 2006, many questions from this time last year still remain unanswered. Which console will come out on top? And how will that weigh in on the next-gen optical war between Blu-ray and HD DVD? When will we just start downloading everything -- from games to TV shows -- so we can be done with all these messy physical formats? Will we finally get the Optimus keyboard? Will Apple get it over with and finally release a wireless widescreen video iPod and/or cellphone? We want as much as anyone to know what 2007 will bode for technology, but only you can channel your inner Engadgetdamus. Indulge yourself and lay down your best predictions for MMVII.

See also: predictions for 2005 and 2006. 
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