ASUS M2A-VM-HDMI: Asustek to launch motherboards with high definition interface support Asustek Computer has said that starting next month, they would start offering motherboard products with built in interface support for high definition content. This would bring support for both the Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD formats. This new motherboard ASUS M2A-VM-HDMI would feature a HDMI (high definition [...]

Taking the axe to their entire HD-DVD line-up, Toshiba revealed yesterday that the company will significantly reduce the price of their HD-DVD players as of April 1. No, this is not an April Fool’s ...

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

HD nerds and Xbox fanboys, the moment you've been waiting for: the Xbox 360 Elite we alerted you about way back when it was just called the Zephyr has finally been announced. As we previously mentioned, it will be black, it will have HDMI, and it will have a 120GB drive (it'll also come bundled with a one month Xbox Live trial) for $479. Unfortunately, also as mentioned before, it's not going to have the new 65nm CPUs, it still doesn't have integrated WiFi (Xbox said it's because a study showed the majority of their customers use Ethernet to connect -- huh?), and it won't have an integrated HD DVD drive (not that we expected otherwise). Microsoft did make some marketing decisions since our sources spilled the beans on this thing though: it's not going to be limited edition, as we previously had. Instead, the Elite will be a permanent SKU, the third and top-tier Xbox device. On the solo 120GB drive side of things, that unit will cost $...

I don't know if this is a tragic sign of Microsoft giving in, but the Xbox UK head Neil Thompson said that Microsoft is opening up the possibility of supporting Blu-ray on the 360 someday. Thompson told the BBC: Whatever format wins it is highly likely we will offer a solution. The only debate is if you want to watch Blu-ray movies and pay the extra money for that feature. We prefer to offer the consumer choice. So, Blu-ray DVDs are outselling HD DVDs, Microsoft is offering up Blu-ray support on the 360 in the future, possibly and prices are dropping on Blu-ray players. Is an end to this war on the horizon? –Travis Hudson
Microsoft Admits Xbox 360 Blu-Ray Support Possible [Via Kotaku]

Go to the fridge and grab a can of Powerade, this will be a long read. The complete list of extras on the HD-DVD release of The Matrix Trilogy has been published. The Complete Matrix Trilogy, the ...

A lot of announcements have been coming out at the CeBit expo in Hanover, as with any large consumer electronics show. The latest releases regarding the next generation dvd format are internal and external drives for your PC, laptop, game console, what have you. First we start with Samsung’s external Blu-ray burner, which I have [...]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

It's been a busy week for CableCARD HTPCs. First we caught the Dell XPS 410 preview prior to spotting an unofficial announcement in the AVS Forum that Velocity Micro would be shipping their CableCARD HTPC this week. Now we struck gold (we think) with the first official CableCard-ready Vista HTPCs now shipping from Niveus. As of today, both the Niveus Summit Series ($3,199 Rainier and $7,999 Denali) and Pro Series ($7,999 n7 and $15,999 n9) ship with HD DVD options and hot-blooded HD CableCARD-support. Keyword: "support," meaning you still have to spring an additional $1,499 to get the separate Digital Cable Receiver box with 2x CableCARD receivers like we saw at CES. You'll also have to track down a local dealer to bring home the Pro or Denali models but at least the Rainier is available online and shipping in 2-3 weeks. As always with CableCARD, there's still a piece that's unclear: the CableCARD receiver still show...

Audio is hard. There are lots of wires and plugs and swearing. That's why HDMI receivers, with their promises of audio and video over one cord, make us so excited.
For today's Frankenfight, two 7.1 HDMI receivers compete for that special place in our heart home theater. Onkyo's TX-SR674 is a worthy contender, but how will it fare against Denon's AVR-2307CI? Hit the jump to find out what the experts at CNET, Sound & Vision, AV Guide, Home Theater HiFi, and the Gadget Guide have to say about these two just-over-$500 systems.


Setup
The Onkyo features an automated setup system, which uses a supplied microphone to measure speaker distances, speaker levels, and to perform the Audyssey room correction. As soon as you plug the microphone in, the Onkyo goes straight into its setup menu. From there it is only a matter of following a simple set of prompts to complete the setup. (4)
One thing that I could not change was an input's name, and thus I was stuc...

When Sony announced its joint venture with NEC over a year ago (resulting in a company called Optiarc), the company said it would be creating Blu-ray and DVD drives, and may produce HD DVD drives. CeBIT was another story, where the company rolled out no less than five Blu-ray burners at the big euro-show. Will the company also offer HD DVD burners, or, heaven forbid, combo devices that can handle both HD DVD and Blu-ray? Maybe.
Topping the quintet of drives is the BD-M100A (pictured above), a 2x Blu-ray writer for desktops that can also burn single- and dual-layer DVDs. Optiarc also rolled out the BD5500A, 5500S, 5600S, and 5710S, all with the same specs (see the gallery for a full spec list) except for their laptop-sized form factor and serial ATA connectivity on the models ending with "S". Details on all these drives were murky, but pricing is said to start at 599 Euros, or $796, and they'll be available in July. – Charlie White
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Filed under: CES, Laptops, Storage

The Optiarc mashup between Sony and NEC has spawned a new brood of DVD and Blu-ray Disc drives. For HD DVD lovin' NEC already seen dabbling in dual-format underpinnings, the addition of Blu-ray Disc drives to their product roster is a notable development in the format war and yet another possible sign of Blu-ray's emerging dominance. No less than four new Blu-ray devices for laptops were launched at CeBIT: the BD-5710S, the BD-5600S, the BD-5500S, and the BD-5500A. The BD-5500A (pictured above) writes at 2x to both single- and dual-layer BD-R, 2x BD-RE DL, 4x DVD-R DL and reads BD at 2x. Also notable is the AD-7191A 20x DVD burner which is also capable of 12x DVD-RAM, 8x DVD±R DL/+RW and 6x DVD-RW. With Sony owning 55% of the joint venture, we're not holding our breath for Optiarc HD DVD drives anytime soon. All the drives are expected to hit in the July timeframe. 
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