$168,000 Harion speaker set crafted from heat-resistant glass, fairy dust

We're pretty sharp on the fairy dust market, and while it no doubt goes for a premium in certain parts of the world, there's still a serious surcharge being added in here for transparency. Japan's own Hario is catering yet again to the affluent among us with its Harion speaker set, which boasts a subwoofer, two mid-range drivers and a pair of acrylic tweeters -- all encased in heat-resistant glass. Of course, the company is no stranger to pumping out exclusive glass-based kit and charging a wad for it, as this particular package will run customers a staggering 16 million yen, or just north of $168,000. Oh, but if you and ten others dial in right now, they can be produced and sold for just 10 million yen each ($105,030). Economies of scale, now that's good stuff.
[Via: Gearlog ]

Black Friday Giveaways : Universal Remote's URC Digital R50 over at Engadget HD!

Our main cats over at Engadget HD are getting into the Black Friday giveaway game with us, and they've got a button-festooned R50 up for grabs! If you're down to get some more free stuff, truck on over there and get your comments in.
[Via: Engadget ]

• Official RED Scarlet and EPIC pics are sure to induce drool [Updated with OMG]

Netgear Digital Entertainer Elite media streamer says hello to the FCC

Netgear returns with the Digital Entertainer Elite network media streamer taking an early peek from cover to go through its paces at the FCC test center. Two years after the EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD, the EVA9000 model adds support for a 3.5-inch SATA internal HDD, 802.11n and more to its predecessor's lengthy list of features. The leaked spec comparison after the break reveals AVI, XviD, DivX and h.264 decoding returning plus Dolby True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, MKV, TS, M2TS file support that should chew through any HD files you've got and then some. Why wait for an official announcement, shipping date or price? The FCC already had its fun, so check out the PDFs for a full manual plus pictures inside & out, then once this box hits the stage at CES just pretend like you never saw it with the cover off.
[Pictures via AVSForum]

[Via: Engadget ]

• Target gift card for the holidays multitasks as adorable digital camera

2Wire-built MediaPoint Blockbuster movie set-top-box now on sale

We heard that Blockbuster's very own movie set-top-box would be on sale shortly, and for couch potatoes and cube dwellers alike, you can order yours right now from the comfort of your dilapidated sofa / Aeron, respectively. As we'd heard, you'll be asked to rent 25 On Demand movies for $99, after which you'll get the MediaPoint player for free. Not quite sure if that's really pulling the wool over anyone's eyes, but color us completely unsurprised that a company in such dire straights would risk embarrassment to give it a shot. So, is anyone going to buy in here, or is that "Order Now!" button going to sit unclicked forever?
[Thanks, Robert]
[Via: Engadget ]

• Keian Japan P71-A2-JP: part photo printer, part photo frame, all modern marvel

Hitachi introduces trio of ultra-bright projectors

Hitachi's latest trifecta wasn't designed for your surely swank abode per se, but we suppose those with enough cash and willpower can do anything they darn well please. That said, the CP-X10000 (1,024 x 768), CP-WX11000 (1,280 x 800) and CP-SX12000 (1,400 x 1,050) can all handle professional (read: lit) settings with ease, featuring 7,500 / 6,500 / 7,000 lumens, respectively. The whole lot also boasts a 2,500:1 contrast ratio, 10-bit signal processor, HDMI / BNC connectors, Ethernet, an RS-232 control port and a lamp good for 10,000 maintenance-free hours. Mum's the word on price, but don't worry, these are going on the corporate card anyway.
[Via: I4U News ]

• Sigma acquires Feveon, maker of the X3 image sensor

Able Planet headphones cancel out bothersome noise of life so you can get into your game

If you love gaming at loud volumes (who doesn't) but don't love the idea of going deaf by the time you're 35 years old, Able Planet might have something to help you out. Their new PS500MM gaming headphones -- developed with technology that was originally used for the moderately hearing-impaired -- are supposedly ultra-noise-canceling, which should free you from the need to crank up the volume just to compete with background noise. They're $99 and available for order now, so you'll probably want to get over there asap, unless, like us, you destroyed your hearing years ago listening to Use Your Illusion II.

[Via: Engadget ]

• Purported Dell 23-inch SP2309 LCD monitor leaked, tasty specs and all

Live NFL broadcast to air in 3D as "proof of concept"

As the NFL gobbles up even more market share in the United States, it follows logic to see the next big in-home entertainment push side with it in order to garner attention. With every company and its third subsidiary twice removed trying to shove 3D into the home, we'd say starting with the NFL is a brilliant move. In a closed-to-the-public "proof of concept" demonstration, next week's matchup between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders will air live in 3D to select theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Boston. Third-dimension mainstays 3ality Digital and RealD will play critical roles in the delivery, though it remains unclear what exactly the NFL and 3D backers in general plan to do afterwards. If you'll recall, this isn't the first pro sporting event this year that was beamed in 3D to nearby theaters, but we can't think of anything more appealing than 300-pound gentleman crushing each other just inches from your retinas.

[Via: Engadget ]

• Panasonic unveils new 11 Series plasma displays in Germany

HANNspree's 28-inch 1080p HT09 LCD HDTV comes to America for $500

Just in time for brands like Vizio, Panasonic, Sony and Sanyo to undercut it on Black Friday, HANNspree has swooped in and delivered its bedroom-sized 1080p LCD HDTV to the great lands of North America. The set, which was made available a few months prior in the UK, claims to be the planet's first 28-inch "1080p" HDTV, with a native 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, two HDMI ports, a VGA socket, integrated ATSC / NTSC / Clear QAM tuner, 3-millisecond response time, 3,000:1 contrast ratio, stereo speakers (5-watts x 2), audio in / out ports and an Energy Star 3.0 sticker for good measure. Not too shabby for $499.99, and we'd count on finding it even cheaper given the current level of competition in the sector.
[Via: Engadget ]

• Pioneer's 37-inch KRL-37V KURO LCD reviewed: other LCDs should be scared

Slacker radio added to Sony BRAVIA Internet Video Link

If you've found yourself dumbfoundedly staring at your Bravia Internet Video Link-equipped HDTV thinking "when am I going to see some Slacker radio up in this piece?" -- you're in luck. Sony announced today that it would be bringing the streaming service to users of the company's $300 hardware add-on free of charge, allowing music hounds to grab "millions" of songs on over "100 individually programmed genre music stations" in CD-quality audio. The service joins other streaming content like YouTube and Amazon, and will be available immediately. So... why are you still reading this?

[Via: ZatzNotFunny ]

• Samsung titillates with transparent and 0.05mm 'flapping' OLED panels
• Nikon Coolpix P6000 reviewed, not all that cool
• Epson Imaging Devices introduce a-TFT displays that play well in sunlight or darkness
• Shinoda's 125-inch curved plasma to hit assembly lines by May, all 7.9-pounds of it
• Swarovski-coated webcam: because everything should be shiny
• European ROLLED project promises to print OLEDs on the cheap

Netflix ceases HD DVD shipments on December 15th

In a move shocking to absolutely no one, Netflix has confirmed that very soon they will no longer be offering HD DVD movies for rental through their system. The official date is set for December 15th. For those who have already queued movies up and may still have them queued in HD DVD format, Netflix will be substituting regular DVDs for those.

Since the “death” of HD DVD, many companies that adopted early, including Netflix, have been wondering what to do with the inventory they'd acquired that was quickly becoming useless. Netflix isn't mentioning if they will be selling off their HD DVDs, particularly since they plan to stop selling used DVDs in the near future as well. They might end up just trashing all the media, which could be costly.
[Via: Justin Mann ]

• NEC introduces 22-inch MultiSync P221W LCD monitor
• SMART pulls the cloth off multitouch table for school kids
• New Kodak OLED material promises longer life, better colors
• Canon PowerShot G10 reviewed
• AUO debuts 15-inch multi-touch panel, screens aplenty
• E Ink's AM300 developer's kit gets shown off on video

Chinese pirates offering cheap AVCHD Blu-ray rips on disguised DVD-Rs

Just last week we heard that Warner Bros. was ending its home video / DVD business in South Korea due to rampant piracy, and now we've got a report from China suggesting that sophisticated pirates are duping buyers with faux Blu-ray Discs that are actually DVDs. As the story goes, movie pirates in select parts of Asia are ripping bona fide BDs and then burning them in AVCHD format (which uses 720 horizontal lines of resolution compared to Blu-ray's 1,080) on writable DVDs. Word on the street has it that these discs are being offered for around $7 each, and they even boast the BD hologram and the iconic blue hues on the packaging. Reportedly, none of the discs have made it outside of Asia just yet, but stay sharp should you ever get the urge to snag a discounted BD title while traveling abroad.
[Via: Engadget ]

• Parrot intros Specchio WiFi photo frame with NFC
• Kids-on with the SMART Table
• BenQ's M2400HD 24-inch LCD hits Japan next month
• CineMassive OmegaPlex: 27.6 million pixels for $12,995
• eMagin's SXGA OLED-XL microdisplay: perfect for night vision goggles, HMDs
• SNL does multitouch comedy to perfection with CNN's 'Magic Map'

Wireless ButtKicker kit ready to rumble your posterior

Earlier this year, we were fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on perspective) enough to get our rumps on one of the famed ButtKickers. For those unaware, these devices are meant for installation underneath a seat or sofa in order to provide chair-rumbling effects to help you "feel" the film. Now, the Guitammer Company is making them even easier to install by cutting the wires, bringing low frequency audio transducers just inches from your derriere without any cords necessary. The above pictured kit will go on sale next Friday (yes, that's Black Friday for you Americans) for under $300 on Amazon -- are you really ready to rumble?
[Via: Engadget ]

• LG demos 15-inch double-sided LCD
• Mitsubishi's 65-inch LaserVue HDTV undergoes further testing
• Sony's 0.3mm OLED gets all bent at CEATEC
• KDDI shows off Samsung-made 3.1-inch WVGA OLED display, 3D LCD panel
• Samsung CX-2233GW monitor impresses us with... nothing, actually
• Asus outdoes itself with new 24, 25.5-inch displays

Memorex MVBD-2510 Blu-ray player hits $139.99 (but not for long)

Okay, so maybe Memorex's Profile 1.1 MVBD-2510 was only $269 from the get-go, but busting through the unofficial $150 price barrier is a pretty big deal for Blu-ray. Granted, we're totally expecting a few more to join the fold come Black Friday, but who's not all about buying from the comfort of one's home versus braving frigid temperatures only to catch eight airborne diseases and shave 2.85 years from your life due to statistically significant levels of stress on a day off? Bottom line: $139.99 for a BD deck is pretty darn cheap (even for Woot's standards), and even if there's no BD-Live support baked in, it'll still handle the 1080p basics. Order now, debate later.

[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: bd, blu-ray, blu-ray player, Blu-rayPlayer, deal, deals, Memorex, MVBD-2510, MVBD2510, profile 1.1, Profile1.1, sale, woot ]

Universal Remote reveals $149 URC Digital R50

Back at CEDIA, you witnessed the best Universal Remote Control had to offer for the high-end and custom-install market, but the outfit's latest caters to the commercial crowd. Hailed as its new flagship unit for the consumer retail channel, the URC Digital R50 features a backlit, customizable color screen, PC-free setup, an IR blaster, support for up to 18 home theater components, an ARM7 microprocessor and backlit buttons for good measure. The unit gets powered by four AA cells and weighs just nine ounces with the batteries installed, and for those who are already drooling, you can snap it up now through major retailers for $149.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: digital R50, DigitalR50, infrared, IR, r50, remote, remote control, RemoteControl, universal remote, universal remote control, UniversalRemote, UniversalRemoteControl, URC, URC DIGITAL R50, UrcDigitalR50 ]

Hawaiian analog TV shutoff to come early, saving God's creatures

Technological progress marches forward, assimilating all those who resist -- we know this well in our line of work, but sometimes you've got to stand up and say, "The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!" Take the digital TV transition in the United States for example: all the analog TV signals will be shut off in February. It won't be pretty, but it'll be progress. Hawaii, though, has a dilemma: it just so happens that the analog towers that'll be torn down are awfully close to the nests of the state's adorable and endangered petrel birds, whose nesting season also occurs in February. Hence Hawaii's digital switch will occur a month early on January 15th, so you 17,000 affected Hawaiians have that much less time to grab converter boxes, or you'll end up watching the next season of Lost in person on your beautiful beaches instead of your ancient tube televisions.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: 2009, analog shutoff, analogshutoff, digital transition, digital tv, digitaltransition, digitaltv, dtv, endangered species, endangeredspecies, hawaii ]

Toshiba, Viewsonic launch new widescreen projectors

Those in the market for a business / education-minded projector certainly aren't hurting for options these days, but if you somehow still haven't found one to your liking, you may want to consider one of these new models from Toshiba and Viewsonic. At about four pounds apiece, they're reasonably portable, and pack the same WXGA resolution along with some other similar specs across the board, including a 600:1 contrast ratio and 2,220 ANSI lumens on the Toshiba TLP-WX1000U, and a 500:1 contrast ratio and 2,000 lumens on the Viewsonic PJ359w. The Viewsonic also adds HDMI 1.3 connectivity to the mix, not to mention a short-throw lens, though you'll have to decide for yourself if that's worth the higher $1,299 list price or not, compared to just $959 for the Toshiba.

[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: pj359w, projector, tlp-wx1000u, toshiba, viewsonic ]

Kairen's Projector X Pro920M is small, but not impressively so

The tiny projector craze has really been heating up as of late, and the introduction of the Kairen Projector X Pro920M only promises to increase the insanity. Measuring a diminutive 3.5 x 1.73 x 3.15-inches (not nearly as small as some), we hear it's got 10 lumens of brightness, a contrast ratio of 100:1, and a resolution of 640 x 480. The little projector... um, projects a 25-inch image from of a distance of up to 1 meter. It's going to be on sale in January 2009 in Japan for $400, and we can only hope it makes its way to North America at some point. Until that happens, we'll just have to make do in our wasteland of medium-sized projectors.
[Via: CrunchGear ] [Tag: kairen, pocket, pocket projector, PocketProjector, Pro920M, projector, projector x pro920M, ProjectorXPro920m ]

Silicon Mountain's Allio: 42-inch HDTV with built-in PC / Blu-ray player

Talk about putting all of your eggs in one basket. Silicon Mountain has evidently taken a note from Lumenlab with its incredibly multifaceted Allio. For starters, the 42-inch set arrives with a full-blown PC within, including an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive and Windows Vista Home Premium. You'll also find a smorgasbord of inputs, a number of USB ports, wired / wireless networking options and a 1080p panel; speaking of the TV itself, it features a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, 400 cd/m2 brightness and twin 12-watt speakers. On top of all that, the California-assembled unit even includes a slim-line Blu-ray player, theoretically beating both Sharp and Funai to the market with Blu-ray-infused HDTVs. As of now, six different configurations are available (including a 32-incher) starting at $1,599, and the company is planning on offering "low-cost" versions with Ubuntu in the near future. Head on past the break for the full release.
Silicon Mountain Unveils Allio™ 42-inch HDTV with Integrated PC and Blu-Ray Player
Product, First of Its Kind in North America, Now Available
Boulder, Colo. & Menlo Park, Calif. -- November 10, 2008 – Silicon Mountain Holdings, Inc., (OTCBB: SLCM), a technology company specializing in high-performance interactive computing solutions, today announced its design for a 32 and 42-inch High Definition LCD-TV with an integrated, full-function PC and Blu-Ray/DVD player. Named Allio, this system will define an entirely new category of converged products, where entertainment and instant, on-demand information and productivity blend together seamlessly, in stunning high-definition.
The Allio HD TV / PC is the first product of its kind in North America, and Silicon Mountain is the first company worldwide to develop a converged HDTV / PC solution that includes Blu-Ray. It is available now, in time for U.S. holiday purchases. Orders are being taken now at the Visionman website at http://www.visionman.com/.
Additional information on where to buy Allio will be announced soon.
The flagship Allio model marries a Full-HD 42" LCD display with a combo Blu-Ray/DVD player, integrated digital recorder for PVR and a powerful PC, based on the Intel Core2Duo E8400 processor, 4GB of RAM from Silicon Mountain, a 1TB hard drive and the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium. In addition to the analog and digital audio-video inputs common to high-def televisions, Allio includes wireless and wired networking capabilities and several USB ports to extend the experience to other computers and peripherals in the home.
Internet Video Comes to the Big Screen
Integrating the television with the Internet brings a new source of content to the digital lifestyle – Internet video. Normally confined to smaller computer monitors, streaming high definition content from providers like Joost, Hulu and TidalTV now can be accessed on the TV, in addition to popular clip sites such as YouTube. Allio's channel choices span cable, satellite and Internet for a truly converged, hybrid entertainment experience. Media libraries can be combined, shared and played from a single device. The Allio HD TV / PC enables users to store their iTunes and DVD collections on a single system.
"The Allio HD TV / PC takes the digital experience into another dimension," said Tre Cates, Silicon Mountain President and CEO. "During product development, we discovered that our testers regularly expressed disappointment in their own large screen television and home theatre configurations after using Allio for just a few hours. The results are clear. The Allio HD TV / PC experience simply suits our modern digital lifestyle better. The converged experience will boost productivity and interactive behaviors, and bring families together around the next generation of appliance, just as the early television and radio did for generations past."
Picture-in-picture and split-screen capabilities allow multiple sources of content to operate together on a single large screen. A Blu-Ray or DVD can be watched in one window, while television is viewed in another pane, with computing tasks occurring simultaneously. The uses of this split-screen capability are seemingly endless. On Sunday, a fantasy football player can watch multiple games simultaneously, while browsing NFL.com for real-time player stats and scores, while chatting on AOL Instant Messenger or Skype with other league owners. A student can watch educational programming from a satellite or cable provider while writing a paper and looking up unfamiliar terms and concepts on Wikipedia, then taking a quick break to update his or her MySpace page. A business executive can view streaming stock quotes while composing email and watching financial news.
Systems start at $1,599.99
Six configurations of The Allio HD TV / PC are available, with features and pricing to fit any budget. The entry-level 32" and 42" Allio with an Intel 2.5 GHz PDC E5200, 250GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, DVD/CD support and Vista Home Premium retails for $1,599 and $1,999. The middle system in the series adds PVR and Blu-Ray support and an upgraded 2.54 GHz Core2Duo E7200 processor for $2,199 and $2,399. The flagship Allio system ups the ante on the intermediate option, upgrading the RAM and storage to 4GB and 1TB, respectively, for $2,399 and $2,799.
For the budget-minded, Silicon Mountain plans to launch configurations based on the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system for an even lower-cost solution. Every Allio HD TV / PC model will be assembled in Northern California.
[Via: Engadget ] [Tag: all-in-one, all-in-one pc, All-in-onePc, Allio, bd, blu-ray, hdtv, HTPC, lcd hdtv, LcdHdtv, media center pc, media pc, MediaCenterPc, MediaPc, Silicon Mountain, SiliconMountain, tv pc, TvPc ]

JVC, Sensio team up on high-end consumer 3D projection system

Far from being the first (or second, or third) partnership aimed at getting 3D in the home, JVC and Sensio have jointly chosen EHX Fall 2008 to announce their loving new union. By joining forces, they're purporting to introduce the "very first high-end 3D solution available on the consumer market." Granted, this so-called solution won't be cheap nor simple, as it will require a pair of JVC's costly D-ILA projectors and a media server integrating Sensio's 3D decoding technology. At the show, the pair demonstrated the forthcoming system by utilizing two $9,000 (yes, each) DLA-RS2 beamers (pictured), though it's never stated whether or not any gaudy goggles are required for visualizing the third-dimension. At any rate, the kit won't be available until sometime in 2009, but it's quite possible we'll get a sneak peek at CES in January.
[Via: Electronic House ] [Tag: 3d, D-ILA, DLA-RS2, ehx, ehx 2008, ehx fall, Ehx2008, EhxFall, JVC, projection, projector, sensio ]

No end in sight for war of the tiniest projector

Two diminutive projectors are making their debuts in the coming days. First, Epoq Multimedia's 2.2 x 2.2 x 1.6-inch Pico Cube projector, which the company says is "about the size and weight of a hen's egg." The device packs a LCoS chip and projects VGA resolution, with a 3W LED light source for between seven and 10 ANSI brightness, an 80:1 contrast ratio and expected LED array life of 25,000 hours. The BeamBox Pocket Projector, or W-1, is nearly identical in both size and specs, though this one is "about the size of two packs of cards" and weighs just 190 grams (no weight is given for the Epoq). The Pico Cube will be available online starting mid-November to the tune of $299, while the W-1 will be available November 10th online for ?199 (about $350). Needless to say, our excitement for these products is "about the same size as something very small."
[Via: Twice ] [Tag: beambox, epoq, pico cube, pico projector, PicoCube, PicoProjector, projector, w-1 ]

Pioneer wins plasma patent case over Samsung, awarded $59.3 million

Pioneer may be licking its wounds, but at least there's one bright spot on an otherwise dark end-of-year. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall (read: patent troll heaven) recently found that "Samsung willfully infringed two Pioneer patents covering plasma display technology," leading to a settlement which involves Samsung handing Pioneer a check for $59,351,480. Samsung has yet to comment on the ruling, but it's pretty easy to imagine what it's probably thinking, wouldn't you say?
[Via: SmartHouse ] [Tag: court, lawsuit, legal, patent, patent infringement, PatentInfringement, PDP, Pioneer, plasma, samsung, Samsung SDI, SamsungSdi, settlement, sue, suit ]