CE Pro magazine has posted "10 Popular MDU Products" which shows solutions for multi-dwelling units (MDU), housing complexes and gated community housing projects. One of my favorite installation products, the DIRECTV SWM-8 Single Wire Multiswitch, has made the list. Here's a preview:
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Amazon.com has launched it's Amazon Video On Demand service for movies and TV shows. You can now choose from thousands of movies and commercial-free TV shows to watch from your PC or Mac, no downloading required! They even have new Fall TV shows that you can watch before they premier on TV!
I will give the new service a try and report back here later this week. You can check it out now as there's some great content to choose from including hours many worth of free content. Let us know what you think of Amazon's new Video On Demand service.
Well it certainly seems that way according to an article in the Hollywood Reporter that quotes sources from Toshiba. Jodi Sally, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, was
quoted as saying
"Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value
proposition for consumers, particularly in light of its recent price
reductions on all HD DVD players." Another HD DVD source is quoted as saying “An announcement is coming soon, It could be a matter of weeks.”
It's unfortunate but not surprising given the hundreds of millions of dollars that Sony's Blu-ray camp has thrown at the movie studios.
Earlier this week, Netflix and Best Buy announced their support for Blu-ray. You can also look to Amazon.com who is offering 50% off HD DVD's and other online retailers that have or will follow.
Well, another CES has come and gone and I'm still recovering. The early numbers show the attendance was down from about 150,000 last year to about 140,000 this year. Really? I didn't notice, the show 
seemed more crowded and bigger than ever, covering over 8 football fields! There was so much to see and no matter how long you're there, it's still tough to see and touch everything. There really wasn't much this year that stood out and grabbed me. Yes, I laughed at Bill Gates final Keynote address, drooled over Panasonic's 150" Plasma TV that would require a crane to lift it into place, Kid Rock and the new Corvette ZR1, Comcast's new FREE VOD website Fancast, XStreamHD, Logitech's SqueezeBox Duet...actually, there was some cool stuff to see this year.
Here's some more great CES 2008 Wrap Ups:
About.com
Best of CES 2008
CNET CES 2008 Wrap Up
Home Audio Wrap Up
Home Video Wrap Up
HDTV Wrap Up
Computers Wrap Up
Emerging Technologies Wrap Up
Car Tech Wrap Up
Portable Wrap Up
Cell Phone & Smart Phone Wrap Up
DigitalCameraReview.com
CES 2008 Wrap-Up
Earth2Tech
CES Green Gadget Wrap Up
Engadget
CES 2008: Everything you must see
The Best of Crapgadget
Engadget HD
CES 2008: The Best and worst of HD
CES 2008: The Best of Set Top Boxes
CES 2008: The Best of LCD TV HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Plasma HDTVs
CES 2008: The Best of Blu-ray Players
GearLog
Best of CES 2008
Gizmodo
Best of CES 2008
Mahalo
Everything CES 2008
CES 2008 Videos
PC Magazine
Best of CES 2008
popgadget
CES - It's a wrap
Tech Digest
CES 2008: The 50 Hottest Products
CNET has posted it's annual Best of CES Award winners. The winners range from a
green eco friendly TV to
DIY gadgets. Check it out...
Over 10,000 CNET members also voted on the People's Voice Award winners in each CE category.
You can also watch a video of the awards here.
Earl over at DBSTalk has posted what appear to be official brochure scans for DirecTV's long anticipated, at least 2 years long, USB HDPC-20 PC Tuner. The dual tuner receiver will allow you to use your PC as a DVR while watching DirecTV programming, hopefully in HD although the brochure makes no mention of it. I'm guessing yes by the model number but we'll have to wait for more info to leak/surface from DirecTV. It looks like only support for Vista Media Center PC's, no word on Mac support just yet.
Could it be true, Cable TV subscribers might one day soon be able to ditch the big ugly box sitting atop of their TV or in their entertainment center? Well thats the prediction made today by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts during his keynote address at CES. He predicts that by the end of the year, "virtually the entire cable industry will support Tru2way," which is an open cable standard developed by CableLabs. Initial partners include Motorola, TiVo, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Cisco Systems, and Sun Microsystems.
If Tru2Way really works as advertised, when a consumer buys a device with tru2way, they can bring it
home, plug
it in, and get all interactive cable
services available from a
traditional set-top box. Wouldn't that be something? Now there's something for DIRECTV and Dish Network to think about...
Logitech unveiled the Logitech® Squeezebox™ Duet network music system, extending
the promise of the award-winning Squeezebox products, which allow
people to access and listen to the music they love in any room of their
home. The new Squeezebox Duet system offers an innovative controller,
which includes a full-color LCD screen, and a compact receiver –
enabling people to wirelessly browse, select and play their digital
music on their existing stereo speakers anywhere in the home – even
when their computer is off.
With the Logitech Squeezebox Duet network music
system, music lovers can listen to their personal digital music
collection, Internet radio and subscription services on their
home-entertainment system in their living room, the stereo system in
their bedroom, even on the mini-system in their kitchen – anywhere they
have audio gear. And with the Squeezebox Duet controller, listeners can
control their digital music from the palm of their hand. Read more...
XStreamHD, setting a new standard for the delivery and distribution
of Full HD entertainment to the home, today announced strategic
partnerships with two recognized pioneers of high-definition
technology, DTS, Inc. (DTS) and Seagate Technology® (NYSE: STX).
XStreamHD will provide the first-ever transport network
to deliver
high-definition movies and music directly to the home - offering up to
7.1 channels of DTS-HD Master Audio™, and featuring Seagate's
purpose-built DB35 Series™ hard drives with up to an incredible one
terabyte (TB) of storage, allowing consumers to use up to 2TB of
storage in one solution. The XStreamHD solution will be unveiled for
the first time at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January
7-10.
"As our name implies, XStreamHD is about bringing the highest resolution audio and video to the home with unmatched quality and convenience. We are thrilled to offer our customers the clarity and dynamic range provided by DTS-HD Master Audio, along with the unparalleled storage capacity offered by Seagate, to advance the home theater experience," said George Gonzalez, Founder and CEO of XStreamHD.
XStreamHD will offer affordable access to HD movies, music, broadcast TV, electronic games, and more with unmatched quality and convenience - without the limitations of program schedules or physical media.
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