First, let's go over the features that Mediaroom offers now. With a simple set-top-box, you can grab high quality HDTV that's better quality (seeing as Comcast has been compressing their HDTV shows like mad) than what you'd otherwise get on cable. If you've got two set-top-boxes, you can stream shows off of each other so you don't have to record a program twice to be able to watch it in your living room and bedroom. This feature is called DVR Anywhere, and will be available whenever operators roll it out.

You can even watch the same TV broadcast or recorded shows on your Windows PC or Xbox 360, a feature that's been announced since CES by Microsoft, but is up to the actual service provider (AT&T, BT) to roll out. In AT&T's case, it won't be available until the second-half of 2008. Update: Microsoft tells me that the details here were a bit off. The Xbox 360 support was announced at CES and will be rolled out on BT's Vision service in the future. AT&T hasn't announced Xbox 360 support. Viewing shows on a PC is something I saw demonstrated in Microsoft's labs, but I'm clarifying with Microsoft as to what it was.

This leads us to the new feature Microsoft showed off: Applications. Since IPTV is a two-way street, your Mediaroom set-top-boxes are able to pull down information from the net, leading to very interesting interactive programs that people can code up for shows. For example:

• During a boxing match, you can pull up different mics, view fighter stats, and even view/vote in polls.

• Nascar races will let you bring up the cockpit cams of your favorite driver (as long as the driver is being tracked by TNT), or listen to the pit crew shout directions.

• During a primary event, CNN allows you to bring up voting results, bios, and other information about each candidate.

And so on. These apps are coded by the shows' producers, then sold to the provider in order to enhance your viewing experience. You could even code up your own app, tack it onto Lost, and try and sell it.

No service provider currently has applications in place now, but they're lightweight and should be able to be run on set top boxes out there today. It's just a matter of your local provider getting these features from Microsoft and integrating it into their service plans. [MeidaRoom]

Panasonic SC-BT100
Wireless Home Theater System with Integrated Blu-ray Disc Player

Product Features
High Quality Picture
Combining a PHL Reference Chroma Processor with advanced P4HD imaging technology, Panasonic's original digital consumer electronics integration platform, UniPhier® reproduces crisp, natural colors that are extremely faithful
to the original movie. UniPhier® reflects the advanced encoding and authoring technologies developed by Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory (PHL) in collaboration with film industry professionals. With UniPhier® at its heart, the SC-BT100 provides a level of image and sound quality that meets Hollywood's stringent demands - so you experience movies just the way they were meant to be experienced.
*UniPhier is a trademark/a registered trade mark of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. in Japan and other countries.

PHL Reference Chroma Processor
The PHL Reference Chroma Processor up-samples (4:2:0 to 4:2:2) the color information in decoded video signals. Using unique Panasonic technology, this innovative circuit faithfully reproduces the fine details and nuances of Blu-ray video streams that have been recorded with high quality image compression system. It generates images with all the clarity and depth that BD-Video movies have to offer.

P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD)
P4HD processes more than 15 billion pixels per second and applies the optimal processing to every pixel. So that it can render progressive images superbly, expresses motion smoothly, and draws crisp diagonal lines.

Deep Color
The SC-BT100 is Deep Color ready, which means they can reproduce images with 12-bit, 4,096-step gradation. You enjoy exceptionally rich, natural-looking colors, with smooth, detailed gradation and minimal color banding.
*The TV must also be Deep Color compatible. Other TVs will display 8-bit, 256-step grada

1080/24p Playback
The SC-BT100 provides 1080/24p output. It reproduces movie images from a Blu-ray Disc in their original 24p form, with no need for conversion. You see movies in the same format used in movie theaters.
*24p stands for 24 frame/sec.
*1080/ 24p supported TV is required

Premium Sound Quality
Kelton Subwoofer
Thanks to a Kelton subwoofer, the SC-BT100 outputs deep, thunderous bass sounds that make viewing Blu-ray Discs a truly awesome entertainment experience. The Kelton subwoofer has two internal chambers. A drive unit mounted in the rear chamber vibrates the front chamber, causing a large, 10-inch Passive Radiator in the front chamber to vibrate and produce bass sounds. Because the front chamber functions as an acoustic filter, there is minimal unwanted noise. The thinness and high compliance of the passive radiator help achieve an extremely clean, powerful and responsive bass sound.

Bamboo Diaphragm Speaker
Use of rigid, low-density bamboo in the woofer and tweeter cones of the center and front speakers helps achieve a highly responsive sound. This system reproduces sounds from sources in high definition audio formats of Blu-ray disc with stunning clarity and fidelity.

Bamboo Paper
Sound Velocity (m/s) 2380 1900
Specific gravity 0.37 0.40

Vertical Symmetrical Configuration
The SC-BT100's front and center speakers feature a vertical symmetrical configuration, with the tweeter in the center and the woofers arranged directly above and below it. The sound seems to emanate from a single point. This reproduces a sound so clear and transparent that when you're listening to an orchestra, for example, you can easily pinpoint the location of each instrument.

Whisper- mode Surround
In the past, when you were watching a movie late at night with the volume turned down, the surround effect would be lost. Not with Whisper-Mode Surround. It compensates for the sound pressure level of the low-frequency component (which contains the signals that affect the surround effect), so you're enveloped in a rich surround sound even when watching movies at low volume.

Compatible for New All Audio Codec*
The SC-BT100 is compatible with the newest Dolby®TrueHD and DTS-HD™ 7.1-channel surround sound formats. Sit back and enjoy the incredibly rich, clear and faithful surround sound these high-data formats make possible.

New Medial Friendly
Integrated Universal Dock for iPod®
Just slip your iPod® into the built-in cradle and enjoy. With the BD theater system's awesome picture and sound quality, you'll love listening to the music and watching the images on your iPod®. There are no iPod® or USB cables to connect, so it's super easy and your room stays tidy and uncluttered.

iPod® Music / Video Capability
iPod® Music Playback and iPod® On-Screen Display for Music Menu
Panasonic's BD theater is a great way to listen to the music on your iPod®. The list of songs on your iPod® can be displayed on the TV screen, and you can use the remote control from the home theater or a VIERA TV to select and play them.

iPod® Video Playback
Use the iPod's screen to select a video, then sit back and enjoy awesome large-screen viewing and thunderous surround sound.
*To enjoy iPod® Video contents, please connect your home theater sound system with composite video cable.

Enjoy Multi Channel Contents of Set-top Box
Connect a set-top box to your BD theater with an optical audio cable, and you can view cable programs and other content on your large-screen TV, while enjoying 5.1-channel surround sound.
*The video output of the set-top box must be connected to the TV, and the set-top box must be connected to the SC-BT100 via an optical audio cable.

HD Networking with SD Memory Card
Linking with an HD Camcorder
The SC-BT100 can play back AVCHD-format images shot with an HD camcorder, such as the Panasonic HDC-SD9. Images recorded onto the camcorder's SD Memory Card are output directly from the SC-BT100's HDMI terminals in their original, high-quality 1920 x 1080 resolution. The SC-BT100 also provides an AVCHD Direct Navigator function that makes it easy to search for particular scenes.

Linking with a Digital Camera
The SC-BT100 can play back JPEG still images on an SD Memory Card, such as those recorded with a Lumix DMC-FX55 digital camera. The SC-BT100 can output the images to 1920 x 1080 resolution - ideal for a full-HD TV - and output them via the HDMI terminal* Using the Slideshow playback feature, you can play a music CD at the same time you're showing the photos, so viewers enjoy both beautiful images and your favorite music.
*JPEG and other still image sources converted to 1920 x 1080 resolution, while of high quality, will exhibit somewhat lower subjective image resolution than true, native 1080p full HD sources.

Easy to Use & Set-Up with VIERA LinkTM
New Seamless GUI
As the types of media continue to increase, the VIERA LinkTM capability continues to evolve. The newly enhanced VIERA LinkTM displays a menu on the TV screen, making it easier to operate the connected equipment. For example, you can display a menu with a list of the movies or music stored on your iPod®, and use the VIERA remote control unit to select one and begin playback.

Auto Theater Setup
When you connect your BD theater system to a VIERA TV via an HDMI cable, the TV settings (menu language, aspect ratio, and so on) are automatically loaded into the home theater system. This saves you the trouble of making those settings manually.
・VIERA LinkTM is a new name for EZ SyncTM.
・Not All 2008 VIERA LinkTM features are compatible with all 2006/2007 EZ SyncTM products.

Blu-ray Global Site
http://panasonic.net/blu-ray/

Blu-ray DiscTM Home Theater Sound System
SC-BT100

1. Premium Sound Quality with Full Audio Codec for Blu-ray Disc
2. High Quality Picture with Full-HD 1080p and Premium Live Experience for 7.1ch Surround with 5 Speakers
3. Enjoy Your iPod® Music and iPod® Video*1 with Integrated Universal Dock for iPod®*2
*1 iPod Video function is limited in case of connection to TV through composite Video output.
*2 Made for iPod, iPod® not included.

Home Theater Receiver
• Home Theater Mode: Total Output Power of 1250W
Front: 250W x 2 (1kHz, 6 ohms, 10% THD)
Center: 250W (1kHz, 6 ohms, 10% THD)
Surround: 125W x 2 (1kHz, 3 ohms, 10% THD)
Subwoofer: 250W (100Hz, 6 ohms, 10% THD)
• Home Theater Mode: Total Output Power of 472W
Front: 104W x 2 (120Hz - 20kHz, 6 ohms, 1 % THD)
Center: 101W (120Hz - 20kHz, 6 ohms, 1 % THD)
Surround: 34W x 2 (120Hz - 20kHz, 3 ohms, 1 % THD)
Subwoofer: 95W (45Hz - 120Hz, 6 ohms, 1 % THD)
• Digital Amplifier
• Whisper-mode Surround
• H.Bass
• Surround Enhancer
• Real Center Focus
• EQ (Flat, Heavy, Clear, Soft)
• Subwoofer Boost
• Subwoofer Level Control
• Quartz-Synthesized Digital Tuning System (AM/FM)
• AV Remote Control
• ENERGY STAR® Qualified

[BD Features]
Video Features
• PHL Reference Chroma Processor
• P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD)
• Precise Pixel Generation
• 16-Level Motion Detection with Pixel-Based Motion Adaptive
• Diagonal Processing
• Detection of 3:2 Pull-Down Progressive Processing
• i/p Conversion for 1080p* Playback
• Up-Conversion to 1080p* Playback
* HDMI connection required.
• 1080/24p Playback
• Deep Color
• 148.5MHz/12bit Video D/A Converter
• Digital Noise Reduction (3D-NR/ Integrated NR)
• Picture Mode (Normal, Soft, Fine, Cinema, User)
• Picture Adjustment (Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Color, Gamma Correction)
• Advanced Progressive Scan* (4:4:4 Signal Processing/4:3 Shrink Function/Letterbox Zoom & Shift)
* To enjoy a progressive scan picture, a TV with progressive scan capabilities must be used.
• Variable Zoom
• Multi-Format Playback (Blu-ray Disc, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW*1, DVD-R*1, DVD-R Dual Layer*1, +R*1, +R Double Layer*1, +RW*1, CD, CD-R/RW*2, MP3*3 and JPEG)

Audio Features
• Built-in Dolby®Digital Plus, Dolby®Digital True HD, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, DTS-HD Master Audio and Linear PCM
• Dolby® Pro Logic® II ( Movie, Music) (for Disc/iPod®/Digital In/FM/AM/AUX)
• DTS Neo :6 (Cinema,Music) (for Disc/iPod®/Digital In/FM/AM/AUX)
• 192kHz/24bit Audio D/A Converter
• Dynamic Range Compression

Other Media Features
• iPod® On-Screen Display for Music Menu
• iPod® Music Playback
• iPod® Video Playback
• High Definition Movie & Picture Playback via SD Memory Card Slot

Input/ Output
• 1 HDMI Terminal with VIERA LinkTM
• 1 Digital Input (Optical)
• 1 Component Video Out
• 1 Video Out
• 1 Wireless Rear Terminal
• 1 Analog Audio Input for AUX
• 1 Phone Out

Speaker System
• 5 New Satellite Speakers
• Wall Mounting Holes

Front:
• 2-1/2" Woofer x 2, 2-3/8" Cone Tweeter (Bamboo Diaphragm)
• Magnetic Shielding for Home Theater Use

Center:
• 2-1/2" Woofer x 2, 2-3/8" Cone Tweeter (Bamboo Diaphragm)
• Magnetic Shielding for Home Theater Use

Surround:
• 2-1/2" Full Range Speaker

Subwoofer
• 10 inch Passive Radiator /6-1/2 inch Woofer (Kelton Type)

*1 Discs recorded and finalized on DVD video recorders/cameras.
*2 This unit can play CD-DA format audio CD-R and CD-RW. It may not be able to play some CD-R or CD-RW due to the condition of the recording.
*3 For contents recorded on CD-R/RW media from CDs for personal use. Playability may vary depending on conditions and discs.
*Energy Star is a U.S. Registered Trademark

All three models have iPod connectivity, Bluetooth, MSN Direct, DH radio, XM and SIRIUS Satellite radio, CD and DVD-playback, as well as the advanced conversational voice recognition system. There's a 5.8-inch hi-resolution touch panel display, USB interface and SD card slot, plus maps from Tele Atlas of the US, Canada, Alaska and Hawaii. Available in June, the three models will cost $850, $1,100 and $1,200, respectively. [ecoustics.com]

It also features Bluetooth 2.0 compatibility, the ability to connect to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, 230 hours of standby, 8 hours of talk time, and 7 hours of music playing. Available for around $72. [Jabra via Newlaunches via Ubergizmo]

The musical combo can pair with more than one Bluetooth device simultaneously, so you can listen to your music from your PMP, whilst being confident you will not miss that important call about picking up more milk before you return home. The battery will supposedly allow 32hours of talk time, 26hours of speaker time and an unbelievable 600hours on standby.

That is all well and good, but did anyone at Jabra stop to think that this might not be such a great idea? Anything that serves as a headset probably is not going to be pumping out the kind of volume you would need in, say, a set of speakers. The reverse obviously stands too. Sure, Jabra may have thought of a way to control the sound output when in each form factor, but that has only occurred to me now and I'll be damned if I change this paragraph on account of the said revelation. The BT8030 will set you back a steep $235, at that price you could probably buy two independent devices that do each job better. Remember, more is better. (Specifically with regard to gadgets. This rule is not so apt when applied to life partners etc). [Technabob].

Also on display were Bluetooth micro systems including the $150 CMT-BX5BT that plays MP3 files and reads ID tags. It's pictured in the gallery, and a similar-looking model was the CMX-HX7BT, another micro component system that's satellite ready and has a digital amp with 50 watts per channel. It will retail for $300 in April.

See the gallery below for pics of these devices and more. – Charlie White

Jabra BT8010 Stereo/Mono Bluetooth Headset [slashgear]

It can also show you radar detector and caller ID info, and the company's also working on displaying GPS data such as altitude and heading. Expect to see the BT1 in time for Christmas for less than $200. Motion Research tells us turn-by-turn GPS navigation might be in the offing after the BT1's release. – Charlie White

Product Page [Motion Research, via Coolest Gadgets]

• XM/Sirius support on all models
• Direct iPod control
• USB connectivity (in case your "iPod" is a flash drive)
• Bluetooth compatibility
• Auxiliary inputs
• The awkwardly-titled "rotary commander" replacing the old and outdated volume control knob
– Karson Thompson

Next, we want to see this technology incorporated into a 1.8-inch form factor, for a drive whose capacity will dwarf the recently-announced 1.8-inch Toshiba 100GB drive that will fit perfectly into an iPod. Bring it on. – Charlie White

Fujitsu Announces 300GB Laptop Hard Drive [CrunchGear]

Now, we've made similar comments before, but is there still a market for these little hand-held GPS devices? If phones are going to be implementing GPS technology more and more, as is the case with the Helio Drift and on the Samsung m610 using Sprint's Power Vision service, why would you want to carry around yet another gadget? – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Qstarz via The Red Ferret Journal ]

The DR-BT30Q is a long needed overhaul of the bored Bluetooth headset styles of the present. Intended for use with a music phone, the DR-BT30Q look like a nice pair of headphones but support a quasi-hidden microphone as well. But why stop at cellphones? Because they are Bluetooth and non-proprietary, you can look forward to some stylish Skyping - and annoy those book readers at Starbucks without looking like a wannabe pop diva. Batteries are built-in and last 11 hours for music/voice and over 100 hours in standby. If they sound decent, we're sold. – Mark Wilson

Product Page [via jkontherun]

While the functionality is decent, letting you listen to music, make phone calls and control playback, the low max-volume and the horrible design makes you think this was actually made by blind people. Which is a shame, since we hate for great features to be wasted on something nobody wants to wear.

Take it from Colin Farrell: "woof woof". He's not talking about Miami Vice. – Jason Chen

When Wireless Ain't All It's Cracked Up to Be [mp3.about.com]

Even though MacMice has designed this latest Bluetooth pointing device from scratch, it somehow, like all of its other products, looks to us like a butt crack. We also can't help but notice the way the mouse appears to be humping its charger.

Anyway, the company says the Mouse BT II's small scrolling wheel, which works with both Macs and PCs, is highly precise, and gives you a "silky smooth feel." Cop your silky smooth feel for $70. – Charlie White

The Mouse BT II Product Page [MacMice]

Since it's Bluetooth-based, you can sync the phone with your PC, transfer contacts and all that jazz.

The Glide comes with an assortment of goodies, like its color screen, copious amount of ringtones and an answering machine. Yes, truly awesome. It's available now for about $330. Act now, though, since the price shoots up about $40 once July 31 hits and then you just might be overpaying for a landline phone, Bluetooth or not. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [BT Shop via Gadget Candy]

Skype Goes Mobile... Sort Of

Voice over IP telephony provider Skype has developed a large and fanatical following, attracted by its ease of use and call quality. The free calls don't hurt, either — leading to plenty of questions along the lines of: "When will I be able to use Skype on my cell phone?" Which really translates to: "I want free calls on my cell phone." Add in the emergence of mobile handsets with Wi-Fi connections, and there is a growing clamor for Skype-like cheap rates on mobile phones.

There are already some solutions for the impatient, including Skype Wi-Fi phones, and kludgy hardware workarounds that require you to either stay within Bluetooth range of your PC or get a second phone with free incoming calls. For anything but expensive international calls, the savings seem hardly worth the effort.

Skype does (or at least did before its purchase by eBay) have its eye on mobile. It's already got a Pocket PC client, it's got a deal to be pre-installed on i-Mate PDAs, and its CEO has made vague statements about coming out with further smartphone versions of its software.

In the short term, though, most people aren't going to see Skype on a cell phone, let alone use it. There are technical issues: processors in phones aren't powerful enough for VoIP, and even 3G networks have too much latency and not enough bandwidth in most cases. But more pressing are the financial issues: a cell phone company will never sell you a phone — which they've subsidized — that allows users an easy way to make free calls. And, of course, the fact remains that for most people, charges for cellular data remain so high that using it to make "free" Skype calls is pretty pointless.

But even if you never intend to use Skype on your mobile phone, that doesn't mean you won't reap some of the benefits. The downward pressure Skype and other VoIP networks is exerting on call costs is forcing cell phone companies to figure out how they can utilize the technology themselves to reduce prices, but still get people to pay a premium to use the wide coverage of the mobile network — a clear advantage over trying to use a patchwork of WiFi hotspots for coverage.

There's a few different ways this will happen. The first is Skype-like free calling to users on the same network, like with Verizon's IN plan, or the free mobile-to-mobile calls on other US carriers. The second is another different way of billing, pioneered by O2's Genion service in Germany. This lets users pick a "home zone" — an area usually defined as that served by a certain cell base station and maybe a few adjacent ones — where they get free or cut-rate calls. Some of O2's German rivals have started their own versions, hoping to offer users an alternative to high landline prices, but offering a cheap, integrated service that's cheap enough so people won't turn to SkypeOut or something similar when they're at home.

In the UK, fixed provider BT has taken the idea of fixed-mobile convergence a step further with its Fusion service. It sells users a DSL connection along with a router and a mobile phone with some special software on it. The phone works as a normal GSM handset outside the home, but when within range, it connects to the router via Bluetooth and sends calls over the DSL line instead of the mobile network, at a lower cost.

BT, being a landline phone company, didn't implement everything perfectly the first time around, but plans to launch with 20 new handsets next year that use WiFi instead of Bluetooth, and it's inevitable that more carriers will offer converged services in 2006. Nokia's recently announced E-series phones feature VoWiFi technology for connecting to corporate wireless PBX systems; consumer devices that connect to home WiFi access points and make calls using the Unlicensed Mobile Access standard aren't far behind.

Will you ever have a Skype mobile phone? That's very doubtful. But there's a good chance there will be a number of devices and services on sale by the end of next year that will go some way towards merging the convenience and coverage of a cell phone with the cheap calls of Skype. The mobile equivalent of free Skype-to-Skype calls is already here, if the person you're calling uses the same cell company as you do. All of the services you'd have to pay for to make Skype a real phone replacement — SkypeIn, voicemail, and so on — are already included in pretty much every phone plan. If mobile carriers can offer cheap calls from home — even just cheap international calls, given the steadily declining price of national calls here in the US — they'll have usurped much of Skype and VoIP's cost advantage.

The idea here is convergence: converging the benefits of fixed and mobile services. While Skype and VoIP may be the disruptive force, the convergence is far more likely to happen on the mobile phone than it is on the Skype service.

Carlo Longino is a writer and analyst that follows the mobile industry. He's co-editor of MobHappy, and also an analyst for Techdirt. He can be reached at carlo@mobhappy.com.

Read more Airtime. The column appears every Tuesday on Gizmodo.