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Warner announced earlier today it was 100 percent Blu-ray. We just talked a bit with Warner about some of the whys behind the decision. In a sentence: Because the format war is killing regular DVD sales on top of hurting sales of both HD formats. https://gizmodo.com/confirmed-warner-going-100-blu-ray-is-this-hd-dvds-d-340809 Home entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara told us that what…
Tipped to this during the call with Warner, Toshiba—one of HD DVD‘s daddies—has released their statement on Warner’s Blu-ray defection. It reads like a letter from a jilted lover: “We have long maintained a close partnership with Warner Bros” and “Toshiba is quite surprised by Warner Bros.’ decision to abandon HD DVD in favor of…
I’ve always thought that watching movies on a tiny portable device is a crummy experience in pretty much every way possible. Crazy-ass director David Lynch (of Mulholland Dr., Lost Highway and Twin Peaks fame) thinks so too. Vehemently. And even if he is a little nuts, his faux iPhone ad both educates and entertains. NSFW…
We have all doodled an idea or a bit of important information on a napkin at one point or another, but designer Avery Holleman takes it a step further with the Napkin PC. The device is intended to help creative groups collaborate on designs more effectively. Here’s how it works: data is sent to the…
CHICKASHA, Oklahoma (Agencies). Chickasha resident James McFarlan, a 45-year-old computer analyst and part-time fabric designer, drove this morning into Annie Svenson’s home roof after what he referred to as an incident with his car GPS. “I told him [Sheriff Furillo] that my GPS made me do it. I was just driving when the nice sexy…
The Bottom line: Remember that urban tale of the drug running lambo doing 200mph runs using merely night vision? FLIR, used to making commercial nightvision systems for law enforcement, marine, and airborne vehicle has trickled the tech into civilian hands. The PathfindIR is their first infrared night vision adaptable for any car, although they’ll be…
CES is upon us and we’ve got a load of events this weekend (not to mention news dropping) showing off all the new gadgets of 2008. On Saturday, there’s the CES Unveiled event at 4 p.m. PST (7 p.m. EST) which we’ll be reporting live at. Then, on Sunday, there’s loads, loads and loads of…
3M has thrown its hat (albeit a little late) into the mobile projector ring with the likes of Texas Instruments and Microvision with a new ultra-compact, LED-illuminated projection engine that can project a 40-inch or larger image at VGA resolution. The device is intended to be integrated into a wide array of mobile technologies—and cellphones…
The Skinny: Polk Audio SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater rocks the 5.1-channel sound with one slim bar-shaped bank of speakers. Pop a DVD into the separate console and you’ve got an instant home theater that can toss sounds every which way. The Catch: We’re wondering how gutsy that “PowerPort” bass is going to sound, but fear…
The Skinny: Another Bluetooth-enabled dock from iLuv, this one boosts the wireless range to 300 feet w/ BluePin II. Sound is supposedly better than previous models courtesy of iAura, plus it has speaker phone capabilities. The Drag: Their past model X99 model only had 6 watts per speaker, which is not a lot of output…
The Skinny: The i720 is a line-in iPod/iPhone and hands-free Bluetooth remote, with FM transmission and a caller ID display, plus call reject, transfer and other basic phone commands. It’s small, black and fairly attractive and seems pretty useful for ardent multi-taskers. The Catch: It’s something else taking up valuable pocket space. The Skinny: Another…
The Skinny: The iLuv i1255 is a basically a DVD player with an iPod dock slapped on top. It plays DVDs, VCDs and CDs plus puts media from the iPod on your TV, a common trick nowadays. Basically if you’re in the market for both a bare-bones DVD player and iPod dock and wanna save…
What could be more secure (not to mention masculine) than a rainbow colored fan that clips onto the side of a Laptop? Besides looking awesome, these screens can be customized with a company logo making them powerful promotional tools. Plus, Lapstix are versatile—you could use them to shade your laptop display from the sun, or…
This Takata airbag design is… interesting. Essentially, if you get in a car accident your face will be thrust quickly between two giant, inflatable ass cheeks. Or are they giant breasts? Depending on what you’re in to, you could see it either way. In any case, I can certainly see how it would be more…
• A Purdue professor is paying students $30 to sniff animal poop and using the research to improve estimations of odor emissions on farms. It’s days like this that I am happy I went to Indiana University. [11alive] • Dealzmodo: All-you-can-eat pancakes at IHOP?! Why am I still sitting here? [Dealnews via BBG] • Alan…
It’s been speculated upon and speculated upon, but today it happened: Warner Bros. declared undying allegiance to one format alone: Blu-ray. “The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger,” said Warner chairman Barry Meyer, suggesting that this move will end the format war. We are a bit…
I’ve always been kind of jealous at the array of attractive birth control cases exes have had to tote around their anti-baby pills. Condoms typically come in boxes and wrappers that are clumsy and ugly (exception). The XYXX condom case wants to change all that with a package you actually want to keep in your…
As excited as we were when Hitachi showed off its 1.5″ full-production LCDs in October, we were even more excited to know that they’ve pulled off a plasma of the same thick—rather, thinness. They may not be the 9mm plasma that Pioneer is apparently boasting, but plasma has been traditionally thicker and heavier than LCD,…
Kleer wireless technology has shown promise in terms of both energy efficiency and sound quality when compared to Bluetooth, which is why some may find these new MX W1 earphones from Sennheiser appealing. The device allows users to enjoy clear, completely wireless audio from any Kleer-based portable player — unlike Kleer’s Jet Stream earphones that…
Last night, Intel pulled out of OLPC, citing founder Nicholas Negroponte’s serious jealousy issues with other low-cost computers stealing XO’s thunder in more ways than one. Today, OLPC slaps back, claws out: “We’re totally better off without you since it was all for show and you never really loved us (or the kids) in the…
