Sony's BDP-S300 second-gen Blu-ray Disc player started shipping to retailers this week at a list price of $499, a full $100 cheaper than its previously announced price. With the $499 20GB PlayStation3 no longer in production, the BDP-S300 is now the cheapest Blu-ray Disc player available.
Sony announced nine new BRAVIA LCD flat panel HDTVs today. The new models are in screen sizes of 40", 46", and 52" in both the W and XBR series. All are full 1080p, with 10-bit panels with 10-bit processing, and, in some models, Motionflow 120Hz high frame rate technology and x.v.Color.
Sony today unveiled its 2007 line of SXRD microdisplay rear projection televisions. There are five new models, 1080p each and every one, and the big new features are slimmer front to back profiles and Motionflow 120Hz high frame rate technology.
Recently I've begun configuring some review systems to eliminate the horizontal center speaker in favor of a matching left/center/right array. The specific weakness of horizontal centers lies in their dual woofers. They bring on an effect called lobing--that is, sum-and-cancellation effects that cause uneven response at the listening position. However, my preference for identically matched speakers across the front is causing consternation to some readers, especially concerning placement.
Teasing the high end while still embracing the previous generation.
I recently read somewhere that DVD's install base had eclipsed that of VHS, the former king of meat-and-potatoes home entertainment. I flashed nostalgically on DVD's initial toehold in rental outlets like Blockbuster and stores such as Suncoast, as well as its relentless growth to the point where VHS was relegated to a single shelf before disappearing altogether. I'm sure that recordable DVD still remains a runner-up to the ubiquitous videocassette—even though blank DVDs cost less than blank tapes and recording decks are at all-time-low prices. Still, for reasons that escape me, VHS just won't lie down, even though the consumer electronics coroner has pronounced it dead.
The problem with a moniker like Picture Porter Elite, classy sounding or not, is that it conjures up notions of a digital bucket of sorts, compatible primarily with still photos. That is far from true for this well-rounded portable media player. Its roots are in the realm of the memory-card reader, which began its life as a PC accessory and later became a freestanding device with its own onboard data storage. You could insert cards while out in the field and safely archive their contents onto the unit's built-in hard drive, thereby freeing up the precious removable media real estate so you could snap new pictures and/or lens new video. A small LCD let you interface with your multimedia content. To expedite the transfers, it displayed file names, file types, and so on. The Piture Porter Elite uses a bigger color screen and has the necessary decoding so you can view your images and movies. Throw in music playback just because everyone everywhere is listening to MP3s, and you begin to formulate a sense of what this device can do. It also connects to a video source and records content to play back on the go later. Or you can park the Picture Porter Elite next to an audio/video system, patch it in with the included cables, and view all of the content on your TV. You can zoom, pan, and rotate your photos or easily print them via a simple USB connection to a PictBridge-compliant printer. The FM radio has a bold, clever graphic user interface and is a nice bonus. (The included headphones serve double duty as an antenna.) There's even a voice recorder with an embedded microphone and a pre-loaded game: It's Tetris, even though they call it Matrix.
Sony may not have invented the Home Theater in a Box, but it's certainly gone a long way in perfecting the concept. Where most companies make just a couple of HTiBs, Sony has close to a dozen ranging from a cute "1000-Watt" system with a five-disc changer and bookshelf speakers costing $299 all the way up to a 780-Watt $1,999 package that includes floorstanding front speakers, wireless rear speakers, and a DVD/ CD/SACD player. With so many choices, we wondered, what could we get from Sony for five hundred bucks? They answered the question by sending us the DAV-HDX500 BRAVIA Theater System.
SXSW always opens "officially" with a keynote talk by a big-name artist. In past years, speakers have included the likes of Little Richard, Ray Davies, and Lucinda Williams.
In the last 5 years, more than 50 companies have introduced home-network-ready receivers that connect your computer with your TV and audio system so you can stream music, TV shows, movies, and photos from the home office to your home theater. As place-shifting devices go, Apple TV - the slickest media receiver yet - is decidedly late to the game.
