Last week Apple concurrently announced a new iPod digital music player that can play digital video as well as audio, and iTunes 6.0, which enables users to purchase and download music videos and TV shows from the iTunes Music Store (iTMS.
OK, I know this is remedial reading, but Apple's introduction of movie downloads through the iTunes Store and the coincident unveiling of its iTV player is clearly the biggest news that happened last week outside of the <a href="http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/cedia2006/">CEDIA Expo</a> in Denver.
On Tuesday Apple introduced the iPod Hi-Fi and two new Intel-based Mac Mini computers, each orders of magnitude faster than their predecessors. Of course, the iPod Hi-Fi stole the headlines, but it was one of Mac Mini's new features, Front Row with Bonjour, that offered the best and clearest glimpse of what an Apple-powered digital living room might look and feel like.
A few years and a publication ago, I reviewed Arcam's FMJ AV8 controller and was frankly bowled over. At $5k I thought the AV8's detailed and dynamic sound made more expensive controllers a much harder bargain than before, and I recommended and continue to recommend that controller to anyone shopping in that price range. Enter Moore's law.
<UL CLASS="square">
<LI>$999</LI>
<LI>Digital Video Output: No</LI>
<LI>Video Upconversion: No</LI>
<LI>Audio Decoding: CD, MP3 </LI>
<LI>Ins and Outs: Component, composite and S-Video, RGB/SCART, coaxial and Toslink digital audio, two-channel analog audio </LI>
<LI>Feature Highlights: CD performance designed to be on par with dedicated CD players</LI>
</UL>
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/706arcamdv78.jpg" WIDTH=450 HEIGHT=167 BORDER=0>
The battle of the TV telcos has barely just begun and we're starting to see the telecommunications giants jockey for position. As a prelude to an offering that will eventually compete with Verizon's FiOS TV service, AT&T and will this summer rollout a "triple play" offering of voice, video and data called Homezone. The service will combine Yahoo High Speed Internet, DISH Network TV via satellite for live TV, and broadband on-demand offerings from <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/040906akimboHD">Akimbo</A> and <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/040606industrynews">Movielink</A>.
| Oct 18, 2006 | Published: Oct 19, 2006 | 0 comments
The big releases on next-gen HD media keep pouring in just in time for the holiday season and again, Warner is leading the charge by releasing one of the real treasures in its catalog, <I>Casablanca</I>, on HD DVD. The Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman classic joins the somewhere between camp classic and minor classic sci-fi flick <I>Forbidden Planet</I> starring none other than Robbie the Robot, and 1962's <I>Mutiny on the Bounty</I> starring Marlon Brando on HD DVD.
What a difference a single dollar makes in the online DVD rental business. Blockbuster decided to take aggressive action to gain traction in the online DVD rental business, which "projections" show as increasing 43% during the 2007 according to Blockbuster's Shane Evangelist (how's that for a cool name?!). So, it is now offering a subscription plan called Blockbuster by Mail that's a whole $1 cheaper than its existing Blockbuster Total Access plans. The Blockbuster by Mail plan will be online only as opposed to the Total Access plans which is comprised of both online and in-store rentals.