HD DVD has missed another deadline, this time the end-of-2005 launch date for Japan. HD DVD’s main developer, Toshiba, said the reason for the delay is that the standards for the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) copy protection scheme (used in both HD DVD and Blu-ray) are not finalized yet.

No, Marantz hasn't gotten a jump on everyone and released the first Blu-ray player. In what is supposed to be the twilight of the DVD format, this latest Marantz flagship offers one of the most complete and compelling arrays of features the format has ever seen. If it won't save your soul it will shine your shoes, folks.

For those of you who have always wanted one of Meridian's highly regarded surround processors, but never thought you could afford it, your time has quite possibly come. The latest addition to Meridian's G Series line of products, the G61 offers much of the technology and pure performance features of Meridian's more expensive processors for just $5495.

In case we needed further evidence of the market domination of portable electronics devices, TiVo has announced that a future enhancement of its Series 2 DVRs will allow users to sync to home-networked PCs and then download recorded programs to video iPods and PlayStation Portable media players. TiVo subscribers will be required to buy the software required to drive this enhancement. Although the price for the software hasn't been announced yet, it's anticipated to be low enough to drive sales.