Audio Video News

With the 2007 CES barely a memory, it seems far too soon for a 2007 line show from a major manufacturer. But Sony opened its annual product showcase for the press today at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas.

Canon has expanded its consumer line of HD-capable camcorders with the addition of the 7.1-megapixel PowerShot TX1 digital camera that incorporates a high-definition video recorder in the same housing, making it a double bonus for those who would prefer not to lug both a still camera and a camcorder to their kids' birthday parties and soccer games. (It'll get through airport security a lot faster, too.) As indicated by the "PowerShot" moniker, The TX1 is a digital camera with an optically image-stabilized 10x (optical) zoom lens and a 115,000 pixel swivelling side-mounted LCD screen.

Blockbuster has a promotion that it apparently thinks is so good that it's worth doing twice. Last Sunday through Wednesday current Netflix subscribers that brought in the tear away flaps from a Netlfix movie rental envelope were given a free movie rental at Blockbuster. According the AP story on the promo, this is the second time Blockbuster has run this offer, the first being a two week stint in the Dallas area last December.

Satellite radio providers SIRIUS and XM have announced that, after years of talking smack about each other, they've agreed to merge the two companies.

A report from Informa Telecoms and Media estimates that the number of HDTV households will grow to over 150 million worldwide by 2011 from just under 50 million as of the end of 2006. The US leads the pack by a long shot, currently comprising 58% of the worldwide totals, followed by Japan with 20% of world HDTV households.

Research firm Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts that there will be 151 million HDTV homes worldwide by the end of 2011 - a three-fold increase over the current total of almost 43 million.

Almost lost in the aftermath of <A HREF="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/news/20807walmart/">Wal-Mart's big announcement</A> that it was tackling the movie download space was the unveiling last week of the deal between Amazon and TiVo to partner on movie and TV show downloads. TiVo owners with broadband connections can now shop for video downlods from Amazon's Unbox and have the movies and shows sent directly to the TiVos- in their living rooms, connected to their TVs. The new service is called Amazon Unbox on TiVo.