I just got back from seeing Disney/Pixar's <I>Up</I> in digital 3D. The movie itself is beautiful, both visually and conceptually. The story is charming yet poignant with lots of laughs, the voice actors&#151;led by Ed Asner as the gruff Carl Fredricksen&#151;are superb, and the animation is stunning. Interestingly, many of the animated items, even most of the dogs, are essentially photorealistic, but the humans are deliberate caricatures. I suspect Pixar goes this route because it's so difficult to animate truly realistic-looking people thanks to the exquisite human sensitivity to facial detail and body language. I have no problem with that, but I was disappointed in the 3D presentation for several reasons.

Here's an interesting item&#151;a 3-channel, class-D integrated amp from a French company called Micromega and US distributor Audio Plus Services. The AP180 provides full HDMI audio decoding and 180Wpc for three speakers in a home-theater setup, all for $2500. To complete a 5-channel system, Audio Plus Services recommends pairing the AP180 with the PW400 ($2800), which provides 400Wpc of class-D power for the front right and left speakers while the AP180 powers the center and surrounds.

In what is sure to be a big boost for the HD DVD format, Microsoft and Toshiba announced on Monday that they have formed a partnership to co-develop HD DVD players among other joint activities. Now that unification talks with the Blu-ray camp seem to have completely stalled, this sets the stage for a rip-roaring battle royale with Sony, Apple Computer, and the other Blu-ray supporters.