Sony DCR-SR100 hard-disk camcorder with ECMHW1 wireless microphone
JVC may have started a trend with its Everio line of hard disk-based camcorders. Toshiba and Sony at CES on Wednesday announced models that banish the tapes and discs home video enthusiasts tote like Kleenex and equipped the cameras instead with internal hard drives.
In his CES keynote address, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced that an external HD DVD drive will be offered as an accessory for the Xbox 360 later this year. The add-on will turn the game console into a high-definition movie player. He didn't announce its price.
Microsoft has sided with Toshiba and Intel in the next-generation-DVD format war.
Computer companies have been trying to get off your desktop and into your entertainment rack for a decade. Ever since the invention of tuner cards for PCs and giant computer monitors that doubled as TVs, they've been pushing the "convergence" of entertainment and computing on a wary public. The reception from A/V enthusiasts has been, to put it politely, less than enthusiastic.
Cable viewers who also want their HDTV have found their love affair with TiVo becoming strained the past few years. That's because TiVo's Series 2 recorders, unlike the DVRs leased by cable operators, have proved stubbornly incompatible with high-def channels. Hoping to make amends, TiVo has unveiled the Series 3 HD Digital Media Recorder with two CableCARD slots.
Blockbuster, Netflix, and on-demand cable are among the expanding number of ways to rent movies. One of the latest is MovieBeam, a jukebox for your home theater that self-stocks via an off-air antenna.
