The amount of news relevant to home theater enthusiasts that came from last week's E3 gaming trade show is striking evidence that whether we want it or not, some form of convergence is happening. As <I>UAV</I> <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/news/051406ps3">reported earlier</A> , Sony announced pricing and availability for its eagerly anticipated PlayStation3 gaming console, and Microsoft followed suit in its own way by announcing that its HD DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 will be available in time for Christmas this year. Although no pricing or dates are yet established, the rumors are flying.

<B>The Force Will Be With You- For Three Months</B>
<BR>
The Lucasfilm Empire has announced that on September 12th of this year it will release the "original unaltered" <I>Star Wars</I> Trilogy- <I>Star Wars</I>, <I>The Empire Strikes </I>, and <I>Return of the Jedi</I>- on DVD. Each film will be available as a two-disc set with the 2004 digitally remastered DVD versions that have already appeared. Taking a page from Disney, these original trilogy releases will only be available until December 31st.

<B>Blu-ray Launch Pushed Into June</B>
<BR>
The writing has been on the wall with this one for a while. Sony and the other studios participating in the Blu-ray launch have moved off the originally scheduled May 23rd release date, pushing out to late June. This news comes weeks after Samsung announced that its BD player would not be ready for release until June 25th. Shockingly, Samsung's player is currently scheduled to be the first Blu-ray player to market, beating Sony, Panasonic and Pioneer.

This morning I picked out the weekly Best Buy flyer from my Sunday paper and saw a DirecTV HD TiVo on special for $399 after mail-in rebate. My initial thought was, "cool! Looks like the new MPEG4 compatible HD DVR is finally out!" This thought died of loneliness seconds later as I realized the HD DVR in the ad is the trusty HR10-250 that sits in my own equipment rack. A terrific machine, but not compatible with the new MPEG4 compressed HD channels that DirecTV has very quietly rolled out in the last several months.