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Sony PS2 finally hits the $100 price point

No April Foolery here: Sony has announced that it's dropping the price of the PlayStation 2 from $129 to $100 as of April 1. The move confirms rumors that had surfaced in recent days.

Originally introduced in 2000, the current iteration of the PS2 is a superslim console that also doubles as a CD and DVD player. It has a library of around 1,900 games, including many classics that can be found in bargain bins at local stores and online. And unlike the PS3, the older model actually has an infrared port, so you can use a standard … Read more

EchoStar unveils Tru2way cable version of its SlingLoaded DVR

EchoStar has officially announced a cable-ready version of its SlingLoaded DVR. Except for the fact that it's designed to work on any Tru2way-compatible cable system, the EchoStar T2200S will not be that different from the Dish Network ViP922, which snagged the Best of CES Home Video award at January's 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.

Like the ViP922, the EchoStar T2200S offers a laundry list of features we'd expect from a high-def DVR, including a 1TB hard drive and dual-tuner support. But EchoStar is also boasting of a built-in DOCSIS cable modem, MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) compatibility, and … Read more

Blockbuster OnDemand coming to TiVo DVRs

Blockbuster will become the latest Internet video-on-demand service to appear on TiVo DVRs.

The two companies announced late Tuesday that they are working to make Blockbuster's service available on all TiVo Series2 and Series3 DVRs (including the HD and HD XL models) in the second half of 2009.

The announcement marks the first non-PC device to support both Blockbuster OnDemand and its archrival, Netflix. TiVo DVRs also support Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Jaman, and some Disney movies via CinemaNow.

In addition to Blockbuster's online video service being available on TiVo, Blockbuster will sell TiVo hardware at its … Read more

ZeeVee's new Zinc beta takes on Boxee

ZeeVee has released the latest beta version of its Zinc "Internet video browser." Beta 3 of Zinc adds access to Netflix (for subscribers) and CBS (the parent company of CNET), in addition to such online video stalwarts as Hulu, ABC, YouTube, and the like. For now, Zinc is a free download for Windows PCs, though ZeeVee pledges that a Mac version is in development.

Zinc is an offshoot of the ZViewer software that was originally developed for ZeeVee's ZvBox Zv-100. We reviewed that product back in the autumn of 2008, and found it to be overly convoluted … Read more

Warner Archive to offer on-demand DVDs of previously unavailable movies

Warner Brothers is releasing dozens of previously unavailable movies on DVD for the first time--but you won't be able to find them at your local Wal-Mart. Variety reports that the studio's new Warner Archive program will eventually offer hundreds of old movies and TV episodes for consumers to buy for $20 per title on an on-demand basis. Selected DVDs will then be manufactured, packaged, and shipped directly to customers within a week.

The program is launching with around 150 titles that were originally released from the 1920s through the 1980s. While some of the titles may not be … Read more

Roku to add 10 more channels by year's end

The Roku Digital Video Player may be getting as many as 10 new Internet video-on-demand channels by the end of 2009. So says Roku vice president Tim Twerdahl in an interview with U.S. News & World Report.

The Roku Player was originally a Netflix-only device, but it recently added Amazon Video On Demand. The U.S. News story reports Roku has "quietly distributed a development kit to what Twerdahl calls a few 'close, big-name' partners." More info is expected to be revealed this summer, at which time the development kit would be made available to additional programmers. … Read more

Vudu adds Pandora to its bag of media tricks

Pandora's free online music service is coming to the Vudu set-top box.

Vudu has announced the availability of "immediate access" to the Pandora service for users of its media-on-demand box. Vudu's iteration will allow on-screen access to the music service (as shown above), as well as the ability to toggle between multiple Pandora accounts (so several family members in a given household can access their individual personalized stations, for instance). Pandora joins the recent addition of YouTube, Picasa, and Flickr to Vudu's movie box.

Vudu is pledging to open its Rich Internet Application platform to … Read more

Polk Audio SurroundBar 360: It sounds great--we just wish it had Blu-ray

We first saw the Polk Audio SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2008, where we chose it as one of only three home audio finalists for Best of CES. While it ultimately didn't take the crown, we were still looking forward to the final product. However, the product was pushed back from its April release date, and didn't end up arriving until the autumn of 2008. Looking at it now, more than a year after its coming out party, the built-in DVD seems a bit quaint--most of the home theater systems in the … Read more

Sony 2009 line show: Complete coverage

Most companies use the January Consumer Electronics Show to show the world their product lineup for the new year. But Sony deliberately holds back on its CES announcements; that's because the company waits about eight weeks before returning to Las Vegas to have its own Sony-centric launch event, where it touts its new products for dealers, retailers, and journalists.

Analysis from CNET News: Sony switches gears at this year's line show

Here are the highlights of the company's new March announcements. We've also included the CES product highlights, to give you an overview of Sony's complete 2009 lineup:… Read more

Sony unveils HT-CT500 soundbar/subwoofer combo

When CNET reviewed the Sony HT-CT100 in the spring of 2008, we hailed the $300 single-speaker audio system as one of the best values in its class. For 2009, Sony will be offering a step-up version, the HT-CT500. The $500 system retains the same basic two-part design (soundbar plus subwoofer), but supersizes it with a wider speaker unit and more powerful onboard 400-watt amplifier. The overall system delivers a 3.1 effect, thanks to the left/center/right speakers mounted in the soundbar.

Unlike the HDMI-only HT-CT100, the 500 supplements its three HDMI inputs with two component jacks and … Read more