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Our Xbox 360 Elite review sample showed up late yesterday afternoon, and we're working up a full review. But that's gonna be a 3,500-word monster intended more for casual gamers and tech newbies who don't know a thumbstick from a joystick or a shoulder button from a trigger. For those in the know, here's the crib sheet on the Elite.

Cosmetics: The Xbox 360 Elite has a matte-black finish. I strongly prefer it to the "iPod white" color scheme of past Xbox 360 models. The included wireless controller and Xbox Live headset are … Read more

So you've got a 50-inch plasma in the lounge, a 32-inch LCD in the bedroom and a waterproof TV in the bathroom. That only leaves the kitchen devoid of entertainment. No need to panic, though--Bush has released what could well be the smallest HD-ready television your money can buy.

The catchily named LCD15W08DVDHD has a 15.4-inch widescreen LCD, built-in DVD player and, of course, features an HDMI input for watching all your high-definition material.

This TV has a decent range of other inputs, too. There's a VGA-in for connecting a computer, or even an Xbox 360. There'… Read more

For the past 12 to 18 months, astute readers may have noticed an increased bit of hedging in our reviews for AV receivers. Yes, even low-end receivers offer more features and flexibility than $1,500 models did just three or four years ago and yes, there are plenty of great-sounding receivers available out there at great prices. But smart shoppers looking for a no-compromise, future-proof AV receiver have been stymied, even if they've been willing to pay upwards of $2,000.

At least, that was the case--until today. Onkyo has become the first mainstream manufacturer to officially announce an array of home audio products that offer the two big features that have been MIA on home audio products to date: HDMI 1.3; and onboard decoding of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks found on HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. The news itself wasn't a surprise, as most of the details had been leaked on the Web earlier this month. And there is no doubt that other manufacturers will be announcing similarly equipped receivers in the next few weeks and months. But because specs, pricing, and availability have been confirmed, we can now say authoritatively that Onkyo looks to be offering some of the most exciting--and surprisingly affordable--A/V receivers seen in recent years.… Read more

From the seller's site: "Sony's HDRHC5 HD DV Camcorder makes it easy to capture perfect Digital video, every time. Capture high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) video to a MiniDV cassette. Record every detail of every moment, with the 10x optical/80x Digital zoom and Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens. As you record video, you'll also take still pictures at the same time with the 4.0 megapixel still image feature. Snap spectacular 2.3 megapixel photos while filming in dual record mode. The HDR-HC5 even slows down the audio."

Read the seller's … Read more

Just got an e-mail from the PR firm representing HD DVD, and the North American HD DVD Promotional Group has announced that "sales of dedicated HD DVD consumer electronics players reached more than 100K units sold in the United States, ahead of any other high definition format." I'm not sure why, but that figure doesn't include sales of HD DVD PC drives or the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, which the group says, "are also selling strongly."

I presume that Team HD DVD may not want to compare total HD DVD hardware sales to … Read more

As noted before, some of us at Crave are smitten by just about anything Bang & Olufsen designs (or even something that just resembles their stuff).

So it goes without saying that our heads were sufficiently turned by the sight of its newest "BeoVision" HDTV. As usual, this latest offering has some impressive features, not content to be just another pretty face; and, as usual, it bears a B&O-type price, this time 1,800 pounds (about $3,582). But Shiny Shiny notes something different in this TV's sound technology, specifically in speech reproduction: "When … Read more

We've been touting the virtues of digital radio for some time now, but a prohibitive factor (to cheapskates like us, anyway) has always been price--usually somewhere around $300. An outfit called Radiosophy, however, is aiming to change that in a hurry by offering its "HD100" for $120.

The high-definition radio is intentionally stripped-down but still includes such information as song and traffic data, as well as an alarm clock and connections for MP3 players, according to Electronista. And as if the price weren't low enough already, Radiosophy is running a promotional $100 tag for customers that … Read more

And then there were two.

Samsung will join its archrival LG in releasing a combo HD disc player later this year. According to a brief press release, the Korean consumer electronics giant will introduce the BD-UP5000 "Duo HD" player this year. The release also specified that the player will "fully support both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats and their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java." No pricing or additional feature details on the Samsung BD-UP5000 were made available.

The official announcement of the BD-UP5000 confirms rumors that have been percolating for months. Most recently, Home Theater Blog … Read more

One of our biggest complaints with the Apple TV was the dearth of HD video content. The product is capable of streaming 720p high-definition video, but to date, all of the movies and TV shows at Apple's iTunes Store are encoded at a "near DVD" resolution of 480p. But HD content has finally arrived on iTunes--and it's free. The Washington Post announced today that its online HD video podcast--which is shot in 720p high-definition--will now be available through iTunes.

We downloaded the two most recent episodes of the podcast--Edwards Family Values as well as Contamination … Read more