dvd

Barely a week goes by without at least one member of the Blu-ray disc association claiming victory already/by next week/by the new year. Let's be honest, it gets a little annoying hearing them blabber on about how HD DVD doesn't have a chance. Traditionally, the HD DVD promotional group has been less vocal when it comes to the mudslinging, but it appears the PS3 price cut has slightly roused them from their slumber.

The good news is that they aren't worried. Ken Graffeo, co-chairman of the group and vocal HD DVD promoter, said: "The … Read more

Toshiba's U.S. subsidiary is recalling 142,000 AC adapters sold with the company's portable DVD players, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Tuesday. The adapters can fail, causing the portable DVD player to overheat and posing a burn hazard to consumers.

The voluntary recall involves the ADPV16 AC adapter sold with Toshiba's SD-P1600 portable players. The gadgets were sold in consumer electronics stores nationwide from January 2005 through April 2006 for between $200 and $230.

Toshiba has received two reports of minor damage to the bottom of the DVD player, according to the CPSC, … Read more

When we got the JVC KD-NX5000 in for review earlier this year, we were so impressed with the single-DIN navigation/multimedia device that we slapped a CNET Editors' Choice on it. Now JVC Mobile is following the release of this year's "hero" product with a couple of other in-dash devices that make use of the same design. With its bright, 3.5-inch color LCD display, the KD-AVX33 boasts many of the same multimedia capabilities as its navigation-enabled cousin. While it doesn't have a built-in hard drive a la the KD-NX5000, the KD-AVX33 comes with a range … Read more

We hate to say this, but we fear that this whole multimedia-kitchen thing may be getting out of hand. As much as we appreciated the built-in LCDs, espresso makers and, of course, beer on tap (we're human, after all), those conveniences were restricted mostly to the refrigerator--where we spend most of hour waking hours anyway. But a range hood? That's a little sick, even for us.

Nevertheless, Siemens plans to introduce its "Media Range Hood" to North American markets sometime next year, Appliancist says. Based on the "AvantGarde MultiMedia Hood" that has been selling … Read more

CHIBA, Japan--The decisive battle between Blu-ray and HD DVD is at hand, says a prominent Panasonic exec.

Blu-ray manufacturers are going to start cutting prices and go out on a promotional binge this holiday season, Matsushita Electric Industrial's Kazuhiro Tsuga said during a briefing with reporters at Ceatec, a large tech trade show that started here Tuesday. At Matsushita, which is best known for its Panasonic brand name, Tsuga is an executive officer who oversees networking efforts, some home electronics technologies and overseas labs, and other areas.

By the end of the Christmas season or the end of the … Read more

In addition to the disc-ripping and -burning capabilities with which Nero first made its mark, the digital-media suite also offers a bevy of options for managing movies, music, and photos. Nero helps you create and edit videos and music files, share that content online, turn your PC into a media center, and back up and recover data in case of disaster. Nero 8 includes a revamped entry page in addition to new support for burning and creating HD and Blu-ray CDs and DVDs.

Nero 8 costs $79 to download, $99 for the box, and $49 to upgrade from Nero 7 Ultra Edition. In the past, Nero has not issued a new version of its software every year, unlike so many other brands. Instead, a new package would come onto the market every other year or so. Peppered between each release were significant updates that Nero's 50 million or so active users could download for free. Now, however, Nero will follow an annual version-update schedule.… Read more