war

Samsung combo player to decode DTS-HD Master Audio

We can't help but be a little skeptical, but according to a Samsung representative, the new Samsung BD-UP5000 Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player will have onboard decoding for all high-resolution audio formats following a firmware update, including DTS-HD Master Audio. This is great news for high-def disc fans, as the BD-UP5000 would be the first player we're aware of that has onboard decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS's losslessly compressed soundtrack format. The same representative also confirmed that both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks can be output over the analog 7.1 outputs, which will … Read more

Sharp's Blu-ray player loads discs in 10 seconds

There are a whole bunch of Blu-ray players being announced at CEDIA, but for the most part, there's not too much to differentiate them. Sharp's new Blu-ray player, the BD-HP20U, is its first-ever, but is still mostly the same as other players. Yet the company's press release claims that the BD-HP20U will load Blu-ray discs in 10 seconds. For those of you not used to the sluggish speeds of high-definition media, that's very fast--we're used to most high-definition players taking from 40 seconds to well over a minute to load discs.

Sharp BD-HP20U's key … Read more

Blu-ray to buyers: Be smart, pay more

The format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray can cause some heated arguments from fan boys on both sides, but I think all fans of high-definition discs will get a kick out of this story. In an article by Pocket-lint, not only did Sony executive Don Eklund invite Toshiba and Microsoft to join the Blu-ray camp (ha-ha), but Vice President Rich Marty dropped this gem of a quote:

"The DVD format was good, but profitability only lasted for a couple of years before there was no money to be had in the hardware market," said Marty. "We … Read more

Cheap HD DVD player coming--format war rages on

The format war is far from over, but HD DVD is on a roll--at least as far as PR is concerned. Last week the big news was both Paramount and DreamWorks becoming HD DVD-exclusive studios, and now Venturer Electronics has announced it will release a budget HD DVD player--the SHD7000--by the 2007 holiday season. There have been several reports indicating that cheaper, off-brand HD DVD players were on their way, but Venturer is the first company to make a formal announcement.

Details are a little slim at the moment, but here's what we know. The SHD7000 has an HDMI … Read more

War coverage drops in second quarter of 2007

The war in Iraq is still the most important issue for many Americans as we prepare to vote for George Bush's replacement, but according to a recent study, the US media's coverage of the war has dropped off during the second quarter of this year. As Reuters reports, much this of this decrease is largely due to the diminished focus on the Washington-based policy debate.… Read more

Google browser rumors surface again

It's interesting to see the Google browser rumors make their way to the surface again. Netconcepts search strategist Chris Smith recently shared his thoughts on the possibility of the search company entering the browser wars, and several of his points are attention grabbers.

First up is the noted fact that Google had registered a "Gbrowser.com" domain name, which would lead one to believe that some sort of interest exists in such a browser. On the other hand, Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said in the past that the company would build a browser only if there were a real user benefit. … Read more

Use the Force turn signal, Luke

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there were nowhere near as many in-car distractions as there are these days. However, unlike cell phones and DVD players, here's one almost anyone will welcome with open arms.

The Star Wars Talking Dashboard Statues (take your pick from Darth Vader, Yoda, and C3PO) are one of the latest offerings from ThinkGeek. The awesomeness is priced at $9.99 per statue.

Part hula girl, part spiritual GPS guide, the statues blurt out famous Star Wars quotes every time you press a button on its base or hit a pothole. … Read more

AMD not 'chasing share for share's sake'

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--Apparently sometimes, you just can't say no, even when you know it's going to hurt.

That seems to be where AMD finds itself, as it tries to reconcile a draining price war against the high demand for its chips. Intel has been squeezing AMD's margins for over a year through processor price cuts, but AMD has still managed to expand its foothold inside customers like Dell and gain new customers like Toshiba.

The problem is that much of that growth is coming at the low end of the market, where less profits can be had. … Read more

It's war! (on your chores)

A few weeks ago we took a look at Chorebuster (review), a complex, yet very powerful chore management tool. Today, one that's been making the rounds around the office is Chore Wars, a seemingly ridiculous concept that attempts to make repetitive tasks like washing the dishes and vacuuming worthwhile for things besides sanitation. Did we mention this is set in a magical universe with monsters, treasure and certain peril?

The concept is simple: users band together in guilds, and give household chores various reward levels. Those rewards translate into character upgrades, in a Web based MMORPG that you play with your friends, family, or roommates. Consider it like a very stripped-down version of World of Warcraft, where leveling up requires some real-life elbow grease.

While it doesn't play like a video game, Chore Wars has a simplified Web interface that lets members of your party create and claim chores. The actual chore creation process is a joy, with a simple Web form that lets you fill in the name of the chore, along with values for gained experience points, gold, and various character attributes. The real fun, however, is thinking up treasure and monsters, which you have the potential to run into every time you claim to have done a chore. This opens up a dialog where you can find out if you've managed the task unscathed, or run into perils you or others have dreamed up.

The real nitty-gritty of Chore Wars is its management system, which lets users easily claim chores using a drop-down menu, or by picking one from the "adventure" page. You can keep track of the chores each user has claimed, as each one gets its own status update (a la Twitter), along with a time stamp to let you know when it was taken care of. What might be the only dampener here, is that as group administrator, there isn't a way to dole out chores to other users, or separate chores that are individual from those that are communal. In this sense, Chore Wars fails. However, if you have kids or roommates who are honest about taking care of things, this honor system works.… Read more