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'Casino Royale' Blu-ray cracks Amazon top 10; HD DVD slipping?

Say what you will about PS3 sales, but it seems clear that the game console is having an impact on the next-gen DVD war. This week the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale broke into the Amazon top 10 for DVD sales and four other Blu-ray titles sit in the top 100. On the other hand, the top title on HD DVD, Happy Feet, is currently ranked at No. 117.

In a recent column, I suggested to readers that they should keep an eye on The Departed--it's a Warner release and therefore available on both HD DVD and Blu-ray--to get … Read more

Ferrari's $3,000 boombox

Crave appreciates fine sportscars as much as anybody, but even we thought it a bit odd that Ferrari was making an audio system that some people planned to keep in their garages. (To lull their Enzos to sleep, we assume.)

The company has decided, thankfully, to make something for the living room too by partnering with Meridian to create its F80 entertainment system. Its features don't exactly blow the doors off competing products--the F80 can play DVDs, CDs, MP3 files and AM/FM radio with 80 watts of power--but Shiny Shiny says it does have a "sleek high-lacquer … Read more

DVD player eats iPod, plays video

Is it some kind of sign that we're seeing portable gadgets for our portable gadgets? Probably, but we doubt it'll stop companies from finding ways to make and market them.

In this case, we actually think there's a justifiable use (sort of) for the Philips DCP850. It's a DVD player with a twist: It can also play video and audio directly from an iPod on its 8.5-inch screen, according to Technabob. What makes this idea even more appealing to us is its design, which includes a place where the media player can actually be popped … Read more

Blu-ray and HD DVD encryption cracked?

The underlying encryption on both the Blu-ray and HD DVD high-def disc formats has been cracked. That's the word from user arnezami on the Doom9 forums, where anti-DRM denizens have been hacking and slashing their way through the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) encryption algorithm found on all Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. Previously, Doom9 user muslix64 had cracked the encryption keys to individual titles, but the newly uncovered "processing key" is said to be the Rosetta Stone for all current titles on both HD disc formats.

We haven't independently verified this crack, but given that … Read more

But officer, I was just watching TV

Well, at least the marketers of this in-car video system made some kind of attempt to make their product seem road-safe: They portrayed it on the passenger side, not the driver's.

Nice try, but we seriously doubt that the "Sun Visor TV/DVD Theater" could be ignored by anyone in the car, especially the driver sitting right next to it. It's not that we have anything against video entertainment on the road; we'd love to have a 7-inch LCD and FM transmitter like this one seen on Red Ferret, especially for extended trips, and it … Read more

A quieter, gentler Xbox 360

Xbox 360s might be getting a bit more quiet. According to the Xbox-scene.com forum, Microsoft has started putting new DVD drives in its Xbox 360s. The forum says that Microsoft is now using BenQ-LiteOn-Phillips VAD6038 optical drives in new 360s, rather than the Toshiba-Samsung and Hitachi-LG drives the consoles previously used.

This new drive might mean quieter gameplay on the 360. Many gamers had complaints that first-run Xbox 360s were uncomfortably loud, and this new optical drive could fix that.

Tough climb for handheld DVD player

A lot of us at Crave have small children, and at least some of us aren't ashamed to admit that we rely on portable DVD players in emergency situations (such as drives that last more than an hour). So we were pleased to find that a new handheld player had made its way to the market, MediaStreet's "eMotion."

On closer inspection, however, the player seemed to fall short compared with other models at least in the specs department. Its 3.5-inch screen is smaller than that of a comparable player from Hammacher Schlemmer, for example, which … Read more

How low can DVD players go? Try $17

We have no idea how well Asda's products work, but you've got to give credit to any company that sells a DVD player for $17 (as long as it works and isn't stolen, of course). The "Durabrand 1005" will be sold in U.K. supermarkets, presumably because of its mass-market price, according to Tech Digest. With a name like that, it might be mistakenly stocked in the hardware aisle. And how can it possibly be so cheap? Three words: Made in China.