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New DVD Handycams from Sony

Sony delivers its annual update for consumer DVD camcorders with four new models: the Handycam DCR-DVD108, DVD308, DVD408, and DVD508. These compact DVD camcorders replace the current generation and run the gamut from the inexpensive DVD108 to the full-featured DVD508. While most of these upgrades seem minor, the new DVD Handycams offer an important new feature: dual-layer support. These camcorders can now write to both dual layer DVD+-R/RW, offering twice as much recording time on a single disc.

The DVD108 and DVD308 also offer newer, more powerful lenses than their predecessors. Aside from the 40x optical zoom lens, … Read more

HDMI-equipped Xbox 360 on the way

It looks as if the Xbox 360 will be getting an HDMI-powered overhaul before it even hits its second birthday. AOL's Engadget sports what looks to be an authentic, leaked, back-panel shot of the next generation of the Xbox 360, which includes an HDMI jack directly below the proprietary A/V port found on existing 360s. According to the story, the new unit--codename "Zephyr"--will also offer a 65nm CPU (said to be less prone to overheating) and a much more spacious 120GB hard drive (perfect for downloading the growing list of HD movies and TV shows … Read more

Canon's new DVD camcorders

Canon has some new DVD camcorders on the way this year. The company just announced the DC50, DC210, DC220, and DC230: four models slated to replace Canon's current line.

It takes three models--the DC210, 220, and 230--to replace the DC100 alone. These inexpensive, compact camcorders include the same 35x lenses and 2.7-inch widescreen LCDs as Canon's ZR800, 830, and 850 MiniDV camcorders. Like the ZR series, the lower-end DC210 and DC220 use 680,000-pixel sensors. The DC230, however, uses a 1-megapixel CCD. The DC220 and DC230 also include Canon's QuickStart, a low-power standby feature.

The Canon … Read more

LG talks Blu-ray/HD DVD combo player

Last night LG said it would release a combination Blu-ray/HD DVD player in early 2007. The news comes with no other details, but I expect the company to divulge a bit more information, perhaps including a mocked-up image or even a physical box of some kind, at the company's press conference, scheduled for 8 a.m. PT this Sunday at CES. Until then we're in the dark as regarding questions such as "When exactly?" "How much?" and "Is this for real?"

LG has made a similar announcement before, so I'll … Read more

DVD player in the palm of your hand

Until the world switches entirely to video downloads, it looks as if portable DVD players will be around for awhile. But most of them are still fairly bulky animals with outdated designs.

Hammacher Schlemmer, however, claims to have "the most portable handheld DVD player," with 4.5-inch screen that pretty much takes up most of the surface area on one side. It still manages to cram in an MP3 player and a 2.5-hour battery, as well as some external kid-proof features (as if such a thing exists).

The diameter of the $130 1.25-pound player, which is … Read more

ezGear makes ezPlay for ezVision

You've been playing with your video glasses and have finished boring your friends with a lame impersonation of Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge, so it's finally time to use them for their intended purpose. And let's say you're in the mood for a DVD you picked up at the last Star Trek convention. The last thing you want to do is lug around a huge player with your new headgear; that would instantly negate whatever coolness you've managed to achieve despite the "Spock Lives" T-shirt.

ezGear, known for making accessories for media players … Read more

HDMI 1.3: The 1080p of 2007?

In a conference call this year with an exec at HDMI, we heard someone at the other end of the line describe HDMI 1.3, the new standard for the highest-quality digital A/V connection, as "the 1080p of 2007." In other words, he's hoping that HDMI 1.3 becomes the new buzzword in HDTV that everybody wants to know about, that high-end buyers will plunk down lots of cash to get, and that makes everything that came before it seem obsolete.

On Monday, I attended a 3-hour press event where HDMI Licensing LLC, the company behind … Read more

Blockbuster Video: Going, going, not gone

A few weeks ago, I noticed my local (Brooklyn, N.Y.) Blockbuster Video store was closing up shop. No big deal. These things happen all the time, especially with the sky-high rents charged for commercial real estate here in New York City. But when I saw that two other nearby Blockbusters were also shutting down, my interest was piqued. Some quick googling revealed that the closures weren't limited to Manhattan and Brooklyn: at least 16 stores in northern Michigan were also shuttered in recent months. And who knows how many were closing without the news hitting the local papers. … Read more

TV-DVD combo has travel bug

So much of the electronics industry is defined by opposite extremes--the smallest of the small and the biggest of the big. Nowhere is that more evident than in TVs. On one hand, we lust after displays the size of a billboard; on the other, we covet things like this combo LCD TV and DVD player with a 7-inch screen.

There are other TVs and DVD players in this size and smaller, of course, but Hannspree has combined the two into one product that weighs less than 2 pounds. And unlike portable products made primarily for the car, as Popgadget points … Read more