Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update detailed: DivX, XBLA Hits, and more

Finally, after what seemed an interminable wait, Microsoft was ready to let us in on the big picture. Joystiq spoke with Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg about the Fall update and what was still in store -- DivX and Xvid support, reduced prices on XBLA "Hits" and more.

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Philips 47" 1080p LCD HDTV 47PFL7422D: $1029.94 at philips.com

Philips Outlet has the refurbished Philips 47PFL7422D 47" 1080p LCD HDTV at $1199.99 - $200 off coupon code OUTLET-1207 + $29.95 shipping = $1029.94. Features: 1920 x 1080 resolution, 500 nits brightness, 8000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 5ms response time, 176-degree H/V viewing angle, Perfect Pixel HD Engine.This is $800 off the next lowest..

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Cheap HDTV Sale at Circuit City!

We're showing you a Samsung 50" 720p HDTV here that's only $120 off, but you'll find Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic televisions that knock anywhere from $500 to $1300 off the price tag. Free shipping and delivery, too.

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HD DVD vs. Blu-ray ad nauseam

HD DVD vs. Blu-ray ad nauseam by ZDNet's John Carroll -- The battle between the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats is the battle that simply doesn’t want to end. Many, however, think that this Christmas season could be critical, a Gettysburg-style confrontation that won’t by itself knock either format permanently out of the race, but could start a “rolling downhill” effect that could lead inexorably to [...]

Stop acting like Switzerland--get an HD-DVD player for $250

(Credit: Toshiba)Ready to take the high-def DVD plunge? I wouldn't. I think most HDTV owners are better off with a decent (and inexpensive) upconverting DVD player, which makes existing DVDs look a helluva lot better and saves you having to choose sides in the ridiculous Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD

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Unofficial Funny Blu-ray Ad: R.I.P Betamax, Laser Disc & HD DVD on Product

This video is an unofficial Blu-ray ad which I found very funny, I remember many of the old players (Betamax, Laser Disc and 8 track players) and just like Apple does to Microsoft…HD DVD R.I.P 2007 and Blu-ray wins the high definition battle.

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Blu-ray outsells HD-DVD format in Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - High definition movie DVDs in the Blu-ray format have outsold the rival HD DVD standard in Europe this year, breaking the 1 million barrier and constituting 73 percent of all HD movie discs sold. Citing industry sales data, the...

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BLU-RAY vs HD-DVD CASE STUDY Online Mind-Sharing Tell the Consumer Side of 'The Stalemate' Story

It happens once in decades. A new digital storage format is introduced, taking consumer entertainment to a whole new level of audio-visual experience. A new format ends up changing how information and entertainment are produced, played and stored, and that is a big odds game with huge business implications.

A new case study looked at the format war:

Via PR news wire:

HD DVD Surpasses 750,000 Dedicated Players

HD DVD Surpasses 750,000 Dedicated Players

Samsung Introduces Third-Gen Blu-ray Disc Player -- Tech-On!

Samsung Electronics has expanded its line-up of high-definition video products with the launch of the BD-P1400 Blu-ray disc player. The BD-P1400 offers full compatibility with 24 movie frames per second playback. Since most movies are filmed at 24 fps, these Blu-ray players will be able to playback movies in their native format, significantly reduc

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Q&A: Why HD DVD beats Blu-ray

"HD DVD is a completed spec, Blu-ray is a 'we're not done yet, gimme just a few more months and maybe we'll get it completed' spec.

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KDDI R&D Labs Full High-Definition Content Encoding for Blu-ray

KDDI R&D Labs Full High-Definition Content Encoding for Blu-ray

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Stores Usher in Holiday Shopping Season

The nation's stores ushered in the official start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with midnight openings, a blitz of door busters and other come-ons.

Stores are counting on hordes of shoppers who have been pulling back in recent months amid a challenging economy to snap up bargains. Merchants need them to keep coming back throughout the holiday season to make their sales goals.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, threw open its doors at 5 a.m., offering such specials as a Polaroid 42-inch LCD HDTV for $798 and a $79.87 Sony digital camera. From 5 a.m. to noon, Toys "R" Us Inc. offered 101 door busters on such toys as Mattel Inc.'s Barbie styling set and Hasbro Inc.'s FurReal interactive jungle cat toy. That's four times the number it offered last year.

Via the Assoc. Press

VIZIO :: VIZIO, Named #1 Brand of LCD HDTVs - Unveils Black Friday Pricing

VIZIO, America's #1 brand of LCD HDTVs, announced details on their special pricing for select plasma and LCD TVs during Black Friday weekend (starting the day after Thanksgiving, November 23, 2007.)

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Tosh to tempt laptop buyers with free HD DVDs

Buy a notebook, get five discs

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Vizio Stays on Top in L.C.D. TVs

As the hard-core deal hunters ready their thermoses so they have coffee while camping out early Friday morning for the “doorbuster” sales at Best Buy, Wal-Mart and so on, returns from the third-quarter electronics derby are coming in.

In the hard-fought battle for L.C.D. televisions, iSuppli says low-price leader Vizio remained the leader in the third quarter, although its share fell to 13 percent of the sets shipped, from 13.7 percent in the second quarter.

The high-end brands — Samsung, Sharp and Sony — all gained significant share, which suggests that the market is beginning to consolidate. Sony in particular jumped, to 10.1 percent from 6 percent. The big losers were the smaller manufacturers. Brands below the top six fell from 43.5 percent to 34.1 percent in the quarter.

With the three leaders within a percentage point of each other, the home stretch for this year may well be a photo finish.

The full results are after the jump.

Top-6 North American LCD-TV Brands in the Third Quarter (Ranking by Unit Shipments)
Q3 Rank	Company	Sum of Q3 07	Sum of Q2 07
1	Vizio	13.0%	13.7%
2	Samsung	12.8%	10.8%
3	Sharp	12.0%	9.8%
4	Sony	10.1%	6.0%
5	Polaroid	9.1%	8.5%
6	Philips	9.0%	7.8%
	Others	34.1%	43.5%
Source: iSuppli Corp. November 2007

Via nytimes

Oprah's Favorite Things: HDTV Refrigerator with Weather and Info Center fro

Oprah has been known for only giving the best and the LG Electronics HDTV Refrigerator with weather and info center is no exception. This side-by-side refrigerator is the fridge of the future. Not only does the LG Electronics LSC27991 have an ice maker and water dispenser, with a simple press of a button this fridge will give you a five day...

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HD DVD Vs. Blu-ray: Who Will Win on Black Friday?

This year all eyes are on the high definition market and the battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray: which side will sell more movies and more players this crucial holiday season?

This showdown involves every single media company. Sony

SONY CORP SNE 47.37 -0.77 -1.6% NYSE

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[SNE 47.37 -0.77 (-1.6%) ] is leading the Blu-ray brigade, with a bunch of manufacturers also supporting the format. So you can watch a Blu-ray disk on a PlayStation3, or on a stand-alone player made by Samsung, Panasonic, or in your Dell computer. Sony's biggest advantage is the studios it has in its court: Sony Pictures (of course), Disney/Buena Vista, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Lions Gate.

On the other hand, HD-DVD is backed by Microsoft

Microsoft Corp MSFT 34.47 -0.11 -0.32% NASDAQ

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[MSFT 34.47 -0.11 (-0.32%) ] , which sells an HD-DVD player to connect to its Xbox360, and Toshiba is the main manufacturer of HD DVD players. HD DVD has had Universal exclusive to the format for a while, and as of August got Paramount/DreamWorks, and DreamWorks Animation to be exclusive to the format as well, reportedly in exchange for a $150 million payoff.

HD DVD's biggest advantage is its much lower cost--the lower end players are around $199, about half the cost of a typical lower end Blu-ray player. And earlier this month a price war (led by Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT 45.0 -0.50 -1.1% NYSE

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[WMT 45.0 -0.50 (-1.1%) ] , of course) pushed the prices of HD DVD players at some retailers below $100 dollars. At that price, what consumer wouldn't want to go with the cheaper option.

It's not that easy. Consumers are clearly confused about what player to buy. Especially because there's a much much cheaper option. You can buy a DVD player that does an "upgrade" as it aims to take your regular old DVDs and make them look *more* like high def on your fancy high def TV. These players cost less than $100.

So when trying to see which format will emerge as the victorious standard bearer, and which will go the way of the Beta tape, why not do the temporary fix of buying one of these alternative players. Ah, and that's what the studios are so worried about.

The DVD market is worth about $20 million annually, but its growth is slowing, seriously, and the studios are desperate to supplement that slowdown with a new format. Digital distribution isn't there yet, and in the meantime it needs something like high def disc sales to supplement that.

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FCC Prohibits Exclusivity

Via http://www.sirdvd.comThis is a matter that Technology Committees within Homeowners Associations should have reported already to community residents subscribing to cable video services (MVPDs). A new regulation by the FCC could benefit them favorably (both, owner and association) by opening the field to competition and consumer's choice.

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HD DVD Review: Ocean’s Thirteen

With originality seemingly M.I.A. in Hollywood these days, sequels and remakes are the new bread and butter of tinsel town. With some sequels, you get everything you loved about the previous film(s) and more. Other times, you get Spiderman 3. The same is true for remakes. For every unnecessary retread, you get a brilliant improvement upon the original, as was the case with Steven Soderbergh’s hip and breezy take on Ocean’s Eleven.

Via e-gear.com

Japan tops HDTV viewership

According to research firm, SNL Kagan, the number of HDTV viewers globally has continued to increase, with more affordable HDTVs coming onto the market.

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Disney Votes for 51GB HD DVD Media Approval.

Walt Disney Home Entertainment, a major Hollywood studio and one of the strongest backers of Blu-ray disc format, voted for approval of a preliminary specification of 51GB triple-layer HD DVD media, just like all the backers of HD DVD and unlike some other backers of Blu-ray Association within the DVD Forum, who typically abstain in HD DVD-related votes.

Link

Verizon Expands Free HDTV Offer for FiOS

Verizon is expanding its offer of a free Sharp Aquos 19-inch LCD HDTV to new FiOS triple-play subscribers in at least five more states ...

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Macrovision to Acquire Blu-ray Disc Security Technology from Cryptography R

Macrovision Corporation (Nasdaq:MVSN) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire certain technology assets from Cryptography Research, Inc. (CRI), the San Francisco-based R&D organization focused on solving complex security problems.

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Discontented, DreamWorks Is in Talks to Join NBC

Although NBC Universal is interested in striking a deal, it wants DreamWorks to find outside financing to make its movies, which Universal could then distribute.

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Consumers continue HDTV adoption even if they don't know what hi-def means

Even though it looks like digital televisions will be in more than half of all U.S. households by the time Christmas comes this year, that's not necessarily a sign that manufacturers or programmers are getting their message out to consumers.

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Directv to offer HDTV in Space

DirecTV has offered to outfit the new living space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with a 42-inch HDTV and a package of high-def TV channels ...

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Amazon Offers Free Blu Ray Discs.

If you’re planning to give or receive a Blu-ray player this holiday season (or already have one), Amazon has a nice deal to sweeten the sentiment.

Link to Amazon Buy one get one sale

Terabit-class fat pipe to deliver online movies in an instant

Researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University have tweaked existing protocols to enable standard fiber-optic cables to carry data at hundreds of terabits per second. Speed baby. Speed. Article from Digital World Tokyo.

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DVD Forum green lights three-layer 51Gb HD-DVD

The DVD Forum, the group behind the technology for DVD and HD-DVD has gone ahead and approved a proposal by HD-DVD spearhead Toshiba to produce a triple layered 51Gb HD-DVD disc. This move is a blatant show of power towards the current capacity of Blu-ray being only capable of 50Gb.

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HD DVD Review: Shrek the Third

Following a path like the series itself, Shrek the Third runs out of steam after the first half hour. The scattered laughs aren’t enough to carry this third entry into the same realm of success as its predecessors. It’s still enjoyable, but not the Shrek we all know and love.

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YouTube to offer HD video

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen has confirmed that YouTube is planning to offer HD video. At the NewTeeVee conference in San Francisco, Chen said that YouTube's main aim is to ensure that the sites content is available to everyone, ...

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Lawrence Lichter CPA Joins the Board of NME Inc.

You can access it at the following URL:


Here:

Rat Scampers to No. 1 Sales Spot

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment topped the national DVD sales chart with the animated theatrical hit Ratatouille the week ended Nov. 11, while Universal Studios Home Entertainment topped the rental chart with the comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.

Link:

Apple TV goes to the movies

This weekend, at a neighborhood movie theater in Brooklyn, New York, an Apple TV made its way into the projection booth, streaming a high-def digital flick onto the big screen. And when we say big screen, we mean the really big screen.

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Amazon Offers Free Blu-ray Discs

If you’re planning to give or receive a Blu-ray player this holiday season (or already have one), Amazon has a nice deal to sweeten the sentiment.

Link to Amazon Buy one get one sale

TomTom tackles traffic jams in HD

Vodafone subscribers driving through the Netherlands may soon find themselves helping TomTom customers beat traffic jams, following the satnav specialists unveiling of the TomTom One XL HD Traffic navigation unit.

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LG monitors to attain 5000:1 contrast ratio

LG has developed a range of high contrast LCD monitors, which it claims boosts the highest contrast screen currently available from 3000:1 to 5000:1.

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HD DVD Price Cut Shakes Up Format Wars

How will Toshiba's sub-$100 sell-off of HD DVD players impact the high-def format war?

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HD DVD group touts attach rate figures in Europe

The European HD DVD Promotional Group is the latest of either side in the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray disc to put out a press release highlighting ...

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Intel to Unveil Chips for Improving Video Quality on the Web

Intel says that the chips’ would begin the transformation of today’s stuttering and blurry Web videos into high-resolution quality, full-screen quality.

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Stringer declares stalemate in Blu-ray war

The Sony CEO says that the HD DVD and Blu-ray video formats are locked in a battle neither can win.

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SlySoft today released software that can remove BD+ on Blu-ray ...

The BD+ copy protection system was added to the Blu-ray specification by request of Fox. It was believed to be much better system than the standard copy ...

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The State of Blu-Ray

The war between Blu-ray and HD DVD takes center stage, but now we're starting to see rumbles within the vast Blu-ray coalition. How long did you think a truce between longtime rivals Sony and Panasonic could last, anyhow?

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Spiderman 3 Blu Ray sells well but not as much as Transformers

"Spider-man 3" becomes the best selling Blu-ray title with 130,000 copies sold in the first six days. "Transformers" did 190,000 units on HD DVD in the same timeframe. Some have speculated that the "Transformers" numbers are exaggerated, but proof has not been presented and Paramount says that they have double checked the numbers.

On DVD Sony was more reluctant to reveal specific numbers, but said that the standard DVD version sold 4 - 5 million copies. "Transformers" did 8.3 million on DVD.

IGN: Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy Review

In a very real sense, the 2002 release of Spider-Man paved a smooth road for the future of high-definition filmmaking in a time years before terms such as Blu-ray or HD DVD would become common in the home video marketplace.

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Knocked Up HD DVD for only $20 (Combo Disc too!)

Jaw-Dropping HDTV Bargains - Forbes.com

With a little research, shoppers can find the HDTVs of their dreams--at prices they've always hoped for.

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Da-Lite’s Home Theater Delight: Whopping 184-inch Diagonal Screen

Da-Lite's new screen size is 184 inches diagonal, or a viewing area covering 90 x 160 inches, for the latest home theater wow factor.

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Format war fanboys shut down AVS Forum

Anyone who's ever visited AVS Forum--probably the largest online forum for audio/visual discussion--knows that people can get carried away. And anyone who has dared to venture in the HD DVD and Blu-ray forum is well aware of rampant fanboy flame wars--the kind that used to be reserved for game consoles.

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IGN: 90,000 HD-DVD Players Sold Last Weekend

Last week the big news was the fact that dedicated HD-DVD players, specifically Toshiba's HD-A2 model, had finally fallen to price points below $200, an event long expected to make a big difference in the format's battle with significantly more expensive Blu-ray hardware.

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Microsoft defends HD DVD support

It was a thinly veiled reference to HD DVD supporter Microsoft, and later in the week a Microsoft representative responded, saying "The [Blu-ray] camp's ...

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The Bourne Ultimatum on DVD and HD DVD on December 11, 2007

Matt Damon is back as Jason Bourne for the latest installment of this smart, action-packed espionage series. Delivering signature Bourne fight and chase sequences, bring Bourne home on DVD and HD DVD Combo Disc December 11, 2007.

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Transformers Sets HD DVD Sales Record

Paramount Home Entertainment's HD DVD release of "Transformers" set a new high-definition disc record for most sales on the first day and the first week of release. The studio said more than 100,000 discs sold on the first day and more than 190,000 sold in its first week.

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Are Blu-ray prices dropping faster than expected?

Customers aren't exactly flocking to Blu-ray players and that might be accelerating cost cuts.Stan Glasgow, Sony Electronics president, told reporters in a press briefing in the East Coast on Friday that Blu-ray players should drop to $399 at holiday time, according to Twice Magazine. Right now, the players

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Is It My Choice, or Is It Yours?

I wrote the piece (below) originally for High-Def.Org Magazine. It concerns the high-definition DVD format war High-Def.Org is a printed monthly magazine read by 20,000 professionals working in television and motion pictures. The article contains a highly personal view (certainly different from my partner Shane's) and one which I ask no one to foll

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Toshiba Shows Versatile New HD DVD Recorder

The Vardia RD-A301 can record HD video to regular DVDs and transcode MPEG2 to MPEG4 on the fly.

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HD-DVD's Act of Desperation, and Why it Just Might Work

The stagnating sales of both formats can easily - and truthfully - be attributed to the format war. No one wants to be caught owning a Betamax. And up until a few months back, it looked like the format war was all but over.

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Kmart Not Exclusively Supporting HD-DVD Format

Kmart Not Exclusively Supporting HD-DVD Format

Lite-On IT may land OEM orders for Xbox 360 external HD DVD-ROM drives

As Microsoft will lower the retail price of its Xbox 360 external HD DVD-ROM drives from US$199 to US$179 in August and may therefore seek additional OEM makers to reduce the production cost of the drive, Taiwan-based Lite-On IT is likely to secure OEM orders from Microsoft, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Panasonic Blu-ray: Final Standards, not Lower Prices

It won't be the cheapest, but it'll have the most new features--including the Final Standard Profile--says Panasonic, introducing the $500 DMP-30 Blu-Ray player. Much of the rest of the high-def video crowd is headed downmarket.

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HDMI Licensing Authority releases new guidelines

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a connection standard for HDTV and consumer electronic devices. It is the only digital interface which combines uncompressed high-definition video, multi-channel audio and intelligent ...

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Sony and Samsung Won’t Slash Blu-ray Prices

Via Dealerscope:

Sony and Samsung executives said they see no reason to slash prices of their Blu-ray players to meet the new low prices of some of their HD-DVD competitors.

Asus intros 'quietest' HD DVD drive

Asus has launched an add-in HD DVD drive for PCs, pitching the product as a quietest of its kind - handy for folk building living-room systems.

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G-spot: HDTV for you and me

Whether you're after a DLP, LCD or plasma TV, you might want to get a jump on the holidays by buying an HDTV this weekend.

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Samsung develops cheaper glass for LCD TVs

Samsung has developed a method to manufacture LCD panels from ordinary glass plates, which could significantly reduce the cost of LCD screens for TVs and laptops.

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$299 Blu-Ray for the Holidays? How About $199?

Maybe?

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Verizon Plans Fivefold Increase in HD Channels on FiOS TV in 2008

Via press release:

NEW YORK - Verizon FiOS TV customers will get even more of the high-definition content they love as Verizon today announced plans for a fivefold increase in the number of HD channels, to 150 channels, as well as plans for offering additional HD content through FiOS TV's video-on-demand service. Verizon is also planning a major expansion of sports and multicultural programming on FiOS TV in 2008.

HD DVD Player to Break $100 Mark on Friday

Woot!

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