Blu-ray player sales down despite end of format war

Looks like it wasn't the HD DVD/Blu-ray battle that was keeping potential customers away from high-definition video players after all.The NPD Group released some of its retail sales tracking data Wednesday that showed sales of Blu-ray standalone players (not a PlayStation 3, combo player, or PC with

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Psystar Open Computer unboxing and hands-on

Engadget NYC might have gotten to play with Apple's latest and greatest iMac yesterday, but we keep it dirty in the Chi -- yep, we've got the first Psystar Open Computer shipped out for review. We're just getting it set up, but check out the unboxing below, and hit us up with anything you want to know in comments

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Apple permits AT&T to discount iPhone handset sales

Apple may allow future networks offering the iPhone permission to discount the price of the device, as it revises its bring to market strategy in order to increase marketshare.

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Microsoft Cuts Xbox 360 Prices in Asia

Microsoft in order to battle up its rival Sony’s Play Station 3 and Ninetendo’s Wii has brought down the prices of its Xbox 360 in Asia.The prices have been reduced from 5 to 20 percent in four areas throughout the region.

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Why Hand-held gaming devices suck...

Hand-held gaming devices like PSP, Nintendo DS, etc are becoming increasingly popular for no reason. PSP these days has higher sales than the PS3 itself. People all around the world have their necks craned to the dumb consoles... Presenting the reasons why getting addicted to your hand-held makes you look like a moron...

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Skateboard Game Controller Coming to Xbox 360

Qmotions has signed a North American licensing agreement with Microsoft, allowing it to incorporate Microsoft's Xbox 360 wireless technology in its game controllers. The company's first product will be the Qmotions-Big Air action game controller, a full size skateboard that operates with the X360 and is compatible with popular skateboarding games.

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How I learned to stop worrying and love the death of HD DVD

"Who cares if it’s a dead product? What matters is that it’s still a good product. High definition is high definition. The movies still look fantastic, sound fantastic, and now you can get them for cheap..."

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GTA:IV will sell 9,000,000 copies at launch says AP

Analysts predict Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games' open-world, action-driving game will easily top last year's record-breaking $300 million first-week sales of Microsoft and Bungee Studios' first-person shooter "Halo 3"

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How to Fix PC Gaming Once and for All (For PC games Lover)

With the demise of Games for Windows/Computer Gaming, the popularity of consoles, and games that once might have been PC-only are now appearing on said consoles, sometimes exclusively.PC gaming doesn't need to be fixed, but it does need some maintenance work to keep on running smoothly. Here are some areas that could use attention.

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No change in XP plan despite Ballmer comment, Microsoft says

Comments by Steve Ballmer at a press conference in Europe on Thursday have led to speculation that Microsoft is reconsidering its June 30 deadline to stop selling most new Windows XP licenses. A spokeswoman from Microsoft's public relations firm said Thursday that there is no plan for a change in deadline, however.

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Imploding Tanker

Battlestar Galactica's Secret Cylons Tell All [SPOILERS]

Why does Anders stay with Starbuck, when she treats him like crap? Will Col. Tigh still have his eyepatch for the rest of the season? What's up with Tory's sexuality? Michael Trucco (Anders), Rekha Sharma (Tory), and Michael Hogan (Tigh) answered these, and several other questions yesterday at New York Comic-Con. Plus we saw a new trailer

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Intel cuts quad-core price by 50 percent

Just in time for me to build my new PC!Intel posted price cuts on Sunday that included reductions of 50 percent on select quad-core processors. The chipmaker also introduced new Celeron and Core 2 Duo processor models.

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This DVD will self-destruct in 48 hours

Good Lord, this idea is coming back around? First it was Divx then Flexplay...Disney got hammered on this before, why are they bringing this up again?A German company has introduced a disposable DVD that can be viewed for 48 hours, then thrown away.

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History of the iPod

current gen
Photo Gen
5th Gen
3rd Gen4th Gen

First Gen
Second Gen

Microsoft Adding Sony Blu-ray Support To Windows

CEO Steve Ballmer said his company is working on Windows device driver support for the Blu-ray high definition movie format. Microsoft is developing software that will add native support for devices that play Sony’s Blu-ray high definition movie format to the Windows operating system, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said.

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Universal joining Blu-ray bandwagon in the summer

Universal Studios, once Hollywood's top backer of the doomed HD DVD video format, will soon release all its new videos on the victorious Blu-ray rival at the same time as its standard DVDs. The studio is set to...

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Xbox 360 Sales Double in Europe

Microsoft announced this morning that Xbox 360 sales in Europe have “more than doubled” since the console’s price cut over Easter.

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OK, I got my voicemail played on Cnet's "Buzz Outloud"

I listen to the CNET "Buzz Out loud" podcast everyday and the other day tom Merrit and Molly Wood mentioned a story about people complaining that Hybrid's like the Prius were too quiet. What these whiners were wanting was Toyota and others to somehow "play" engine noise so that no one was run down by the silent killers that are these hybrids. Well i remembered the story a few weeks ago about how the Fisker Karma electric car is going to be released this year with driver selectable engine noises! I left a voice mail and they played it today! It's at the 33:30 mark.

Link here:
http://www.cnet.com/8300-11455_1-10.html

New on Xbox Live: Metal Arms and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Next Monday, Microsoft will update its Xbox Originals catalog with two new titles: Metal Arms: Glitch in the System and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

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Tesla Motors Files Suit Against Competitor Over Design Ideas

The quarrel between the companies sheds a light on the insular world of Silicon Valley’s investors in environmentally friendly technologies.

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NVIDIA Introduces Fastest GeForce Platforms Ever - Optimized for Gaming PCs

NVIDIA Introduces Fastest GeForce Platforms Ever - Optimized for Gaming PCs

Nvidia GPU Physics Engine Up And Running, Almost

Nvidia told analysts that that the conversion of Ageia's physics application interface to CUDA is almost complete.

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Alex says "Kevin Rose has basically plowed through everyone"

Valleywag may have been thrown out of the TechCrunch party last night, but bulldog aficionado Jason Calacanis did our dirty work for us. Calacanis caught up with Kevin Rose's cohost on the Diggnation podcast, Alex Albrecht, and asked him about Kevin Rose's dating habits. It's not pretty.

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Ex-Scientologist actor Jason Beghe talks Scientology

Actor Jason Beghe is the first celebrity Scientologist to sit down and publicly talk about his experiences after leaving the group. The full interview will be out soon. (As you can see, his experiences left him with a bitter taste)

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Blu-ray Disc Releases for April 15th

The following Blu-ray Disc titles will be released April 15th, 2008:Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (FOX)Commando (FOX)Juno (FOX)Mariah Carey: The Adventures of Mimi (Image Entertainment)A Passage to India (Sony)Predator (FOX)--- Visit my site for Amazon.com pre-order links!

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NVIDIA CEO: "We're Going to Open a Can of Whoop Ass"

NVIDIA's already candid CEO Jen-Hsun Huang had more than a few things to say during the company's financial analyst meeting today. An hour into the call Huang began to ad lib; clearly something was on his mind. "We're going to open a can of whoop ass," he told analysts, whom quickly broke out into laughter.

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CPU Vs. Graphics Card

nVidia's report still seems logical

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IBM Ships Fastest Chip In Existence

IBM Corp. began shipping high-end computers Tuesday built around the fastest chip on Earth, a microprocessor that can carry out up to 5 billion instructions per second, surpassing the speediest competing processors built by rivals like Intel or Sun Microsystems.

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Latest Shuttle XPC Boasts Blu-ray, HD DVD

As further proof that HD DVD is dead but not forgotten, Shuttle launched a new home-theater PC this week that handles both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. The XPC G5 3101M includes a single combo drive to play discs in both high-def formats, plus conventional DVD discs.

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Intel is preparing to annihiliate NVIDIA: the war is on

NVIDIA and Intel: someone has to lose.

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Amazon.com: Blu-ray's: Buy 2, Get 1 Free Event

In addition, Amazon.com is currently offering an exclusive bundle of the hit movies “National Treasure” and “National Treasure 2 – Book of Secrets” on Blu-ray, now available for pre-order ($39.99). Check out our Blu-ray store to explore the hundreds of titles available on Blu-ray, all at least 30% off.

iTWire - Xbox 360 vs PS3 vs Wii Make up your own mind

There is only a couple of reasons why winning the console war is important to the consumers that purchase gaming consoles such as the Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii. IT journo's butting horns over which platform is on the way out ultimately mean nothing, only the informed consumer can determine the fate of a multi-national electronics conglomerate.

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April 7, 1964: IBM Bets Big on System/360

1964:IBM unveils the System/360 line of mainframe computers.In what some consider the biggest business gamble of all time, the International Business Machines Corp. invested $5 billion ($34 billion in today's dollars) in a family of six mutually compatible computers and 40 peripherals that could work together and be expanded in multiple combination

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Charlton Heston passes away at 84

Legendary actor, civil rights leader and political activist Charlton Heston passed away today, at the age of 84.

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Battlestar Galactica Exclusive Spoilers (and 8-Min Summary)

Battlestar Galactica! Starbuck! Fracking Battlestar Galactica! Today! Starbuck! Fraksters! Did you forget something about it? Shame on you! But don't worry: get up to speed with this 8-minute summary video of the whole series, you fracking Cylons! And then, skip the need to watch the final season by reading our exclusive BSG spoilers list.

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Qualcomm's breaks ground on the next generation phone

The most incredible phone yet. The best part are the games that it comes with. I'll surely be one of the first people in line to get one of these

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Are The GPU's Days Numbered? Nvidia Laughs

Intel's executives are remarkably disciplined and not given to making foolish statements. Usually. But one comment coming out of the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai is a head-scratcher. TGDaily reports that during a demo, Ron Fosner, an Intel Graphics and Gaming Technologist and former video game programmer, said that multi-core CPUs will put an

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Blu-Ray is getting more expensive?

What the hell? Now that there's no competition from the HD DVD camp, hardware prices have inched up.

Blu-ray Awareness Tops 60%, But Hardware Penetration Low

And the crowd goes whatever?

Sixty percent of U.S. consumers are aware of Blu-ray discs, but hardware penetration for the high-definition DVD format sits at only 9 percent, according to a new survey.

Research firm Interpret, LLC has found that Blu-ray and HD DVD owners continue to buy standard-def DVDs at a rate of 7.7 to 8.7 for high-def titles during the past six months, but more available Blu-ray titles are needed to grow that difference.

'Hanna Montana 3-D Concert,' 'Camp Rock' Coming to Blu-ray

"oh my God, this is totally awesome!" I Mean the only thing better is if there was a Jonas Brothers video on this too!


According to new listings at online retailer DVDEmpire.com and subsequently confirmed, Disney and Buena Vista Home Entertainment are planning to dip into the teen market this fall on Blu-ray Disc.

On August 19, the studio will release Camp Rock: Extended Rock Star Edition, based on the hit Disney Channel show, and the hugely successful film Hannah Montana And Miley Cyrus Best Of Both Worlds Concert: The 3-D Movie -- both day-and-date with standard DVD releases.

Microsoft: No Blu-ray plans for Xbox, you guys are stupid poo-heads

If you’re a next-gen video game console that’s soon to get the Blu-ray treatment, step forward.

Not so fast, Xbox 360. Your boss says no way, at least not yet. Those rumors we’ve been following today from Digitimes are hogwash, or so says Big Redmond.

That’s not to say Blu-ray won’t come to Xbox 360, it’s just not on its way yet, and anything else is wild speculation on the part of filthy, irresponsible bloggers.

De Ja Vu all over again

So will these rumors and denials ever stop:

“No. Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360. As we have stated, games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster game available.

“For our customers who want a premium movie experience we offer the largest library of on-demand HD content available and the ability to play back DVDs in high definition.“

MS is saying that we ought to be happy with 720p via Xbox Live.

Xbox 360 Blu-Ray Will Cost Microsoft Mucho Dinero

As the rumors start pouring out that Lite-On will be manufacturing the Blu-Ray drives for Microsoft's Xbox 360, it's becoming clear that in order to keep the price down to where people will adopt the new drive (especially after getting burned on the HD-DVD one...), Microsoft will likely have to sell it at a loss.

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DIRECTV Adds Three New HD Channels

DIRECTV made its mark on the HD landscape once again today, adding three additional channels in high definition. The announcement comes after a thee-month...

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Google and Virgin want to send you into space

Earth has issues, and it's time humanity got started on a Plan B. So, starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history: Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars.

Comcast Degrades HD Quality To Make Room For More Channels

Wow. Can this company be any more evil? "It looks like Comcast is degrading the quality of some HD channels in order to make room for more channels. So far the Comcast channels receiving extra compression are: Discovery Channel, SciFi, USA, Food, NatGeo, UHD, A&E, HGTV, Starz, Cinemax, HBO, TLC, Animal Planet, Discovery HD Theater, and History HD.

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New PS3 4.1 Update Allows HD DVD Compatibility

As part of a cross-licensing agreement with Microsoft, the latest PS3 firmware update now allows the PS3 Blu-ray drive to read HD DVD discs, complete with the HDi interactivity layer. In the other part of the cross-licensing agreement, the Xbox 360 will now come with a Blu-ray drive built-in. A new improved calendar is also included.

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Really, This rumor again?

DigiTimes cites ‘unnamed industry sources’ this week that claim Lite-On is expected to start delivering new built-in Blu-ray Disc (BD) players for Xbox 360 to Microsoft for assembly in the second half of 2008, just in time for Christmas.

In addition to built-in Blu-ray drives, the report also claims that (again,‘unnamed’) ‘power supply makers’ have informed them that the ‘next-gen’ Xbox 360’s power supply will be reduced from 210 watts to 170 watts.

Engaget notes that Falcon-based 360s are already running at 175 watts, which suggests that the DigiTimes report should be taken with a healthy pinch of salt and be filed squarely under ‘rumour’ for the time being.