Reuters is reporting that the opening shot in the next-gen format wars has been fired as Toshiba has launched the HD-XA1 HD-DVD player in Japan. Initially, the HD-XA1 - priced at 110,000 yen ($940) - will be the only model available, although the less-expensive HD-A1 player will soon hit the market as well. The two HD-DVD players will cost $799 and $499 in the U.S. when they release in April. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Julie Jacobson at CE Pro tipped us off to a very cool Touchscreen MCE system that will soon be released from Pelham Sloane. The system, which CE Pro saw at the recent EHX Expo, is a very thin full featured PC with a 17-inch touchscreen running Windows Media Center Edition. At just 2 3/4-inches thick, this Pelham Sloane beauty stays out of the way. With an included mount, you can stick it just about anywhere. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Consumer VoIP pioneer Vonage is among the first companies to face a Quality of Service (QoS) surcharge by Canadian operator Shaw Cable. Vonage customers are “encouraged” to pay an additional C$10 ($8.60 USD) in order to use the Vonage VoIP service over Shaw’s broadband cable modem connection. Not so coincidently the added surcharge reduces the monthly price difference between Shaw’s competing VoIP product to about C$10 from C$20. Vonage obviously decided to make a very public objection to this surcharge, while Jim Shaw, C.E.O., Shaw Communications Inc largely dismissed the complaint by asserting that Vonage’s claim is “both wrong and misleading”. MORE »

Popularity: 4% [?]

Aplus.Net is the first company to fully integrate its photo storage service, Web-a-Photo™, with a TiVo® Digital Video Recorder. With this new development, TiVo users can now view all of their photos stored online on their television screen. Photos can be rotated, zoomed, e-mailed, and ordered, all via TiVo remote. Slide show mode is also available. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Exceptional Innovation, makers of Life|ware, hardware-friendly home control software, today announced all INSTEON™-enabled products are now compatible with a Life|ware home control solution. INSTEON is the wireless home control technology developed by SmartLabs Inc., the world’s leading authority in home automation and control. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

The DViCO Korean website has a very interesting collection of pictures showing a new add-on HD tuner that will pair up with their recently released TViX M5000U media streaming device. If released to the public, this would be the first media streamer (at least to our knowledge) capable of performing audio/video streaming, live TV, PVR and NAS media streaming all from a single device without the need for a HTPC running 24×7 or the limitations of a TiVo. MORE »

Popularity: 6% [?]

It looks like EHX is full of surprises this year. CE Pro has learned that Microsoft’s SideShow technology will soon be ported to Windows Media Center remotes, giving the users visual access to a PC’s electronic programming guide (EPG) and other media-centric features without disrupting what’s being shown on the television. As you may recall, SideShow is a new technology that’s being integrated into next-gen laptops to give users quick access to information on a on small display located on the exterior LCD cover. CE Pro adds: “SideShow can be implemented on virtually any piece of hardware capable of connecting, whether by WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Ethernet, you name it. These auxiliary devices grab ‘gadgets’ from the PC. Gadgets are mini applications that are sent, in an encrypted format, to the remote hardware by the computer.” Expect to see SideShow when Windows Vista launches early next year.

Popularity: 4% [?]

According to a new study from ABI Research, the market for home networking and connected entertainment devices will grow at an astonishing rate over the next few years, as the total value of home networking hardware, gateways, networked storage devices and networked entertainment devices rises from $14 billion in end-user revenue in 2005 to more than $85 billion by 2011. The major driver in overall revenue growth for this market is the transformation of most conventional consumer electronics devices such as game consoles, DVD players, TVs and portable media players from stand-alone devices to network-connected ones, using both wireless and wired IP communications technologies. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

You know, I don’t think this Voice Over IP thing is really going to take off. Between Vonage and Skype, and every cable operator in America, I don’t see it. I just don’t see it. Sarcasm meter off. Speaking of - do you remember the search engine Lycos? Well, according to MobileMag, it would appear that they are branching out into the VoIP arena since taking on Google really didn’t turn out all that well - for anyone really. So, what can Lycos offer that you’re not getting elsewhere? MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]

HAI Snap-Link Plugs Into Any Computer to Quickly Adjust and Check Lights, Temperature, and Security on the Go. MORE »

Popularity: 2% [?]