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Logitech Introduces The Harmony Ultimate and Harmony Smart Control[teaser]Both models come with the Harmony hub and may be the last Logitech Harmony Models. [/teaser] Even as Logitech continues in its intention to sell the Harmony division, the company is introducing two top-of-the-line models. At the core of the two new models is really the Harmony Hub. This separate unit resides with the user's home theater, granting controls from across the home, compatibility with rogue Bluetooth options such as game consoles, and smartphone control. The Logitech smartphone app is available for iOS and Android. The Harmony Smart Control is really a wireless or Wi-Fi extension of the Harmony Hub and is priced at $129.99. The remote is simple and leaves the complex controls in the hands of connected smartphones. In concept, the power user relies on smartphone control while leaving the simple remote for the more casual users. The Harmony Ultimate adds a 2.4" color touchscreen and is billed as "the most fully featured" Harmony product to date. The Harmony Ultimate can even control Philips Hue LED light bulbs through Wi-Fi. The touchscreen interface uses swipes and haptic feedback to train the user to control up to 15 devices without having to even look at the screen. The remote can detect when it is moved and illuminate its screen for the user. The remote has specifically been designed for two different hand positions with the casual channel-flipping spot at the bottom and the more in-depth operations suitable for the upper grip. The Harmony Ultimate is priced at $349.99. Both models should be available later this month. Source: The VergePosted Tue Apr 16, 2013 at 07:30 AM PDT by: -
4K Resolution at What Cost? The $1500 50" 4K Seiki[teaser]Seiki Digital and TigerDirect are offering the no frills model. [/teaser] How can a 4K TV be on sale for $1500? The answer is plainly Seiki Digital. The company which is known for producing some of the cheapest HDTV LCDs around is now offering a 50" LED TV with a supported and theoretical native resolution of 3840 x 2160. That combination of price and resolution heads the shortlist of details currently known about the set. The specs from TigerDirect indicate that the set has three HDMI ports and a 5000:1 contrast ratio, and a 6.5ms response at 120Hz refresh rate. Nothing in Seiki's press release or the TigerDirect listing references an ability to scale content, however, Seiki does point out that the set includes a "HDMI 1.4 standard cable to enable video resolutions beyond 1080p." Seiki also mentions purchasers "future-proofing" and being "ready to experience 4K content as it becomes available in the near future." These specific details suggest that getting 4K content onto the set may not be happen for some time. Sony's FMP-X1 may be the first available option when considering how video cards handle resolution output above 1080p. The 50" SE50UY04 will be joined 65" variant later this year. Source: EngadgetPosted Mon Apr 15, 2013 at 09:30 AM PDT by: -
Sharp Raising Funds By Selling off Pioneer[teaser]Pioneer's largest shareholder at 9.2 percent, Sharp continues to try to stay above water.[/teaser] Sharp is planning to sell its 30 million shares of Pioneer in a move that echoes options that Sharp explored this past fall. In 2012, Sharp finally had to restructure its entire operation in order to begin addressing the billions of dollars of debt the company has accrued. While the company has accepted bailout funds, new investment, and sold off several other interests, the company has held onto to Pioneer until now. With 9.2 percent of Pioneer, Sharp currently holds the largest single share of Pioneer. Pioneer in turn owns 0.8 percent of Sharp. The two companies will continue their collaborative efforts even after the sell-off. Sharp is looking to pay off $2.14 billion in convertible debt, which represents less than a quarter of the company's overall debt. Sharp plans to raise $1.07 through a public stock offering and has managed to wrangle $313 million in direct bank investment. Sharp's shares in Pioneer pale in comparison to both the company's immediate debt and overall debt, but the company has made serious strides since the fall of 2012, when investors were abandoning the company in droves. Source: ZDnetPosted Mon Apr 15, 2013 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
Early OUYA Performance Staked by 3DMark[teaser]Does the $100 price point justify the system's performance?[/teaser] With the OUYA in the hands of developers and backers, the system has come much further than most other attempts at merging a home console with an either an open-source or Android Market underpinning. The system has, however, hit some growing pains as several early impression features have produced on overall negative image with regards to both stability and software availability. Likewise, at this still early stage, the OUYA system has been run through Futuremake's 3DMark benchmarking, and the results are open to interpretation. The OUYA is stacked up against a plethora of more powerful Android tablets and smartphones. Systems whose costs can dwarf the OUYA's $100 price. The OUYA is currently ranked 73rd for mobile devices tested in the last thirty days. That ranking is currently exclusive to hardware running the Android OS and does not include either iOS or Windows Phone hardware. It is reasonable to expect the OUYA's performance to improve significantly with various optimizations over the next two months, but even during that short window more powerful handsets will continue to be released. Of course, the likelihood of yearly OUYA hardware releases remain, but it seems clear that that the system will need unique software and an attractive unique experience/feature set rather than raw horsepower in order to be more than a niche product. Source: GamasutraPosted Mon Apr 15, 2013 at 08:30 AM PDT by: -
LG Already Demonstrating UHD Sports Coverage[teaser]4K Final Four demonstration coming to a retailer near you. [/teaser] As Ultra HD continues to advance towards bringing the 4K standard to living rooms everywhere, one regularly occurring question involves the seeming dearth of UHD content. Recently, as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament narrowed down to the last four teams, LG used the Louisville Michigan semifinal to showcase both live UHD and 4K upscaled from 1080i. LG partnered with CBS and Turner to create Ultra HD recordings of both semifinals and the final game. Some of the footage was shown live through closed-circuit broadcast on the LG 84LM9600 in a LG area of the Georgia Dome. During the final, LG replayed 4K footage from the semifinal, while also showing the live upscaled final using LG's Resolution Upscaler Plus Circuitry. When asked about broadcasting in UHD, LG Electronics marketing director Kyle Kiang stated that production is "a great first step," even though the production system was not quite ready for live 4K broadcasting. Anyone wishing to see the 4K capture from the three games can look forward to viewing a 84", 65" or 55" LG UHD in a retail showroom. While this has been the first time a major US sporting event has been produced natively in 4K, it will not be the last. Source: TWICEPosted Mon Apr 15, 2013 at 07:30 AM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - April 12, 2013[teaser]Have a hankering for some HD-related news, reviews, and other great stuff? See what transpired on The Bonus View in our weekly recap.[/teaser] Blu-ray News We're having another contest! We'd ask if you were tired of them, but we know as well as anyone, no one tires of getting free stuff. Last week we gave away a free copy of 'Les Miserables' (check out the results here), this week we're giving away a free copy of 'Wreck-it Ralph.' Trust me, your kids will love it. My son has watched it around 40 times already. This week was a pretty slow week as far as Blu-ray releases were concerned. Check out our Blu-ray Highlights post to see a few of the gems that made this dismal release week worth it. Theatrical News Bryan Kluger has seen the Jackie Robinson biopic opening this weekend entitled '42.' Is it something you've been looking forward to seeing? If so you'll want to read his review to see if it’s a worthy account of his life. Along with reviewing the newest films in theaters, Bryan has also been attending the Dallas Film Festival. Check out his reviews for festival films like 'A Teacher,' and 'Jump.' It was with very heavy hearts that we said goodbye to Roger Ebert last week. Aaron took a few moments to write down exactly what the famed critic meant to him. What did he mean to you? Use the comments to tell your favorite Ebert stories. Finally, E's Trailer Park features a hodgepodge of new movies slated to hit theaters in the near future. Check out trailers for 'Elysium,' 'This is the End,' and the remake of 'Carrie.' TV Recaps The summer TV season is heating up and we've got a ton of recaps this week following some of the most anticipated new shows as well as returning favorites. Check out our recaps of 'Game of Thrones,' 'Bates Motel,' 'Hannibal,' 'Community,' 'Dr. Who,' and 'Happy Endings.' Special Features Last week on the Weekend Roundtable we discussed what movies would be inappropriate for 3D conversions. It was a fun conversation. Have a few suggestions? Head on over and tell us in the comments. That's it for this week. Thanks for being our faithful readers. Next week we'll try to pack in even more exciting HD fun!Posted Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 01:00 PM PDT by: -
The Panasonic DMP-BDT500 3D Blu-ray Player Leads Model Line With a 192kHz/32bit Audio DAC[teaser]Panasonic now offering six different Blu-ray models including a 3D 4K scaling option.[/teaser] Panasonic is now offering its previously announced 2013 Blu-ray players. The four new models and two carryovers host media capabilities beyond Blu-ray with external HDD playback, web browsing, and Wi-Fi capabilities. Each 3D Blu-ray player offers 2D-3D conversion with the DMP-BDT330 also counting 4K scaling and win HDMI ports among its features. The DMP-BDT500 3D Blu-ray player is being marketed as "Premium Sound Capable" and boasts of four independent 193 kHz 32-bit audio DACs. A host of smart features including Viera Connect, Skype, DLNA compatibility, web browser, four-user settings package, and smartphone control round out the players feature set. Twin HDMI ports and 7.1 analog RCA jacks are there to ensure a proper fit with most home theater configurations. The DMP-BDT500 is available to order here. Source: Electronic HousePosted Fri Apr 12, 2013 at 09:30 AM PDT by: -
The Séura Premier S1 TV Doubles As a Mirror for the Haughtiest Applications[teaser] Séura motto "Hide the television. Flaunt your design." [/teaser] Séura continues its goal to allow its customers to own "vanishing" flat panel displays with "color-accurate reflection(s)" with the launch of the Premier S1. Available in sizes ranging from 32" to 65", the Premier S1 advances Séura's design in a number of ways, including decreasing the gap between the mirror glass and internal monitor glass. The new models are supposed to be much easier for install to work with, the model's connectivity reliability has been approved with a specific focus on the durability of connectors and jacks. Model prices range from $4800-$16000 with the possibility of custom sizes. Séura describes their sets as proprietary, but the sets include Samsung's Smart platform as part of their LED-based design. From Séura, "Incorporating the latest technology into your home doesn’t mean compromising your décor. Séura’s vanishing television mirrors provide a crisp television image and, when turned off, a fashionable mirror remains without a hint of its technological applications. You decide when a television is in the room with the simple push of a remote control button. No more unsightly and obtrusive monitors!" Séura claims that with their color-accurate reflection, "reflections never appear discolored or tinted like many competitive products." With custom framing options there is little doubt that Séura's claim to hide the TV in fact turns the TV into a conversational showpiece. Source: TWICEPosted Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 08:30 AM PDT by: -
Panasonic's Last Plasma Panel Powers the New ZT60[teaser]Panasonic plans to reuse that panel for models into 2014 while working towards OLED. [/teaser] Panasonic's ZT60, the company's latest and possibly greatest plasma television, is powered by the company's last plasma panel. Recent reports that Panasonic was abandoning plasma development have been confirmed to a degree, however, the company intends to sell plasma sets built with their current panels into 2014. Panasonic President Kiyoshi Okamoto told The Verge that Panasonic has shifted its plasma engineers towards OLED development and that "OLED is one of the key future products" for Panasonic. Current costs for OLED production keep the tech from being a definite path for Panasonic, and the company hopes to raise its current business sales in order to reach a healthy bottom line. Panasonic has an OLED development deal in place with fellow troubled manufacturer Sony. While Panasonic has produced plasma TVs with picture quality to swear by, plasma sales have plummeted while LCD TVs have become ubiquitous. In terms of marketability, plasma sets carry a "burn-in" stigma that often has relegated plasma TVs to an afterthought on sales floors. Meanwhile, LCD and its companion edge-lit LCD from Samsung, LG, and Vizio continue to sell unabated. The VT60 and VT65, priced at $3000 and $3500, respectively, exist as some of the best display options currently for sale and compare favorably with the hallowed but discontinued Pioneer Kuro Elite 151FD. Panasonic's current plasma line derives from its acquisition of plasma tech from Pioneer. As the Panasonic ZT60 becomes available later this month, customers will face the choice of buying into a tech that seems to have died well before its time. Source: The VergePosted Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
Shakedown: Police Enter Samsung Offices in Search of LG OLED Documents[teaser]Samsung spokesperson: "We have no reason to steal other companies’ technology, as we have the world’s best OLED technology." [/teaser] Yesterday, South Korean police officers searched the offices of Samsung Electronics Co. according to a report from Bloomberg. The search comes as the latest episode of OLED espionage involving both industry leaders Samsung and rival LG. LG Display is claiming that they did not direct the police towards Samsung, rather that the police have made their own determination with regards to the alleged theft. Son Young Jun, LG Display spokesman, "The latest investigation is related to large-sized OLED TV panel technology, but the police have made the allegation themselves." Samsung and LG are already connected by police to criminal probes from July. At that time, six LG Display employees were charged with OLED tech-related theft from Samsung. LG has stated that the information in question with the July charges was not secret, and specifically did not contain trade secrets. In response to inquiries regarding yesterday's visit from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Jun Eun Sun, a spokesperson for Samsung stated, "We have no reason to steal other companies’ technology, as we have the world’s best OLED technology." OLED as a marketable technology has more than enough potential to justify concerns with regards to industrial espionage. As companies rush to bring products to market and to eager consumers, policing tends to lag behind, leaving open the possibility that displays may debut as hot products only to have their production and sale frozen while legal battles play out. Source: BloombergPosted Wed Apr 10, 2013 at 10:00 AM PDT by:
