On Monday I reported on the teaser Palm put up in Europe for an announcement coming on September 12th. At the time the speculation was that this was going to be the Palm Centro. Well, today Palm teased us by saying it is not the Centro - but we’ll have to wait to see what it is.

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s not Centro

There’s been a lot of buzz about the new device our friends across the “pond” are planning to announce on September 12th…and it’s not the Palm Centro smartphone!

Check back later for more info.

-Stephanie Richardson

While Digeo still claims their new Moxi boxes will hit the market later this year, they’re still not telling us much about them. While they’ve been showing them at various shows, they really haven’t said anything new since CES in January. I’d expect them to want to have the boxes out in time for the holiday shopping season if they still plan to have them out this year - and that really means this month or next. But if they’re close to launch, you’d think they’d be doing more to promote them and talk about details. But EngadgetHD caught the Digeo both at CEDIA, and it doesn’t look like Digeo has anything new to say yet. In fact, those boxes look like the same empty mock-ups I saw at CES. Come on Digeo, give us something new and specific, I’m starting to wonder if they’re really shipping this year.

Not that there is no news out of Digeo - just that it isn’t very meaningful. First, Digeo and Monster announced that they’re going to “explore joint product development opportunities”.

Digeo®, Inc., makers of the Emmy®-award winning Moxi® digital media recorder (DMR), and Monster, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end cables, accessories and power conditioning products, today announced their efforts to explore joint product development opportunities to take advantage of the growing proliferation of IP-connected entertainment options and advance the simplicity and quality of premium entertainment experiences in the home.

Yes, that’s as vague and meaningless as it sounds. They’re talking to each other - like any other million pair of companies you could name. From the press release: “The companies are not announcing any specific collaborative products at this time.” So they issued a press release to announce that the two companies are discussing the possibility of working together. Wow. That’s meta-vaporware. I know I can be a cynic, but I really don’t take it as a good sign when a company feels the need to issue press releases about this kind of garbage.

On top of that, if they do work together, Monster is involved, which means it’ll be overpriced no matter what it may be. (As should be obvious, I’m not a fan of Monster Cable, specifically their pricing.)

Moving on to something with a little more meat, Digeo also announced a deal with 4HomeMedia to bring home control software to the Moxi platform. Digeo is licensing 4HomeMedia’s ControlPoint software and integrating it into the Moxi Menu interface so that you can control devices in your home from your sofa via the Moxi remote. Of course, the prerequisite is that you have a home automation system in place. As part of this effort, Digeo also joined the Z-Wave Alliance, a home control industry group.

As a geek, this is cool. It is geeky and would be a neat toy. But, putting aside the “Ooh, shiny” geek reaction for a moment, I don’t think this is a big deal. How many people have a home automation system? Right - even most geeks don’t have one. This is only going to be useful for people with not only a home automation system, but a compatible home automation system. And then only if they want a DVR, decide to go with Moxi, and want to control their home automation system from their sofa in the first place - probably dimming the lights and such for the most part. I just don’t see this boosting Moxi sales in any appreciable way - whenever they ship in the first place.

It just strikes me as weird that here we are in September, Digeo is exhibiting at CEDIA, they’ve claimed the boxes are shipping this year - but instead of announcing details on the boxes (little things like real specs, pricing, distribution plans, etc) we’re getting fluff releases like these. To paraphrase an ad from my youth - Digeo, where’s the beef?

The two press releases picked up via ZatzNotFunny.

Pioneer’s ‘Elite’ product line is their high-end, high-priced gear with all the bells and whistles. The BDP-95FD will take its place as their highest-end Blu-ray player when it ships in October with a $1,000 MSRP. It, of course, has full 1080p24/60 video output via HDMI 1.3, and Pioneer claims it is the first player to offer bitstream output of “all advanced audio formats” including Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital+, DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio. The unit has an Ethernet port and also supports DLNA. More info at Business Wire.

Via EngadgetHD.

We have yet another vendor offering an HD DVD player. This time it is Integra, with their $1,099 DHS-8.8. No, that is not a typo on the price. Clearly, this is a high-end component. I suppose the HD DVD camp could use something at that end of the scale - Toshiba has been focusing on the low-to-mid range of the market. Blu-ray has been more focused on the high-end of the market than HD DVD. See the press release below for more info - picked up from EngadgetHD.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sharp is finally launching a Blu-ray player in the US - for real this time. The Sharp Aquos BD-HP20U will be available this month with an MSRP of $549. It has full 1080p/24 output via HDMI 1.3. The unit has a Quick Start which allows you to be watching a Blu-ray movie in less than 10 seconds from a cold start - much better from some of the earlier BD units. More information at Business Wire.

From EngadgetHD.

AnandTech is reporting from CEDIA that Blu-ray has overtaken HD DVD in standalone player sales. See the slide above. Sony’s claim is that this started with the release of the $499 Sony BDP-S300 player, but it might also have to do with Toshiba’s early announcement of their 3rd generation players helping put the damper on 2nd generation sales. But, in any case, if this is true it shows that’s the HD DVD camp’s claims about low prices winning the war aren’t panning out. Toshiba is refuting the claim. However, their refutation does not really say Sony’s claim is false. They point out that HD DVD has 55% *year to date* sales, and even say that “the competition may claim leadership based on one month of data” - but they never actually say that, over the current period where Sony claimed the lead, that BD is not leading. Looks like spin to me. To me it looks like BD has had a slim lead for the past few weeks, but that HD DVD definitely has a year to date lead - since it lead for most of the year. So both sides are right.

Via EngadgetHD and Format War Central.

TiVo has published a Guru Guide for the 2007 season, and series, premiers - the 2007 Fall TV Guru Guide.

Back with fervor! Get the best of the new TV season with our 2007 Fall TV Guru Guide, now better than ever, jam-packed with all of the network’s newest shows and all of your returning favorites. Get the whole guide, or schedule individual recordings and watch your Now Playing List flourish with crisp, cool fall TV! Your favorite premieres will automatically get added to this Guru Guide as they fall into the 14 day window of programming.

You can also find it locally under TiVo Central -> Find Programs -> KidZone Recommendations & Guru Guides -> TV and Movies -> 2007 Fall TV Guru Guide

Picked up from TiVo Blog.

Back in April we first heard about the new startup, Vudu, and their self-named set-top box for broadband video. Well, now it looks like they’re ready to ship. The New York Times, Yahoo! News, and USA Today all have articles on Vudu.

Personally, I’m impressed as a geek by their BitTorrent-like technology, but I’m not impressed by it as a product. It is yet another set-top box you need to buy and put in your entertainment center - for $399, not cheap. And you need a reliable high-speed Internet connection since it downloads movies on-demand. Low-end DSL and cable modem services may not be fast enough, and dial-up is, of course, right out - you need downloads of at least 2Mbps. You’ll also need to be sure your broadband provider doesn’t have usage limits since you’re Vudu will be downloading a lot of data - and uploading it as well.

Uploading? Yes. Vudu works like BitTorrent, peer-to-peer (P2P). When you select a movie to watch your Vudu box begins downloading it. But it doesn’t just download from Vudu’s central servers, but it will download portions of the film from other Vudu units out there that have already downloaded the film. The more Vudu boxes which have the film, the faster your box can pull the pieces together. So your Vudu will also be a node on the Vudu P2P network, serving data to other users.

Of course, the $400 for the box just gets you the box. You have to pay for the content as well. Movie rentals range from $.99 to $3.99 - with Hollywood blockbusters and new releases toward the high end of the range, and nth-tier direct-to-video releases at the low end -as you’d expect. Vudu also offers purchases for $4.99 to $19.99. Vudu is launching with a library of roughly 5,000 titles. Current content is all SD, though the Vudu will up-convert content to pseudo-HD via its HDMI connection. Vudu plans to offer real HD content in the future.

I just don’t think it is worth it. You can get a TiVo and have a premium DVR - with access to Amazon Unbox downloads. And the TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD will also up-convert content over HDMI - and Unbox is reportedly going to offer HD content in the future as well. Alternatively, Microsoft offers downloads, including HD, for the Xbox 360. And you can get a 360 for less than a Vudu - and you’d have a game box which can also be a DVD player - and HD DVD with an add-on. Sony will also be launching a download service for the PlayStation3, which will likely include HD content. The PS3 is a little more than the Vudu, but you also get a great game platform - which also plays (and up-converts) DVD as well as playing Blu-ray. And then there is Apple TV, which provides another platform for getting downloaded content on your TV, with more capabilities than the Vudu. And, of course, Netflix is always an option.

Based on the price and the narrow feature set, I just think there are better options.

EDIT: Gizmodo also has a review with a lot of photos.

TiVoPony is having a fun day, not only did he announce the software fix for the TiVo HD, but he also announced that the Series3 and TiVo HD will have TiVoToGo (TTG) and Multi-Room Viewing (MRV) enabled in November (yes, 2007). TiVo had previously said that we’d see them later this year, but it is nice to have a concrete time frame, as well as some specifics:

These features will provide support for video transfers between Series3 & Series2 systems and between a Series3/Series2 system and a PC. High Definition content will not be supported for transfer or playback on a Series2 system (Series2’s just can’t play HD), and copy-protected High Def or Standard Def content cannot be transferred (same as our current Series2 products). The aptly yet unofficially named TiVoToComeBack also will be supported, including HD content.

TiVoToComeBack (TTCB) is the reverse of TTG - the ability to move content from a PC to a TiVo. Just in case it isn’t clear, you’ll be able to transfer HD & SD content between Series3 and TiVo HD units, and SD content between Series2/2DT units or between the Series3/HD and S2/2DT. And TTG/TTCB SD & HD between S3/HD & PCs, or SD between S2/2DT & PCs.

This is really great news for S3 & TiVo HD owners. And a little crow to eat for those who said TiVo would never enable these features. (I’m sure someone will say it doesn’t count until the software is released - sure, but the crow will be served in November. )