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Televisions Nov 18, 2009, 2:13 PM

Channel 4 in 3D: through a pair of glasses, darkly

By Andrew Everard

The whole Channel 4 3D hoopla had kind of passed me by, until I was exchanging a faulty DVD at customer services in Sainsburys last weekend and spotted a huge dump-bin full of chequerboard-printed cardboard 3D specs. Grabbed a fistful for self, friends...

Discs and downloads Nov 18, 2009, 11:10 AM

Our Top 10 sci-fi films on Blu-ray

By Andy Clough

With Star Trek out on Blu-ray this week, we thought we'd bring you our choice of Top 10 sci-fi films on Blu-ray, plus an interview with the key players on the latest outing for the Star Trek franchise. No.1 STAR TREK (2009 ) Join a fresh-faced Kirk and...

Home Cinema Nov 18, 2009, 4:00 AM

JARGON BUSTER: Blu-ray and high definition explained

By Andy Clough

Baffled by all the technical jargon surrounding Blu-ray and high-definition formats? Don't panic, our Jargon Buster will help you understand what it all means... 24FPS Film's native frame rate. Film is shot at 24fps (frames per second of picture), and...

Industry insider Nov 02, 2009, 3:23 PM

iPhone Wars: O2 vs Orange

By Joe Cox

O2's exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone is coming to an end in a little over a week, with Orange set to be the second provider available from November 10th. Vodafone will be joining the party in 'early 2010', so it's no surprise that punters...

Home Cinema Oct 21, 2009, 4:40 PM

The new Yamahas: more details and pictures

By Andrew Everard

As reported in News , there's a whole stack of new home cinema equipment on the way from Yamaha over the next couple of months. Above is the £1100 RX-V2065 receiver. complete with set-up microphone and its two remote control handsets, while below are...

Shows and launches Oct 16, 2009, 2:56 AM

HONG KONG: A final wrap-up of the Electronics Fair

By Andrew Everard

Time to call time on the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, with its usual mix of the totally weird and really rather wonderful, from our first experience of the Chinese NVD video format to a sneak preview of a classy-looking Heritage model from Scottish radio...

Shows and launches Oct 15, 2009, 8:00 AM

HONG KONG: Blu-ray players - the Chinese are coming!

By Andrew Everard

Fine sunshine for the opening of the Hong Kong Electronics Fair's 2009 Autumn Edition, and while the show feels a little more compact than this time last year, there's a clear indication that the Hong Kong and mainland China- based companies represented...

Shows and launches Oct 15, 2009, 7:00 AM

Sound & Vision, The Manchester Show 2009

By Andy Clough

The weekend of the 17th and 18th of October will see the cream of the AV industry making its way to Manchester for the biggest consumer electronics show this year. The Renaissance Hotel, Blackfriars Street, Manchester city centre, will be the place to...

Shows and launches Oct 14, 2009, 9:37 AM

HONG KONG: an electric motorbike that sounds like a galloping horse? Whatever NXT?

By Andrew Everard

Interesting discussions with the guys from NXT here at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair: it seems every time I meet with them they have some new and exciting developments of their various technologies, and this trip is no exception. There's everything from...

Shows and launches Oct 08, 2009, 2:09 PM

CEATEC Japan 2009: high wind in Makuhari, more robots and a video wrap-up of our show coverage

By Andrew Everard

Bit of a strange day here at CEATEC Japan 2009, and indeed a bit of a scary one in Japan as a whole: Typhoon Melor, predicted to be the biggest the country had experienced for a decade, hit Japan just before dawn, bringing torrential rain and winds pushing...

Shows and launches Oct 08, 2009, 11:10 AM

CEATEC Japan 2009: Sharp eyes the eco-future, and finds new uses for the TV

By Andrew Everard

The Sharp focus here at CEATEC is on a greener world, and the main platform of its stand is a demonstration of a Solar DC Eco-House concept: a house with an independent power supply, virtually zero carbon dioxide emissions and of course lots of Sharp...

Shows and launches Oct 08, 2009, 12:21 AM

CEATEC 2009: Is Sony betting the farm on bringing 3D home in 2010?

By Andrew Everard

Like Panasonic, Sony is going big on 3D TV here at CEATEC Japan 2009, with a punchy stage presentation drawing heavily on group companies' music, movies and more. It has a 3D theatre in the depths of the stand and the frankly rather cramped booths above...

Industry insider Oct 07, 2009, 4:22 PM

CEATEC 2009: Panasonic's 3D seminar lacks depth but comes up with all the standard answers

By Andrew Everard

(Caution: the following may cause dizziness) Like it or not, 3D TV is coming, and soon. The CEATEC 2009 show has 3D firmly on the front-burner – a burner 30% more energy efficient than last year's, of course... – with even those companies not building...

Shows and launches Oct 07, 2009, 11:55 AM

CEATEC Japan 2009, Hitachi: if you want to know how much energy you're saving, look away now...

By Andrew Everard

Spent a good chunk of the morning on the Hitachi stand here at CEATEC, looking around at a raft of new technology the company has to give us better pictures, 3D pictures and of course significant energy savings. It's kinda familiar stuff by now: the big...

Shows and launches Oct 07, 2009, 12:28 AM

CEATEC Japan 2009: Panasonic goes big on 3D TV and green credentials

By Andrew Everard

If Toshiba's stand here at CEATEC is all about its Cell Regza technology, Panasonic is pinning its colours on a 3D future for TV, and a greener future for consumer electronics. But it isn't without a taste of even bigger and better things to come: it's...

Shows and launches Oct 06, 2009, 2:56 PM

CEATEC Japan 2009: Yamaha finds a new use for your iPhone, makes a table a piano and gives a robot a voice

By Andrew Everard

Just to remind you that there's more to Yamaha than just home cinema receivers and Air Wired iPod docks, the company's putting its music division to the fore here at CEATEC. But that doesn't mean technology is taking a back seat: building on its experience...

Shows and launches Oct 06, 2009, 10:32 AM

CEATEC Japan 2009: Toshiba's Cell Regza in pictures and video

By Andrew Everard

More on the Toshiba Cell Regza technology, which we covered in news yesterday; it's the sole focus of the huge Toshiba stand here at CEATEC Japan 2009, which opened this morning. We took a closer look at what the technology can do, saw the impressive...

Home Cinema Sep 30, 2009, 2:00 PM

Oppo BDP-831: all the universal player you could ever need?

By Andrew Everard

UPDATE: AS OF 27.10.09, OPPO HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE EUROPEAN LAUNCH OF THE BDP-831 HAS BEEN 'POSTPONED INDEFINITELY' Not so long ago, buying a do-it-all disc player was simple: you picked up a ‘universal’ DVD machine, also able to play Super Audio CD,...

Shows and launches Sep 29, 2009, 2:24 PM

The tech behind Panasonic's Full HD 3D TV

By Andrew Everard

Panasonic will use the CEATEC Japan 2009 show, opening next week, to show its prototype 50in Full HD 3D plasma TV, which sees high-definition 3D coming down in size to more domestically acceptable screens. Used with high-precision active shutter glasses,...

The next big thing Sep 27, 2009, 12:37 PM

Music you can sit on

By Andrew Everard

On show this weekend at 100% Design London has been the latest and greatest in interior furniture and fittings, with everything from the hottest fireplaces to a concept fridge designed to save time and energy by teleporting the food from the farm or store...

Home Cinema Sep 19, 2009, 12:20 PM

Calibrate your TV to perfection with our free THX Optimizer glasses!

By Andy Clough

If you're a subscriber to What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision , or you buy the November 2009 issue at Tesco, you'll get a free pair of THX Optimizer glasses. Alternatively, head on over to ebay where you can buy them online for just £6. Once you've got your...

Industry insider Sep 17, 2009, 12:05 PM

Incredibly, more on last week's amazing Apple launch

By Andrew Everard

Just in case you think I went a bit OTT when I asked whether last week's Apple launch was more hype than hardware , click the pic......

Home Cinema Sep 11, 2009, 8:12 AM

More pictures: Cambridge Audio 650BD and 650R

By Andy Clough

You can read all about Cambridge Audio's much-anticipated new universal Blu-ray player, the 650BD, and its partnering multichannel receiver, the Azur 650R, in our news story . Here are some more pictures of both models for you to enjoy: Cambridge Audio...

Shows and launches Sep 10, 2009, 5:10 PM

Micromega makes its UK comeback

By Andy Clough

Micromega owner Didier Hamdi (right) with Ricardo Franassovici I spent a fascinating day in Paris yesterday with Didier Hamdi, the new owner of French hi-fi company Micromega . Hamdi is an intriguing character: he was a world motorcycle champion in 1991,...

Industry insider Sep 10, 2009, 4:56 PM

BDA Taskforce is go!

By Richard Melville

During our trip to Europe's biggest consumer electronics show (IFA) last week, we had a chance to listen to the latest developments in the Blu-ray market with representatives from Disney, Sony and Amazon all present. Together, they head the BDA – Blu-ray...

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