Official: HD DVD Dead – Blu-ray Wins February 19, 2008
READ MORE Blu-ray , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , HD , HD DVD , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , Movies
It had been speculated but Toshiba finally brought the curtain down on the high-definition (HD) movie war with Blu-ray today by announcing it’s pulling the plug on HD DVD.
“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”
Toshiba will scale back production of players from now and cease altogether in March. The question now is when will Microsoft ditch it's HD DVD add-on drive for the Xbox 360? Even more importantly, when will it launch a Blu-ray one or, slightly more radical, a 360 with an in-built Blu-ray drive?
The HD DVD format had a disastrous 2008 with more partner desertions than rats from a sinking ship, which has led to the end of the high-profile HD war with Sony’s Blu-ray format. It’s bad news for early adopters of HD DVD players and movies and a disappointment for those in the AV community that claimed HD DVD had advantages over Blu-ray as a HD movie format.
For the vast majority of consumers that have held-off buying into HD movies, things will be a lot less confusing in the coming months when all retailers will start pushing Blu-ray players. Hopefully, we’ll start seeing cheaper, dedicated Blu-ray players now since they have been way too expensive.-Martin Lynch
[Thanks to dbtechno for the image]
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Krell iPod Dock For Those NOT On A Budget February 19, 2008
READ MORE Digital Audio , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Hi-fi , MP3 , Music , iPod
There are a lot of cheap and nasty iPod docks out there and some that are actually pretty damn fine pieces of audio kit, like KEF’s £250 PicoForte 1, the £300 Fatman iTube and the retro, £500 Shanling MC-30.
But now we have quality audio maker, Krell, claiming to have created the “world’s best-sounding iPod dock". At £1,350, it would want to be.
World’s First Wooden Supercar February 19, 2008
READ MORE Cars , Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , Motoring
Last week I covered the insane McLaren F1 car made from 956,000 matchsticks and today there’s some news on the world’s first supercar made out of wood.
Designed by 27-year old Joe Harmon at North Carolina State University, The Splinter will be capable – according to Joe - of hitting 240mph when it is completed later this year. Of course, whether it will be a raging ball of flame at that stage is still unclear.
Elonex Reveals £99 Laptop February 19, 2008
READ MORE Gizmodo UK , Laptops , Mobile Devices , Online , PC , Portable Media , Technology
At the way things are going, laptops will be free in a year, as UK outfit Elonex decides to try beat Asus at its own game by bringing out a £99 laptop called the One.
Although the device will be targeted initially at the UK education sector it’s also going to be made available to consumers, becoming the UK’s first sub-£100 notebook. Yes, but will it be any good?
Well, it is offering you a useable Linux-based laptop with 1GB of Flash memory storage, a 7in display, word processing and spreadsheet applications, and the ability to wirelessly access the Web and email. It has internal speakers for playing MP3s and a socket for headphones, as well as USB slots. It weighs in at less than 1KG and is small enough – Elonex says – to slip into any school bag. The battery is good enough for around 3 hours. There is a version with 2GB of Flash storage and Bluetooth planned too, for £120. The One laptop will be formerly unveiled at the Education Show at the NEC on February 28.
Sam Goult, Marketing Manager at Elonex, comments:
“This pioneering technology has been developed to help nurture our children’s education, to integrate them into the modern digital world that we all now belong to. The ONE removes the cost barrier that has prevented the one-laptop-per-person, large-scale uptake of computers in the education system that has for so long been just a pipe-dream. Investment in digital technology is paramount to help the next generation achieve their full potential.”
The move pits Elonex against the global might of Asus and its Eee PC. Either way, lots of people can soon get their hands on really cheap notebooks.-Martin Lynch
The First Underwater Car: Bond Gets Real February 19, 2008
READ MORE Cars , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Motoring , Movies
I remember thinking that the underwater car from Bond flick, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, was just about as cool as anything could get without actually being ice. The fact that it was never real didn’t dim my enthusiasm one bit.
And now, we have a real one in the shape of the “sQuba” from Rinspeed, who’s CEO just happens to be a massive Bond fan. Touted as the ‘world’s first real submersible car’, the car goes on show at the Geneva Motor Show (March 6th - 16th).
Of course, the original engine had to be hauled out. It was replaced by three electric motors in the back – one for the roads and two driving the rotors for underwater driving. There are also a couple of Seabob jet drives inside the very cute rotating wing mirrors. The car has no roof because, well, having your passengers drown due to a roof manufacturing glitch is not the best publicity a concept car can get.
It’s still very cool and it’s even green. Just bring a change of clothes. Jump now to watch the video.-Martin Lynch
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