Denon’s ‘Death Star’ Home Cinema Rig February 20, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HD , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , Movies , Music

There’s no shapely reason why Denon’s marketing folk are calling this new AV offering the ‘Imperial Death Star’ but, they are, and maybe it's because it weighs the same, costs as much and can obliterate most bank accounts in one big blast. Denon was aiming to do the same on Monday with its new earphones.

Gadget Addicts Risk Health & Happiness February 20, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Mobile Devices , Mobile phones , PDA , Smartphones , iPhone

Gadget addicts – yes, all of you Gizmodo readers – are being warned that your obsession with technology is bad for you. Even worse, it’s spreading.

According to research from Northampton University, more and more people are so addicted to their phones, Blackberrys and PDAs that it’s resulting in them waking up in the night just to check emails and messages. Apart from interfering with their jobs, gadgets are also putting relationships at risk as users become increasingly withdrawn from social contact.

Why HD DVD Lost – 10.5 Million PS3s February 20, 2008

Read more Blu-ray , Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , HD DVD , Movies , PS3

There are sure to be different reasons why HD DVD failed to win the HD movie spat with Blu-ray but there’s no doubting that what the biggest was: 10.5 million PS3 consoles.

Recent sales figures show that 10.5 million PS3s with in-built Blu-ray drives have now sold worldwide. That does not include sales of dedicated Blu-ray players. When you compare that to estimated sales of just 1 million HD DVD players, you can see the scale of the problem the format faced. PS3 sales in the UK alone recently topped 1 million.

With the PS3 predicted to outsell the Xbox 360 in 2008 – no doubt aided somewhat by the end of HD DVD – it seems we’ll all be Blu, on one platform or another, by Christmas. -Martin Lynch

[Gameindustry.biz]

PS3 sony HD DVD

BBC Selling TV Programmes On iTunes February 20, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gizmodo UK , Mobile Devices , Online , TV , iPod

The BBC is planning to sell its otherwise free programmes on iTunes. A selection of programmes like Ashes To Ashes, Little Britain, Life on Mars, Torchwood and others, will be available to download on iTunes for £1.89 per episode.

The irony is that you can get many of these programmes already - for free – using the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up TV service. If you in the UK. iPlayer has been hugely popular since its official launch at the end of last year with up to 17 million downloads since Christmas [more on this later].

“We want to give audiences a wide variety of options on how and where to view their favourite BBC shows," said Simon Danker, Director of Digital Media at BBC Worldwide. “With more people now choosing to watch TV shows on their iPods, fans of series such as The Mighty Boosh and The Catherine Tate Show can now enjoy those shows wherever they are.”

I know, maybe Mac users, who have been left out in the cold by the Beeb with iPlayer streaming, but not downloads, might fancy buying the programmes that PC users are getting for free? Or maybe not.-Martin Lynch

TV BBC iplayer itunes

iPod shuffle Bumped To 2GB & Cheaper Too February 20, 2008

Read more Apple , Digital Audio , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , MP3 , Music , iPod

Apple has doubled the capacity of its littlest iPod, the Shuffle, to 2GB and slashed to cost of the existing model.

The price of the 1GB player has been dropped to $49, quite a drop indeed, since it used to cost $79. The new 2GB model will ship at $69, so essentially you’re getting a shuffle with double the capacity for $10 less than the 1GB version would have cost you last weekend. Got it?