Retailer Dixons has reported a massive leap in the numbers of customers looking for Blu-ray players.
The news comes just a few days after the rival HD DVD format was pronounced well and truly dead. According to Dixons – ever one to milk a consumer gadget trend – the numbers of people looking for Blu-ray players is up by 150%. Are they getting them though?
I’m still happy that I no longer have move a fat CRT telly but these days even skinny TVs are on a crash diet. Hitachi is bringing some of the thinnest commercially available TVs to the UK from April, with its new UT models, measuring just 3.5cm thick.
That’s not just for one of them either, but for the 32in, 37in and 42in models. On top of the weenie waistlines, all of them are around 50% lighter than many of their counterparts, with the 42in coming in at just 18Kg. So, what’s the glitch?
Microsoft has confirmed that one of its biggest-selling Xbox 360 games, Gears Of War (GoW), is about to get a second outing this November.
The announcement was made at the main video game developer hoedown, Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2008, and puts an end to confusion over when GoW2 was coming and what it might entail. It's good news for UK gamers who voted Gears of War as their Ultimate Game Of 2007.
There’s not a lot in the trailer above except a gratuitous Locust blood-letting in the art style of comic God, Frank Miller. That’s not a complaint. The story continues the tale of hard-nut Marcus Fenix and Delta squad as they battle the Locust hordes. It’s expected to be a lot bigger than the first. Here’s what the developer said:
It may come as a surprise to many but skinny LCD TVs have only just managed to outsell fat CRT tellys for the first time.
Market watcher DisplaySearch, has reported that LCD TVs in Q4 2007, accounted for 47% of all global TV shipments with CRTs accounting for 46%. Rear projection and plasma TVs accounted for the remaining 7%, and both categories are losing ground to LCDs, which have managed to increase in size while lowering their costs of production. The move spells the end for those big fat CRTs that used to take up so much room but, to be fair, managed to beat flat-panel TVs for video reproduction in key areas like depth or field, image smoothness and colour reproduction.
LCD penetration was highest in Japan (86%), with 84% in Western Europe and 78% in North America. LCD led at 15-19in, 22-24in, 30-34in, 35-39in, 40-44in and 45-49in screen sizes, with the average LCD TV screen size now bigger than 32in for the first time.
In terms of brand, Sony overtook Samsung to be No. 1 in revenue terms but Samsung remains the top in terms of unit sales with 15% of the market.-Martin Lynch
Nintendo has announced that we can start losing weight on the Wii from April 25, when it launches Wii Fit across Europe.
The exercise-based software, which uses a bundled balance board, is designed to give gamers – and non-gamers – a chance to exercise more than their thumbs, mice and docker’s colourful vocabulary. Wii Fit has already stormed Japan, selling more than 1.4 million since December. And this in a country where obesity is only just beginning to rear its fat ass.
There are four training categories: Aerobic Exercises, Muscle Workouts, Yoga and Balance Games and there are more than 40 routines on offer. The software allows up to 8 people to track progress and monitor performance, adding a new Wii Fit Channel on your Wii welcome screen. After installation, you don’t have to insert the disk again in order for the balance board to be able to take your weight, calculate your BMI and conduct a balance test. Then, bring on the pain!
We are still waiting to hear what celebs will be advertising this in the UK but, I’m rooting for Fern Britton, flanked by the lads from the Hairy Biker Cookbook. In Lycra.-Martin Lynch
Nintendo has announced that we can start losing weight on the Wii from April 25, when it launches Wii Fit across Europe. 
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
