Hollywood Bows To Blu-ray February 22, 2008

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

All of the major Hollywood movie studios have seen the light, and that light is Blu.

Just after Toshiba threw in the towel by pulling the plug on the HD DVD format, Paramount and Universal finally – but unsurprisingly – announced their fealty to the Blu-ray format.

The two former HD DVD stalwarts now join Warner Bros, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment – the Big Six.

While Paramount waited a full day for the HD DVD corpse to cool before deserting, Universal was climbing into the Blu-ray bed within hours. Universal Studios Home Entertainment President Craig Kornblau said:

Life-size Alien For Your Living Room February 22, 2008

Read more Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Home Cinema , Movies

When Ikea is just running out of ideas and Habitat is just no longer tweaking your interior design G-spot, you need the help of a very scary 7-ft tall alien to help you out. Well, 7ft 7ins to be precise.

This lovingly crafted Alien Warrior would put any contemporary floor-standing lamp in the shade and guarantee years of therapy for your children down the line.

HD DVD Players Sneakily Renamed To Sell February 22, 2008

Read more Blu-ray , Entertainment , Gadgets , HD , HD DVD , Home Cinema , Home Entertainment , Movies

Leading retailers are cleverly [or under-handedly?] renaming HD DVD players in order to shift their stock.

Now that the HD DVD format is no more, Play.com and others are renaming HD DVD players as ‘Upscaling DVD’ players to make them a more attractive buy. After all, not many will be investing in HD DVD players these days – although I know some people who are planning to cash in big time on the price drops for both the movies and players. After all, a HD movie is a HD movie, regardless of format.

On Play.com, the ‘Toshiba HD-EP30 HD DVD player’ has become the ‘Toshiba HD-EP30 HDMI Upscaling DVD Player with HD DVD High Definition Playback’ - thanks to Engadget for the photo.

Prices have also been hacked from £120 to £80 and you get two decent HD DVD movies thrown in – 300 and The Bourne Supremacy. You can probably expect that to drop even further in the coming weeks.-Martin Lynch

[Techradar]

Arcam Solo Mini For Hi-Fi Enthusiasts February 22, 2008

Read more Digital Audio , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Hi-fi , MP3 , Music

Like everything else these days, smaller and thinner is the name of the game and the Arcam Solo Mini aims to please.

This update on the original Arcam Solo – which was not exactly what you’d call obese – sets out to combine style and better-than-average performance into a small piece of hi-fi design.