Any format you can hold
The popularity of Blu-ray went ballistic during 2008, with sales and rentals of Blu-ray content discs almost tripling in the US and quadrupling in the UK.
US sales notch up $750 million
Laughing in the face of an overall downturn in the U.S. home entertainment market, the entire Blu-ray Disc market in the U.S. totted up to a hefty $750 million last year, up from $270 million in 2007.
A strong sense of Deja Vu is flowing thick around the Digital-Lifestyles offices today as we hear that ‘Hollywood’ is to take legal action against Real Network for their DVD copying software, RealDVD.
Five years ago last month, the collected legal might of the Hollywood studios took a disliking to 321 Studios as they too had the temerity to create and sell software that allowed people to copy their DVDs.
Toshiba haven’t given up trying to needle Sony and the rest of the Blu-ray companies.
Their latest idea is XDE.
Punters are failing to feel the love for the shiny new high tech Blu-ray format, with many happy to stick with their trusty old DVD players, according to a recent survey.
In a survey of 1,000 consumers, ABI Research found that over half had “other priorities” to shelling out for a Blu-ray player, although just under a quarter said that they were likely to buy one sometime next year.
It’s all well and good strutting around town with your snazzy slim’n’light ultraportable laptop but if there’s no optical recorder lurking inside you’re going to feel a bit of a chump when you need to back up content or access material on CD or DVD.
Yesterday we gave an overview of the Teac Reference DR-H300DAB and looked at its usability.
Viewing tests
The Teac did a pretty job playing back DVDs through a conventional TV and it even had a pretty good stab at upscaling to 720p and 1080i video resolutions, although a few jagged edges and over-bright colours occasionally gave the game away.
Compact receiver packs hi-fi performance and DVD playback in a stylish package.
Looking dapper with its old-school looks, stylish brushed steel finish and promising oodles of hi-fi goodness is Teac’s DR-H300DAB DVD Receiver.
Aimed at space-strapped folks looking for a lorra entertainment without the need to fill up the room with half of ton of cables’n’components, the DR-H300DAB packs a CD player (CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, PictureCD and DivX; 3.11, 4.x, 5.x) and a DAB/FM RDS receiver.
If you’re the kind of person that is happy to sacrifice a bit of sound quality in exchange for some serious pose value, then Philips’ new MCD299 micro home theatre could be just the ticket for your a la mode living room.
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As you no doubt now know and as everyone and their favourite carrot have been predicting, Toshiba has officially dropped out of the Next Gen disc format wars.
After a long battle with its rival Blu-Ray, Toshiba has admitted that it is considering throwing in the towel and getting the hell outta of the high-definition DVD business.
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