Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Maybe it’s just us, but here recently it feels as if there’s been quite the outpouring of HD media streamers. Next up is Mvix’s MX-780HD, which doesn’t innovate much in the design department, but does include space for your own HDD along with support for wired Ethernet or 802.11b/g/n WiFi. Best of all, you’ll find 1080p output via HDMI, and there’s file support for DivX, XviD, AVI, MPEG, WMV, ASF, AAC, OGG, AC3, MP3, WMA, JPEG and lots, lots more. There’s also component outs and coaxial / optical audio ports, but we’re still teetering on whether that cute LCD on the front makes this thing a bargain at $299.99.

[Via Unplggd]

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Filed under: Networking

Sure, the researchers at Alcatel-Lucent have already sent data 50 miles at 25.6Tbps, but it looks like now they’re going for distance rather than speed: the company announced yesterday that it’s now pumped bits over a 1584-mile long link at 16.4Tbps. Sure, that’s slightly slower than the record, but being able to firehose bits at distances like that is even more impressive, if you ask us (you didn’t). The core tech is essentially the same as used in the earlier speed record: bundling several 100Gbps optical signals at different wavelengths into one multiplexed transmission, shooting it down fiber, and splitting it up at the end. This latest test used 164 different channels and updated transmitters and multiplexers to hit the record — which is fine and all, but guys, if you’re not using that old school 25.6Tbps gear anymore we know a few people who are interested.

[Via Slashdot]

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By Evan Ackerman

I don’t know about your laptop, but the heat mine gives off could power a small industrial nation. Okay, maybe not, but it does a damn good job of toasting my pop tarts and rendering me sterile. The DORmino mouse takes all of that wasted heat and uses it to power a wireless mouse, utilizing silicon nanowires embedded in a pad that sits underneath your laptop, a thermoelectric converter, and an induction coil inside the mouse to transfer power up from the pad. The mouse itself has a touchscreen scroller and a bluetooth interface, and the pad rolls up for easy portability. The design has been entered in the 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition, and if it wins, it looks complicated enough that it still probably won’t be produced, unfortunately.

[ Greener Gadgets Competition ] VIA [ Ecofriend ]

Eco friendly, Peripherals

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By Evan Ackerman

This animated short from Pixar, entitled Lifted, was shown in theaters just before Ratatouille. If you missed out, it’s worth watching, and if you’ve seen it already, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s worth watching again. Enjoy.

[ Direct link to video ]

[ Lifted ] VIA [ io9 ]

Video

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This interactive touch-based multiplayer game, called Firefly, is as far as I know the first example of a game designed specifically for Microsoft Surface. The premise is simple: use your fingers to corral colored fireflies into your jar, while squishing the flies on your opponent’s side. This is just the tip of the iceberg when if comes to the possibilities that Surface offers for gaming, but as a piece of platform-demoware, it kinda looks like fun.

[ Sarcastic Gamer ] VIA [ Engadget ]

Software

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By Evan Ackerman

If you’ve ever wanted to destroy an ichthyophobia convention, now is your big chance. This is the Aqua Bomb, a six and a half foot tall self contained fish tank manufactured using components from an actual Mark 84 “Hammer” 2,000 pound bomb. The MK-84 is capable of making a crater 50 foot wide 40 foot deep in the surface of your choice, after penetrating 11 feet of concrete. No word on how much the fish will improve the effectiveness of this weapon, but is probably depends on the payload, which in this case (according to the resident OhGizmo marine biologist) consists of a Clown Triggerfish and a juvenile Blue Tang that are most likely fake. The pump, filter, and lighting are all built in, and the Aqua Bomb is available in “seven beautiful powder-coated colors” for just shy of $4,000.

[ Aqua Bomb ] VIA [ TFTS ]

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We don’t know if Jeffrey Katzenberg got a text message, fax, e-mail or smoke signal indicating the format war was over, but Video Business has confirmed Paramount and Dreamworks Animation will (rather abruptly) to stop releasing HD DVDs after next week. If you were looking forward to Bee Movie on March 11, Sweeney Todd on April 1 or the just announced There Will Be Blood, those are cancelled. Into the Wild and the appropriately-named Things We Lost in the Fire will be Paramount’s last reminders of its exclusive agreement. Not specifically mentioned was Star Trek: TOS Season 2, but don’t hold your breath. Blu-ray release plans are still up in the air but we wouldn’t be surprised to hear something soon. As far as HD DVD movies still scheduled, that leaves two from Universal (for now) and twelve from Warner Bros, who may have been the first to leave red, but will apparently be the last major studio out the door.

Read - Video Business
Read - High-Def Digest

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Earlier this week, we posted up a poll to find out just how many of you were planning on utilizing those $40 government-issued vouchers just as soon as they arrived in your mailbox. Now, however, we’re seeing the first reports of early appliers receiving their pair of coupons in all of their credit card-sized glory. Nothing too special here — just a couple of wallet-friendly cards good for $40 off (most) DTV converter boxes out there. But being the geeks that we are, we’re strangely satisfied with seeing images proving that these are actually real. Head on over to Engadget HD to check out the gallery!

[Thanks, Alec A.]

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Filed under: Displays, HDTV

While calling it the holy grail of 3D may be a stretch, there’s no denying that the technology has been largely held back and (rightfully) seen as a gimmick due to the whole “unsightly glasses” requirement. Granted, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard of 3D being experienced sans goggles, but the newfangled agreement between Magnetic and NEC could deliver just that to a display near you very soon. Reportedly, the duo is off demonstrating a 57-inch Enabl3D display at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas, and while this iteration is admittedly aimed at commercial users, the promise of seeing imagery “pop more than a foot off the screen without the use of any special glasses” sure sounds intriguing. No word on when this stuff will be coming to everyday users, but don’t be shocked to see marketers coming up with new ways to grab your attention (and frighten the young) with this in the near future.

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Filed under: HDTV

Not happy letting us Yankees get away with all the 3D sporting action, the BBC plans to test a 3D HD broadcast of a Rugby Six Nations match next month. A lot like the NBA’s test with last year’s All-Star Game and NBA Finals, the March 8th game between Scotland and England will be captured by three camera rigs and then transmitted via satellite — unlike the fiber connection used by the NBA — to an audience watching a big screen with 3D glasses. Can Communicate, Inition and Axis are the companies forming 3DFirm, which is partnering with the Beeb to make the whole thing happen, including working out a new style of camera work and post production. We won’t say we’re waiting for a 3D broadcast of real football to get excited about these tests (we’ll just think it.)

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