Digital Tech News - Digital Technology & Consumer Electronics

James Bond 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray Collection

In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of James Bond, MGM Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment are releasing the BOND 50 Blu-ray Disc box-set which features all 22 James Bond films in high definition.

Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection in Blu-ray ($199.99) includes great Bond directors like John Glen (five Bond films including For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights & Licence To Kill), Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Casino Royale) and Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough).  More than 130 hours of bonus features along with new and exclusive content are also included in the package.

“With all 22 feature films available on Blu-ray in one collection for the first time this is a great way for fans to catch up on 007’s epic journey before Skyfall hits theaters next Fall,” said Michael Brown, Senior Vice President, MGM Home Entertainment. “Now viewers can enjoy the intense action of the innovative franchise in the most immersive home experience possible.”

Toshiba Smart Blu-ray Disc players for 2012

A new 2012 lineup of Smart Blu-ray Disc players were recently announced by Toshiba. The BDX2300 and BDX3300 models are Toshiba’s new 2D Smart Blu-ray Disc players with 1080p full HD playback, BD-Live, Netflix, VUDU and other A/V streaming capabilities to access content online. These players also offer Dolby True HD and DTS HD for 7.1 channel surround, HDMI and USB Video ports.  The Wi-Fi ready BDX2300 will be available in April, while the BDX3300 with built-in Wi-Fi goes on sale in May.

The higher-end BDX4300 and BDX5300 models are Toshiba’s new 3D Smart Blu-ray Disc players, which both include all of the functionality of the 2D models, plus 1080p 3D HD playback. The BDX4300 and BDX5300 will both be available in April. Toshiba has not announced pricing as of yet.

Toshiba Smart Blu-ray Disc players feature: 

Aero Design: Toshiba’s new Blu-ray Disc players share the new Aero family design with Toshiba LED TVs. All models include the silver Aero wing and low profile design. 3D models add a wider 430mm chassis to better match other A/V components.

A/V Streaming: Toshiba’s Smart Blu-ray Disc players include a variety of A/V streaming applications including Netflix™, VUDU™, YouTube™ and more. Toshiba has also included the Vudu Apps aggregation service for access to dozens of additional Internet widgets that offer a wide variety of content options.

MediaShare: MediaShare is a simple DLNA^® interface that allows the Smart Blu-ray Disc players to easily access content from other DLNA-compatible devices. Connecting a Smart Blu-ray Disc player to any TV instantly connects that room to the home network, and allows access to all of one’s stored A/V content.

USB Video: With USB Video, users can enjoy videos, music, photos and more on the big screen right from a USB flash drive.

Walmart Announces HDTV and Blu-ray Player Deals for Super Bowl Football Fans

Walmart's Super Bowl Sunday HDTV deals are in full effect now through February 5th, with savings of up to $560 on a Samsung LED HDTV and Blu-ray Disc player bundle,  $100 off on select HDTVs and sales on select home theater systems.

Philips introduces BDP7580 Wireless HDMI Blu-ray player

Philips introduced the world's first Wireless HDMI Blu-ray player at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. The BDP7580 wireless HDMI Blu-ray player features 3D playback, Philips MediaConnect, NetTV, VUDU, Pandora, Netflix and Blockbuster streaming on a player that only requires one cord - the power cord. MediaConnect on the system allows you to wirelessly connect the PC to the TV for access to online movies, photos, videos, social networking and more. The Philips 7580 player offers full 1080p at 24fps for cinema-like images and upscales your DVDs to 1080p. The player also offers AVCHD playback.

The Philips BDP7580 is expected to hit stores in April priced at $499.99.

Toshiba dynabook TX/98MBL Notebook PC Supports Blu-ray 3D

Toshiba Corporation has introduced the industry's first notebook PC capable of playing Blu-ray 3D movies and games. Customers in Japan will be the first to get their hands on the new Toshiba dynabook TX/98MBL notebook when it is released there at the end of July for the equivalent of about $2,750. It will be packaged with active shutter glasses and a remote control.

The dynabook TX/98MBL features a 15.6-inch wide LCD display with LED backlighting and a 120Hz scan rate. Powering Blu-ray 3D playback on the unit is WinDVD BD for TOSHIBA and NVIDIA 3D Vision software and hardware.

New BDX2500 and BDX2700 Toshiba Blu-ray Disc Players on Sale Now

Toshiba America announced the availability of its new BDX2500 and BDX2700 Blu-ray Disc players which both include Wi-Fi capabilities for accessing movies and other streaming content from BLOCKBUSTER On Demand, instant streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix, VUDU 1080p HD movies, and Pandora internet radio. Be aware that the BDX2500 player requires a separately sold wireless adapter, while the BDX2700 includes built-in Wi-Fi. Both units have a standard Ethernet connection as well. 

Denon DBP-2011UDCI and DBP-1611UD 3D-ready Blu-Ray Players

Denon Electronics introduced two new 3D-Ready Universal Blu-ray players to its lineup, the DBP-2011UDCI model which will be released in August for $799, and the DBP-1611UD blu-ray disc player which hits stores in June for $399. Denon will be releasing a firmware update for the new BD players this fall that will assure 3D capability, so they won't be ready to play Avatar out of the box just yet. Both models feature BD Live and “Bonus View” functionality, Netflix and YouTube streaming, 1GB of on-board memory, HDMI v1.4a outputs with 3D and CEC capability and 36-Bit Deep Color, and they are DLNA 1.5-certified for audio/video/photo streaming with other DLNA certified products across a network. Compatible with Kodak Picture CDs, DivX HD+, MP3 and WMA playback, the new players are also equipped with a USB connector for additional external memory for media and BD-Live content.

The Denon DBP-2011UDCI is said to include the very latest Anchor Bay Technologies decoding Engine and Scalar, as well as all-new Burr-Brown 32-Bit, 192-kHz Audio DACs on all channels for high-definition audio playback, and it decodes of all the latest HD audio formats from Dolby and dts.

via

Sony Releases Its First 3D-Ready Blu-ray Disc Players

Sony has launched the 3D-ready entertainment products which were announced during CES 2010, including the new BDP-S470 stand-alone Blu-ray 3D-ready disc player that can be upgraded to play Blu-ray 3D content with a firmware update this summer. The previously introduced BDP-S570 Blu-ray Disc player, and the BDV-E770W and BDV-E570 Blu-ray Disc home theater systems will also be Blu-ray 3D capable with firmware updates available this summer.

Yes, you will have to wait a bit longer to enjoy Blu-ray 3D playback, but until then, when connected to a broadband Internet network these new BD models can stream movies, videos, music from services like Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Slacker Internet Radio, Pandora (Coming Spring 2010), NPR, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and other digital content providers through the Sony BRAVIA Internet Video platform.

Also new to these models is Sony's Entertainment Database Browser using Gracenote technologies that allows you to browse actor and production information, and other movie details from a Blu-ray Disc. iPhone and iPod touch owners can control the new Sony Blu-ray players using a free app called "BD Remote," which can be downloaded from the Apple App store.

2010 Blu-ray Disc Players with Blu-ray 3D Playback and 5.1 Channel BD Home Theater Systems from Sony

Sony introduced its new 2010 HD Blu-ray Disc line featuring Blu-ray 3D playback, Wi-Fi Internet connectivity, and instant streaming of online video content from Sony's BRAVIA Internet Video platform. Along with the new BDP-S770, BDP-S570 and BDP-S370 full HD 1080p Blu-ray Disc players, Sony also announced three integrated 5.1 Channel Blu-ray Disc Home Theater Systems (BDV-HZ970W, BDV-E770W, and BDV-E570), and a 5.1 channel matching home audio system (HT-SS370).

The networked BD players enable you to connect via broadband Ethernet or Wi-Fi to stream movies, videos, music from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Slacker Internet Radio, Pandora, NPR, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and over 25 other digital content providers through the Sony BRAVIA Internet Video platform. iPhone or iPod touch users will be happy to know that Sony has a free app which let's you control the new Blu-ray player functions, and access a Blu-ray Disc’s jacket artwork, actor, and production information as well as search for additional video clips online. The app is available for downloaded from the Apple App store.

Yamaha BD-S1900 and BD-S1065 Blu-ray Players Announced

Yamaha Electronics' introduced its new BD-S1900 and BD-S1065 Blu-ray disc players, which were designed to complement the company's new and existing AV receivers. The BD-S1900 Blu-ray player is equipped with custom installation features to match Yamaha's higher end AV receivers, while both models support BD-Live and BonusView features. The Yamaha BD-S1900 and BD-S1065 Blu-ray Players are priced at $699.95 and $599.95, respectively.