Any electronic gadget fanatic here ?

[Andy Nguyen]

it's now been reported that Paramount is preparing to drop HD-DVD as well.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dc409afa-...uid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html

At CES (the biggest consumer electronics show) event yesterday, M$ (the biggest backer of HD-DVD besides Toshiba) didn't even mention a word about HD-DVD. Rumors have it that prior to Warner's blockbuster move, M$ was prepared to use 30% of Bill Gates opening remark to tout HD-DVD. Now they tout digital download as a better choice.

See how fast they drop HD-DVD and Toshiba once they can't use it for their own agenda anymore.

Somebody posts side-by-side pictures of HD-DVD and Blu-ray booths at CES. Very funny.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Not sure if any of you guys are into Blu-ray vs HD DVD format war but there is a video clip on youtube that was talked about pretty much. The guy took a clip from a movie and put captions depicting the format war. Pretty funny !!!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Netflix drops HD DVD and plans to go Blu-ray exclusively
Bestbuy will go Blu-ray exclusively
Walmart announced it will drop HD DVD from all of its stores
And finally Toshiba is planning to announce that it will exit the HD DVD business after suffering hundreds of millions dollars of loss.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp <6502.T> is planning to give up on its HD DVD format for high-definition video, conceding defeat to the competing Blu-Ray technology backed by Sony Corp <6758.T>, a company source said on Saturday.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK had earlier reported that Toshiba would suffer losses in the tens of billions of yen (hundreds of millions of dollars) as it scrapped production of HD DVD players and recorders and took other steps to exit the business.
The company source told Reuters that Toshiba was in the final stages of planning to exit the HD DVD business and that an official decision would be made soon.

The end is here. Stop buying DVD and start buying Blu-ray.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It's been a long time since I last posted on this so it's time to revive the geekiness in each of us.
I've been contemplating buying a High Definition camcorder. Just a year ago, HD camcorder is out of reach for most consumer. Now you can get one for less than 1K which can record in 1080p which is the highest resolution available.
It also comes with a 10M pixel camera. Some of them have a 120GB hard drive built in
It records sound in 5.1 format.

Anyone has one or ever heard of HD camcorder

 

[doug reich]

Andy, that camcorder sounds amazing... what's the catch? What more could a person want? Image stabilization? Zoom lens? Better quality lens? Maybe it has those...

 

[Andy Nguyen]

It also has a cool feature: smile shutter. While you are recording a baby, it will detect when that baby smiles and take still pictures. Gimmick but if you have a baby, you will know how hard it is to capture when the first few smiles of your baby.
Sony CX12 is a very model and retail for 899 but a few good candidates out there Canon HF100, Sony SR11, SR12. You basically have to decide to get a camcorder that use hard drive or flash drive. The SR12 comes with 120GB HD that good for several hours of max resolution recording.

Tempting, very tempting.

 

[Uncle Max]

Andy, that camcorder sounds amazing... what's the catch?

The most important thing in digital camcorders and cameras is how large the sensor. The camcorder with a bigger sensor will cost a way more than the same model with a smaller one. I'm not sure though if sensor size varies in consumer cameras though.

 

[woody]

I have the Panasonic SD9. Real good quality and good sound. But there is a tradeoff with getting a small package. The SD9 has great sound, but no mic input (probably doesn't matter to most people). It also has 3 chips, so the color is good, but they are 1/8" chips which means low light isn't as good as a big chip (although they have some gain features). The best thing is that it is about the size of a soda can (smaller even than the Sony) and weight almost nothing.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

McCain invented Blackberry!!!

Asked what work John McCain did as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that helped him understand the financial markets, the candidate's top economic adviser wielded visual evidence: his BlackBerry.

"He did this," Douglas Holtz-Eakin told reporters this morning, holding up his BlackBerry. "Telecommunications of the United States is a premier innovation in the past 15 years, comes right through the Commerce Committee. So you're looking at the miracle John McCain helped create and that's what he did."

Al Gore, call your office.

WOW!!!

 

[doug reich]

... it's funny because he boasts about not knowing computers. He should get together with Ted Stevens and talk about the Tubes, which are not a dumptruck.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Yes and Al Gore invented the Internet.

 

[Sanket Patel]

And it has also been rumored that Black, Scholes, and Merton stole their formula(s) from my 3rd grade project.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

I hope within 5 years, 3-D TV would be affordable. I'll be the first in line.

TOKYO — Flat-panel television screens can’t get much flatter and consumers don’t want the screens to get much wider, so Japanese television makers are banking on a whole new dimension to buttress their lineups.

High-definition three-dimensional TV is the future, or so Panasonic and Sony hope, as they seek to stem a slide in prices and re-energize a market slowed by the global recession.

The biggest problem the companies face, however, is staring them right in the face. Viewers will need to wear those goofy, ill-fitting glasses, just as they have to when watching 3-D movies in a theater. Without them, the screen looks nauseatingly blurry.

The expected high price of 3-D systems — the special television screens, glasses and Blu-ray DVD players — could also discourage all but home theater buffs.

Japans TV Makers Seeing the Future in 3-D - NYTimes.com