I've been using Windows 7 Media Center as my dedicated media hub for the last few weeks, and it's been a nice upgrade from Vista Media Center. Some improvements include support for up to 4 tuners for each type (QAM, ATSC, etc...), a lot of interface improvements, and HD support to name a few. It can even play AVI/DivX files natively without needing any add-ons.
If you like to stay on the bleeding edge of technology (and you're running Vista) you may want to consider modifying two registry keys on your system so that you can participate in the Vista SP2 Beta program. To join the program all you have to do is download this batch file, and run it on your Vista machine as an administrator.
Windows only One thing that we really love is free CD/DVD/Blu-ray burning software. You could always purchase tools like Nero to get the job done, but it's just become so darn bloated that I can hardly bring myself to installing it anymore. Plus many of the free alternatives are actually quite nice.
We weren't expecting the announcement from Toshiba for another week, but it's official, HD DVD is now discontinued. In the press release from Toshiba, they stated that after reviewing their strategy for HD DVD, they decided to stop development, manufacturing, and marketing of HD DVD players and recorders. President and CEO of Toshiba was quoted in the announcement saying, "." Next up? Not Blu-ray.
Toshiba is about to say farewell to HD DVD after a long hard battle. HD DVD was originally developed and designed to be the successor to regular DVDs, and they officially launched in the United States back on April 18, 2006. Their biggest problem all along has been Sony's Blu-ray, their direct competitor which launched a few months after they did.
When it comes to the high-def format war I don't think there is much arguing that Blu-ray is emerging as the clear winner. Within the last week Netflix announced that they are starting to phase out HD-DVD's from their rentals, and then shortly following them Best Buy said that they will start recommending Blu-ray to their customers.
Netflix just announced today that they will be acquiring no more HD DVD titles as they begin their transition to Blu-ray as their sole high-def DVD format. This might be the nail in the coffin for those of you who were still skeptical about a clear winner already emerging in the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format war.
This is not good news for the HD DVD camp if it turns out to be true. According to The Digital Bits, Paramount and Universal will be following the footsteps of Warner Brothers and making the big switch to Blu-ray. That means that HD DVD is seriously wounded in this battle and they're about to lose big-time to Blu-ray.
We've been talking for over a year now about the "war" between HD DVD and Blu-ray and who would come out of this the clear winner.
This rumor by no means has been confirmed, but we're telling you about it so that you can keep your eye out for it. If it's true, it's an awesome deal. Rumor has it that starting on November 24th at 8 AM and running through November 25th at 11:59 PM, Wal-Mart is having another "secret" sale.
Take a look at the photo below. Notice anything? It's a little blurry, but what you're looking at is an end-cap at a Wal-Mart store which has 18 Toshiba A2 HD DVD players selling for $198! Yes, that's the same player which was selling for $399 back in April, and currently retailing for $299.
HD DVD fans are cheering while Blu-Ray fans are booing. The reason? Paramount and DreamWorks have decided that for the next 18-months, they’ll exclusively be releasing movies on the HD DVD format.
Blu-ray continues to get a few more people on their side in the battle with HD DVD. Just two weeks ago, Blockbuster decided to lend support to Blu-ray because next month when Blockbuster increases their selection of high definition DVD’s, Blu-ray was chosen as the format. This was viewed as another victory for Blu-Ray, and another slap in the face for HD DVD.
