Toshiba is ready to launch this month two digital video recorders (DVRs). The devices combine the HD DVD with the HD hard disk recording. The models in discussion are RD-A600 and RD-A300. The difference between those two is the capacity of their hard disks. The first one comes with 600GB memory, while the second has 300GB storage.

The new DVRs will be available for sale in Japan, at the end of the month. Toshiba has been selling the RD-A1 device which combines both HD DVD and hard-disk recording, but it is bigger and has less options than the new DVRs. Besides the functions I told you the new models can stream HDTV across an in-home network using the DTCP-IP content protection system. Other important feature is the ability to record two HD channels at once.

The prices were estimated by Toshiba. The A600 will cost around $1,645 and the A300 will cost about $1,232. To make an opinion you should know that the old RD-A1 model costs $3,600. There were no details about launching the product for another markets than Japan.

Samsung has a very nice upgrade of the YP-T9 media player which we mentioned from the start that has a very bad name. Samsung T9+ The Third Story is what we get our eyes at these days, after the great success in the Korean markets. So far we had Bluetooth headphones but now with the new T9+ it has player-to-player game functions that can be used withing a 30-feet radius and has 5 built-in multiplayer games. File support is for WMA and MP3.

If I think of the storage size, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB is what we already had in the previous model. Americans are waiting for the interface and language package upgrade.

[via electronista]

It looks like someone is after Sony’s Bravia name, logo and color schemes. It’s Toshiba that has a new product, Vardia RD-A600 that is a HD DVD player with a HDD recorder of 600GB and RD-A300 with 300GB of space. The two models have a pair of digital hi-vision HD tuners, Firewire and HDMI.

The new Toshiba Vardia is pretty smart and can write on HD DVD-R and DVD-RAM/R/RW media but the price is high, ¥200,000 about $1,650 (for the 600GB model). Release date is later this year.

[Impress JP - translation]

Pioneer has two new power gadgets for us that are in the middle range, that will work great with HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs and with smaller prices than their top notch models. Featuring Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio with 7.1 sounds these two new amplifiers from Pioneer are what you need for a serious home theater system where you can connect all your audio and video gadgets that will come out great.

It has S-video, optical digital audio, a couple of HDMI 1.3a inputs and is iPod friendly. How neat! For the price of $1153 the Pioneer VSA-AX1AH that will bring 180W x 7, can be bought in June and Pioneer VSA-1017AV that has 170W x 7 is $774. I personally don’t think the 10W x 7 are worth paying almost $400 more.

[press release via Gizmodo]

Remember how it happened when the iPod was launched? Everything else that ended up on the market was similar with it. It looks like it’s time for Apple TV to get look-alike products. Philips has one in this aluminum box that is a very good alternative for watching DivX movies for those that hate Mac or just wouldn’t spend £200.
It has a 40GB hard drive to keep media locally and can be expanded via USB if you connect other and it can also play audio and video from wireless networked drives. No specs and prices were release at Taipei Computex 2007 where this new box appeared.

[via Engadget]

JVC’s 110 inches HDTV is available now. It is the biggest HDTV in the world. When I say biggest, you need to think at its size, but also at its weight. The big monster has 728-pounds and 110″. Thus you should think for a new living.

The TV features multiple inputs including HDMI, Component, D4, S-Video and a D-sub15 pin socket for your PC. It offers 1920 x 1080 resolution and 5000:1 contrast. The customers can order the JVC TV starting from July, but the delivery will be in October. Also they should consider the price which I could say it’s outstanding - $53,000.

Orbino, a leader in leather accessories, announced a new leather case for 2G Shuffle iPods. The Genio Leather Case offers a built in cord winder that allows you to wear the cord at the perfect length. Being a luxury product, the Genio case is handcrafted. It comes in many leather styles: classic calfskin, stamped crocodile or exotic skins.

Orbino complements the extraordinary design with a leather knotted lariat and little straps that hold the earbuds. The Orbino Genio Leather Case retails for $39.

[Product page via TechFresh]

According to Engadget, Dell reportedly set to release a new series of Inspiron and Vostro laptops. The Inspirons will be powered by either Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Turion 64 X2 processors and they will have 15.4-inch or 17-inch displays. The line includes the following models: the 1520, 1521, 1720, and 1721. The picture below shows a new Inspiron.

The Vostro notebooks are supposed to use only the Intel processors (2.2GHz Intel Meron). There will be two versions Vostro 1500 and Vostro 1700. The former will be equipped with a 15.4-inch display and the latter will sport a 17-inch screen. These are all the specs we could spot, but the laptops should be out this month or the next.

[via Engadget]

Hitachi has released a new line of personal USB storage products. The two products can be viewed in the picture below.

The first one is the Portable USB Storage, which is a small and sleek USB hard drive. The second one is the External USB Storage hard drive suitable for high capacities. This one features a back-up button for music, movies and for your precious data. It can store up to 1TB(terabyte). You could choose lower versions of 750GB or 500GB.

Portable USB Storage is a poket-like HDD, but with huge capacity: 250GB, 200GB and 160GB. It doesn’t feature a separate power adapter, as it uses the USB cable for power.

To give you an idea what to do with such a big hard drive, here is a table from Hitachi:

[via EveryThingUSB]

It looks like Logitec launched a much better 1seg TV tuner that has 2 antennas, not just one. Obviously the quality is going to be increased. This is their newest model Logitec LDT-1S301U that will receive the Japanese 1Seg TV (Mpeg-4/H.264) really easy. The dimensions are 20×55.9×8.6 and it only weights 12grams.

Source …