“You don’t need to invent anything, you just have to do traditional research where you look at history and then compliment that with scientific research where you’re trying to do something new. That can lead to a lot in the business and technology sectors these days” – Bill Buxton
A chat with Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton, Part I
Anyone who figured OLED would go the way of SED has another thing comin’, and Samsung’s got the prototype to prove it. Over at the OLED-heavy FPD International 2008 show, Samsung is showcasing the biggest panel (of this nature) that its pilot line can even create: a 40-inch Full HD OLED display. 1,920 x 1,080 pixels of delicious OLED goodness, mixed with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, a color gamut of 107% NTSC, a luminance of 200cd/m2 and a thickness of just 8.9-millimeters. Judging by first hand reports, the actual quality wasn’t top-notch, but we’re willing to forgive the early glitches in hopes of a better tomorrow.
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Source: Engadget.com
Source: | Gizmo Republic
Sony isn’t sitting by to let Microsoft take credit for making Xbox 360 the entertainment center of your living-room’s universe. No sooner did Sony announce its new PlayStation Video Store at E3 this week that it was alive and operable on your PS3. All you need is an Internet connection and the latest firmware version 2.41 to access the Video Store.
Netflix on Xbox LIVE will have to wait for this fall’s update to the Xbox 360 Dashboard. LIVE subscribers will get access to complete Netflix’s library of streaming movies. The library is massive but consists of generally older films. The best thing about the Netflix deal is that if you’re already a LIVE subscriber the service costs nothing extra. The biggest disadvantage to Netflix is no HD and sub-DVD quality video.
PlayStation Video Store is a download service much like the one Microsoft already has in place. You can rent from a selection of about 300 movies and 1,200 TV show episodes. Sony promises its library will grow in coming months but for now selection is limited. Like Xbox LIVE, many movies and TV shows are available in HD. One key advantage to PlayStation’s system is that many titles are available to buy rather than just rent.
If you’ve bought into the PlayStation family you may even own a PSP to go with your PS3. Sony has maintained interoperability between the devices by making the movies uploadable to your PSP so you can watch on the road. If you’re buying movies through your PS3 don’t worry about your hardware 60GB limitation. You can easily upgrade the PlayStation 3 hard drive so archiving is made easy. (See: PlayStation3 Hard Drive Upgrades Made Easy)
Both are worthy and unique movie delivery systems for a game consoles. But as a user of both consoles and a home theater enthusiast who values quality over quantity, ease of use or scalability, I would personally not use either system… ever.
Despite PlayStation Video Store’s better quality HD video exact resolution is ambiguous. You won’t know if you’re getting 720P, 1080P or some mash-up of pixels your display is forced to scale. And forget lossless audio, downloads are highly compressed. As for Netflix…I’d rather trim my toenails with a Bowie knife than sit through a Netflix streamed movie over my Xbox 360.
Fortunately for console gamers the best option for high-def movies with high-res audio is still PlayStation 3. Sony is after all the winner of the HD format war and the PS3 is still arguably the best and most affordable Blu-ray player on the market.
Tags: PS3, Playstation Video Store, XBOX Live, Netflix, HD XBox 360, Dashboard, 1080p
Photos: Panasonic rolls out Net-enabled plasma | CNET News.com
For those looking for a REAL TV, this is the one to get!
“The PZ850 will feature “Viera Cast” to connect to YouTube and Google’s Picasa straight from the TV. Other items viewed with “Viera Cast” include weather from five chosen locations and Bloomberg news and stocks that are updated every 15 minutes. A computer can be hooked up to the TV, but isn’t necessary for access to the Internet. The PZ850 plugs into the Web via Ethernet.”
Can you imagine? Internet-Ready TV. And soon we should have Media Center TV fully integrated. But don’t buy it yet. Wait 3 months after release in order to find better prices. Remember, do your homework and you could save big time.
OMG, now I have to start selling my plasma 
