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Will ITV HD wreck the launch of Blu-ray recorders?

Panasonic Freesat Blu-ray deck is a jawdropper, exclusive hands-on review of DMR-BS850 | Home Cinema Choice Could ITV scupper the launch of Blu-ray recorders in the UK? As I exclusively revealed in my review of Panasonic’s amazing new Freesat Blu-ray recorder, the DMR-BS850 (click the link above to read it), the broadcaster is still flagging its [...]

XBMC Babylon now available for free download

There’s a new version of XBMC available for download, version 9.04. I’m a big fan of the multimedia platform, which I still run on an original xbox. There are now versions which run on the Mac OS X, Linux, Windows and Apple TV devices. Codename Babylon, it’s now available here. XBMC promises improved stability and performance, [...]

Home Cinema Choice Awards:the director’s cut

. Open publication - Free publishing - More av Looking for a new piece of AV kit or just want to window shop? Then the annual awards issues of most specialist press journals are a good place to start. At HCC, we’ve now produced a digital edition of the Home Cinema Choice [...]

Are digital magazines the future?

. Open publication - Free publishing - More automation A little project I’ve given myself is to create an archive of digital magazines, which will be accessible from within the Home Cinema Choice website. These will comprise specials we’ve done, like Living with home cinema (browse above), plus samplers and ultimately entirely [...]

Why no Dolby Digital 5.1 for Battlestar Galactica climax?

Hey Sky, what the frack is going on with the sound on Battlestar Galactica? I wrote the story above (click the link to read), after yet another disappointing hi-def transmission of Battlestar Galactica from Sky. For the second week running, the show was broadcast with a Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack. On my AV system, this makes [...]

Can the Sony PSP become the saviour of digital comics?

Sony PSP to become huge online comic store | Home Cinema Choice Using the Sony PSP to read digital comics seems like a great idea. I’ve yet to find a platform that actually does this particular job properly (my desktop is littered with downloaded .cbr/.cbz readers) and the PSP might well be the answer. However [...]

Which UK consumer electronics major is heading for the exit door in 2009?

Despite my dour demeanor I try hard to be a ‘cup-half-full’ sort of guy. But the grim reality of the current economic choke-hold could clearly be felt in the latest set of financial reports delivered by the world’s biggest consumer electronics companies. All confirmed that a slowing demand for everything from screens to semiconductors, not [...]

Why violent movies can be a good influence on kids

Exclusive review: Quantum of Solace is a Blu-ray blockbuster, but Bond’s package could be better | Home Cinema Choice There’s no doubt about it. Kids are influenced by movies, but not always in the way you expect. While watching the Blu-ray of Quantum of Solace with my son (click the link above to read the resulting [...]

Probably the best AV magazine in the world…

Home Cinema Choice 166 now on sale The latest issue of Home Cinema Choice is on sale and even if I say so myself, it’s a corker. There’s no shortage of interesting reviews, plus coverage from CES 2009 and (ironically) my in-depth preview (sic) of Pioneer’s next generation of Kuro picture processing technology, codenamed Fuga. This, [...]

Watchmen Black Freighter Blu-ray to feature cool BD Live features. Possibly…

Shiver me timbers! The animated piratical story-within-a-story spin-off from the upcoming Watchmen movie, Tales of the Black Freighter, will be released on Blu-ray March 24 with BD Live features that might actually be worth looking at. In addition to exclusive live-action Watchmen footage not featured in the theatrical cut of the movie, the disc will [...]

Panasonic predicts bird flu pandemic and panics overseas staff to return to Japan

It’s no secret that Sony ran an X-Files division back in the Nineties, charged with looking for possible avenues of paranormal product development, including extra sensory perception, remote viewing and Qi (metabolic) energy. Now I’m beginning to wonder if rival Panasonic has its own crystal ball division. Why else would it have ordered the families [...]

Is Pioneer about to crash out of the TV business? Signs don’t look good..

Japanese financial experts predict Pioneer about to bail out of TV business, Kuro can’t compete | Home Cinema Choice If this news turns out to be accurate, and I have no reason to suspect it won’t, then it’s a bit of a heart-breaker. Pioneer has been pushing the envelope in TV picture quality since its early [...]

The last great hope for high quality audio

Do you buy Blu-rays for music or movies? The answer is obviously the latter, but some folks want you to say the former. Recently, I attended a very nice presentation held by the British Video Association at the London recording studio Metropolis. The point of the event was to stress how music on Blu-ray could/should be [...]

The classic X-Men animated series to finally be released in its entirety, courtesy of Disney

Newsarama.com : Disney Brings X-Men Animated Series to DVD Talk about weird and wonderful team-ups. The Saban/Fox animated version of The X-Men has been acquired by Disney and is due out on R1 DVD April 28. The long-running show, which made its debut in ‘92 and lasted five years, is the most authentic of all the [...]

Battlestar sequel Caprica to Debut on DVD this April

Newsarama.com : Caprica to Debut on DVD 04.21.09 Feeling anxious about the looming end of Battlestar Galactica? Well, the good news is that Caprica, the prequel will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 21. Unusually, Universal is releasing the feature-length prequel as a limited-edition uncut and unrated version before the series’ broadcast premiere [...]