R.I.P. HD-DVD: Toshiba reportedly ends the war

Well, that's it. Toshiba appears to be pulling the plug on HD-DVD. Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan's NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next-generation high-definition DVD production.

This news certainly doesn't come as surprise to anyone remotely following HD-DVD's format war with rival Blu-ray. HD-DVD had suffered a string of defections, with Warner, Netflix, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart all recently pledging their alliance to Blu-ray.

The NHK report says existing HD-DVD products will remain in the market for a while, but Toshiba will stop further development of HD-DVD. The report also estimates that Toshiba will take a hit to the tune of "hundreds of millions of US dollars" and will close factories in northern Japan.

Elsewhere this weekend, Sony and its Blu-ray buddies are going to make like VHS and party like it's 1989.

Source | Via

Image banking the Swiss Way

Swiss banks are known best for its integrity and safety. So it is a natural choice to go with the Swiss when choosing an image bank to back up your digital images.

Swiss Picture Bank is an online storage site for your digital images. Pretty much like a real bank, you can "deposit" or/and "withdraw" your images anytime, anywhere with an Internet connection.

Swiss Picture Bank promises to keep the images you deposit with them safe for up to a lifetime, depending on which plan you purchase. The pricing starts from US$0.03 per image for 30 years to US$0.06 for 99 years. What's more, you only have to pay once. There is no monthly or yearly subscription plan that you have to look out for.

The Swiss Picture Bank is partner with Swisscom IT Services and its subsidiary company, Comit. The latter provides the IT infrastructure to Swiss banks so you can have a peace of mind when you choose to store your pictures with the company.

Swiss Picture Bank is backed by the Picture Guarantee Foundation, a non-profit, independent foundation that was established to ensure that the images would be secure. All the files are duplicated, encrypted and stored on several different servers in Switzerland so you can be sure that there will always be a copy.

In the unfortunate event that Swiss Picture Bank loses any of your images, it will pay you back 30 times the amount you spent to back up that particular picture. But it is so confident that this will never happen that it states on its website, "...we’ll never have to try".

Uploading is a breeze with the Photobot Guardian. The program is installed in your computer and you can set it to monitor several folders. When you add new images to these folders, the Photobot Guardian will automatically upload them to the database. This free program will be available soon for download here. Alternatively, you can also upload your images via the Swiss Picture bank Web site.

For the environmental conscious, you’ll be glad to know that Swiss Picture Bank’s data centers are powered by hydroelectric plants (energy supplies that is 98 percent carbon-free) scattered across Switzerland.

Coming soon: Nokia N82 in black

Well, there's not much news here except that if you've been holding out for a black variant of the Nokia N82, you now have an estimated date (or rather, month) to look forward to. According to the company, the black N82 is expected to be out end-March in the Asia-Pacific region. No word on pricing details though we are assuming at this point that the specs remain the same as the original N82.

Picture credit: IntoMobile

Battle of the diamond uber-phones

It's probably just coincidence, but the timing of this offering from luxury phone maker Vertu is interesting. Just yesterday we noted the resemblance between its handsets and those of rival Obsession, and today that perception was reinforced by Vertu's new "Signature Yellow & White Diamonds" model.

True to form, the company spared little expense in creating this handmade tart, embedding 2.4 carats of yellow diamonds another 4.4 carats of white diamonds in its 18k gold case, according to Sybarites. Even the battery cover is adorned with yellow diamond studs.

Not surprisingly, this is yet another limited edition, and Vertu isn't kidding--only 33 of them will be made. But it had better take notice of the competition: Until it slays a few reptiles to make cases of exotic skins, it may lose some street cred.

Via CNET Crave
Picture credit: Sybarites

Pack up your troubles in Oakley's Kitchen Sink Pack

Coming after Oakley's weird-out Medusa headbanging thing, this one's tame by comparison. Although it'll probably take several repetitions before your friends stop chuckling when you seriously tell them you're lugging a Kitchen Sink Pack (US$175).

Once those sniggers stop, you can turn them green-eyed with envy when you show off how this backpack lives up to its name. From the laptop padded sleeve to the top storage compartment that's compression molded to protect eyewear, to lockable cable zipper pulls, right down to a compartment with drainage ports for wet items. Like a kitchen sink, perhaps?

Via Uncrate

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