D.I.Y. cable package and FlexiWatch in the pipeline

There are more reasons to put a smile on every Singaporean cable subscribers' face. StarHub has announced today a partnership with Nagravision S.A. to leverage on the latter's advanced conditional access technology for enhancing its Cable TV services.

Under evaluation is a new a la carte packaging that enables personalization of cable channels. This initiative deviates from the typical genre-based packaging giving its customers greater control and flexibility to D.I.Y. a tailored package for varying family needs.

Eyeing the untapped market for casual cable viewers, the telco will also be introducing a FlexiWatch service in the likes of its successful FlexiSurf package enjoyed by its MaxOnline customers. With this new service, Cable TV subscribers can look forward to better returns and value with its affordable per-day charges.
More info here

Philips' Ambilight demystified

It is not uncommon for consumers to brush aside the Ambilight feature sported on the Dutch manufacturer's flat-panel TVs as most are obsessed with the figures such as resolution and contrast ratio. However, this capability has far-fetched effects on our sight which is priceless to our health and wellbeing.

Research conducted at the Light Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has shown that watching glaring television in poor lighting conditions can result in eyestrain over extended periods of viewing. This can be alleviated by surrounding illumination the likes of the Ambilight technology offered by Philips.

It is now available in three different flavors ranging from mono to stereo, to full surround. The latest iteration found in its upcoming 9831D series LCD TVs offers four-sided lighting coupled with adaptive color management which not only varies with onscreen images but also creates an attractive extended floating display.
More info here

When storage's all blue

Like finally. According to Sony Electronics Asia Pacific, the first single-layer 25GB Blu-ray disc will hit Asia by late June. Priced at US$19.99 (S$31.94) for the BD-R (write once) and US$24.99 (S$39.93) for the BD-RE (rewritable) formats, the 25GB Blu-ray media will have five times the storage capacity of a normal DVD (4.7GB). But that's still pretty steep considering that the priciest DVD-R on the market costs around S$3.

If 25GB is still not enough to convert you to the Blu-ray camp, the 50GB version might. Slated for the latter half of 2006 in Asia, the dual-layer disc, like its single-layer cousin, offers a transfer rate of 72Mbps, and according to Sony estimates, the 30-year lifespan for the Blu-ray disc makes it ideal as a cheap archiving media.

And if you are lacking a device to play Blu-ray media, Sony is also launching the Blu-ray drive-equipped VAIO AR Premium notebook by end June in Asia.

Viewing the beautiful game

Our home entertainment guru has been skiving. The boy has been spending time glued to various goggleboxes, all in the name of finding out what the best display is for tracking the movements of 22 men and a soccer ball. We applaud his relentless dedication to uncover the pinnacle of televised soccer entertainment and here's what the fellow came up with… in between popcorn popping and beer slugging. Read it here

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