Sony beefs up Blu-ray strategy

SAN FRANCISCO--Even as Blu-ray Disc and Blu-ray player sales are growing, Sony is looking to build out its larger strategy surrounding the company's high-definition disc products.

At a small press event recently, the company introduced a new feature of BD-Live and a new piece of Blu-ray hardware.

MovieIQ will be included on some high-profile releases from Sony starting in September. It's essentially IMDb live--while a movie is playing, facts about casting, directors, production, and actors' filmographies pop up onscreen. It's powered not by IMDb, but by Gracenote, creators of CDDB, which Sony purchased just over a year ago.

It's the kind of feature intended to keep people from pausing a movie and hopping online to ask questions like, "I totally recognize that actress, but from what movie?" It's also meant to build on the inherent capability of Blu-ray players that have Internet access. Sony has tried to do this by allowing BD-Live access to exclusive trailers and some trivia games, but MovieIQ seems like something that users would engage with repeatedly, not something they'd just use once and forget about.
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Linksys by Cisco slashes price for its "lite" media hub

Network specialist Linksys by Cisco is launching yet another flavor of its user-friendly media hub following an initial Singapore launch in February. The latest NMH300 is essentially the original NMH305 less a preinstalled 500GB hard drive but still featuring "media anywhere" file access, DLNA-compatibility and onboard security. This allows users to utilize their choice of hard drives up to 1.5TB capacity, while retaining the secondary disc bay for future expansion needs. According to its spokesperson, the Singapore lineup will comprise the recently launched S$299 (US$212.42) NMH300 and S$599 (US$425.55) 500GB NMH405. Its S$499 (US$354.50) NMH305 has been withdrawn from Singapore.
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A*STAR taps unutilized bandwidth in TV airways

Our airways may be buzzing with TV transmissions of all sorts, but studies have also indicated that the actual utilization rate can be as low as 6.5 percent in countries such as Singapore. At CommunicAsia, A*STAR showed off its TV White Space device developed just to harness this untapped bandwidth. The prototype provides real-time spectrum sensing to isolate these underutilized frequencies. This, in turn, allows other applications such as wireless broadband in rural countrysides and low-powered home networking to be delivered using traditional broadcasting airwaves.

In fact, the A*STAR solution has recently been validated by the America Federal Communication Commission. The researcher we spoke to further elaborated that the system can eventually be shrunk into a single chip product. TV White Space has the potential to offer up to 30 times the bandwidth of 54Mbps Wi-Fi, which is more than sufficient for carrying HD content. For now, the technology remains in development stage with no actual industrial adaptation at the moment.
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Put your dad in control for this Father's Day

Solve your dad's home entertainment woes with the Logitech Harmony One universal remote control this Father's Day. You can even go one step further by programming the controller in advance via the company's wizard software which accesses a vast infrared code repository online. In the same light, activity-based macro controls which send a series of commands at the touch of a button can programmed to simplify DVD playback, TV recording, etc. You could even upload custom wallpaper and icons such as TV station logos for a special touch to make the Harmony One even more intuitive. Since this product has been released in the market for a while now, its price has been revised to a more affordable S$499 (US$354.50) as well.

BNS Touch offers interactive telecommerce

This may be a dream come true for all shopaholics out there. Imagine a full interactive shopping experience from the comfort of your couch and a big-screen HDTV. That's exactly what Hong Kong-based Broadband Network Systems Ltd is promising via its new BNS Touch multimedia solution. Designed for Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service providers and hospitality operators, this system allows hassle-free catalog shopping, hotel in-room dinning, and more for its users with just a few taps.

The BNS Touch comprises a custom settop box, a wireless pen-like device called The Wiz, and a paper catalog printed with invisible dot codes. All you need to do is "browse and tap" within a comfortable range of up to 4m from the settop box to make a purchase. Unlike a magazine or the usual "call and order" format, you can also make amendments to your shopping cart on-the-fly, as well as customize your order in terms of finishing and quantity. Check out our photo log below for more details.
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