Toshiba was the driving and creative force behind HD-DVD. You may remember that didn’t go so well. Now they have released their newest disk player – and they’re apparently not planning on going Blu-ray anytime soon.

This new player features their “eXtended Detail Enhancement (XDE) technology”. Basically its a super-upconverting tech that is meant to fill the void between normal DVD players and Blu-Ray machines.

Unfortunately, it looks like the up-converting here only offers a “subtle but noticeable sharpening of the image” – which may not be enough to justify its $150 price tag when a standard up-converting DVD player only costs $70.

One of their latest products is a portable DVD player that is compatible with TV (tuner + antenna), and supports radio.

The 7-inch display is actually touchscren, but in case you don’t want to get the screen dirty, just use the remote control.
Besides the support of SD memory cards with a maximum capacity of 1GB, the player features a USB port, and can playback DVDs, CDs, DVIX, MP3, MP4, VCD, and more.

- Radio transmission: store 14 stations
- Video output/input: Two video intput, one video output

The battery life – important detail on portable players – can be considered good: 7 to 13 hours, that is, while making use of the economy mode.

As for the rest of the specifications, both Panasonic players are compatible with the different formats of a DVD (DVD-R/DVD-RW/) and can also playback MP3, and JPEG files. A card reader for SSD and SDHC cards is included as well.

With that being said, there are three new portable models that differ on the size of the display screen – from 9-inches to 7-inches. While the top-notch model features a digital 1Seg TV Tuner, just like its small brother, the same can’t be said about the low-end model that can only play DVDs.

In case you are worried about the weight of portable DVD players, don’t be. The 9-inch model (SD-P91DT) weighs 1,2Kg, and the SD-P71S is lighter at 740 grams.

Expect something like 350 EUR for the high end model, the SD-P91DT.

Samsung DVD-F1080 is the name of the upcoming product, which has a price tag of $111, and will become available on the following days, at least on the Korean market. In the specs sheet, there is support for plenty of file formats, be it video, audio, or images – DivX, MPEG-4, MP3, WMA, and JPEG.

Instead of the usual buttons to control the device, the new Samsung DVD player provides a touch-sensitive working mode.

This slim, powerful DVD player can upconvert standard 480p discs to 720p, 1080i or 1080p better than ever before.

PS – it was presented at CES 2008.

To end the day with a cool gadget that also deserves to be at CES, there is a new portable DVD burner made by Canon, that works with other Canon products, and is codenamed DW-100.

In essence, this DVD burner can be connected to Canon camcorders (that use Flash Memory/Hard Disk Drive) and instantly burn a DVD with some content. Owners are able to pick what content to record: all data, partial, or continue with the same details as a previous recording.

Two things I like about the DW-100: besides a burner, it can also work as a player (with specific camcorders); the working method is simple since it only has 3 buttons.

Unlike other similar yet daunting devices, the DW-100 DVD Burner is designed for one-touch operation: connect via USB, set and burn. In addition to burning Standard Definition DVDs, the DW-100 can also burn AVCHD DVDs which can be played in compatible Blu-Ray players.

Price? $269.

While most DVD players of the portable kind are suppose to be light, this one weighs 1.1Kg, but on the other hand, its screen measures 8.5-inches, and it supports the latest iPods for video play back. Other features include speakers, being able to rotate up to 180 degrees, and displaying a resolution of 480×234 pixels.

Priced at 28,000 Yens, which is approximately $250, or €170.

The TFT LCD screen measures 8-inches, which is good enough to be really portable. In case don’t have a CD or DVD, there are other options to have access to content, such as memory cards (SD and MMC), an USB slot, or your iPod.

If you want to share the video content with someone else, use the stereo speakers, or if you’d like something more personal, just plug-in your headphones.

The DPC-8099PD-I plays DVD, VCD, CD and CD-R/RW optical media, and supports MP3, JPG and DivX audio/video formats.

Unfortunately there is no information about the battery life, price, or availability date.

Remember the R2-D2 robot from Star Wars? I’m sure you do, and in case you are a real fan of the little blue character get ready to spend some money on a new gadget.

The good news is that NIKKO has used the shape of R2-D2 to create a multifunction robot that has the following features:

• play DVDs
• reads memory cards
• has an iPod dock
• and also a DLP projector

The 4-in-1 robot is a heavy one – 8Kg – and measures 341X328×519mm.

Price? 388,000Yen (close to $3,140)

[via: Akihabara]

Sony has officially launched a couple of products, one of them is the Portable DVD Played codenamed DVP-FX850. The most important specification is the monitor, in this case it is an 8-inch TFT (wide screen) that can swivel 180 degrees to pleasure everyone. The second most crucial detail is the battery life which for this baby is a good amount – 6 hours.

Hiro Shinohara, from Sony, comments:

It can go anywhere, you can set it up in seconds, and it has great battery life, so it just keeps on going. It’s perfect for anyone with a footloose lifestyle who loves movies and wants to be able to enjoy them wherever and whenever they choose.

Other good and unusual features include:

• twin headphone jacks so 2 persons can watch and listen to a movie
• a small remote control
• car battery adaptor kit
• USB port for playback of images (JPEG) or music (MP3)

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