TDK executive Jean-Paul Eekhout has said that his company is 100 per cent committed to the Blu-ray Disc format and that he is absolutely certain it will win out over HD DVD. Eekhout spoke about the prospect of TDK releasing recordable HD DVD discs in the future.

"Long before the two HD recordable formats had names, TDK developed core technologies for post-DVD products," said Eekhout. "TDK Corporations’ research and development efforts were in fields of material research, manufacturing technologies and hard coating.

"We judged the Blu-ray Disc recordable and rewriteable product concepts to be the superior format in terms of capacity, durability and performance. TDK’s core technology aligned very well with the BD-R/RE concepts and there exclusively supports the BD format."

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ReQuest, the company whose leadership in the audio and video server market for high-end music, home-theater, and whole-house music systems is well established, has been granted a U.S. patent for its acclaimed NetSync(TM) technology. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted ReQuest, Inc. patent no. 09/884,661 which covers the synchronization of media including audio, video, and digital photos from a central media server to additional media servers and portable devices over a LAN or the Internet, via wired or wireless communications. The patent was filed on June 19th, 2001, which predates by several months Apple Computer’s original introduction of its popular iPod(TM).

NetSync is ReQuest’s proprietary, key enabling technology that allows its music servers and other audio-video component designs to share and exchange audio-video entertainment, setup and operations data, and to interact under the control of external "clients" including personal computers and personal wireless devices.

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Zoran Corporation (Nasdaq: ZRAN) announced it is demonstrating its newest digital entertainment and digital imaging platforms and technologies for consumer electronic manufacturers in Booth 9A76, Hall 9 at CEATEC Japan from October 2 to 6 at Makuhari Messe.

“Zoran technology is the backbone to much of the consumer electronic industry’s digital product lines. At CEATEC, we expect many of our top-tier Japanese brand customers to roll out new products powered by Zoran technologies. In addition, we are there to demonstrate the latest reference platforms for the next generation of products," said Yoshiaki Bannai, president Zoran Japan.

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The arrival of the first TV bearing Philips’ new Perfect Pixel HD Engine technology, the 32PFL9632D, has got me excited and disappointed all at the same time. Excited because I can’t wait to see how Perfect Pixel improves on Philips’ already impressive Pixel Plus 3 HD system.

Disappointed because of the TV’s 32in size – will it really be possible to appreciate everything Perfect Pixel Engine is bringing to the party on such a relatively diminutive screen?

Let’s start with a thumbs up to its aggressively glamorous design, which combines a gloss anthracite colour scheme, shiny silver trim and glass-covered pedestal stand to classic ‘boys toy’ effect. And that’s before I’ve even mentioned its ’stereo’ Ambilight talents, whereby soothing, immersive pools of light spill from its left and right sides. Gimmick? Yes. Good? Oh yes.

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The Pioneer Japan website is currently showing five new headphones.

SE-CL21U SE-CL21M SE-CL21W: From the translated descriptions, these headphones all appear to be exactly the same except for the exterior styling. They all use 9mm neodymium magnets in the drivers and come with a multitude of different size rubber tips. Each pair costs about $20 (2,381 Yen).

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Salagar will be unveiling their new Symphony S210 powered loudspeakers at the Denver Rocky Mountain Audiofest later this week. You probably noticed that the Symphony S210 along with Salagar’s other speakers resemble the shape of most string instruments. This is no accident, as Salagar claims that, "This design facilitates an even distribution of cabinet stress, realized by creating a curved walled, airtight vessel, to dramatically reduce cabinet coloration for high quality sound production across all audible frequencies."

The Symphony S210 also has a couple high-tech tricks up its sleeve. The loudspeaker comes with X-ACT, an active digital crossover with four different selectable programs that process inputs at 24 bit 96 KHz sampling. The Symphony S210 also utilizes Bang & Olufsen’s Class D ICEpower amplification technology with internally mounted amplifiers to power the loudspeakers. Traditional speaker wire connections are replaced with one simple balanced XLR connection per side.

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One of Epson’s newest Home Cinema Projectors, the EMP-DM1 entertainment centre, is to come bundled with a Disney bonus DVD over the holidays. The special 2-disc edition of The Jungle Book will be packaged with the EMP-DM1 from 5th November until February of next year.

The 3.8kg portable projector unit is sub-£500 and a simple plug and play system aiming to make home cinema a more affordable option and friendlier to the less techy consumer. Among the features are built-in stereo speakers with Dolby Surround Sound and DivX compatibility so you can hook up a media player or gaming console too. A gaming mode is integrated to offer better reactivity between console and screen too. £469.99 (including VAT).

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If you thought the format was was confusing, consumers are in for a surprise when Toshiba releases its new HD DVD recorder dubbed the RD-RX7. The recorder features the ability to write to HD DVD recordables as well as DVD-Rs. What makes it truly unique is that it has a special mode allowing users to record HD video to standard 4GB DVD-R/RW/RAMs. The way it does this is through a proprietary format that squeezes 2 hours of "HD" material onto that regular DVD. The unit can upconvert MPEG-2 standard DVDs to its HDMI output and transcodes MPEG-2 to AVCHD MPEG-4 on the fly.

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While the concept of running as a pleasurable way of getting fit completely baffles me the Nike+iPod has been incredibly popular and now one of its most anticipated accessories is finally here…

The ‘Nike Amp+’ wristband is an (admittedly beautiful) add-on which communicates directly with the Nike+iPod running system providing voice feedback on time spent, distance covered, calories burnt and pace as well as direct control of the iPod itself.

A heart monitor, ‘Power Song’ access button (Eye of the Tiger?!) and durable polyurethane strap – coupled with water resistance up to 50m – provide further useful (again, if you like running) options. Finally, the LED shows the time so the Amp+ also doubles as a rather funky looking watch.

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