HD Video

Epson just announced that their Ensemble HD Home Cinema System is now available with the company's 3LCD 1080p front projectors – the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6100 and Home Cinema 6500 UB.

The high-end Ensemble HD Home Cinema System features a motorized 100-inch screen, integrated surround sound, AV controller with built-in DVD player, universal remote and all components needed for installation. This system does it all – lets you watch movies, TV and play video games - all while taking up very little space in your living room.

The Ensemble HD Home Cinema System is available in three models, with one to suit each budget. The Ensemble HD Home Cinema 720p sells for $4.999, the Ensemble HD Home Cinema 6100 is $6,499 and the Home Cinema 6500 UB sells for $7,999. Read more

More and more HD programming is being offered on television. And what does HD programming do? Take up valuable space on your DVR's hard drive. If you are anything like me and (totally) rely on your TiVo to record your favorite television programming, WD has announced a solution to this problem. Their new My DVR Expander is now offered with 1 TB capacity. It is compatible with TiVo Series3 and TiVO HD DVRs and can add up to 140 hours of HD programming recordings by just attaching the device to your TiVo DVR.

The new TiVo My DVR Expander with 1 TB capacity is available now through WD's online store (and select retailers) for $199. A relatively small price to pay to not have to make a "date" with your TV.Read more

Amazon announced yesterday that customers can now buy HDTV programming and HD movies from the Amazon Video On Demand service. Compatible devices include the Roku digital video player, TiVo Series3, HD XL DVRs, and the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link. The Amazon Video On Demand library is also now available on Panasonic VIERA CAST enabled HDTVs.

HD movies rent for $3.99 - $4.99. HDTV programming can also be purchased and watched on a PC or Mac (through a compatible device) for $2.99.

For more information on the service, visit www.amazon.com/videoondemand/tv.Read more

Canon introduces the EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR camera, the first Rebel camera with Full HD video capture. It can capture resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080. The Rebel T1i comes with loads of features including; 15.1 Megapixel Canon CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 Image Processor, a 3.0-inch Clear View LCD with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coating, and compatibility with the EOS System of lenses and Speedlites.

EOS Rebel T1i's Auto Lighting Optimizer helps in superior highlight-shadow control. It has a Wide range ISO setting of 100-3200 (ISO expansion: 6400, 12800). The stills features include; Live View Function for Quick, Live and Face Detection, AF modes and video. It is compatible with over 60 Canon EF/EF-S lenses and most EOS system accessories.

The Canon EOS Rebel T1i comes with an estimated retail price of $799.99 and the kit version comes with Canon's EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens at an estimated retail price of $899.99. The brand new EOS Rebel T1i will be available at leading retailers in May 2009.

EchoStar's new T2200S is the world’s first SlingLoaded, tru2way-based, multi-tuner, HD DVR set-top box designed for the cable TV industry. With Sling Media's placeshifting technology cable TV subscribers will be able to watch live TV, DVR and VOD content, on almost any Internet-connected device, such as the computer, mobile media players or cell phones. And with its huge 1 terabyte hard drive, subscribers will have up to 1,000 hours of storage.

• Supports MPEG-2, H.264 (MPEG-4) and VC1.
• 1GHz tuners to support expanded network bandwidth.
• Connect to the home network via Ethernet, WiFi (with optional WiFi adapter) or Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).
• Picture-in-Picture
• Supports advanced resolution formats up to 1080p.
• Individual branding opportunities for MSOs.
• Supports Macrovision and DCS analog copy protection.
• Features an attractive, capacitive-touch, backlit front panel with
• clock display.

It will be available for testing in June and will be in production by the fourth quarter of 2009. Pricing has not yet been announced.

If you're familiar with Vuze, you know that you can download and watch HD videos on your computer. But now, (currently in beta) Vuze has announced that you can sync your video content and watch it on your iPhone, iPod, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Apple TV. They expect more devices to be compatible soon.

Once you have downloaded the free software, simply drag-and-drop files from the Vuze Library to the device of your choice in your Sidebar. Then, just click play on your Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or Apple devices. Easy! A more detailed walk-through can be seen here.

Find out more information from the Vuze blog.

The pocket video camera is all the rage with those regularly posting to YouTube. Now HD (high definition) video is more important than just "plain-old-video". Where 720p at 60 frames per second produces quality content for your 16:9 LCD or Plasma televisions in smaller cameras. The Kodak Zi6 has a USB arm that “pops” out of the side of the camera when prompted. The camera powers itself from two AA batteries, and Kodak makes sure you have rechargeable batteries with the charger with this purchase. The expandable memory card slot is a great option, as there are 32 GB SD memory cards in the market. There are also cables that come with this camera for easy viewing on any HDTV.

For $179 MSRP this camera is worth the money for the easiest solution to capturing video today. As Yoda would say, "A Great Holiday Gift this would make." Who knows … the person you buy this for might be the next George Lucas.