Eclectic Electronics

Sharp introduces low-power BDHP22H Blu-ray player in the UK
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (2004)
Popcorn Hour C-200 networked media tank
Nokia E71x Philippines, not gonna happen

Sharp introduces low-power BDHP22H Blu-ray player in the UK

Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT

Sharp UK is set to intro a low power consumption Blu-ray player, the BDHP22H. Funny thing is, Blu-ray players don’t really consume much electricity except for the PlayStation 3. Engadget indicates that this low-power Blu-ray player consumes only 0.7W during standby and 20W while playing your favorite high-definition movies.

The Sharp BDHP22H Blu-ray Disc Player is priced at £199.99 and becomes available towards the end of this month.

Sharp BDHP22H Blu-ray Disc Player

Playback disc formats BD-ROM, BD-RE Dual Layer, BD-R Dual Layer, DVD Video, DVD+RW/+R/-RW/-R Dual Layer (Video/VR format), Audio CD (CD-DA), CD-RW/R (CD-DA, JPEG file format)

Full 1080p resolution

24Hz frame rate (the same rate used for cinema content)

BD-Live (Profile 2.0) for access to additional content via internet connection

Smooth and natural motion rendering

HDMI, Component Video, Video, 7.1ch digital audio output (via HDMI), 5.1ch Digital Audio Optical, 2Ch Audio, Ethernet

Quick Start

DVD and CD Playback

JPEG Display from CD-R/RW

Low Power Consumption

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Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (2004)

Posted: 18 Jun 2009 12:45 PM PDT

Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series includes all seasons of the popular Sci-Fi TV series and spans across 25 discs. It possibly doesn’t include “The Plan” which is intended to be aired on November 2009.

Release date: July 28, 2009
Price: $179 at Amazon as of this posting. A Blu-ray version is also available for $220.

Product Description
Now you can relive every action-packed moment of the epic story that Entertainment Weekly proclaims "Riveting"! Rejoin the fight to save the human race as a small but determined fleet quests for the fabled planet Earth while being hunted by their nemesis, the robot cylons. Presented uninterrupted and in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, experience the phenomenon from beginning to end!

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Popcorn Hour C-200 networked media tank

Posted: 18 Jun 2009 10:45 AM PDT

The Popcorn Hour C-200 network media tank/player is the follow-up to the highly popular A-110. The Popcorn Hour C-200 features a more powerful processor along with increased RAM, flash memory and more interface connections.

This thing can basically play anything you throw at it, such as MKV, XviD, H.264. It also streams content from various partner sites such as YouTube, CNN, NBC, CBS, BBC, and others. There is also still photo content streaming from Flickr, Pikeo and Picasa.

Other improvements of the C-200 over the A-110 include a wireless RF remote control (which means you don’t have to maintain a line of sight in order to control the device), LCD on the front face plate and the option to load the device with a Blu-ray drive.

The C-200 starts shipping July 2009 for $299.

Head on over to www.popcornhour.com (for US-based information) www.popcornhour.com.ph (for Philippines-based information, no product page for the C-200 but I’m getting a hunch they’ll be putting up one soon).

Syabas Announces Next-Generation Internet Media Streaming Settop Box

Versatile Popcorn C-200 now features Blu-ray playback support, a front panel LCD and removable drive bay for either a hard disk drive or Blu-ray player

FREMONT, Calif., June 17, 2009 – Syabas, a leading provider of over-the-top settop software and hardware and makers of the award winning Popcorn Hour A-110, today announced the Popcorn C-200, a next-generation Internet settop box that streams digital content from the Internet or its internal hard drive to your television set and home stereo.¹ Unlike competing Internet settop boxes that support a limited number of Internet audio and video file types, the C-200 supports more than 30, including MPEG 1, 2, 4, AVI, H.264, Xvid, MKV, Windows Media and others.

"In today's tough economic times, there are people facing the decision to either cancel their cable subscription or their Internet connection to make ends meet," said Syabas COO, Alex Limberis. "With a C-200, people can experience the best of both worlds, as a lot of compelling content is freely available on the Internet. Today, consumers want to watch programs when they want them, not when a network or cable company tells them it's okay."

Like its predecessor, the Popcorn Hour A-110, the C-200 streams news and entertainment content from a number video partner sites such as YouTube, Vuze, Revision 3, CNET TV, Veoh, Blip.tv, NBC, CBS, CNN and BBC and Internet radio sites, such as Radio box and Live365 Radio. Additionally, the C-200 can stream still image content from Flickr, Pikeo and Picasa.

Additional new features of the C-200 include:

A redesigned external shell, which helps the unit better integrate into existing entertainment component stacks

Wireless RF remote control

An LCD display for quickly searching, streaming and/or downloading content, which is useful when listening to music without having the TV on

A gigabit Ethernet connection for lightning-fast file transfers

A front-loading drive bay that can be used to install a hard drive for storing and playing back downloaded content

The ability to add a Blu-ray drive with full support for Blu-ray navigation and Blu-ray Live

AVCHD format and navigation for displaying home video content from AVC format HD cameras

The C-200 includes component and HDMI out for high definition playback on today's HDTVs. And for audio purists, the device features an optical line out, for playing back content that's been encoded in Dolby Digital or DTS. The box also plays Wave, AAC and MP3 audio files, among others.

"Unlike competing new media streamers that have been around for less than a year and can require someone to hack a product's operating system to get them to work, Syabas has been happily shipping media streaming products to satisfied customers around the world for several years," said Alex Limberis, chief operating officer of Syabas."

Availability
The Popcorn C-200 is expected to be available in July for $299 from www.popcornhour.com. The package includes the C-200, an HDMI cable, RF remote control, quick start guide and installation software. Complete product specifications can be found at: www.popcornhour.com .

About Syabas
Syabas, headquartered in Fremont, California and with facilities in China and Malaysia, is a leading software developer for inexpensive wired/wireless digital home entertainment products. Syabas products enable users to access content such as high- and standard-definition video, music, photos and services, such as YouTube, Veoh and Vuze, over a local network and the Internet.

¹= Hard drive not included

[via CrunchGear and Popcorn Hour]

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Nokia E71x Philippines, not gonna happen

Posted: 18 Jun 2009 07:30 AM PDT

I’ve noticed that there have been searches for “Nokia E71x Philippines” the past few days, thereby I am constructing this post. Let it remain a fact, that the Nokia E71x clad in Black Steel is an AT&T USA exclusive.

Just in case you are curious, there are just minor differences between the available Nokia E71 Black Steel and the Nokia E71x. The former runs on Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition with Feature Pack 1 while the latter runs on Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition with Feature Pack 2.

Given that the E71x runs on AT&T firmware, they might have disabled some functionalities. As of the moment, for those in the Philippines, the only way you can get your hands on a Nokia E71x is if you get one from AT&T in the US. With that said, you also have to try your luck to get them to give you the unlock code.

Hopefully, somewhere down the road, Nokia Philippines would wake up to their senses and offer Philippines-based owners of the Nokia E71 a free firmware update to Feature Pack 2.

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