At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), ViewSonic today announced the world’s first High Definition Made for iPod, DLP PJ258D front projector. Mimicking the sleek design of the iPod and weighing less than 4 pounds, the PJ258D lets iPod users bring digital media content to any environment—from living room walls and basements, to well-lit hotel rooms and conference rooms.

The PJ258D docking station connects the iPod with video directly to the projector to eliminate the need for a computer to project video content. In addition, it charges the iPod’s battery while digital content is being played to make hours of entertainment possible. The projector also supports other popular digital media through its multiple connectivity options, including S-Video and VGA, which enable users to quickly connect to PCs, DVD players and video game consoles.

“Advances in digital technology have produced a new generation of consumers who want their information and entertainment to be as instant, as mobile and as real as they are,” said Jeff Volpe, vice president of marketing, ViewSonic Americas. “The PJ258D is ViewSonic’s latest example of how innovative technology can meet these demands to continually redefine how people access, view and bond over sharing favorite content.”

At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), being held in Las Vegas, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach provided an early look at a new service, IPTV on Xbox 360. According to Microsoft, the offering will deliver world-class TV experiences such as digital video recording capabilities, with gaming, movie viewing, and even voice and video communications to the XBox 360.

Users will be able to watch their favorite sporting event live while chatting with their friends, for example, or participate in a match on Xbox Live while they record a TV program in the background. IPTV on Xbox 360 is expected to be available to consumers by holiday season 2007 and will be offered by providers that are deploying TV services based on the Microsoft TV IPTV Edition software platform.

“Our goal is to make entertainment more personal, more interactive and more social,” Bach said. “IPTV on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live are powerful examples of ways we are bringing together the worlds of gaming, TV viewing and community to make it easy for people to access and discover their favorite content and share their personal experiences with the communities they are part of.”

Podcast User Magazine is celebrating a year of publishing with the release of issue #12.

The magazine, available free in PDF format, is the collective brain-child of like-minded podcasters and has had over 100,000 downloads from 108 countries.

The latest issue (PDF) features:

• Talkshoe Explained
• Japanese Podcasts
• Picking the Tunes
• Citizen Scoop
• ID3 Tagging
• Inside the Podcasters’ Studio with Andrew Darlow
• The New Zune
• Reflexion Filter Review
• Video Podcast ‘Four Eyed Monsters’
• Review Roulette, News, and more

Seeing a gap in the market not quite wide enough to support a printed publication, a team of podcasters first gathered together in a forum to look at ways of addressing the community links vital for its growth. “There was a need to inform, educate and most of all, entertain, and this has become our ethos,” said James Hastell, a co-founder.

“We have been very lucky that without corporate investment of any kind we have been able to produce something more than a fanzine, made and produced by people in the business,” adds Hastell.

NetGear today announced a collaboration and agreement with BitTorrent, Inc. to promote video downloads streamed to high-definition televisions (HDTVs) through the new NetGear Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000) media receiver. BitTorrent will work with NetGear on marketing and technology initiatives to deliver the highest quality and fastest distribution of media files over home networks.

The Digital Entertainer HD is a set-top media receiver that connects to a home-theater system to stream digital media from computers, network storage and USB media players. The receiver automatically discovers, organizes and plays high-definition movies, TV shows, music files and personal photos — as well as Internet-based video, news feeds, weather reports and radio programs. The receiver’s high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port displays video resolution up to 1080p on big-screen TVs and optical digital audio output (TOSLINK) transmits full digital surround sound to a digital audio receiver.

Sony Electronics today announced a first of its kind TV feature called BRAVIA Internet Video Link that will allow most of its new televisions to access free Internet video content, including high-definition, from providers including AOL, Yahoo! and Grouper, as well as Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony BMG Music.According to Stan Glasgow, president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics, “This initiative will not only enhance the entertainment experience for owners of Sony Internet video-ready HDTVs, but also reinforce our defining strategy of providing more personalization of products and content for consumers that no other company can offer.”

Sony’s new Internet video-ready televisions will feature the ability to receive streaming broadband video, including high-definition content, via a small optional module that is easily attached and concealed behind the TV for a clean, integrated appearance – even when hung on the wall.

The module links the television set directly to a user’s broadband Internet service provider via an Ethernet connection. The content can then be accessed directly on the TV without use of a personal computer.

Added to the podcast directory list:

• Podcast Blaster -¬† large podcast directory that features alphabetical browing, category browsing and search.
• VideoPodcast.tv – lets you find video podcasts by best rated, popular today, recent, using tags, by category and using search.

NetGear, a networking products provider, has introduced the Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000), a wireless networking router designed to bring the digital media to television sets. NetGear made its introduction a week before MacWorld Expo, where Apple is expected to introduce its own wireless media router, the “iTV”.
NetGear’s digital media receiver offers lets high-definition televisions display media files and Internet content streamed from Windows as well as Mac computers, network storage devices and USB media devices.

As Internet media such as podcasts, video podcasts and streaming video grow in popularity, some expect devices such as NetGear’s Digital Entertainer and Apple’s iTV to become an important new category of product because of people’s desire to watch video on large televisions.

“More than half of US broadband users are interested in using a media center PC or media server to record and watch TV from any TV or PC, watch purchased/rented movies on any TV or PC, and listen to digital music on any stereo or PC in the home,” said Joyce Putscher, principal analyst for home networking/digital home research at In-Stat. “HDMI is the leading HD digital interface in the consumer electronics market, and devices such as the NetGear Digital Entertainer HD are poised to reap the benefits as consumer media collections grow, demand rises for HD programming, and more users desire to stream their content throughout the home.”

The Digital Entertainer HD discovers HD movies, TV shows, music files, and personal photos on a home network, across multiple PCs, and organizes these into a single media library that can be displayed on a TV without the need for media server software running on the computer. Using the included remote, users can search their media library by multiple criteria including title, actor, date, genre or thumbnail images (from photos, album art or DVD covers).

A High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port displays video resolution up to 1080p on big-screen TVs and optical digital audio output (TOSLINK) transmits full digital surround sound to the consumers’ digital audio receiver.

As devices like the Digital Entertainer HD become available, they promise to reignite the debate over where people will get HDTV content from.

Digital downloads helped the music industry end 2006 on a positive note. A Nielsen SoundScan report released Thursday showed music purchases in the U.S. exceeding 1 billion units for the second straight year as downloads continued to compensate for declining CD sales.

According to the report, which tracks data from more than 20,000 retail locations and from every major digital music seller, 1.2 billion units of albums, singles, music videos and digital tracks were sold in 2006, up 19.4% from the 1 billion units sold in 2005.Although total albums sold — including digital ones — fell 4.9% from a year earlier to 588.2 million, the decline was partly offset by a big increase in digital tracks sold, up from 352.7 million in 2005 to 581.9 million in 2006.

The growth figures are nothing to scoff at, said Brian Garrity, senior business correspondent at Billboard Magazine.”We are seeing a growing tide of digital consumers,” he said. “I think we’re going to see some healthy gains for the foreseeable future.”

The growth decline in CD sales and large growth in single sales suggests that digital consumers are creating their own greatest hits collections of tracks over the traditional idea of an album.

via Los Angeles Times

Virgin Digital has shuttered its ailing US music service. The service had failed to make a dent in iTunes’ popularity, but the coup de gr√¢ce came with Microsoft’s decision to abandon PlaysForSure, the technology Virgin’s music store was based on. when it introduced the Zune.

Virgin has contacted subscribers, offering them a free MP3 player and three free months of Napster’s subscription service as an incentive to switch. Napster’s service is also PlaysForSure based.

Microsoft previously shuttered its own service based on PlaysForSure, leaving the technology with a clouded future, at best.

Digital music consumers listen to more music, enjoy more new music, talk more about music and attend more concerts, according to a survey released today by the Digital Media Association (DiMA).

Nearly 60 percent of consumers report that they are listening to more music since they started using an online service. The 1008 consumers surveyed enjoy Internet radio, subscription music services, and pay-per-download music services, including AOL Radio, Yahoo! Music, iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune, Urge, Napster, Pandora, Live365 and others.

The vast majority of online music service users report that enjoying music over the Internet has expanded their musical tastes, letting them discover new artists and explore new music genres. About 25 percent reported having discovered a lot of new artists, while more than 60 percent of consumers surveyed say they have discovered some new artists. Nearly 7 in 10 online music consumers are enjoying new genres of music since listening to online music services.

“Prior to the digital age, someone who purchased six CDs per year – valued at just over $100 – was considered a significant music consumer,” said DiMA Executive Director Jonathan Potter. “Online music consumers’ spending habits, combined with what they are doing to promote and expand music enjoyment, is great for the entire music industry – artists, songwriters and producers.”