Samsung and Skype have announced that the upcoming Samsung LED 7000 and 8000 series HDTVs will come with built-in Skype software allowing for video and voice chats via your TV.
The first model will begin shipping in the “first half of 2010.”
“Our consumers want their televisions to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for entertainment and communication delivered with the highest quality,” added Kevin Kyungshik Lee, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. “Including Skype on our TVs meets that expectation perfectly. We’re thrilled that Samsung’s consumers can now use our TVs to experience the rich video and voice communication that hundreds of millions of Skype users worldwide enjoy.”
The HDTVs were first introduced at the CES show last month.
You will need to buy and connect a camera, which is available through both companies, and obviously have a Skype account, which can even be created through the remote control of the TV.
“Increasingly Skype users want to communicate away from their computers, particularly when it comes to video calling,” says Jonathan Christensen, General Manager of Platform at Skype. “Thanks to Samsung, Skype is helping even more friends and families benefit from the meaningful connections that Skype’s video and voice calling provides.”
Result for: highest quality
Universal has announced the launch of the new Blu-ray “Flipper” discs, releases that feature the Blu-ray on one side, and a DVD release on the flip side.
The first films to be made into “flipper” discs are the Bourne Trilogy, which will be released on January 19th, individually. Each of the films will be “flippers,” and will include the feature film and bonus features.
“Universal’s flipper discs are the perfect way for consumers to future-proof their collections while still enjoying their favorite movies on all their existing DVD players,”adds Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.“The flipper disc offers an easy way for viewers to convert to Blu-ray now or at any time in the future, confident in the fact they will be able to experience their home entertainment purchases in the highest quality picture and sound when they do.”
In the press release, Universal uses terms such as “industry-changing,” but I do recall purchasing HD DVD “flippers” in 2007, including Universal films. Why did it take so long for Blu?
Result for: highest quality
Western Digital has officially launched its WD TV Live HD Media Player today, offering full HD playback from external drives via your HDTV.
Full specs are very interesting:
Full-HD video playback and navigation - up to 1080p -
This is the real thing; Full-HD 1080p playback. Sit back and enjoy the spectacular picture quality of brilliant high definition video and the crystal-clear sound of digital audio. Use the included remote control to make your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated navigation menus.
Play a wide variety of file formats -
WD TV Live supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need to spend time transcoding.
Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV -
Explore and watch YouTube videos and Flickr pictures on the big screen. Rock out to thousands of radio stations via Live365 and discover new music with Pandora radio.
Access files anywhere on your home network -
Play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on your home network. The Ethernet port connects this player to your home network through a wired connection or via popular, supported WiFi adapters (sold separately).
Turn your USB drive into an HD media player -
Play content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices. Optimized for My Passport portable hard drives.
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