Networked media players are, if not quite ten-a-penny, then at least increasingly common these days, so it takes more than an ethernet port and an HDMI output to impress us. QNAP are hoping their NMP-1000 will do just that, however, thanks to its onboard 3.5-inch hard-drive (up to 2TB), Full HD 1080p output, YouTube and Flickr support, automatic NAS backup functionality and UPnP streaming.
Video overview after the cut
Sharp Japan have outed four new LX-series HDTVs, each boasting massive 2,000,000:1 contrast ratios. The range starts from the 40-inch LC-40LX1 and tops out at the 60-inch LC-60LX1, with 46- and 52-inch models in-between; each offers Full HD 1920p resolution, “industry’s lowest” power consumption, and a six-speaker integrated sound system with dual sub-woofers on all but the smallest.
Lurking in among the lenses, mattebox, external microphone and video viewfinder is Dan Chung’s Canon EOS 7D, while after the cut you can see the HD video he shot around an hour after picking the new uber-DSLR up from his local store. Filmed in low light at 1600 to 6400 ISO, it’s left Chung – and us – mightily impressed at the EOS 7D’s abilities.
Video demo after the cut
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Microsoft's Xbox 360 WiFi 802.11n adapter, tipped in another leaky FCC filing, will apparently be priced at around $100 when it lands later this year. The WiFi-n adapter will seemingly go on sale alongside, rather than outright replace, the existing version, which will see a discount to $79.99.
Toshiba have announced the Qosmio X500, their 18.4-inch Full HD desktop-replacement notebook packing an Intel Core-i7 2.8GHz processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 250MNV 1GB graphics. Set to arrive by the end of October, the Qosmio X500 squeezes in a Blu-ray burner, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, twin 500GB 5,400rpm hard-drives and WiFi b/g/n.
If you haven’t guessed by now, we’re big fans of ultraportable computers, and even happier when they can cope with 1080p video playback. One such device tickling our fancy is SmartDevices’ SmartV 5 MID, a 5-inch WVGA touchscreen handheld with a 600MHz processor, 2GB of flash storage and a choice of Android, Windows CE 6.0 or Ubuntu as OS.
The SmartV 5 MID also has a microSD card slot (content with up to 32GB cards) for all that lovely high-definition footage you’ll be storing, together with both WiFi and Bluetooth. RAM is 256MB and the MID has native support of 1080p MKV/H.264 content and an HDMI output.
ASUS’ endearingly slim Designo MS series LCD displays are headed to the UK, the company have confirmed, with prices for the 16.5mm thick monitors around the £244 mark ($400). According to Electricpig, that will probably get you the 23.6-inch model, the MS246, which offers 1080p HD resolution.
ASUS have outed two new Republic of Gamers notebooks, the G60 and G71X, offering Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors respectively. The two new laptops each have NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 260M with 1GB of dedicated memory, driving a 16-inch 1,366 x 768 display in the case of the G60, and a 1,920 x 1,200 in the G71X. Both machines have Blu-ray drives, dual HDDs set up in RAID arrays (640GB total in the G60; 1TB total in the G71X) and both HDMI and eSATA ports.
When you start calling your new product the “ultimate Mini-ITX HD multimedia platform” you better have some meat to back it up, but we’ve a feeling VIA’s new mainboard will be able to deliver. The VIA VB8003 is the world’s first such ‘board with discrete onboard graphics, capable of pumping out 1080p high-definition video through two HDMI ports; there’s also a DVI port and a VGA port.
Video demo after the cut
It’s obviously a day for promising 1080p PMPs, with Teclast’s upcoming T56 also boasting Full HD. The T56 has a 5-inch 16m color WVGA (800 x 480) display and some endearingly angular styling to its case; it also has an HDMI output for putting 1080p clips onto your nearest HDTV.
SlashGear JP
