sandv blog

Whoulda thunk that the company that invented the portable music player would years later play catch up to a computer company and some of its biggest TV rivals?

But that's what happened to Sony and the Walkman in the digital age. Today's "news" is the video Walkman has finally arrived in the U.S.

No, not that Apple. And no, not that technological species of Beatles.

In a week when it was rumored that Apple Inc. would herald the long-awaited availability of the Beatles on iTunes, Apple Corps Ltd. instead divulged that the band's second film, Help!, will be reissued on DVD, in a two-disc set.

Yesterday at the CEDIA Expo in Denver, Toshiba announced three "third-generation" HD DVD players: the HD-A3 (available October at a suggested retail price of $300), HD-A30 (shown, September, $400), and HD-A35 (October, $500). Aside from its lower price and sleeker profile, the HD-A3 breaks little new ground and shares the 1080i max output resolution of its predecessor, the HD-A2.

As LG prepared its second-generation combination Blu-ray/HD DVD player for market, we held out hope that Sharp's oft-delayed foray into next-gen DVD was the result of rethinking its commitment to a standalone Blu-ray player.