Set top boxes seem to get more and more popular these days, and it is no wonder since folks have been conditioned to get things instantly as well as on-demand, leading to an ever increasing pace in our lifestyle which has side effects such as unwanted stress as well as being in a rush all the time. Well, Western Digital surely doesn’t help slow down your life, as it introduces its WD TV Live HD media player that boasts network capability and Full HD 1080p resolution support, making it the first network media player that is compatible with Windows 7 in the market. The WD TV Live HD media player is pretty easy to use, as virtually anyone is able to play media stored on USB and network drives, through any PC on the home network, alongside content from popular websites, all in the comfort of your living room and on the biggest screen in your home. Makes perfect sense to upgrade that TV now, eh?

With the help of Windows 7 Play To feature, users are able to initiate and control the streaming of video, music or photos to the WD TV Live HD media player and home entertainment systems using just about any Windows 7-based PC on their network. As long as your media file is compatible as well as accessible from the PC, you can play it straight to the WD TV Live just by right clicking on the file name in the folder or directly from within Windows Media Player 12 while selecting WD TV Live HD media player as the playback device of choice. Of course, current WD TV Live owners will need to make sure their device is updated to the latest firmware before they are able to take advantage of the Windows 7 Play To feature.

Among the features that are available in the Windows 7-compatible WD TV Live HD media player include :-

• Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation with the included remote control and crisp, animated navigation menus
• Play a wide variety of file formats including support for the most popular file formats with no need to spend time transcoding
• Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV and discover new music with Pandora Internet radio or listen to thousands of radio stations via Live365 Internet radio
• Ethernet port for wired or WiFi connection to access files anywhere on the network to play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on a home network
• Turns a USB drive into an HD media player and plays content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices
• Unlimited media collection, just add more USB drives for more space
• Two USB ports for seamless media playback from multiple USB drives and ability to access them simultaneously while a media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type
• Transfer files by copying, moving or deleting files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, a camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus
• Picture Transfer Protocol support to show photos and movies directly from digital camera or video camera and/or any digital imaging device that supports Picture
• Transfer Protocol
• Advanced navigation options including thumbnail and list views, media library and search
• Photo viewing to create custom slide shows, zoom and pan and search
• Movie viewing with fast-forward, rewind, pause, zoom and pan, view subtitles, and search
• Music playback with fast-forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat and search
• File copying between USB devices
• HDMI 1.3 port, composite video and component video output for the highest quality HDTV or home theater
• SPDIF digital output that sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience
• Ultra-compact design to fit easily into a home entertainment center

Apple freaks know pretty well that Jobs doesn’t indulge in concept. Which is why any nugget that comes our way, we lap it up like starving puppies. Who wouldn’t love having this stackable Radio and Speaker System for Macmini on their table? Specs like Internet radio with access to about 10,000 stations worldwide, 2 front and 3 rear extra USBs and multi card reader, makes it a delectable item. Superb sound quality and sexy design are a given!

Bang & Olufsen will launch its latest addition to the BeoVision8 series of LCD TVs. This 40-inch LCD features a 100hz refresh rate, 1920×1080 resolution, 6ms response time, 3000:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m2 brightness and an anti-glare screen. The LCD also boasts a downward facing subwoofer and front facing speakers. No word on pricing or availability so far. More pictures after the jump.

From the size of it I know most people will go, “Tch, tch that’s a really small dishwasher!” But sweets this one’s for the double-income-no-children types and singles. That’s how specific designing is getting these days, and me being from the old school of thought of big happy families is finding it hard to digest! The sleek looking Gota is small enough to fit on the kitchen platform and has an eco-sense as well. Its one of those niche things that couples will like to show off about.

In its pre-wash cycle the dishwasher steams up the dishes and recycles the cooled down residual H2O for the later-on cycles. That’s a neat way of conserving water for a pint-sized washer! The body of the Gota is crafted from ABS polycarbonate and the internal tank stores sufficient enough water for a round of cleaning.
So what do you say…will you go for something small and compact as this or do you belong to my school of thought?

Sharp has recently unveiled a new Blu-ray DVR range, with a high-end BD-HDW40 comes with a 1TB hard drive and Blu-ray recorder capability. The new Sharp Blu-ray DVR range includes four models, three of which, the HDW40, HDW35 and HDW32 feature two digital TV tuners, 1080p output, Blu-ray playback and recording with BD-Live, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio and compression to fit up to 30 hours of HD telly per Blu-ray disc. The low end Sharp BD-HDS32 has only a built-in 320GB hard drive. The entire range will be released in Japan this coming March 27th.

Sony today released a new home theater system HT-CT500 which consists of a sound bar and a subwoofer. Sony’s HT-CT500 provides 3.1 channels, 400 watts (RMS) of power, three HD 1080p HDMI inputs, two component inputs, and other audio inputs. This home theater system also features Digital Media Port (DMP) connections to link effectively with external audio sources to the system. Other features include an icon-based menu and Faroudja’ DCDi Cinema chip that upscales all video near high definition quality and up-convert analog audio / video signals to HDMI. If you are interested, you can buy the Sony HT-CT500 Sound Bar home theater system in June for around $500.

Featuring high gloss black piano finish with brushed chrome legs, the Onei Solutions 6.1 Home Theatre System/Stand is a perfect combination between style and luxury. This fully integrated home cinema sound system is equipped with pop off front speakers, built-in VFD display screen, built-in amplifier, full functional remote control and several HDMI and Optical Digital Audio connections.

Korean giant Samsung today introduced the latest 450 Series PAVV Fabrizio PDP Series of Plasma TV that is available in both 42 inch and 50 inch models. These PDP TVs feature 600Hz Technology and Samsung’s Crystal Engine. Stay tuned for more updates.

Here are two new members of Samsung’s PAVV Bordeaux LCD. Available in both 40 inch and 46 inch, these Fabrizio 650 LCDs are built on Eco friendly plastics and feature a 120Mhz Full HD panel. These TVs are DLNA and support direct play of many kinds of movies, photo or audio files via its USB port. Other features include four HDMI 1.3 ports.

Sharp introduces new Blu-ray player from its Aquos series. The Sharp BD-HP21 is priced at a hefty 40000 Yen. There is nothing special with this player. It supports 1080/60p and 24p videos, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby NR True HD, and BD-LIVE.

Paella, Biryani, Mexican Rice or Chahan; it doesn’t matter what you’re cooking, but if it’s for your in-laws you better get it right. For this, an investment in a good rice cooker is a must. However till you actually go out there and get yourself one, lets look at what Sang-Jang Lee is proposing. It’s a rice cooker that sports a touch interface lid and the promise of the perfect grain.

The Rice Cooker features a concave pedal on top of pot, which is quite the hub of activity. This is where the touch panel is housed and a visual display comes to life when you…you guessed it…touch it! Navigating the menu on the panel is pretty straightforward. Press the top area to access the main menu and tilt it left or right to browse. A tap on the bottom of the panel keys in the choice or takes you forth to the next menu page. The lights on the panel fade away once the choice is made.

When the rice is done, the concave pedal tilts forward to release the steam. Now that you got the basics right, toss it with any recipe downloaded from the Internet (or even a family legacy will do) and make the perfect rice dish.

For a whopping $15,436 you could own one of this luxurious multimedia sofa ‘Athena’ which features an integrated computer. The sofa provides you with a home computer that enables you to connect it with the multi-room systems to take care of media applications from email to watching TV right from the comfort of a chair. Pretty impressive, but I guess you need to be damn rich to own one.

Now you’ll be able to manage your kids’ screen time easily and effectively with the help of this easy-to-use device ‘Screen Time Manager’. Once your child’s designated viewing time is over this smart device will automatically turn off the TV, gaming system or computer. The device features several options from a daily to weekly as well as “no-use” time blocks in which the device can’t be turned on at all. In order to access this electronic device each child must have his or her own unique PIN, the device itself allows up to six individual user accounts.

Have you ever run from a fire extinguisher? I haven’t. They don’t scare me. But they scare you.They seem so important, so untouchable. Why is that? Get above the fright! Make it cool to extinguish fires. That’s what designer Sigrun Vik is all about. Keep deadly fire unfashionable with Vik’s “ACT” fire extinguisher.

White and red, wirelessly connected to your smoke detectors, and flashing lights. “A perfect balance between intuitive functions and a discreet appearance,” says Vik. I say again: make fire safety fashionable! Let’s get some basketball players in here to promote fire extinguishers.

Marantz boasts its latest Blu-ray player known as the BD8002. However, you should spend at least £1,799 to bring home this Blu-ray player. The BD8002 features full HD resolution at 1080p, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, DVD upscaling, HDMI 1.3a, 12-bit/297MHz video chipset, 10-bit Silicon Optix Realta processor, and SD memory card slot. Sadly, it only supports Profile 1.1.

Denon has announced to delay the production of its DVD-A1UD Blu-ray player for two months. This Blu-ray player is claimed to be the first universal disc player that can handle Blu-ray, DVD video and audio, SACDs and regular CDs. Its SDHC memory card slot allows you to play back pure DivX 6, JPEG, MP3 and WMA files directly. The Denon DVD-A1UD will be priced at $5,974 each when it launches in Japan.

AMEX DIGITAL is back with another awesome photo frame, this time with a multi-function radio and color weather station.  Available in sleek black, the 7-inch TFT LCD will make sure you’re on par with the current weather.  It also takes most flash cards so you won’t ever run out of space, and USB for even more flexibility.  Complete features after the jump.

Detailed Product Description
1. Color Weather Station with Radio Controlled Clock
2. 7 inches TFT color LCD
3. Default icon weather forecast (sunny, cloudy, slightly cloudy, rainy, stormy, snowy)
4. Barometric pressure trend indicator
5. RF 433MHz Wireless Thermometer / Hygrometer links up to 5 Remote Sensors with auto scroll
6. In / Out temperature and humidity historical date chart
7. Radio Controlled clock with quartz backup (12 / 24 HR selectable)
8. Input home location to know the sunrise / sunset, moonrise / moonset time and sun moon location display
9. Resolution 800 x 480
10. Card Reader Type MS/MMC/SD/XD/CF
11. File Formats Supported JPG/AVI/Mpeg1,2,4/MP3
12. USB Host
13. USB Device
14. Slide Show
15. Speakers
16. Music & Video Playback
17. Adjustable Brightness
18. Remote Control
19. Power Adapter