Roku player now downloads Amazon VOD

Here is the good news. The $99 Roku player will download Amazon purchased or rented movies the day of DVD releases. No more running to the video rental store only to find your movie is “rented out.” The bad news is, no HD mentioned in the announcement. Full Story

CEA lists finalists for excellence awards

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has announced its list of finalists for the 2009 Mark of Excellence Awards. The list includes electronics suppliers, system integrators and training programs. The winners will be announced during the tenth annual Electronic House Expo (EHX) on Friday, March 13, 2009. Among the categories listed include “Best Video Component” and “Best Video Display.” Full Story

Last HD DVD firmware update for Xbox 360

The final update for the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on player is now available. Users will be asked to automatically download the update the next time they are watching an HD DVD movie and logged into Xbox Live. Full Story

Swap your HD DVD player for a Blu-ray player

Reuters has just confirmed that Circuit City will take back your HD DVD player if it was purchased within 90 days in exchange for a Blu-ray Player. Just remember that most Blu-ray players will be more expensive than the HD DVD player you bought, so plan on spending more than you originally anticipated for a hi def player. Full Story

Microsoft drops price of xBox 360 HD DVD add-on

Today Microsoft announced it will drop the price of the xBox 360 HD DVD add-on player again. The price will drop to $129.99 (about £65). The best thing about this deal is you also get 5 free HD-DVD’s with the purchase. The xBox 360 HD DVD player was originally priced upon it’s release at $199. If HD DVD really wants to make a go of it, they should have dropped it down to $49 and be done with it. HD DVD needs all the help it can get to catch up to Blu-ray sales.

Verizon Runs Out of HD Boxes

Verizon Communications, which recently signed up its 1 millionth FiOS TV subscriber, has been forced to tell some new customers to sit tight for a few weeks before they can get high-definition service because it has no more HD set-tops or digital video recorders in stock.

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