VIA announced the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design – an ultra-compact mainboard . Designed for 10-12″-screen mini-notebook devices, the powerful, feature-rich yet highly power-efficient VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design comes with a VIA C7-M ULV processor supporting an 800MHz FSB, combined with the VIA VX855 media system processor with its support for a wide range of digital media technologies and I/O appropriate for the mini-notebook market.

The latest high definition audio is supported through VIA Vinyl 8-channel HD audio, and a rich range of connection options includes support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G for flexibility.

The VIA Surfboard C855 meets the demand of high bit-rate 1080p HD video, which along with support for internal display resolutions of up to 1366 x 768 pixels and external display resolutions up to 1920 x 1440 pixels, the latest high definition VIA Vinyl Audio. The advanced graphics experience of the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design enables high bit-rate HD video playback while utilizing less than 40% of CPU resources.

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Sony is expected to reveal a new, high-feature digital camera at next week’s PMA 2009 show, the CyberShot DSC-HX1, says a Thursday report.

While Sony is keeping mum, the Internet is rife with rumors of the flagship shooter, which is expected to be capable of recording video in 1080p high-definition just like Nikon’s and Canon’s latest digital SLRs along with higher-quality sound. There is also said to be a 9-megapixel CMOS sensor, a 20X zoom and a 10fps burst mode with a buffer of 100, although it’s not known whether this is at full resolution.

The HX1 is also touted to have either a 2.7-inch LCD or even a 3-inch display borrowed from the company’s DSC-H50. Optical image stabilization is also expected to be part of the specs. Some sources also claim the HX1 will have a new panoramic shooting mode.

Sony’s recently introduced H20 (pictured) is already capable of shooting 720p HD video, providing incidental evidence to the rumor.

Pricing is expected to be the equivalent of $571 in European markets, although US pricing is expected to be somewhat lower, at somewhere between $400 and $500. No release dates are known, though this and other information is expected to be available at the PMA expo next week.

Twintech announced their TwinBox HL-N Series ION™ Mini PC today, which is powered by Intel Atom Processor D525 CPU with Next Generation NVIDIA ION graphics technology.

TwinBox HL-N Series ION Mini PC enables you to immerse in a qualified game and 1080P HD movie content. Linking to the TV to play 1080P HD movie is one of the important uses of a full function PC.

TwinBox HL-N Series ION™ Mini PC provides 6 x USB2.0 interfaces,1 x E-SATA interfaces,1x 6in1 interface for card reader (SD/SDHC/MS/MSPRO/XD/MMC) and 1x HDMI, 1x VGA, 1 x SPDIF-out interface. It is with on-board 802.11 Wi-Fi, Gigabit 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN Cards and supports Bluetooth® function as well. Included 2GB of DDR2 memory and optional 250GB/320GB/ 500GB HDD at suggested MSRP US$339 ~US$365.

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VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA-M850 Mini-ITX board, the first board to feature the latest VIA VX900 media system processor, creating the ideal solution for today’s HD-intensive, commercial multimedia-centric devices.

The VIA EPIA-M850 is targeted at OEM and ODM manufacturers of commercial multimedia embedded devices. Featuring a 64-bit, high performance VIA Nano E-Series processor and the VIA VX900 unified all-in-one media system processor, the VIA EPIA-M850 delivers a highly optimized platform that boasts comprehensive HD video performance, HD audio and HDMI support in a compact, power-efficient package.

VIA EPIA-M850: Mini-ITX with Multimedia Muscle
Measuring 17cm x 17 cm the VIA EPIA-M850 Mini-ITX board features the VIA Nano E-Series processor, available in both 1.6GHz and fanless 1.2GHz SKUs. The VIA Nano E-series is paired for the first time with the VIA VX900 MSP, supporting up to 8GB of DDR3 system memory and featuring the VIA ChromotionHD 2.0 video processor.

The VIA ChromotionHD 2.0 video engine boasts comprehensive hardware acceleration for the latest VC1, H.264, MPEG-2 and WMV9 HD formats at screen resolutions of up to 1080p without affecting CPU load. Display connectivity support includes onboard HDMI and VGA ports with pin headers for dual channel 24-bit LVDS.

The VIA VX900 boasts the VIA Chrome9™ HCM 3D integrated graphics core with full DirectX 9.0 support and a 128-bit 2D engine with hardware rotation capability. The VIA VX900 also features the VIA Vinyl HD audio codec. Storage includes ports for two SATA drives.

Rear panel I/O includes a Gigabit LAN ports, PS/2 support, HDMI port, VGA port, four USB 2.0 ports, a serial port connector and three audio jacks. An on board a PCIe x4 slot is accompanied with pin headers providing dual channel 24-bit LVDS support (including backlight control), an additional three COM ports, a further four USB 2.0 ports and one USB device port, LPC support, Digital I/O, SPDIF out and an SMBus header.

VIA EPIA-M850 Product Highlights:

* High-performance 64-bit VIA Nano-E Series processor
* Hardware acceleration for VC1, H,264 and WMV9 HD video
* On board HDMI and VGA ports, plus dual channel 24-bit LVDS
* Support for up to 8GB of DDR3

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Netgear have outed two new wireless home networking products at CeBIT 2010 today, the High-Performance Wireless-N HD Home Theater Adapter (WNHDB3004) shown here, and the Ethernet to Wireless Adapter (WNCE2001) for easily bridging wired devices to a wireless network. The Home Theater Adapter is apparently capable of supporting multiple simultaneous Full HD 1080p streams, and comes with pre-configured security settings so that, after a single button push, the two towers are linked.

As for the frequencies it uses, there’s a WiFi a/n chipset on the 5GHz band, paired with a 4×4 MIMO antenna. Netgear reckon it’s stable enough to guarantee 40Mbps HD streams 99.9-percent of the time, and it’ll work with your Xbox 360, PS3, Apple TV, Wii, Blu-ray deck or PC, among other devices. The Netgear High-Performance Wireless-N HD Home Theater Kit (WNHDB3004) will go on sale in Q3 2010; pricing to be announced closer to the time, but both the pair of towers and individual units will be available.

The Netgear Ethernet to Wireless Adapter (WNCE2001), meanwhile, connects via ethernet but gets its power via a USB port; that means you can – assuming the device you’re plugging into has a power USB free – avoid having to find an AC outlet for a separate PSU brick. It also uses WiFi-N technology, and will go on sale in May 2010 priced at $79.

Hmm, looks pretty good really. Anyway, Foxconn is launching an AMD 785 chipset based motherboard labeled Cinema HD. Marketed as a lifestyle motherboard armed with the new 785 AMD chipset update allowing for pretty good high-definition acceleration and enhancing.

Two models will be released, the Cinema Deluxe and Cinema Premium, the last one comes with a huge MOSFET cooler.

Both motherboards use the AMD 785G+SB710 chipset and come with Socket AM2.They feature 128MB DDR3 1333 memory and offers VGA+DVI+HDMI outputs, 8 channel audio and Gigabyte Ethernet,PCI Express x16×1 and PCI Express x1. Akiba took some photo’s of the boards, check them out as they do look great.

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Electronics maker BenQ has recently introduced two new LED-backlit monitors, the 24-inch V2400 Eco and 21.5-inch V2200 Eco.

The V2200 Eco is said to be the world’s first widescreen LED monitor of its size. Either has a 1080p resolution, and BenQ claims zero light leakage for both, helping them to achieve a very high 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The Eco in the name comes from an eco mode that reduces power consumption by 30 percent by managing brightness, power and contrast settings as well as totally mercury-free LED-lit panels.

BenQ also stresses that their thinner and lighter design saves on packaging, which itself has been revised to include recycled paper rather than Styrofoam. Soy ink is used on the carton, with a set-up guide printed right on the shipping carton rather than a separate page. The user’s manual, meantime, can only be found online.

The two new displays will begin shipping in China in mid-August, though pricing has not been revealed. If or when they will arrive in North American stores is not known.

HP revealed a brand new display yesterday called the 2709m, which is actually the largest LCD for the mainstream computer market. Measuring in at 27-inches, it supports 1080p and could serve as a TV as well.

This display has an HDMI input as well as VGA and DVI inputs, making it possible to hook up your DVD player or other home entertainment gear. With a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and an anti-glare coating, a bright, colorful picture is to be expected.

Other features include tilting ability and a built-in 4-watt speaker system. You can get the HP 2709m LCD display starting today for about $500 directly from the company’s site.

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Samsung have unveiled their latest HDTV range, the 8500-series, complete with local dimming for the LED backlighting and Yahoo!’s widget engine. Available in 46- and 55-inch sizes, the 8500-series supports 1080p High Definition playback, with a 7,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response time and 1.6-inch thick chassis.

There’s also various in-house tweaking systems, designed to fight ambient lighting, together with Energy Star v3.0 compliance thanks to an energy-savings mode that dims the backlight without, so Samsung claim, changing the picture quality. You’ll also find the usual 240Hz refresh rate, frame interpolation and more.

As for the Yahoo! engine, that uses a wired ethernet connection to bring widgets for photos, music, video and internet connect direct to the screen. There are also two USB 2.0 ports, for loading up local content. Both the models will be available in September this year, priced at $3,599.99 for the 46-incher and $4,499.99 for the 55-incher.

HD video recording turns out to be a hot item for DSLR camera’s these days. Canon has introduced the EOS 500D (Rebel T1i in the US), this dSLR has a 15.1 megapixel CMOS sensor and offers 1080p Full HD video recording, however it’s only at 20fps so I don’t think it will be very usable. The 720p HD recording at 30fps should be more practical, and is more than enough to shoot videos for the web.

Other features include the Digic 4 image processor, 3″ LCD display with VGA resolution, face detection mode, ISO3200 and additional high-speed ISO 6400 and 12800 settings.

The Canon EOS 500D body will be available in early May for 869EUR ($799.99). It will also be available in a kit with the Canon’s EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens for 969EUR ($899.99)
The muscle behind Canon’s new EOS Rebel T1i camera is the DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor with 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion and the ability to process full HD video. The Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR offers continuous shooting at 3.4 fps for up to 170 large/fine JPEG images or up to nine RAW images in a single burst when using a class 6 or higher SD or SDHC memory card. Whether capturing wildlife on the run or a child mid-stride on the soccer field, users will appreciate the fast shooting capabilities of the Rebel T1i Digital SLR camera.

With the combination of its 15.1-megapixel APS-C size CMOS image sensor and the powerful new DIGIC 4 image processor, the Canon EOS Rebel T1i camera provides ISO speeds from ISO 100 up to ISO 3200 in whole stop increments, along with two additional high-speed ISO settings – H1: 6400 and H2: 12800.

The EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR utilizes a precise nine-point Autofocus (AF) system and AF sensor for enhanced subject detection. The new EOS Rebel T1i DSLR provides a cross-type AF measurement at the center that is effective with all EF and EF-S lenses, while providing enhanced precision with lenses having maximum apertures of f/2.8 or faster. The cross-type AF measurement reads a wider variety of subject matter than conventional single-axis AF sensors and thus increases the new camera’s ability to autofocus quickly and accurately when shooting still images.

The EOS Rebel T1i camera is compatible with Canon’s complete line of over 60 Canon EF and EF-S lenses, to help provide an incredible variety of visual effects to both still and video imaging capture, including ultra-wide-angle and fish-eye to macro and super-telephoto. This includes all of Canon’s large-aperture EF L-series professional lenses.

HD and SD Video Capture
After the introduction of the EOS 5D Mark II in September 2008, the Company’s first HD video DSLR, Canon has integrated this must-have feature into the new entry-level flagship EOS Rebel T1i camera. The camera features 16:9 720p HD video capture at 30 fps as well as a Full HD 1080p video capture at 20 fps, and a third option to record 4:3 standard TV quality (SD) video capture at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 fps. The video capture mode is part of the camera’s Live View function, using the Picture Style that has been set for Live View still image shooting. The camera allows skilled photographers and enthusiasts to adjust image sharpness, contrast, color saturation and white balance, and have those settings apply to the movie image as well. When recording video, the camera’s rear LCD screen is letter-boxed by a semi-transparent border to match the aspect ratio of the movie recording size.

Like the EOS 5D Mark II model, the EOS Rebel T1i camera will record video up to 4GB per clip equaling approximately 12 minutes of Full HD video, 18 minutes of 720p HD video, or 24 minutes of SD video depending on the level of detail in the scene.i Video clips are recorded in .MOV format using an MPEG-4 video compression and sound is recorded using linear PCMii without compression. The camera features a built-in monaural microphone to record sound. To help show off those fantastic movies as well as still photos, the EOS Rebel T1i camera includes an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output to display crisp, clear images on a High-Definition TV.