The rumors are true. Toshiba switching to solid state for movie delivery.

Originally Posted by PFC5

That was great!

You missed the line about government regulations also clearly state that you cannot be more than 3 lbs overweight because of the higher medical costs and allowing access at this time would cause this to happen.

Originally Posted by Robertoy

Last year Toshiba anounced a 3D NAND flash technology, with enhanced cell density and data capacity.
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32433/118/

Maybe Toshiba and Sandisk to put this 3D flash in the market in future... (in 3 ou 4 years...)
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquir...team-3d-memory

The partnership between Toshiba and Sandisk:
https://www.toshiba.com/taec/news/pr...orp_07_491.jsp

And Samsung considering SanDisk partnership...
http://www.techspot.com/news/31517-s...rtnership.html

And Apple forcing Samsung to chase SanDisk...
http://valleywag.com/5051366/why-app...-chase-sandisk

Roberto

Originally Posted by Super XP

IBM has been working on a Storage Technology for some time now and it may be the one that will win in the end.

How is Holographic storage sound to you guys. I think its based on Holograms or something, and from what I've read via CPU Magazine, it can theoretically store 100x what ever we have out right now with blazing fast data access speeds & writes.
http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/443/ashley.html

Originally Posted by Bravestime

That would be scary.

Originally Posted by dangerdoc

My memory of the problems with holographic storage:

It is very slow.

Short shelf life.

Always two years away from production.

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Prediction: Toshiba announces a 64GB flash card - by CES 2009.

Originally Posted by ClashFan

I wonder if some of your blu "friends" here are filing this one away for future reference?

Originally Posted by Nikopol

Do they have the software (or any other decoding ability) on board to playback video files? If so, what kind of video files?

Originally Posted by Hometheaterhifi

ISTAR Mini Network Media Tank

A Secrets Media Tank Review
Written by Sandy Bird
Monday, 22 September 2008




Introduction

Every now and then you run into a product you are so impressed with you just have to share. The ISTAR Mini Network Media Tank is one of those products. By all accounts the product is another media extender set top box that you plug into your TV that plays video, music and photos from an attached hard drive or home network.

There are lots of these products on the market. Some are cheaper and some are more expensive, but no matter how you cut it, most of them are lacking in some way.

For the technical geeks out there, the version of the ISTAR that I have uses the Sigma Design SMP8635 rev C multimedia processor, has 32MB of Flash RAM, 100Mbit Ethernet.

File Formats

This thing will play just about anything.

You can basically play any sort of SD/HD content available today with this. Samsung’s CEO even stated that Blu-ray has a life of about 5 years, only, so units like this may be the future of how you watch movies in your home.

So what’s so great?

By now you have to be asking what is so great about this little box. The simple fact is it works. And it works really, really well.

The ISTAR just works. Every file I clicked on with the exception of lossless MWA played without a problem. Even .mkv files played without falter. This is very important as it allows the user to re-encode a DVD as an .mkv file and keep the DTS and AC-3 audio track, which is next to impossible with other media containers. .mkv files are not supported by very many media extenders at this time so it is refreshing to finally see someone implement it properly.

What is not to like?

Nothing is perfect. As mentioned above, the unit isn’t as fast as I would like. The current firmware only allows me to fast-forward at 8x(this may be fixed by the time this has been published), and as I mentioned before, it isn’t pretty. The remote is not as friendly as others but a universal remote like a Harmony will take care of that. Overall a minor set of gripes.

Conclusions

At $169, the ISTAR is a steal. There is a $215 dollar version that support HDMI 1.3 (and sending TrueHD and DTS-MA over HDMI), if you need those functions. I am sure the interface will get prettier and faster as new firmware is released. For now I would say this is one of the simplest most complete media extenders on the market.

If you are thinking about trying one, just go order it. The re-sale value of these units on eBay is almost the same as the retail price, and whether you buy the ISTAR or the Popcorn Hour, I am sure you would be able to sell them if for some reason you were not happy. The Popcorn Hour unit is a little prettier so if you care about looks, that might be the way to go.

Originally Posted by TheStreet

The Tiny Memory Card Now Holds 16GB

09/29/08 - 12:44 PM EDT

SanDisk's 16GB microSDHC card


The new 16GB microSDHC card will carry a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99.99, and the Sony M2 version will sell for $129.99. They should be available in the U.S., Europe and Asia in October.

SanDisk reminds us that microSD cards can hold a maximum capacity of 2GB of information. MicroSDHC cards are available in 4GB, 8GB and now 16GB. They should all be compatible with newer mobile phones (those which have a microSDHC slot). The Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards are designed for new Sony Ericsson cellphones.

Plus, when microSD card capacity is bumped up to the next level (do I hear 32GB?), you'll be ready.