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vnunet: Toshiba is working on an extension to the DVD format which will offer video quality comparable to that produced by Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, according to Japanese media reports.

The company plans to begin selling a DVD player based on the new technology within six months, Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday citing unnamed sources at Toshiba.

The new enhanced DVD players will be sold at lower prices than Blu-ray players, according to the sources.

Toshiba ceded to the rival Blu-ray format in February 2008 after spending years developing its own HD-DVD next-generation video disc standard.

HD-DVD was backed by a consortium of companies including Microsoft and Intel, while Sony is the lead developer of Blu-ray.

The new DVD player will be backwards-compatible with standard DVD discs, according to the sources.

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Crave: The HD Guru has had a long career in the consumer electronics business, including 30 years as VP for a chain of consumer electronics stores. The good news for you is that he’s willing to share some of the knowledge he’s picked up over the years, and his latest blog includes some sage advice on scoring the lowest price when buying a new HDTV.

The HD Guru recommends basically a four-step method:
1) Research TVs online.
2) Go to a major retailer like Best Buy or Circuit City and look at your choices in person.
3) Go back online and find the absolute lowest price on your favorite HDTV.
4) Find a commission-based electronics store, and ask them to beat that price.

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Brandweek: The collateral damage from Apple’s iPod and iPhone has extended into the car audio aftermarket category. Sales for in-dash units are down 21% for the first four months of the year, per the NPD Group, Port Washington, New York.

To try and tempt consumers to upgrade their car audio units, both Pioneer and JVC Mobile are launching new campaigns.

Pioneer will stray from car audio’s traditional 16-24 male target and attempt to lure older men and women into the fold with four print ads breaking in June.

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NaviGadget: Garmin yesterday announced Mercedes-Benz Accessories will continue its relationship with Garmin by selecting the nüvi 760 as their latest portable after market navigation solution. The nüvi 760 named the ‘StreetPilot III’ by Mercedes-Benz, is customized with a specially designed mount for the new generation A-Class, B-Class and C-Class cars will be available at dealers across Europe May 2008 for about 550 Euros.

The Mercedes-Benz StreetPilot III (nüvi 760) has been designed with a special dashboard mount integrated into the vehicles electronics allowing for easy access to the touch screen controls and a clear view of the maps and navigational instructions. The design of the in-car mount wires it directly into the car’s electronics meaning there are no visible power cables.

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The Register: Apple is rumoured to be on the cusp of launching a movie downloads service through iTunes right here in the UK.

According to a report by The Times newspaper, “studio sources” have said that Apple will start selling films from four major Hollywood studios: Disney, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox and Time Warner. Some smaller studios, including Lions Gate and MGM, are also thought to be behind Apple.

A specific online launch date isn’t yet known, but the sources apparently revealed that Apple’s not looking to undercut current physical DVD prices. It’s also rumoured that films will be available for both permanent download or rental.

Apple’s been testing the water for online movie downloads since 2006, when it posted a Disney TV movie, High School Musical, on the iTunes Music Store. The 487.1MB film was available to download for £5/€7.

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CNN: JBL Audio has been churning out iPod speakers since the first ones hit the market years ago, and this experience shows.

he company’s latest offering, the JBL On Stage 200iD iPod speaker, features solid sound quality and a funky, futuristic design with a relatively small footprint.

JBL succeeds in improving the On Stage line without making drastic changes, which no doubt helps to keep the price at a reasonable €96.

The style may not appeal to everyone and there’s no FM radio or portable option, but iPod owners after a basic speaker that satisfies the ears should give it a look.

The JBL On Stage 200iD doesn’t strike us as quite as stagelike as its predecessors.

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CNN: Last year airlines around the world spent about €0,9 billion on in-flight entertainment hardware and more than €257 million on content, according to research firm IMDC.

It’s ironic, then, to see their offerings often being ignored by passengers with iPods or other personal entertainment devices. Such passengers carry their own videos, music and games.

But as long as there’s a larger screen on the seat-back right in front of them, why not let them use it?

Many stiff-necked iPod users have pondered that question, especially on long flights. “Prison Break” episodes downloaded from iTunes would be so much more enjoyable without having to squint down at them on a tiny screen.

Increasingly, airlines are getting the picture.

Since mid-May passengers flying on Singapore Airlines between Newark and Singapore have been able to link their iPods to the in-flight entertainment systems. Other airlines around the world are lining up similar offerings.

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infoSync: We’ve got new details on the Samsung Instinct, available next month on Sprint. Will it be the hottest phone of the summer?

When we first saw the Samsung Instinct at CTIA 2008 in April, we were surprised. First, we were surprised that Sprint had gone official with their mostly-touch Samsung phone before Verizon Wireless, whose Samsung Glyde had long been rumored for release. Second, we were surprised by how much work had gone into the Samsung Instinct. Most of this effort seemed to focus on emulating the user experience from Apple’s iPhone, but the Instinct packs some innovations of its own. In an exclusive Web seminar today, Sprint laid out more details and gave us a better idea of what to expect with this phone.

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vnunet: Woolworths has launched a digital download site for music, video, games and mobile, while announcing that it will no longer sell CD singles in its stores from August.

The high street retailer said that 55 million CD singles were bought in the UK in 2000 but that this had slumped to just eight million in 2007 and that the trend has moved to online sales.

Woolworths will axe sales of CD singles in its stores with the exception of one-off events like the X-Factor winner which still sell hundreds of thousands of copies.

“Digital downloading is now the true customer choice for listening and purchasing single music tracks,” said Jim Batchelor, commercial director at Woolworths.

“CDs are alive and well for album sales, but the physical singles market is in terminal decline. Our customers are now embracing the world of download which is why we feel the time is right to launch our new digital site.”

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Digital Home: Everyday thousands of people visit the Digital Forum looking for information about High definition television (HDTV) and everyday we try to help our readers out by answering frequently asked questions.

In this HDTV FAQ article we examine a common question about high definition television – What is HDMI? In addition, we discuss how much to spend on an HDMI cable and the HDMI v1.3 standard.

The High-Definition Multi-media Interface (HDMI) is an industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface with 5 Gbps of available bandwidth. Simply speaking, HDMI is a digital cable connection used to transmit video and audio signals from your cable set top box, DVD player or satellite receiver to your high definition television.

HDMI has the capacity to support existing enhanced and high-definition video formats including 480p, 720p, 1080i, and even 1080p as well as standard definition formats such as NTSC or PAL.

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Forbes: Cellphone sales in Western Europe fell sharply in January-March as the economic slowdown hurt demand, but robust growth in emerging markets such as Asia and Africa more than offset the fall, Gartner said on Wednesday.

The 16.4 percent fall in Western European sales — the first decline since the research firm started tracking the market in 2001 — hit Sony Ericsson hardest as its range has the highest proportion of pricier handsets in Europe.

The cellphone industry has been speculating about the scale of declines in European sales since Sony Ericsson shocked the market with March’s profit warning due to soft European demand. European market leader Nokia said its sales volume in Europe rose 7.5 percent in January-March, but cited possible economic slowdown in Europe as one of the reasons for cutting its market growth forecast.

Nokia is less exposed to European demand as it has a far stronger position in emerging markets.

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CNNMoney: Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said Wednesday that the Blu-Ray video format his company champions will “more than hold up” against the growing consumer yen for Internet-based or downloadable videos.

Stringer’s comments at The All Things D conference help frame the battle Sony faces as more consumers download videos from the Internet.

Blu-Ray players, which Sony champions, recently emerged victorious in a format war with a high definition version of DVDs known as HD-DVD, which was backed primarily by Toshiba Corp.

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