The XDE technology, or "eXtended Detail Enhancement," takes DVD pictures from 480i up to 1080p. But Toshiba says it’s more than just “upconversion.” XDE also offers user selectable picture enhancement modes for greater sharpness, color and contrast.

But, in our opinion, once SD, it’s always SD. In scaling, you get what you pay for… so there is a limited market segment and that won’t be among the most discerning buyers.

Go Toshiba XDE

Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox place-shifting TV device, is building a version of its SlingPlayer software for the iPhone and iPod touch.

SlingPlayer, currently available for Macs, PCs, and numerous cellular phone platforms including Palm, Windows Mobile, and Symbian, connects those devices with Sling's Slingbox hardware so that the devices can display live or prerecorded TV across the Internet.

You won’t find any info on the web site, but SlingMedia showed prototypes to press at Macworld in USA. But you can see a cool video on how SlingPlayer works on Blackberry and other cell phones.

Go SlingPlayer

For the first time, the CEDIA Awards for Region 1 were held separately to CEDIA Expo to a dedicated focus and a higher profile. Suzi Perry, personality from Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, presented the Awards at a glittering ceremony at Vinopolis, London.

In total 250 people attended the black tie event, which had a Moroccan theme. More members than ever before entered this year’s Awards, with installers from across the region participating, including those from Portugal, Spain and France.

In order to maintain the integrity of the Awards, this year’s judging was conducted on an anonymous basis and, for the first time since they began, the judges decided to award highly commended accolades to some of the entrants, in recognition of the quality of their submissions.

Amongst the winners were some great examples of impressive installs including French company, Dark Side of the Room, who won with their ‘Home Cinema Lyon’ project in the Best home cinema installation from £20K-£100K. This was a cinema which the judges believed would offer an unrivalled viewing experience.

Best integrated home under £100K was also a very popular category, which was reflected in the higher than average number of finalists, making it especially hard to judge. But, worthy winners were Smartcomm for the aesthetically-stunning ‘Darlands’ install.

Whilst it was a house that’s quite literally to die for (it’s located in a cemetery) that won over the judges in the Best integrated home over £250,000 category, with the award going to SMC for their incredible ‘Cemetery House’ install.

The Best dressed installation category took a look behind the scenes to find the install that had been done the most carefully; particular attention was paid to the racking and cabling, but the judges were also looking for neatly installed projectors, screens and other equipment. For this reason, T&T Communications took the prize for the ‘Danish House’ and a rack that even the homeowner described as a ‘work of art’.

The full list of winners, highly commended entries and finalists is:

Best home cinema installation project under £20K (35,000 Euros)
Winner: Finite Solutions, Total Automation Cinema
Finalists: Beyond the Invisible, Lavender Gardens, D&T Electronics, Cambridge Park Doneo, Magnum Home Cinema ISIS Integrated Systems, Lancaster Gate

Best home cinema installation from £20K-£100K (35,000-150,000 Euros)
Winner: Dark Side of the Room, Home Cinema Lyon
Highly commended: Laservision, Karaoke Home Cinema
Finalists: Finite Solutions, Rise & Fall Cinema, Grahams HiFi, The Diamond Cinema, T&T Communications, Lake View

Best integrated home under £100K (150,000 Euros)
Winner: Smartcomm, Darlands
Highly commended: James & Giles, Clerkenwell
Finalists: Audire, Champs Elysees Definitions, Northern Lights D&T Electronics, London Apartment P
DSE Group, Low Fell Install SMC, Wimbledon Family Home


Best integrated home from £100,000 - £250,000 (150,000 – 370,000 Euros)
Winner: Henri Integrateur Domotique, Maison Bovard
Highly commended: Finite Solutions, The Old Water Treatment Works
Finalists: D&T Electronics, Chandos Street, Grahams HiFi, The New House, ISIS Integrated Systems, Cadogan Square


Best integrated home over £250,000 (370,000 Euros)
Winner: SMC, Cemetery House
Highly commended; Global Technologies, Villa Quinta Verde
Finalists: Lairdking, Aston Martin, Martin Kleiser, Wiltshire Hall SMC, Hill House


Best dressed installation
Winner: T&T Communications, Danish House
Finalists: D&T Electronics, London Apartment P, D&T Electronics, Cambridge Park, SMC, Hill House

Best marine installation
Winner: Dawsons AV Marine, Sunseeker 37m Tri-Deck
Finalist: Audio Vision, The Maltese Falcon


Best multi dwelling
Winner: Touch of a Button, White Fir
Finalists: D&T Electronics, Spinningfields, Hometech Integration, Tanalach


Best special project
Winner: Digital Homedia, New Riverhead
Finalist: Interconnection, The Old Rectory Study Lift

Alongside these project winners, a CEDIA award was also presented to the Best Trade Supplier – a category decided via an online vote of Electronic Systems Professional (ESP) members hosted on the CEDIA website. Voters were asked to select the company who has provided the best quality products, services and support throughout the year. This year, the accolade went to speaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins.

Chaired by CEDIA Chairman, Simon Williams, the judging panel comprised of interior designer Dean Keyworth from Armstrong Keyworth; Kate Burnett, Editor of leading interior design magazine idFX; Jan Carlos Kucharek from the RIBA Journal, Dave Mitchell, Technical Director of the HBF (Home Builders Federation), and a trio of respected technology journalists - Chris Price, Dave Murphy and Dan Goldstein. In addition, they were joined remotely by Utz Baldwin, the current CEDIA US President, from AD Systems in the USA.

Go Awards

One uses light to generate electricity, while the other uses electricity to generate light. Yet solar cells and organic electroluminescent displays share similarities in the molecules they harness for work.

Companies such as Mitsubishi and Sumitomo develop ways to process these molecules in liquid forms, hoping to launch “spreadable electronics” that could produce cell phones that self-charge when placed in light, walls that illuminate, or TVs that can be rolled down like a screen for viewing.

Mitsubishi is leading development of a solar cell based on organic thin film. Spread on the back of a cell phone and heated, the molecular mix evaporates to leave a layer only 100 nanometers thick but with enough electrons to recharge the phone battery n sunlight (or even light from a lamp).

Sumitomo is also developing a spreadable solar cell.  Spread on textiles, this material can turn a coat into a wearable solar battery charger for a phone in the pocket or a radio. Spread on fabric for outdoor tents, it can provide electricity to power heaters.

A practical method of “spreading” OLE materials would radically advance the mass-production of larger panels and open up new possibilities, new categories.

Go Revolutionizing Lighting Technology