A world first, the HMZ-T1 promises to deliver a “movie theatre-like virtual screen experience” that Sony says is ideal for 3D movies and gaming.

The wearable headset has twin OLED screens, with a lightning fast response time of just 0.01 milliseconds that’s meant to eliminate crosstalk, and 5.1 virtual surround sound (users will be able to select from cinema, games, music and standard modes).

It also has an extended viewing angle of 45 degrees that simulates a 750-inch movie screen at a virtual viewing distance of 20 metres.

Sony claims its “shielding construction” will deepen this feeling of immersion.

Weighing about the same as a bicycle helmet (420 grams), the HMZ-T1 is adjustable in multiple areas and, unlike watching conventional 3D TV, the headset can be used in any position, with your eyeglasses on or off.

“Support pads and light blockers provide an individualised fit and an immersive feel,” the Sony press release says.

Most importantly, the HMZ-T1 will be compatible with a wide range of 3D products and 3D content production systems.

Next week Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will slash the price of its Blu-ray gaming console, the PlayStation 3, from $629.95 to $479.95 for the 160GB model.

The 320GB model will be reduced from $729.95 to $579.95 at the same time.

The new pricing is effective from Monday and mirrors — but doesn’t match — price cuts in Europe and the US, where the base model will cost only $US250.

Nonetheless, SCE NZ insists in its press release: “Through these price reductions, the upcoming line-up of blockbuster software titles for the PS3 system, and the industry’s strongest offering of entertainment services, SCE will continue to expand the PS3 platform and deliver a world of computer entertainment that is only possible on PlayStation.”

Within five years of its release in 2006, the PS3′s cumulative worldwide sales have reached a milestone of 50 million units.

“Equipped with future proof cutting–edge technologies, including the sophisticated processors, Cell Broadband Engine and RSX, as well as the Blu-ray disc player and HDMI terminal, PS3 has continuously enhanced its value to consumers through system software updates to support new features and services, including stereoscopic 3D content playback and support for the PlayStation Move motion controller,” SCE says.

“With the breadth and depth of services and content available for the PS3 system, including its impressive BD software line-up and the expansive portfolio of more than 60,000 games and video content available on PlayStation Network, the new price will make the platform more accessible than ever and will appeal to a wider audience looking to buy the best entertainment system for their home.”

As of June 30, the worldwide cumulative number of BD software titles for the PS3 system topped 2,495 titles and downloadable PS3 games on PlayStation Store, 3,100 titles.

Of these titles, more than 120 are stereoscopic 3D supported and 200 are PlayStation Move dedicated or supported.

Coming soon are:  FIFA 12 and Battlefield 3, from Electronic Arts; GoldenEye 007: Reloaded from Activision; Assassin’s Creed Revelations, from Ubisoft; and Resistance 3, The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception from SCE.

The PS3 system also provides free access to PlayStation Network and its growing portfolio of marquee entertainment services such as Music Unlimited, Vidzone, Mubi and TVNZ Ondemand.

The new PS3 and PSP prices will be:

• PS3 Console (160GB) $479.95 (incl. GST)
• PS3 Console (320GB) $579.95 (incl. GST)
• PSP E1000 $179.95 (incl. GST)
• PSP Essentials Software Range $19.95 (incl. GST)
• PlayStation Vita pricing to be confirmed
• PlayStation 3D Monitor $849.95 (incl. GST)
• PlayStation Move Starter Pack $112.40 (incl. GST)

International Dynamics Australasia today announced the release of two innovative motorised TV mounts from Sweden’s People of Lava.

The mMotion Swings come in two sizes: $599 for the large, which handles TVs weighing up to 45kg, and $499 for the small.

According to the IDA press release, they combine silent and smooth operation with the convenience of flexible TV viewing – up to 180-degree rotation — and easy one-stud installation.

They even include an infra-red learning receiver that can learn most remote controls.

Further additions to the mMotion TV bracket line will be made during 2011, including mMotion Top (motorised ceiling mount), mMotion Twist (motorised table and floor stands), and mMotion Lift (motorised TV lifts).

For more information, email enquiries@internationaldynamics.com.au or visit www.internationaldynamics.co.nz.

Loewe has announced a world first in video streaming: programmes that can ‘follow’ users of its TVs around the home.

Known as DR+ Streaming with ‘Follow Me’ function, it allows viewers to pause any programme, then pick up exactly where they left off on another television in another room without missing any of the action.

It’s initially available only as a software update for the Individual SL series range but Loewe will be expanding it to upcoming series.

How does it work?

An internal hard drive in the main television records the chosen programme and simultaneously streams it to the TV of choice.

This can happen in real time, as the programme is broadcast, or archived recordings can be streamed to a second Loewe TV while another household member views live programming on the main set.

The feature supports video streaming over LAN, Wireless LAN or Powerline (networking over the home’s electrical wiring).

To use it, you’ll need two or more current model SL series Loewe TVs, one with DR+ hard drive recorder (the software can be downloaded from the Loewe support website for updating via USB).

Selected Loewe TVs also can be used to surf the web, using their integrated MediaNet portal to access content in a format optimised for big-screen viewing.

Sony NZ will release its first 3D Handycam camcorder in April for $2799.

It’s part of Sony’s strategy to offer a complete 3D solution in the home to maximise the capability of Sony’s 2011 TV range.

The “Double Full HD” HDR-TD10 camcorder has an integrated dual lens system that incorporates double Sony G lenses, double “Exmor R” CMOS Sensor and double BIONZ image processors.

This means 3D content can be recorded in 1920 x 1080i Full HD resolution and viewed with 3D active glasses on any compatible 3D TV or in Full HD on any non-3D TV.

All 3D footage can also be played back without glasses on the camcorder’s 3.5-inch Xtra Fine LCD 3D touch screen.

According to Sony, the TD10 also boasts 10x Optical Zoom and Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation with Active Mode, for “powerful shake correction” at wide angles.

The 64GB of flash memory affords 25 hours of Full HD video footage (HD LP mode) or up to five hours of Full HD 3D video.

Sony NZ announced the release on Friday, along with a 3D Bloggie camera, the MHS-FS3K, which will sell for $649 from May.

It can capture Full HD 3D (1920 x 1080) MPEG4 video and has five megapixels for still photo shooting, 8GB of flash memory and simple web sharing capabilities.

The pocket-size camera has a double lens and double image sensors, a stereo microphone and a built-in LED (footage can be played back in 3D on the camera’s 2.4-inch LCD screen or using 3D active glasses on any compatible 3D TV).

Watch also for a new range of Cyber-shot cameras capable of capturing quality 3D images with a single lens; Sony’s already released Vegas Pro 10 software for editing motion 3D video.

Denon today announced an upgrade for owners of its AVRA100, AVR-3311 and AVR-4311 receivers and the soon-to-be-released D-N7 multimedia system that supports Apple’s new AirPlay streaming audio system.

This makes Denon one of the first brands with this capability, which enables wireless streaming of music from iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches.

Denon owners also can use the Apple Remote app to control their iTunes library and stream audio from their Mac or PC.

The AirPlay release from Apple requires the latest iOS 4.2 and iTunes 10.1. As well as streaming digital audio, it sends the metadata to enable display of artist and song info, and album art.

Multiple AirPlay devices can be used throughout the home for multi-room audio.

The upgrade is via direct download, using the Ethernet connection on these Denon models, for a charge of $60.

Sony’s HD PVR module for its PlayStation 3, PlayTV, goes on sale today for $200, with some retailers bundling it for free with the $730 320GB console.

While it seems to have been hobbled by critical flaws, PlayTV boasts a clean and elegant electronic programming guide and graphical user interface, as seen from these generic screenshots provided by Sony.

If Sony can get all of the FreeviewHD broadcasters to provide 13-day listings and facilitate features that are standard on other PVRs, like series linking, then PlayTV would be priced competitively enough to make inroads into a market dominated by My Sky HDi.

As a poor man’s TiVo or T-Box, with only a handful of free-to-air HD channels, it’s hard to view PlayTV as a compelling buy.

But if you are in a PS3 household without Sky or FreeviewHD, it’s a cheap and functional console add-on that, with a UHF aerial and an EPG broadband connection:

• allows you to watch, pause and record HD free-to-air TV;
• has twin HD tuners to watch one programme while recording another (you also can record while playing games or watching DVDs and Blu-ray movies but can’t record two channels at once);
• can stream content to PSP, Aino mobile phones via 3G and, if they’ve been released since May 2010, Vaio laptops with Remote Play using Wi-Fi Remote (VPCW21xxx series and VPCM125xxx series not compatible); and
• lets you transfer saved TV shows to an upgraded hard drive by performing a PS3 back up and transfer (or using the ‘easy transfer tool’).

Sony at last is coming out to play with its PlayStation 3 PVR in NZ.

PlayTV will go on sale here for $200 from November 25 – two years after its launch in Europe and a year after its Australian release.

The nondescript HD module connects via USB to the PS3 and has twin digital TV tuners for watching, pausing and recording Freeview|HD, watching one programme while recording another, and recording TV at the same time as playing a game or a Blu-ray movie.

“PlayTV delivers all the features other premium PVR devices do and more, at a fraction of the cost,” Sony Computer Entertainment NZ’s David Hine says.

It has a 13-day electronic programming guide, is Freeview-approved, and can transfer content to the PSP, Sony Vaio laptops and Sony Ericsson’s AINO mobile phone.

To mark PlayTV’s NZ launch, Sony will bundle it free with a PS3 320GB console for $730.

Anyone with a My Sky HDi or TiVo knows how quickly even a hard drive of this size fills up with HD content but with the PS3, the hard drive can be upgraded.

PlayTV is the fourth such PS3 initiative this year, following the launch of TVNZ Ondemand, Vidzone (free music video service) and MUBI (ondemand festival movie service).

Software snags stopped its release earlier, and with My Sky HDi already in a quarter of Sky subscribers’ homes, Telecom aggressively discounting its TiVo device and TelstraClear rolling out its T-Box service, you might wonder who would be left to bother with a PlayTV.

But for PS3 households it’s a versatile and affordable way of adding PVR functionality for far less than a stand-alone HD PVR.

TiVo's Robbee Minicola

TiVo is launching a home networking package that will let owners shift content between the PVR and their computers, iPads and PSPs.

It will sell for $129 through the new mytivo.co.nz online shop from this weekend.

“It’s a home networking service where one TiVo can talk to another TiVo, or you can take the content off your TiVo on to your computer, or your photos and DivX files and music up from your computer to your TiVo,” says Robbee Minicola, the chief executive of Hybrid Television Services, the TiVo licensee in NZ and Australia.

“With the home networking package you can transfer content from TiVo to your iPhone, iPad or your PSP [Mac users will need to install RoxioToast as well]. It’s a really important bit of software.”

In Australia, where TiVo went on sale a year earlier, more than 65% of customers have the home networking package, Minicola says.

“New Zealanders have been screaming out for home networking and under the [Telecom] exclusivity clause we weren’t able to provide it but that’s going live this weekend.”

Hybrid launched TiVo in NZ exclusively through Telecom but now is in talks with other telcos to offer customers unmetered broadband access to the media device and its CASPA video on demand downloads.

It’s also opened the online store to expedite TiVo sales with special offers and packages. For instance, a TiVo and wireless adaptor bundle has been discounted by $238, to $750, until the end of September.

And by the end of this month it will be possible to buy a TiVo online for $199 upfront, and pay the rest in 12, $45.95 instalments. TiVo also will include a free new-release movie download every month in the deal.

“We recognise if people aren’t with Telecom, they’re reticent to go into Telecom to buy a TiVo,” Minicola says of the online store initiative.

“Maybe some people are delaying buying TiVo because they couldn’t get a payment plan, didn’t want to buy from Telecom or couldn’t get home networking – hopefully we’re removing those barriers.”

Minicola says TiVo is the top-selling PVR in Australia and although it’s not marketed through stores here — yet — she claims it’s “hands-down” the #1 PVR in this market, too — although she acknowledges take-up has been much slower than across the Tasman, possibly because of Telecom’s exclusive window.

“If 50 percent of the market didn’t want to deal with Telecom, that shut out 50 percent of the market for us … We know the minute people try a TiVo they absolutely love it and can’t live without it. We’ve got to figure out ways for customers to experience our product so they can never give it up.

“That’s why payment plans are important. We need more ISPs to jump on board, and explain the product in store and the broadband solution, and we need to get good prices out there, and try before you buy, and things like that, so we can get critical mass.”

Two months after notifying customers that consumer testing of its super-duper DTR was about to start, TelstraClear still doesn’t have a date for when the service will go live.

The media device sounds like a fantastic gizmo that combines a smart, sleek look with the best functionality of MySky HDi and TiVo — but with the bonus of 1080p content.

The telco had hope to launch it in February but software glitches have dragged out the delay to such an extent that customer patience and goodwill risk being exhausted after years of enduring a second-rate cable-TV service.

“We are aiming to confirm key dates around customer trials and on-sale shortly,” was all a Telstra spokesman could tell ScreenScribe.tv.

The uncertainty coincides with what the NZ Herald calls a “stoush” breaking out between Telstra and its TV content provider, Sky, over access to the online rights the telco needs to distinguish its TV service from Sky and TiVo’s.

As Telstra’s TV manager, Jeff Doyle, said earlier this year, “Linear broadcasting content is not the end game … We’re looking at other broadcast options, especially in the broadband space.”

This site reported in February that Telstra had been in talks with Sky about making its supply contract, which it recently resigned for another four years, less restrictive.

On Monday, The Dominion Post quoted Telstra chief executive Allan Freeth as saying the telco was “very unhappy” with the arrangement and didn’t rule out cutting ties with Sky, although he’d rather “build the partnership … We just want a bit of freedom.”