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Samsung and DivX have a deal in place to bring DivX support to Samsung televisions.  Soon, you’ll be able to take a USB drive to your television and watch DivX movies all day.  You could also hook up the TV via Ethernet to a DLNA device to watch DivX content. 

Is anyone else wondering why?  If you’re one of the folks who manages to obtain a lot of DivX content, odds are you have the ability to watch that video on your TV.  Then again, if you’re that person, you might want to get a Samsung TV because it already supports your vids without the need for a computer. 

The convergence of televisions and computers keeps going forward.  Televisions have gone a long way from being just dumb little monitors with speakers to smart displays with some computing power.

Read: [Electronista]

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Philips showcased their new home theatre device recently at IFA 2008.  Granted, it kind of looks like a cross between a pet’s feeding dish, a humidifier, and a soccer ball…and one might think “what can this really do?“...but it’s getting some decent feedback.

The CinemaOne is one of the smallest home theatre devices out there.  It contains a DVD player, a CD player, an iPod dock, a five channel amplifier, four speakers (featuring the same soundbar technology found in their Ambisound line) and a subwoofer which is built into the base.  It can output in just about any kind of format, including DivX and WMV, and you can control the iPod with the included remote. There is also a USB 2.0 port. The DVD player comes with 1080p scaling and Dolby Digital and DTS support as well. Not bad.

No confirmed release dates seem to be out at this point. I’ve seen rumors of September through January. Keep an eye out for updates of confirmation and pricing.

via [techradar]

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If Samsung’s INNOV8 i8510 8-megapixel camera is not enough to convince you to buy this new phone once it’s released, its video playback capability might make you do so. The i8510 has been certified by DivX, Inc., making it only the fifth DivX certified mobile handset made by Samsung.

Being DivX certified means the i8510 will make it easy for users to transfer video content from their PCs to the mobile phones through the phone’s TV-out feature allowing users to view PC-like high-quality images and DivX video when and wherever they want. The i8510 runs on Symbian 60 OS and as such, it can also boast of being the first Symbian-powered mobile phone that has been DivX-certified.

Read [Business Wire]

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Six additional Blu-ray players have just been certified by DivX, joining the ranks of Sony PS3 that received its certification at the end of 2007. Such certification is important because it means only one thing: 25 hours of DVD-quality video can now be saved on a single Blu-ray disc. Since the end of the format war, Blu-ray has been gaining more popularity with the gadget society. Michelle Abraham, an In-Stat Principal Analyst, said:

“In-Stat expects worldwide shipments of Blu-ray players to reach 23 million in 2011. DivX is well-positioned to become a standard feature on Blu-ray devices, just as it has shipped in millions of DVD players worldwide.“

Looks like Blu-ray players are here to say. That is, as long as no new formats are going to be introduced, and digital downloads keep from gaining any more popularity. But as of right now, DivX certified players from Philips, Denon, and Panasonic can enjoy Blu-ray disc burning as their DivX certification becomes official. The latest players that received their certification included the Panasonic DMP-BD30EE, Philips BDP7200 and the Denon DVD-2500BTC1B, DVD-3800BDC1B, DVD-3800BDSP and DVD-2500BTSP.

Via [I4U News]

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DivX and Philips have sealed a two-year licensing agreement that would enable Philips to continue including DivX video functionality on its electronic products. These products include DVD players, portable devices, digital televisions and next generation consumer products such as Blu-Ray DVD devices.

Since becoming the global standard for high-quality digital video, around 100 million DivX certified devices have been made available to the market. DivX flexibility in cross platform movement of video content and interoperability between DVD players has made it the top benchmarking tool of other companies specializing on high-definition digital video.

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At the recent CES in Las Vegas, iriver presented its entry into the handheld PC market when it debuted WING. This device features web browsing, instant messaging, email, photo, music and text messaging ability along with an FM radio and camera. The Linux powered device is a black and white clamshell boasting a 4-inch TFT-LCD touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard, 4GB of memory and an SD slot for additional storage.

iriver also debuted the new UNIT 2 Multimedia Home Networking Device. This device has it all: Audio, Video and DVD player, DiVX player, CD player, FM radio, VoIP phone,
text messaging, web browsing, and email. It also boasts a 7 inch touch screen,built in stereo speakers, a 30GB hard drive and 2GB of NAND flash.

The UNIT 2 is designed to be an all-in-one solution for integrating your digital content with your TV and set top box. Both the UNIT 2 and WING are expected to be released later this year.

Read [iriver]

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