Microsoft this week said it has hit the ground running with its new TrueColor Technology, which the company claims provides superior color and brightness even in piss-poor lighting conditions.

"Color quality and brightness are critical aspects of video calls. Through our research we know that a large number of video calls are held in either low light conditions or uneven lighting,a nd these are challenging situations for any webcam and represent a common pain point for webcam users," said Daniel Anguiano, product marketing manager for Microsoft Hardware. "Our engineers at Microsoft Hardware created TrueColor Technology to improve the video experience, combining software and firmware to help people look bright and natural in virtually any lighting situation."

Microsoft's TrueColor tech will make its debut in three new webcams, including the LifeCam HD-5000, HD-5001, and HD-6000. All three feature 720p HD sensors and auto focus technology. The HD-5000 series is intended for desktops, while the HD-5001 will be exclusive to Best Buy and includes a custom design with a white faceplate.

The HD-6000 is intended for notebooks and comes capable of 360-degree rotation.

Both the HD-5000 and HD-5001 will be available later this month for $50, while the HD-6000 will ship in May for $60.

Image Credit: Microsoft

DivX on Tuesday announced that the latest version of its DivX Plus software is now available for download. The free software has been completely redesigned with a streamlined interface and supports up to 1080p HD H.264-based video in the MKV file format.

"DivX Plus software represents a major step forward in our mission to create a seamless, high-quality media experience that empowers consumers to enjoy the content they care about not just on the computer but on any device in their lifestyle," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "Our new software connects the content that millions of users watch on their PCs to the millions of DivX devices all over the world, offering a bridge between the Internet and the living room."

Some of the key features of the DivX Plus software package include easy video transfer to DivX Certified devices, a wide range of playback support, browser-based HD video, MKV streaming to game consoles, and the ability to convert 1080p HD content without shelling out for the paid version.

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Remember Packard Bell? Believe it or not, the company is still around, though in quite a different fashion than those beige rigs you probably remember fixing over a decade ago. Packard Bell, now a subsidiary of Acer, maintains a presence in Europe where it recently announced its Studio ST home entertainment media player.

"If you are looking for an external drive to carry your personal music, videos, and photos and play them back on a TV set, the new multimedia storage Packard Bell Studio ST is the perfect partner," Packard Bell said in a press release. "With its distinctive angular shape, its black glossy finish, its compact and stylish design, it perfectly fits any home interior."

Aesthetics aside, the Studio ST supports playback of 1080p video over HDMI with Dolby Digital and comes with 500GB to 2TB of disk space. Playing the part of the artful dodger, Packard Bell doesn't list out specific codec support, saying only that the Studio ST "plays all version of the most common videos, pictures, and audio files."

The Studio ST comes with a USB port, and in a move we wish other manufacturers would follow, Packard Bell includes all the cables you'll need, including composite A/V, YPbPr, HDMI, and USB.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: Packard Bell via Engadget

MSI today unveiled its GE600 notebook geared towards gamers. The 16-inch portable PC was first shown at CES earlier this year and includes an Intel Core i5 processor.

For graphics duties, the GE600 comes decked out with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics with 1GB of dedicated RAM. But the new notebook is also notable for the inclusion of a 720p HD webcam.

Customers will be able to choose between a 250GB, 320GB, or 500GB hard drive. Other specs include 7.1-channel audio output, touch-sensitive hotkeys, MSI's GPU Boost overclocking technology, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, HDMI video output, three USB 2.0 ports, eSATA, Windows 7 Home Premium, and an optional 9-cell battery (6-cell comes standard).

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: MSI

MSI today unveiled its GE600 notebook geared towards gamers. The 16-inch portable PC was first shown at CES earlier this year and includes an Intel Core i5 processor.

For graphics duties, the GE600 comes decked out with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics with 1GB of dedicated RAM. But the new notebook is also notable for the inclusion of a 720p HD webcam.

Customers will be able to choose between a 250GB, 320GB, or 500GB hard drive. Other specs include 7.1-channel audio output, touch-sensitive hotkeys, MSI's GPU Boost overclocking technology, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, HDMI video output, three USB 2.0 ports, eSATA, Windows 7 Home Premium, and an optional 9-cell battery (6-cell comes standard).

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: MSI

Panasonic's Freeview HD boxes continue their world tour and will make an appearance in Britain later this year, UK site RegHardware reports.

The two-man act consists of the DMR-BW880 (500GB) and DMR-BW870 (250GB). Other than the capacity, both Freeview HD units share the same specs and features, including the ability to keep content on the hard drive or burn to single or dual-layer Blu-ray recordable (BD-R) or rewritable (BD-RE) media.

Both models also sport two TV tuners, SD card slots, camcorder-sourced content in AVCHD format, DLNA support, and provide access to YouTube, Picasa, and other such services through Panasonic's VieraCast UI. They're also BD-Live capable.

No word yet on price, only that they'll begin shipping this summer.

Hey, did you hear? Netflix plans to bring 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound to its streaming HD video service to later this year. Pretty rad, right?

It would be, except Netflix is taking a mulligan on the recent announcement, and now says that it incorrectly acknowledged 1080p streaming in the company's 2010 roadmap. Boo, hiss! Netflix didn't say why it pulled the about-face, though it probably has to do with bandwidth. While not official, Netflix says the requirement to stream 720p HD content on an HD-compatible box is "typically" 5Mbps. It's a safe bet that 1080p would require more, and maybe Netflix feels there aren't enough streaming subscribers with fast enough broadband speeds.

That means for the foreseeable future, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 owners are stuck with "underwhelming" 720p. That's right, in somewhat related news, Steve Swasey, VP of Corporate Communications for Netflix, downplayed the streaming service when discussing what Wii owners are missing.

"PS3 and Xbox users have 1 in 17 titles available in HD, and it's streamed in 720... it's not in 1080, and it's not in 5.1 surround sound or anything," Swasey said during an interview with The Wire. "So the HD experience at Netflix Instant Watching isn't that overwhelming. It's a little bit underwhelming. So the Wii folks aren't going to miss that much."

What a sales pitch!

No, the whole 3D thing didn’t go away after CES. It’s still happening, and Panasonic plans to get in on the ground floor. The Japanese electronics maker will be releasing four 3D Blu-Ray recorders/players to compliment the 3D Viera plasmas they intend to sell. The new units will be available first in Japan this spring.

The DMP-BDT900 is just a player, unlike the rest of Panasonic’s new line up. It comes with 4 HDMI ports, an SD card slot, LAN, USB ports, Viera link, and BD-LIVE. It will be available for $1,500. The 3D Blu-Ray recorders come with hard drives in 2TB, 1TB and 750GB sizes. These devices will have two digital and one analog TV tuner, 2 HDMI ports, LAN, USB port, SD card slot, and Viera Link. The three models will go for $3,350 for the 2TB model, $2,200 for the 1TB unit and $1,800 for the 750GB one.

So if you’re the early adopter type, and you’ll be in Japan this Spring, start saving up now.

Stripteases from your long distance lover are about to get a whole lot sweeter now that Skype has added support for 720p high definition video calls.

To take advantage of the new feature, you'll need to download and install Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows. You'll also need at least a 1.8GHz dual-core processor, and of course an HD webcam and broadband Internet connection.

"With HD-quality Skype video calls, we can bring our users even closer to the ones they love through an even richer, more meaningful video calling experience," said Josh Silverman, CEO of Skype. "Imagine being able to see the sparkle of your grandchild's eyes or the setting of your best friend's engagement ring. Through the innovation of Skype's engineers and our hardware partners, these scenarios are now possible without having to buy expensive equipment or software."

Skype says you can expect a spate of new HD webcams to hit the scene in early 2010, including ones from faceVsion (not a typo) and Store Solutions that have been "optimized to work with Skype."

The VoIP provider also says to expect Skype-enabled HDTVs to arrive by mid-2010.

We always take rumors with a large grain of salt, but as far as pre-release speculation goes, news and rumor site Fudzilla has a knack for being right on the money. And if their latest claim turns out to be true, DirecTV will announce the world's first satellite 3D-HD channel next month during CES.

What isn't known is when the channel will actually go online, though it's likely to coincide with the next DirecTV satellite the company plans to launch into space early next year. If all goes to plan, that satellite will be online and operational by March 2010.

That means new 3D hardware if the fad is to take off, which would be a tough pill to swallow for anyone who just plunked down a wad a cash for a flat-screen LCD TV. But if it's any consolation, Fudzilla says it's been hearing chatter that most of DirecTV's recent HD and HD DVR receivers will support the 3D-HD standard with a simple firmware update.

Image Credit: Ubergizmo