It was no huge surprise to find LG’s stand at the IFA trade show in Berlin divided into two halves, one half TVs and the other mobile phones — the Korean company has been hugely successful in both areas. There were two especially interesting things on the TV part of the stand, however, that caught …

Toshiba has just given us a peek, out here in Berlin at IFA, at its external HD DVD writer and Super-Multi drives for the PC. Behold the cunningly named HD DVD-Writer and HD DVD Super-Multi. They’re for the PC. Okay, so the names aren’t particularly imaginative, but just look how diddy they are — the 165g chassis is just 128 …

We miss loads of stuff on TV. It’s not our fault, there’s a lot on our plate and we go out all the time. So for us to enjoy our hectic social lives, we really need something to record TV for those nights when we just fancy putting our feet up and relaxing. Sky+ is the obvious choice, but after …

You may remember last week we introduced our ‘Vote to win’ reader poll awards. This is your chance tell us a thing or two about consumer electronics. We want to know the gadgets that have wowed you this year, the social-networking sites you’re hanging out on and the features you most want to see in new products. The winning products …

If you’re one of the three British people that bought Apple TV, you’ll probably have spent some time wondering when you might be able to buy stuff to watch on it. Well, we’re happy to say it’s sooner than you thought, because Apple has just launched a bunch of TV shows on its iTunes video store in the UK. Programmes …

Do you often find yourself on an aeroplane bored out of your mind? We do, and usually it falls to a laptop and some DVDs to distract us. The problem with laptops is that they are often large, and drink power. So enter the LG DP271, a compact portable DVD player for all those boring journeys. There are a few …

Earlier this week we commented on the decision by Paramount and Dreamworks to switch to HD DVD exclusively, instead of continuing dual-format support. This was seen by some as a bit of a victory for the HD DVD camp, even if it did cost them a rumoured $150m. Now we have word that Toshiba is cutting the cost of its …

commentary Just when things were looking good for Sony and its Blu-ray format, one company’s decision has meant that customers and retailers will be the biggest losers in the so-called “format war”. Paramount’s announcement that it will support HD DVD exclusively has seemingly thrown this conflict into irrelevance. Only last week, figures emerged that Blu-ray was outselling HD DVD two-to-one …

The Linksys KiSS 1600 is described as a wireless high-definition media player. Which reminds us very much of another product we’ve heard about called Apple TV. Amusingly, KiSS is owned by Cisco Systems, who you might remember had a scuffle recently with Apple about the name of a phone… The KiSS 1600 aims to be an all-in-one media solution. It …

I’ve noticed that the picture on my new LCD TV looked significantly better in the shop than it does now I’ve brought it home. Is it broken or have I bought a dud? Duncan First off, the good news is no, your TV isn’t broken, and the chances are you haven’t bought a rubbish model. The issue here is that …