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Humax HDCI

Football. Opium of the proletarian mind. You may find 22 men kicking a ball around a patch of grass about as exciting as embroidery, but at least there’s the possibility of a ringside seat at some good old ultraviolence. And if bloodshed’s on your mind, then high definition is what you need: what finer way is there …

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Real Life: From zero to De Niro with LoveFilm

Exciting news. I heard today that Channel 4 will be launching a DVD download service this autumn, and will be offering thousands of films for download. This is great news for movie fans, who today have only a few options if they want to download DVDs. I like postal DVD services such as ScreenSelect, which send out rental films via …

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MagicBox Imp: Radio goodness, Internet style

The wireless has come a long way since the days of cat’s whiskers, Bakelite headphones and aerials that looked like your gran’s washing line. The good old BBC is still up there with the leaders, too; its Listen Again service means you can get a blast of a Mozart symphony or a reading from Moyles’ Profanisaurus up to seven days …

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Freeview HD TV: Telly hacking alert

Fancy some high-definition TV but don’t have satellite or cable? Got a PC and a digital TV card? Then you may care to know that BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five are running trial transmissions on the Freeview system, and that while the broadcasts are nominally restricted to a few hand-picked technotesters there’s nothing stopping you from eavesdropping. Except for …

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Grundig is back!

Yesterday marked the official relaunch of Grundig. That’s right — the company best known for flogging cheap tellies through cheap retail outlets is back, and it’s better than ever. Apparently. It marked its re-entry to the UK market by hiring a room at the exclusive Groucho Club in London’s Soho, serving lots of alcohol and showing the football on a …

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Microsoft making better music?

When it comes to music, mighty Microsoft is the underdog. For the company that dominates PC operating systems, desktop software suites and e-mail software and has a darn good business in everything from databases to video games, it’s an unaccustomed label. Can the latest version of Microsoft’s music software, Windows Media Player 11, be the first in many steps to …

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Blu

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has confirmed that its first batch of Blu-ray movies will arrive in the US on 20 June. The films, 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch and the House of Flying Daggers are set to coincide with the release of the first Blu-ray players, but are we wrong not to be excited? House of Flying Daggers …

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Win tickets to an England World Cup match

Depressed that you’re stuck watching the World Cup from home? Your luck could be about to change, because we’re running a competition, in conjunction with Toshiba, to win tickets to see England play against Trinidad and Tobago in Nuremberg on Thursday 15 June. Toshiba will fly three lucky winners to Nuremberg for the day, where they will be treated to luxury hospitality and …

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What’s the deal with 1080p TVs?

I have been reading your reviews on HD Ready LCD televisions, and while they’re informative I can’t find any LCD TVs that support 1080p definition. I work in the games industry, and I need to buy an LCD TV set that will be compatible with 1080p. Most of the sets I have researched seem to be only 1080i compatible. Could …

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