Twitter from your Sonos CR200 controller

Twitter might not be the most important feature for an internet-enabled home theater device, but Sonos thinks it's at least worth of some attention. According to Sonos' Thomas Meyer (over Twitter, appropriately enough), the company's CR200 controller will be getting Twitter functionality later this year.

The 140-character-maximum service doesn't offer a lot of details, so here's the tweet in its entirety: "Coming later this year to Sonos - Post tweets from your Sonos CR200, Sonos CR for iPhone or Sonos CRs for Mac and PC."

— Will Greenwald

[Source: Engadget]

Samsung Blu-ray players getting Youtube

Samsung has been pretty good with streaming Internet video on his Blu-ray Disc players. Its newer models have been able to stream Netflix video, Blockbuster On-Demand, and other services. Until now, though, the players haven't been able to access keyboard-playing cats, Rick Astley music videos, or kittens riding Roombas.

The company has just announced at IFA 2009 that its Blu-ray Disc players will begin supporting Youtube. The players will also support MKV video files, expanding video compatibility. The new features will be available on all Samsung Blu-ray players to come out in Q4 2009.

— Will Greenwald

[Source: TechRadar via Engadget HD]

HD Deals: Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Player

No home theater in this high-def world we live in right now is complete until you upgrade your DVD player for a Blu-ray one, so why not check out this deal on a Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player for $182.38 (normally $249.95). Plus more HD and gadget deals* after the jump.

Philips Wireless HDTV sends 1080p/30 video over the air

The IFA show is going on in Berlin, so there are quite a few product announcements rolling out today. Philips, who showed off their snazzy LED-powered disco TV earlier has also debuted their Wireless HDTV system. The transmitter has two HDMI and two component connections it can throw up to 20 meters. It sends out 1080i and 1080p/30 HD signals with "no set-up required." Of course, the price is quoted at 599 Euro, which puts it well over $800 with the current exchange rate. But, there's no sum to great when we're talking about getting rid of cables.

Toshiba's JournE is a touch-sensitive media tablet

It's not the Mac tablet that the internet has been clamoring about for the past few months, but Toshiba's touch-sensitive media tablet is looking pretty spiffy. Behind the 7-inch screen is built-in WiFi and support for a bunch of video codecs including H.264, DivX and WMV. The dock has a built-in HDMI port, which it can use to stream HD video (though, not full 1080p HD) to a TV. The OS supports a bunch of useful web services like Internet Explorer (it's more useful than having no web browser at all), YouTube and Flickr. It's a little puzzling that there's only 1GB of built-in storage, but you can expand that via SD cards.

Philips' new funky-framed flat-panel Aurea HDTV

No, Apple isn't getting into HDTVs. That clear bezel is the frame on Philips' new Aurea HDTV, an LED-backlit screen that oozes style and color. Literally; the bezel bleeds color on the surrounding walls thanks to Philips' Ambilight technology. 250 LEDs along the edge pump out color to match whatever is on the screen.

The 40-inch Aurea features a 100Hz refresh rate, five HDMI ports, and offers streaming media content over Philips' Net TV service via its built-in Wi-Fi antenna. It also comes with a unique, egg-shaped remote that looks more like a sliding cell phone than an HDTV controller.

"Star Trek" returning to theaters for 2 weeks

Critics and fans agree: the Star Trek reboot was pretty awesome. It re-imagined the classic story with spot-on actors, fantastic action scenes, and a storyline that managed to both honor and remain consistent with the original series. Well, if you missed it, you'll have a chance to catch it again this Friday. Star Trek is returning to 85 IMAX screens for a two-week engagement, starting Sept. 4. Gizmodo has put up a list of the theaters across the country that will be showing the movie.

Unfortunately, many of the "IMAX" screens on the list are the dreaded "IMAX Digital" screens, which are significantly smaller than the fill-your-entire-field-of-vision "real" IMAX screens you might be used to. Huge-screened or not, though, a chance to see Star Trek in theaters one more time is more than welcome.

— Will Greenwald

HD Deals: Buy one Xbox 360 game, get a second for half price

If you're looking to get your hands on some new video games, but are strapped for cash then check out this deal from Best Buy where you buy one Xbox 360 game and get the second for half price. Plus more HD and gadget deals* after the jump.

Creative X-Fi2 is all about the touchscreen

Touch screens are definitely the hot addition to any multi-media device on the market right now, and Creative is taking advantage with the updated version of last year’s Zen X-Fi. The X-Fi2, will come in 32GB ($229), 16GB ($179) and 8GB ($129) versions, all of which are priced very competitively against the other big guys in the game.

The 3-inch touch-sensitive TFT LCD is an obvious improvement, especially when it comes to video playback, but there’s a TV-out, in case you want to view your content on a bigger screen. The player is compatible with MP3, WMA, AAC, Audible 4 and FLAC, and video files in WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4/5 and XviD formats. It’s currently available for pre-order at Amazon, so it will be interesting to see how it fares against the upcoming Zune HD and the new version of the iPod touch everyone seems to be expecting next week.  

More on the added features after the jump.

HD Deals: Sony BRAVIA 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

In the market for a new HDTV, well then check out this Sony BRAVIA 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV for $2,159.00 (normally $3,199.99). Plus more HD and gadget deals* after the jump.