Take the Tube on the Road
At this year’s NAB, high-definition (HD) definition products were everywhere.
From new whiz-bang HD cameras to HD blank recordable media and even virtual HD booth babes, there’s no doubt that it’s finally here.
And while all of this is exciting (I have two Panasonic HD TVs myself), the HD displays at NAB didn’t knock my socks off.
But there’s a little something called iVDR that did. As luck would have it, it’s not yet commercially available in the US and not expected to hit the consumer market until late 2008. Although, it’s already in Japan.
So what’s iVDR?
iVDR is a secured, removable hard disk drive that is supposed to be a new information platform designed for interconnecting homes, cars and mobile living. It’s 160 GB and will cost about $300.
In the future, TVs will have a port that allows you to plug in the iVDR and record your favorite music videos, DVDs and the like. Furthermore, new automobile manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan have plans to produce cars with HD TVs that will have a cartridge to house this hard drive.
Of course, intellectual property and copyright protection of digital content issues will have to be resolved before my dream of this ultimate convenience can truly be realized.
And yes, Apple knows this (hint: Apple TV) and consumers do too.
Nevertheless, for me, a tech’d out Mom of two little ones, who routinely pops in new DVDs like Happy Feet and Charlotte’s Web while transporting them around town and taking long road trips, this is certainly GOOD news!
While I enjoy cool tech stuff and gadgets, the real way to capture my pocketbook is to make my life easier.
This is exactly what the iVDR will do.
Instead of shuffling DVDs in and out of the car, I’ll be able to record up to about 30 standard DVDs (each DVD holds about 4.7 gigs) and let them zombie out in the car-while I ride in absolute tranquility . . .