Warner Bros. Swap-for-Blu-ray Offer – Warner Bros. has launched a program at their web site where consumers can send in any DVD they own (they don’t have to be from Warner Bros.), and get a new Warner Bros. title on Blu-ray for as little as $4.95. Over 100 titles are currently available, including Gran Torino, V for Vendetta, Superman II, Wedding Crashers, and The Shining. Users need to go to DVD2BLU.com and pick the Blu-rays they want from the list there. Then send Warner Bros. an old DVD for every Blu-ray you want from the list, as long as it is from a major or independent studio and not an adult title. You then check out the final details, pay for each one and in a few weeks you receive your new Blu-rays.
Greenpeace Electronic Rankings – The latest edition of the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics shows great separation between companies failing to keep their environmental commitments and those companies making significant gains in phasing out toxic chemicals, increasing energy efficiency, and making it easier for consumers to recycle older products. The Guide applauds Philips for releasing the first TV to be free of PVC and brominated flame retardants. Their Econova TV puts Philips well ahead of other TV makers. New products free of PVC and BFRs have been put on the shelves by Acer, the India companies Wipro and HCL, and HP – which now has a line of notebooks, desktops and a PVC-free printer. However, Toshiba, LG, Samsung, Dell and Lenovo still have no PC product lines free of these dangerous substances. Nokia and Sony Ericsson remain in 1st and 2nd place for production of products free of the most hazardous substances. Samsung moved from 13th to 5th place despite getting penalty points for backtracking its commitment to eliminate PVC and BFRs. Scores for Waste and Recycling showed the least progress. Panasonic was rewarded for initiating voluntary recycling of its TVs in India, but the industry as a whole is failing to expand take-back programs to achieve global reach.
Raumfeld’s Multiroom Audio System Includes Last.fm – A partnership between Last.fm and Raumfeld brings Last.fm’s personalized music recommendation and radio services to Raumfeld’s next-gen hi-fi system. Last.fm keeps track of what you select to play (called scrobbling) and based on this data, it compiles highly-customized music recommendations and individual radio stations. (It is similar in this regard to Pandora, except that it has a monthly subscription cost.) Raumeld pools all one’s digital music and streams it around the house to studio-quality Wi-Fi-enabled speakers. The Last.fom app on the Raumfeld Controller scrobbles every track played, to help Last-fm continuously refine its personal music recommendations. Raumfeld’s CEO said, “Our partnership is a perfect symbiosis of innovative technology and intelligent content, which together form the future of hi-fi systems.” Designed and engineered in Berlin, Raumfeld products are exclusively available at their online store.
Sony Finally Stops Making the Walkman – When the first bulky and heavy portable tape cassette was introduced by Sony in 1979 it seemed to usher in a whole new world of mobile sound. It is credited with pioneering the concept of personal portable high-quality audio beyond the radio. It helped the cassette format to become a leader in the field and maintained interest in albums. But when the Discman came out in the 1990s cassettes began to falter, and the iPod really took over when it came out. It remains an important format in many third-world countries. The final batch of cassette Walkmans were produced in Japan in April and no more will be made. Just over 200 million of them were sold since its introduction.
