SlingPlayer Mobile gives consumers their entire home TV experience, including local channels, local sports teams, video on demand, pay per view, etc. Any program that you can watch on your sofa back home, you can now watch via your iPhone using a standard network connection (3G Cellular, WiFi). In addition, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone users can also control their home digital video recorder (DVR) to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward live TV, or even queue new recordings while on the road.

Panasonic has announced three new DVR models. All feature Dual Digital TV Tuner, Blu-Ray burner, and DLNA Support giving you the possibility to access recorded TV programs from your PC or other devices. The DMR-BW95 (1TB), DMR-BW850 (500GB) and DMR-BW750 (320GB) with be available soon in Japan. Source news release.

Plushdepartment sells beautiful and simplistic computers including this gold plated computer and amplifier combination. Housed inside one ceramic casing is a full fledged Intel Core 2 computer and in the other case an audio amp. Plushdepartment's PCs are handmade and available in a variety of finishes available including gloss, brass, terra cotta and matte. More pictures and details available on the company website.

Ace Computers is the first company to offer a CableCard-compatible HTPC's for less than a grand. The LMS 250 comes with either a AMD Phenom X3 triple-core CPU or Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, and internal ATI Digital Cable Tuner. Both options run Windows Vista Home Premium and the newest Windows Media Center with CableCard support. Ace Computers is planning to show off the LMS 250 at CES next week. Source.

AVSForums has uncovered Samsung's 2009 lineup of televisions. Officially scheduled to be announced at CES Samsung will be updating its Series 3 through 7 HDTVs. Changes include support for 1080p movies encoded in the MKV, WMV, VOB, AVI, TS, 3GP, MGP and ASF file formats. An Internet@TV feature will replace InfoLive, and use Yahoo Widgets to integrate Internet content onto the screen while watching TV. Connecting devices to the TVs, including external drives, will be made possible through a pair of side-mounted USB 2.0 ports. More info available in the original AVSForum thread.

PonyCanyon, a subsidiary of Japan's Fuji TV, announced the first ever commercial Blu-ray/DVD disc. Originally developed by JVC more than two years ago, the disc has a blue laser top layer (25GB); underneath there are two more layers just like an ordinary DVD (8.5GB). The Hybrid BD/DVD disc is compatible with current DVD and Blu-ray players. Infiniti storage media (the company manufacturing the disc) claims that it achieves a compatibility of 99% according to tests made on 64 Blu-ray and DVD players. CDRinfo story with illustrations.

Philippe Starck is a french designer with products in both the Museum of Modern Art and Target. Here's how he describes his Zikmu Wireless Speakers, "Our design focused more on making the air vibrate. There is actually a three-dimensional feel to this vibration, meaning that the air is palpable, almost humanlike in presence, like a fragrance." In other words its a wireless speaker system with an ipod dock. Press release.

Introducing NVIDIA’s Ion Platform. Combining Intel's Low Power Atom processor with the GeForce 9400M, the platform is capable of playing HD video (8 - 25Mbps H.264) on a motherboard just bigger than the palm of your hand (Pico ITX form factor) and with very low power consumption. Read AnandTech's preview to get a more detailed technical analysis of the future of Netbooks and small form media devices.

Mvix has a few multipurpose media boxes but the MvixPVR has almost everything. Official info is scarce but it supposedly functions as a PVR with component inputs for recording HD content to a 3.5 sata drive (not included). Additionally it includes HDMI output, 1080p playback, built-in iPod dock, torrent client, 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, USB, and 802.11g. Translated specs sheet.

If your looking for a book to get someone for Christmas, the first volume of The Best of Instructables might be perfect. Over 300 pages of full color how tos selected from Instructables.com including instructions on how to build Magnetic Refrigerator Lights, a DIY Vacuum Former, a computer-controlled milling machine and a bunch of great stuff with LEDS. Available at Amazon and all other major book chains.