Archive for February, 2008

Published by Jason on 19 Feb 2008

Toshiba HD DVD - Sayonara

The battle over the next generation of DVD format is finally over. At last, Sony emerged as the winner in developing a new recording, rewriting and playback system for HD video.

This is not so surprising though, Toshiba’s HD-DVD knock down has been in the works for some time. We witnessed how five major movie studios decided to take the Blu-ray format: Sony, Walt Disney, Lions Gate Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM figured out it was best to stick with Sony and Blu-ray.

A small hope appeared when Paramount and Universal decided to go with Toshiba’s HD-DVD format. At that point it seemed to be some chance Toshiba would make a comeback and continue the battle.

Toshiba HD DVD

Alas, last month Warner Bros. decided to release movie discs in the Blu-ray format only. And that’s where the beginning of the end for HD-DVD happened. I guess there are plenty of you who didn’t saw this coming. It reminds me of VHS and Betamax battle, that wasn’t so long ago.

Blockbuster and NetFlix decided to go with Blu-ray discs, while Wal-Mart said it will sell only Blue-ray DVD’s and hardware. That was the time when Toshiba decided it is enough.
Toshiba announced today that it will not produce any HD-DVD hardware, software and other tools.

This news will make millions of people who bought Toshiba’s HD-DVD players groan. Sometimes it’s just not convenient to be an early adopter.

Published by Jason on 19 Feb 2008

Beelzebufo

A team of researchers has discovered the remains in of what may be the largest frog ever to exist. The largest living frog today, from West Africa, can attain length of 12.5 inches and weights 7.2 pounds.

The 16-inch, 10-pound ancient frog recently discovered, was named Beelzebufo, or devil frog, which lived 65 to 70 million years ago with frogs that live today in South America. What is hard to understand, how the frog that lived in South America can be found in Madagascar by researchers. There are some assumptions that Africa and South America were connected 65 million years ago and that’s when this frog made her way to the Madagascar.

Beelzebufo

The size and robustness of its bones indicates that this was probably the heaviest frog to exist on planet Earth. As you can see, that is a big pile of meat with huge mouth that can devour small animals in a second. No wonder that discoverers decided to call it “armored frog from hell.” The name derives from the Greek word for devil and the Latin word for toad, Beelzebub and bufo.

This powerful killing machine was not only huge and heavy, it had a powerful design. The skin was thick, jaws were powerful and wide mouth gave her the opportunity to ambush smaller animals ans swallow them at once. She could easily subdue lizards and it’s possible she even grabbed hatchling dinosaurs when she had the opportunity.

Published by Jason on 18 Feb 2008

Shelby GT500KR

King of the Road is back. After 40 years, Shelby launches another special version of Mustang, from the edition of GT500. 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR is the second car that wears SVT badge, reminder of Ford’s power car that rules the roads since 1967.

Original GT500KR Shelby Mustang was powered by a 428-cubic-inch Cobra Jet V-8 rated at 335 HP. It was a state of the art engine that still outshines many car engines of today. But, that horsepower wasn’t enough to the good people from Ford, so they’ve upgraded Mustang’s strength a bit. A 2008 version supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 engine leaves his predecessor 205 HP behind. Ford Racing Power Upgrade Pack gives a horrific 540 HP to the new King of the Road.

Ford Mustang

A six-speed manual with a short-throw shifter to a shorter 3.73:1 rear end for quicker giddyap, while snorts and whinnies get an extra edge from a revised exhaust system. Mustang’s new and unique suspension tune aims to deliver perfect balance between ride and handling. To be more exact, GT500KR will lean a bit toward better handling.

As you can see on the photos, the GT500KR gets the signature hood along with the two mail slots at the edge of the hood, feeding the powerful engine with air. The Cobra badges are telling everybody this is not just any type of Mustang, it’s a special edition, anniversary GT500KR.

Shelby GT500KR

If you’re wandering when this model will be available for sale, the answer is - spring, 2008. But, there’s a catch. There will be only 1000 of this beauties made, so you better find out how can you get one of them. And prepare around $50,000.

If you aren’t able to grab one GT500KR, don’t worry, there will still be a 2008 GT500. Be nice to your local dealer and maybe you can get one of those among the first.

Published by Jason on 14 Feb 2008

Indiana Jones 4 Trailer

Yes, it’s finally here! Just like it was promised, on Valentine’s Day. One of the most anticipated movies is almost here, but until then, we have this fantastic trailer.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull takes place in 1957 and the Nazis are definitely not the villains. The movie will have some elements of supernatural but nothing more then in previous Indiana Jones films. That’s all I can say for now about the content of the movie itself. And here’s the trailer itself:

The film maintains the Memorial Day weekend release strategy of the last two Indiana Jones movies as Paramount Pictures officially announced that the fourth film’s release date is Thursday, May 22, 2008.

« Prev - Next »