‘Hybrid’ is the buzzword in cameras this month and JVC’s Everio GZ-X900 falls into this category, combining a Full HD camcorder with a 9MP camera. The party trick for the new camera is the ability to shoot Full HD video (1920 x 1080 pixels) and take 5MP photos at the same time. Photos can be shot at shutter speeds up to 1/4000 second without interrupting video recording. In terms of size, it’s small and light - like a chunky smartphone - weighing 0.66lbs (including battery and a memory card) and measuring 2.6 x 4.88 x 1.46in. JVC contends that unlike other cameras that do video badly and camcorders that do average photos, the GZ-X900 can do both very well. Well, it would now, wouldn’t it?Up to six 9MP stills can be shot at 15 images per second, which JVC claims is faster than what digital SLRs can achieve [we're sure there may be some comments about this]. The camera can shoot in various high-speed video recording modes [120 frames per second (fps), 300fps and 600fps ] allowing for different levels of slow-motion playback. Storage is via SDHC cards and the camera will cost $1,000 (£708) when it launches in June. Your guess is as good as mine as to what it will cost here by the time they convert it to Sterling and add on a dollop extra for good measure. Think £800+ to be safe.-Martin Lynch camera video HD

Blu-ray players might be common now in the UK but so far no one has opted to combine Blu-ray playback and recording with HDD recorders. Until now, that is. Hot on the heels of launching a raft of new Viera LCD and plasma TVs, Panasonic has released details of its DMR-BS850, which will feature a 500GB hard drive alongside a Blu-ray player and recorder. There will also be a smaller version, the 250GB BS750. Both machines will utilise Panasonic’s PHL Reference Chroma Processor and the players will support BD-Live and BonusView. The new models sport twin Freesat HD tuners meaning you should - barring any copyright issues - be able to record HD broadcasts from the BBC and ITV. There’s DV connections for transferring camcorder video, alongside SD Card and USB slots so that you can archive or playback AVCHD HD video. Both will offer support for Viera Cast, which is Panasonic’s new Internet content delivery service, allowing viewers to access sites like Eurosport and YouTube. No price nor launch date for the new machines yet but we’ll keep you posted.-Martin Lynch [Trustedreviews] blu-ray HDD

Panasonic has set out its LCD stall for 2009 with 13 new LCD TVs, ranging in size from 19in to 37in. You may ask where are all the bigger 42in and larger TVs but it seems that Panasonic is targeting those segments with its plasma TVs. Topping the line is the V10 Series, a slim Full HD TV boasting Panasonic’s 100Hz Intelligent Frame Creation technology and supporting Viera Cast, the company’s European-wide service that lets viewers access Internet sites like YouTube and Eurosport. Philips is doing something similar with its Net TV service on new models. The V10 also supports Viera Link, Image Viewer and DLNA, the latter for streaming photos and video from networked devices. The series comprises 32in and 37in models. A step down is the 37in G15 which sports most of the same functionality, including Viera Cast, but has a different stand. The G10 series comes in 32in and 37in sizes, which use IPS Alpha panels with a wider aperture to deliver clearer pictures, a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and wide colour viewing angle. They support Image Viewer and Link facilities, but not Viera Cast. The entry level offering is the S10 Series of Full HD tellys, ranging in size from 32in to 42in, and supporting Viera Link and Image Viewer. Again, no Viera Cast but these TVs are expected to be more gentle on your wallet. . The new ≯ and ≪ models now boast a new 19in model, to go with the 26in and 32in products while there’s also the C10 series of TVs with Eco modes designed to reduce your electricity bill. There’s no prices yet but the TVs are launching in the coming months.-Martin Lynch TV HDTV

Blu-ray has yet to shine as the HD movie format of choice for many consumers but according to market watcher Futuresource Consulting, HD fans around the globe will buy more than 100m of them within the year. Despite the recession, increased sales of HDTVs combined with cheaper Blu-ray players will drive sales of Blu-ray movies in Western Europe, the US and Japan. The UK already leads the way as the largest Blu-ray disc market in Europe, racking up 3.5m sales in 2008 - a whopping 40% of the European total. Worldwide, The Dark Knight led the Blu crusade with massive sales. “In the USA, BD has moved from early adopter phase through to early majority, with the format gaining real traction in the marketplace,” says Mai Hoang, Senior Market Analyst at Futuresource Consulting. “Last year in the US alone, BD video retail sales increased by a whopping 320% to 24 million units; and we’re going to see momentum continuing in 2009, with over 80 million disc sales forecast.” She added: “The UK is the largest market for BD in Western Europe. With sales of more than 3.5 million units in 2008, it represented over 40% of the West European total. BD also benefited from a number of UK television campaigns during the critical fourth quarter of 2008, considerably raising consumer awareness. Factor in Sky’s high profile approach to marketing its HD service, and to a lesser extent the BBC/ITV joint venture, Freesat, and the cumulative effect has made a substantial impact upon the marketplace.” Even though HD movie downloads are on the horizon, Futuresource does not see it threatening the overall uptake of Blu-ray. “Looking at the hardware, retail prices are declining fast and we’ll see BD players become ‘impulse buys’ very soon, powering the format’s momentum through the diffusion curve,” says Alison Casey, Head of Global Content at Futuresource. “Although movie downloads are making noises in the marketplace, mainstream adoption will be a much more gradual process, with our projections showing that 12% of US consumer expenditure on home video will originate from online in 2012, with a slightly lower proportion in Europe.” Still, it will be years before DVD is dethroned as the dominant movie disc format. According to Futuresource, by 2012 around 50% of US and 35% of Western European video disc retail sale volumes will be Blu-ray.-Martin Lynch blu-ray movies

Without a doubt, Philips certainly knows how to shake up the TV market. From stunning AmbiLight to Aurea TVs and now with the odd-looking ultra-wide 21:9 TV, Philips likes to do things differently. The new 21:9 was announced officially a few weeks ago but now we have a UK launch window and a price that will stretch more than your movies. The 56in 21 :9 Cinema LCD is expected to hit our shores in June with a £3,500 price tag. Not recession friendly but then anyone in the market for a 56in TV right now isn′t exactly counting the pennies. The 21:9 is novel and gimmicky and while the company claims that it will let you watch movies exactly as they were intended - without annoying black bars on the top - it’s a lot of money for regular TV shoppers to stump up. Probably too much for this to be a big mainstream success. However, along with the jaw-dropping movie playback, the TV sports a very generous 5 HDMI slots for just about all of your HD devices and, UK viewers will also be able to access Philips new Internet-based TV service, Net TV. This will allow viewers to access Web sites like YouTube, eBay, Funspot and TomTom among others via the remote. The service is also coming on the new Philips 8000 and 9000 series of TVs with the 9000 series offering in-built Wi-Fi. We have yet to hear if the 21:9 TV will have a wireless or wired connection to Net TV but for £3,500 we’re bloody well expecting Wi-Fi. Watch a video of the 21:9 in action here.-Martin Lynch TV HDTV

Transformers fans assemble. A full official trailer for the new movie was posted up on YouTube today and is now available to watch, in glorious 720p HD. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is due for release on the 26th of June in the UK and those who argued that staggered worldwide release dates promote torrent use in our comments section will be pleased to hear that this is a global move; everyone except Belgium and France are getting it over a three day period. Except Russia and Spain who have a one-week head start, the lucky blighters.The movie has much of the same cast as the 2007 film and from the looks of things is another excuse for shed loads of CGI robots to beat the nuts and bolts out of each other while destroying half the planet in the process. Good stuff. Don’t forget to click the HQ box from the selection menu at the bottom right of the clip if you want the extra quality. - Paul Lester [Official site] science technology space

It seems like a dash of common sense mixed with a healthy dose of facts and figures has put an end to all of this ‘ban plasmas′ talk, but that hasn’t stopped efforts to make massive flatscreen TVs more economical. Sony’s new Bravia series, the WE5, seems particularly well kitted out in this area, claiming to be the ‘greenest ever’ BRAVIA LCD line-up. It consumes 20-30% less power than last year’s models thanks partly to something called a micro-tubular Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (HCFL) which makes it more efficient without affecting picture quality. What’s more interesting though is the intelligent presence sensor, which uses a combination of movement and body-heat detection to switch the picture into standby mode if you leave the room to make a cup of tea or answer the door.Quite how well this will work is anyone′s guess. I’ve dated girls whose circulation is akin to Frosty the Snowman and brushing against them when they are not wearing fourteen woollen outer layers is like a brush with death itself, so if the new Bravia can detect subtle heat on this level I’ll be impressed. There′s a bunch of other image processing technology crammed in just to reassure people that Sony hasn’t forgot about the essentials in the light of this wacky new technology, including the new BRAVIA Engine 3 to optimise images and Motionflow 100Hz to sharpen up fast-moving scenes. The new WE5 ‘Eco TV’ range are 1080p screens available in 40″ and 46″ sizes and will be released in the Spring, with prices yet to be confirmed. - Paul Lester [Sony] Sony ecological HDTV

If you’ve already got Sky HD but have been rather disappointed by how comparatively poor your average episode of The Simpsons looks, you might have noticed a touch more gloss to proceedings if you saw last night’s episode. It was the first to be shown in proper HD and had a new title sequence to celebrate, which included an HDTV in the Simpsons’ home, Bart writing “HDTV is worth every cent” on the blackboard and rather unnervingly, a flatscreen falling off the wall. Unfortunately this doesn’t appear to be a permanent move; since the dysfunctional family will be returned to regular old SD in the next episode. If you missed it though, you can catch it again on the 27th of February. - Paul Lester [TVB] Pirate Bay P2P torrents

The earlier news of faulty Sky HD boxes has now been fleshed out with a bit more information, following an announcement by Sky. The fault with the Pace manufactured boxes was confirmed and it seems as though up to 90,000 of these will need to be replaced. The good news is that if you do have one, Sky are willing to swap it out for you even if it’s still under warranty. Sky confirms that there are no ‘safety’ issues with an affected box, and that it can be used as normal until a Sky engineer comes to replace it. Though apparently only a ‘small minority of these will have the fault’ (how many did they ship?) it is advisable that you get in touch since it may develop problems over time. The models you need to look out for are the Pace 9򫨙, 9򫨚, 9򫨛 and 9򫨜. You can check to see which make and model you have by going to the Services, System Setup, System Details page through the Sky menu. Check out the link below for more information on the fix. - Paul Lester [Sky] Sky HD Pace faulty

Considering all of the effort Sky has been putting into promoting its HD service some recent news has come at a particularly bad time for it, especially for those who have finally succumbed to the recent drop in price. ‘Thousands’ of customers have apparently been contacting the broadcast giant to complain of faulty set top boxes, which have been put down to a rather serious flaw in the hardware.It affects Sky HD units made by Pace, so if you′re using a Thomson, Samsung or Amstrad model you′ll be ok. They all look the same however so you might want to check the box in more detail as the fault gradually damages the internal hard drive until complete failure occurs. Sky is bending over backwards to try and attend to customer complaints, having pulled much of its workforce off other projects to man the phones and deal with irate users. As a belated apology, it is offering three months free HD subscription, or about £30, to anyone affected. - Paul Lester [TrustedReviews] Sky HD Pace fault