We've got an intriguing trade-in solution for the folks who're itching to make the switch from HD-DVD to Blu-ray. Future Shop is offering a special trade-in offer wherein you can trade your HD-DVD player for CAD$ 100 off a combination Blu-ray and HD-DVD player. More on this after the jump!

Asking PC vendors what they think is superior between Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD won't get you anywhere, because even they aren't sure which to adopt. There are already five different types of blue-laser optical drives for these in the market, but even those don't help international PC vendors decide which one should be standard for PCs.

Check out the full article for more details.

LG Electronics of South Korea has unveiled two new optical media products that will up the Blu-ray arsenal. The Blu-ray recordable (BD-R) and the Blu-ray Rewritable (BD-RE) are set for market release soon with some nice features. Read the detailed version for more on this exciting development.

LG Electronics has just entered new candidates to the budding Asian portable music player market, debuting its new line Shining Stone UP3 S2 with an assortment of sparkly colors. The new MP3 + USB hybrids (dubbed UP3) sport bright hues of sparkling gems and a 65,000-color full OLED screen (not the 16 million-color one), and come in varieties of 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4 GB built-in memory.

Ruby Red, Black Diamond, Crystal Silver, Pink Trump, and Blue Sapphire are the five colors to choose from, though the Shining Stone UP3 S2 has more than shades to offer. The portable audio player can play most major, popular music formats (MP3, OGG, WMA) and even offers FM radio capabilities, FM radio recording functions, and voice recording features.

Shining Stone UP3 S2 also comes with a dual purpose USB cable, specially designed to allow file transfers from a PC to the unit and vice versa, while charging the unit's batteries at the same time. Headphones come in much smaller profiles to fit comfortably in the ear, while maximizing audio delivery and cutting out ambient noise.

Suggested retail prices for the 1 GB and 2 GB versions stand at KRW 69,000 (US$ 76.65) and the 4 GB version is estimated to be priced at about KRW 84,000 (US$ 93.32). Release date for Korea has not been announced yet, but you can expect it to hit retail for the holiday season.

A new, thinner LCD TV panel is being prepped for launch by LG.Philips LCD. This new 42-inch panel will reportedly be 40 percent thinner at only 19.8 mm and 10 percent lighter than conventional 42-inch panels.

Despite the slim frame, LG.Philips LCD still managed to cram a few impressive features into the panel. It uses 120Hz technology to eliminate motion blur and full HD resolution. Costs were also kept low with the use of a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlight.

LG.Philips LCD will launch its ultra-slim 42-inch TFT-LCD TV panel in the first quarter of 2008. The panel will be on display at FPD International 2007 in Yokohama, Japan, from October 24 to October 26.

It looks like LG Electronics is making the most out of its Blu-Ray/HD-DVD compatible drives. The company's Korean site has just sent out news announcing the upcoming release of its new desktop PC, dubbed the LG LX97WH Super Blu. Aside from being able to digest both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray optical disks (it accepts standard DVDs too, of course), this new also PC hosts some pretty respectable specs. Pardon the English - we had to run the Korean text through babelfish:

• Processor: Intel core 2 tyu five processors E6550 2.33GHz (4MB L2 Cache and FSB 1333MHz)
• Memory: 2GB (1GB *2) DDR2 667MHz, tyu Ul Channel memory technique
• HDD: 320GB (S-ATA 2)
• ODD: 6 attachments Super Multi Blue (S-ATA)
• Graphics card: nVIDIA Geforce 8500GT 512MB
• Sound: HD 3D Audio (analog 7.1 Channel)
• Cooler: TGT (Turbulence Generating Technology) cooling system cooler
• Design: The semiautomatic slide door, it sprouts, sensor power button
• Operation setup: Microsoft window rain star groove premium
  

It's compact too - the whole package slips into a 8.9 cm PC case. We don't have any info regarding what price LG will be setting for the LX97WH, although given its performance, we advise the readers to start saving. We'll get back to you if we can get more info in the near future.

And in the techie side of things, Blu-ray enthusiasts may want to know that, as CDRinfo reports, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd has just announced a monolayer/dual-layer Blu-ray drive doubling the read and write speed of 2x Blu-ray burners available to 4x, while still keeping power consumption to 130 mW - a 2x burner power maximum.

25 GB of data can be recorded into a monolayer BD-R disc in 23 minutes, while 50 GB burned to a dual-layer BD-R medium may complete in 46 minutes. The drive was developed in accordance with the "Blu-ray Disc Recordable Format Part 1 Version 1.2" standard, released recently by the Blu-ray camp.

And in light of the constant linear velocity drive (CLV), Panasonic will be releasing 25 GB BD-R discs by late July or early August, aimed specifically for the new burner. But reports are also coming in about Hitachi LG's 6x GGW-H20L BD burner which should release this July while talks on Pioneer's front on their own 4x Blu-ray burner.

At an IFA preparation event in Germany, Samsung revealed that it will be shipping the BDP-UP5000 in October or November. The BDP-UP5000, a dual Blu-ray and HD-DVD player, was announced back in April.

LG caught the attention of a lot of people when it announced its own dual format player, the BH100. However, the LG player had a pretty steep price point of almost US$ 1,200 and had issues with the HDi technology used in HD-DVD.

The Samsung BDP-UP5000, however, fully supports both HDi and Blu-ray's BD-Java interactive technology. Samsung is expected to showcase the BDP-UP5000 at the IFA 2007 in Berlin on August 31. The BDP-UP5000 is also expected to be cheaper than the LG BH100.

If you really need to know, Samsung even claimed that it would go for less than US$ 600.

If you know your basic internet culture, you probably already know that the question on every other person's mind online is "what insanely innovative stiff will Google come up with next?" Today, we have the answer for you: Google-owned YouTube is coming to mobile phones soon.

The most popular video sharing site in the world has signed a deal with the fifth-largest mobile handset maker in the world today, LG Electronics of South Korea.

At the core of the agreement is the development of a mobile phone which can access the YouTube server and deliver streaming clips on the go. It's never been done or attempted before, but LG says a working design could be seen as early as this year. "LG Electronics will unveil a mobile handset that fully supports the YouTube service for the first time in Europe in the second half of this year," said the company in a statement.

Right now, YouTube has around 100 million users worldwide, driving up the demand to have it in every appropriate medium. It has some 70,000 user-created content which are readily accessible and are steadily on the rise.

Accessories maker Tekkeon Inc. just announced a new portable USB power adopter known as myCharger to be used with many mainstream mobile phones and gadgets, as well as Apple products iPod and iPhone. The wide range of compatibility is attributed to the power charger's retractable prongs and several adapter tips.

Tekkeon Inc. Jerry Yang had this to say, "Rather than carry a power adapter for each device, myCharger lets users carry a single power adapter with a few tips. And myCharger is produced with high quality components to regulate the output voltage and current to ensure optimum charging conditions for the device battery".

The device myCharger is said to work with the following: iPhone and iPod (uses iPhone/iPod USB cable), Blackberry, and mobile phones from LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. Using the said adapter tips will make myCharger also compatible with other 5V devices like Bluetooth headsets, digital cameras, MP3 players, and PDAs.

The Read link below will take you to Tekkeon's official site where you can purchase the product online. myCharger is priced for US$ 24.95 and its package include:

• myCharger USB power adapter
• Retractable USB cable
• Mini USB adapter tip
• LG adapter tip
• Nokia adapter tips (2)
• Samsung adapter tip
• Sony-Ericsson adapter tip