• New Pioneer AV receivers sport three HDMI inputs
• Philips' Rhapsody-enhanced internet radio
• Panasonic's new Blu-ray player goes Profile 2.0
• Pioneer unveils a wave of new car stereos
• Sony to introduce first OLED TV in U.S.

The Pioneer VSX-1018TXH-K includes enthusiast-friendly features like onboard high-resolution soundtrack decoding.

(Credit: Pioneer)

In just a few sort years, HDMI connectivity has become arguably the most important spec for AV receivers. Pioneer rolled out four new HDMI-capable receivers Sunday, ranging from the budget VSX-518 to the midrange VSX-1018TXH-K.

All four models have three HDMI inputs, which is one more than the previous standard of two. On the other hand, onboard decoding for the new high resolution soundtrack formats — such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio — is limited to the VSX-1018TXH-K, which is a little disappointing considering it was available last year on the inexpensive Onkyo TX-SR605. The VSX-1018TXH-K looks to be the sweet spot for enthusiasts, offering HDMI upscaling, onboard high resolution audio decoding and six-digit inputs for a reasonable $600 list price.

The full specs of the four new receivers are below.

(Credit: Pioneer)

Note that the press release seems to indicate there are no S-Video inputs on any of these receivers. We're hoping this is a misprint, although it wouldn't be unprecedented, as we saw the same thing on Sony's STR-DG810.

Squeeze this! With an affordable price and attractive design, the Philips Streamium NP1100 hopes to take streaming home audio mainstream.

(Credit: Philips)

Aiming squarely at devices such as the Logitech Squeezebox and Roku Soundbridge, the recently announced Philips Streamium NP1100 might not break the mold on features, but it will be offered at a great price of just $149.

The Philips Streamium NP1100 offers three basic functions: an internet radio tuner; a PC-link for streaming audio from a local computer; and a dedicated Rhapsody subscription music feature. The Streamium NP1100 uses a built-in Wi-Fi connection (or hardwired ethernet), to pull down streaming music from the internet or your networked PC library.

When not in use, the Streamium NP1100 doubles as pixel-flaunting clock.

(Credit: Philips)

On the back of the Philips Streamium NP1100 you'll find a standard pair of RCA audio outputs along with a digital coaxial jack, both used for connecting the device to a home theater system, boombox, or powered desktop speakers.

Aside from the Streamium's attractive price tag, Philips touts the product's small footprint, attractive design, and ease of use as major advantages over the competition. The oversized, high-contrast white LED display used on the Streamium does an admirable job of presenting large, legible text on a device no bigger than a clock radio.

A 30-day trial Rhapsody subscription is included with the Streamium right out of the box, with no account set-up requirement. No fee is attached to the internet radio streaming feature.

The Panasonic DMP-BD50 looks like it will be the first standalone Profile 2.0 Blu-ray on the market.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Over the last few months month, Panasonic has put itself in the lead of the technological race between standalone Blu-ray players. Back in October, it released the first Profile 1.1 player before the deadline for the specification even hit.

Now Panasonic is leapfrogging its competitors again with the newly announced DMP-BD50, the first Blu-ray player to be Profile 2.0 compatible — also known as BD-Live.

This means the DMP-BD50 will be able to handle any special features on future Blu-ray discs that utilize an internet connection, similar to what has already been done on HD DVD discs like Blood Diamond. That's not so much of a big deal right away — we're not aware of any discs that utilize BD-Live features yet — but it's nice to know that it's as future-proof as you can expect right now.

The rest of the specs look pretty solid too. High resolution soundtrack support is excellent, with onboard decoding for DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD. Panasonic also seems to hint at 7.1 analog outputs, mentioning that it can be matched with a 7.1 channel amplifier for full 7.1 sound. Pricing and availability isn't released yet, but we hoping to the see the DMP-BD50 earlier rather than later.

Pioneer DEH-P7000BT

(Credit: Pioneer)

Proving its commitment to the aftermarket stereo market, Pioneer unveiled a dozen new in-dash car stereos on Sunday. The 12 new stereos offer a range of connectivity options, ranging from the ability to play compressed audio formats such as MP3, WMA and AAC discs, to support for USB sources, iPods, HD Radio, and Bluetooth hands-free calling.

For systems with iPod connectivity, Pioneer has improved the user interface and menu navigation to more closely resemble that of the iPod itself, while adding some extra navigation features, including alphabetical search, iPod passenger control (which gives car passengers the ability to search for music on the connected iPod player itself), and Link Search, which provides a list of all the content by a currently playing artist.

Pioneer DEH-P600UB

(Credit: Pioneer)

Four of the new units — the FH-P8000BT, FH-P800BT, DEH-P7000BT and DEH-P700BT — come with built-in Bluetooth hands-free calling as standard, while four — the DEH-P7000BT, DEH-P700BT, FH-P8000BT, and FH-P800BT — come with built-in HD Radio controls.

Mid- and upper-range models in the new lineup feature an organic electroluminescence display, while upper-end models get a rotary control knob to improve the navigation of digital audio sources.

Most of the new stereos ranging from the $100 DEH-2000MP to the $250 USB-enabled DEH-P600UB will be available later this month, while the four higher-end systems with price tags of between $290 and $330 will be available in March.

Sony's XEL-1 is the first OLED TV to be available in the U.S.

(Credit: Sony)

Although Sony introduced its 11-inch OLED HDTV in Japan already, the company's big splash announcement at the 2008 CES is that the model, dubbed XEL-1, is now available stateside, for the cool price of $2,500.

While the relatively tiny, exorbitantly expensive HDTV itself won't attract many buyers, it represents an important milestone by shepherding in the latest flat-panel TV technology, which may eventually replace plasma and traditional LCD.

The XEL-1 measures 3mm thick.

(Credit: Sony)

OLED, short for Organic Light Emitting Diode, promises better picture quality, smaller size (the XEL-1 measures just 3mm thick) and more efficient operation. Sony claims a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1, indicating deep black levels. Since OLED can turn the light emitted from the diodes on and off quickly, Sony also claims rapid response times for "smooth, natural reproduction of fast-moving content."

The XEL-1 is supposedly 40 percent more efficient than traditional LCD panels in terms of power consumption, and unlike other LCDs, its manufacturing process doesn't require the use of harmful mercury.