End User

Windows Vista holdout Intel endorses Windows 7

The Windows Vista era was a rocky one for Microsoft and Intel, longtime partners in the "Wintel" alliance. First, during Vista's development, Intel started playing both sides of the fence by working with Apple. Later, as Windows Vista was being prepared for release, Microsoft loosened an important standard for the operating system to help Intel unload some older chips -- triggering a huge behind the scenes mess that was revealed in a subsequent lawsuit.

Then, despite fine-tuning its processors for the new operating system, Intel decided to skip Windows Vista in its own operations -- effectively kicking the beleaguered Microsoft program when it was down.

But with Windows 7, it looks like all is well between them again.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer cites Intel as one of the early corporate adopters of Windows 7 in an open email issued to the Redmond company's partners and customers this morning. Ballmer says Windows 7 is providing Intel employees with "improved performance, greater application responsiveness, and a better platform for mobile workers."

Intel released a study yesterday talking in glowing terms about its experience with the new operating system.

"After 3 months of trial with over 300 users, 97% of our test users would recommend the new OS to peers and Intel IT sees the potential to save $11M over the next three years," the abstract reads. "Because of improved employee productivity, reduced costs, ease of deployment and enhanced security, Intel IT is rolling out Windows 7 to early adopters this year and enterprise deployments starting early 2010."

Ford, another Microsoft partner, is also upgrading to Windows 7, according to the Ballmer email. Bloomberg News cites Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Continental Airlines as early Windows 7 adopters, as well, noting that Intel currently has 500 of its workers using the new operating system.

The companies appeared with Ballmer at an event in San Francisco today to talk about Microsoft's upcoming and recently released PC and server software technologies.

Windows 7 is scheduled for public release Oct. 22.

Read more of Todd Bishop's posts at TechFlash.com, and follow him on Twitter @toddbishop

1080p HD POV? OMG!

Sky-diving, snowboarding, dirt-biking, etc. There are all kinds of ridiculous activities humans can do against their own better judgment. However, if you are attempting the insane, you might as well capture the experience so you can re-live it while recovering. There is a select collection of wearable camcorders available today that are mountable to goggles, bikes, or whatever you need to record your point-of-view during an extreme endeavor. Today, wearable camcorder company VholdR launched the 1080p version of their popular ContourHD line, the ContourHD1080p, the first wearable camcorder to record in full HD video.

We all grew up watching television and video in standard definition. The world has since transitioned to High-Definition (HD). HD images hold more information than a standard-definition image. This means that HD can be up to six times clearer than what you grew up with. Most wearable camcorders record in standard definition. The few wearable HD camcorders available record at 720p resolution (1280x720 = 921,600 pixels). While 720p is great resolution, truly superior to a standard-def image, the latest HDTVs, monitors, and projectors are capable of even higher resolution: 1080p (1920×1080 = 2,073,600 pixels). VholdR’s ContourHD1080p is a professional grade wearable camcorder that allows for the ultimate video capture in 1080p with the single touch of a button.  Along with high-resolution recording, the ContourHD1080p allows you to configure your metering, contrast, exposure and microphone sensitivity to get the shot you want before you head down the mountain or hit the gas pedal.

At this time most video sharing websites are only able to share 720p video. That’s why the VholdR.com video sharing site has been enhanced to accept 1080p video -- so you can show off your point-of-view from recent exploits online, as well as through a direct connection.

Now with a ContourHD1080p I get to pseudo-experience what it is like to go down a double black diamond, or jump off a cliff. And this way, there’s no screaming or crying in terror.

--Brandon M. Baker

Looking forward to getting in Touch with Windows 7

  The upgrade of our older HP TouchSmart “kitchen computer” from Vista to Windows 7 went smoothly and everything still works – at least, everything that worked before the upgrade. Several months before we upgraded it, the computer had taken to crashing regularly. “Blue screen” would be an inaccurate description; it’s actually a patterned pinkish screen that seems to indicate either a bad video card driver or a hardware problem with the video card itself.  Driver updates have either failed to install at all, or had no effect. And of course, since it’s an all-in-one, it’s not so easy to just yank out the video card and install a new one, as I’d do if this was a regular desktop PC.

On the left is the TouchSmart when it’s working correctly. On the right is what it looks like when it crashes – which, unfortunately, now happens several times per day. It started while it was still running Vista and continued after an in-place upgrade. We hoped a clean installation of Windows 7 would fix the problem, but no go.

Oh, well. We’ve had it for a couple of years, and this is actually a good excuse to start thinking about a new one. The current generation of TouchSmarts have larger screens, more processing power and memory, and support multiple touch inputs (multi-touch). The form factor is smaller, too. And they cost less than we paid for this one. You can see the cool new style on HP’s website.

We’re really looking forward to using Windows 7 multi-touch. But we’ve held off on buying a new TouchSmart, in anticipation of the introduction of new models when Windows 7 is released. The OS is capable of some very cool things, which you can see in this video demonstrating the Windows 7 Touch Pack that was released earlier this year: Gizmodo: Windows 7 Touch Pack. 

The success of the iPhone and its competitors have proven that consumers like the touchscreen concept. But they’re getting harder to impress, after seeing the antics of “TV computers” on programs such as CSI. Nonetheless, I’m excited about Microsoft’s efforts to make touch more a part of the user experience for those of us who can’t afford $20,000 Surface computers. After using the kitchen computer for a while, when I come back to my desk, I’ll find myself starting to reach up and touch the screen for certain tasks. It doesn’t replace the pointing device, but for some applications, it’s much more intuitive and easier to use than a mouse or trackball.

The biggest obstacle to the adoption of touch technology right now is the hardware. Most vendors offer no more than one or two touchscreen computers in their lineups so choice is very limited. Cost is another factor. In addition to the “kitchen computers,” HP, Dell and other vendors are selling touchscreen laptop/tablet PCs so you can take your penchant for touchy-feely computing on the road. HP’s TouchSmart tx2z laptop is reasonably priced, with 6 GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive for a little over $1100, but it only comes with an AMD Turion processor.

If I want a touchscreen tablet with an Intel processor, I can go to Dell for the Latitude XT, but then I’ll have to pay over $600 more for a system with only 1 GB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive. Ouch. Either way, I only have one choice from each vendor.

The laptops and the all-in-one systems suffer from the same drawback, too: if one component fails, you can’t just easily replace it. Why isn’t HP making a touchscreen version of their gorgeous HD widescreen monitors? Sure, it would cost more than the non-touch versions, but if they can sell an all-in-one with a 25.5 inch touch screen for $1299, they should be able to sell me the monitor only for under $1000. Then I could plug any Windows 7 computer into it.

Even though I’m not an Apple fan, I’m hoping the company does release a tablet computer as has been rumored – because I know it will get plenty of press and it just might bring the tablet form factor, finally, into its own. That will inspire PC vendors to come out with more of their own (Windows 7) tablets to compete. And that will be a good thing for all of us who want to reach out and touch our computers.

- Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP
   deb@shinder.net   www.debshinder.com

Review: Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX

The 35mm f/1.8, middle, between a very-well-used Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and a Nikon 35mm f/2D

When the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX was released, I wanted to hate it. I'd been clamoring for years for Nikon to release a fast, wide prime for professionals, and this seemed like it could be it … but it was DX, meaning it wasn't designed to work with Nikon's professional, full-frame cameras without vignetting. I was … not happy.

But then I understood -- I saw the price. Whatever cost-savings they had gotten from making it a DX lens were passed on to the customer. Nikon was only charging $200 at the exact same time that the yen/dollar comparison and recession forced them to raise the prices on all other lenses into the stratosphere. Pretty much anyone who could afford a dSLR system could afford this lens … but should they get it?

In my view, yes. This is a lens for practically all Nikon users -- even, amazingly enough, owners of the full-frame D700 and D3.

If you have a newer small-body Nikon DSLR like the D40 or D60, this lens is a godsend. Before the 35mm came out, the only fast prime that would focus on your camera is the $5,000 200mm f/2 -- and you're probably not the target market for that lens. Here is a cheap way to get far better low-light quality and shallow depth-of-field.

If you have a more expensive camera, $200 is probably a drop in your overall camera budget, so all you need to know is whether this lens is any good or not.

Well, it is -- even on full-frame cameras. Having used the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 on the Nikon D3 for years, it is astonishing how much less vignetting the 35mm f/1.8 has, at least wide-open, just a minor darkening of corners. Like with the Sigma, stopping down will increase vignetting, so this is a lens for people who want to "shoot f/1.8 and be there." All of the shots below are uncropped captures from the Nikon D3 and D700:

And is it sharp? You be the judge. Here, with default sharpening, is a 100 percent crop of the image above, taken at f/1.8. It's actually taken from where the absolute corner would fall on a DX sensor. Wide-open plus corners usually spells dull details, but here you go:

Its focusing is not as fast as professional lenses like the 24-70mm f/2.8, but it is silent and accurate, with far less hunting than the 35mm f/2D it replaces, allowing for good shots in low-light:

Above, a bit of contrast was added as the only edit, which emphasizes the vignetting. Still, it doesn't detract from the photo. Not the lens to use if you're trying to shoot a subject against a clean, high-key background, of course.

Also, there is very good subject isolation due to the fast aperture. Even on a broad scene like this without a close subject, it makes the subjects "pop" a bit. Small web-sized photos kill DoF rendition, so clicking on the photo will link to a larger version:

All in all, this is one of the few lenses I would recommend for just about everyone. The main exceptions would be shooters who have little need for fast apertures, especially full-frame shooters, since this lens HAS to be shot at a fast aperture on those systems. For those, a zoom or the old 35mm f/2D is a better choice. Conversely, for some people f/1.8 isn't fast enough, and there is always the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, a fine lens but with a higher cost, weight, and strange triangular bokeh in corners.

Microsoft's Windows Ads: Finally Good?

Microsoft's Windows advertising gurus made us suffer through Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, and Churros, before providing slightly more interesting food for thought with the company's Laptop Hunters ads.

But the advertisements for Windows 7, like the software itself, finally seem to be hitting the right notes.

These are a few in a series of ads that debuted recently on the Windows YouTube channel. Not only do they identify the product being marketed (something that Gates and Seinfeld inexplicably struggled to accomplish) but they actually demonstrate some features and show what the software can do. For the record, however, SeattlePI.com's Nick Eaton reports that the ads aren't expected to be on television.

Hat tip to Emil Protalinski at Ars Technica for spotting these.

Read more of Todd Bishop's posts at TechFlash.com, and follow him on Twitter @toddbishop

Party Time: Getting Ready for the Windows 7 Launch

Windows 7 Launch Party hosts have now been selected (and yes, I’m one of them). This week, we received the official notification, as shown in the figure below.

• Hosts have their choice of party theme:
• - Setting up with Ease (How to transfer data and settings and configure Win7 to your preferences)
• - Family Friendly Fun (making video calls, making movies, setting limits on kids’ computer use)
• - Photopalooza (Uploading, editing and sharing photos)
• - Media Mania (Using Windows Media Center to enjoy music, photos and videos and record TV)
• I chose the last option, since we already have Media Center running on a PC attached to our 65 inch Sharp Aquos widescreen, which is perfect for showing off Windows 7’s features to a group at a party. Microsoft provides “host videos” to help you come up with ideas, and suggestions for what features to demonstrate, but they emphasize the fact that it’s a party, not a sales presentation. The point is to have fun, and at the same time show your friends how cool the new OS is.

Microsoft also provides graphics of signs that you can print to put up in your party area, and will send a “party pack” with party favors. Finally, hosts get a special “signature edition” of Windows 7 for their trouble.

Our Media Mania party is scheduled for Saturday, October 24, two days after the official world-wide launch and we’re looking forward to it. My “real world” friends know that I’m pretty good at throwing parties – even without Microsoft’s help.

So how do you get invited to a launch party? Ping your local techie friends, especially MVPs, to find out if they’re hosting parties. The map on the Windows 7 page of the House Party site at http://www.houseparty.com/windows7usa shows where parties are scheduled. For example, there are currently 346 parties planned in the Dallas metropolitan area (you can zoom in to get a better idea of just where the parties are, and if you click on a specific area, you’ll see a list of the party hosts in that area – but only by their HouseParty.com user names). Those who are invited to a party can RSVP through the web site.

We’re looking forward to sharing our excitement about Windows 7 with friends and relatives. With social networking so popular, it seems appropriate to turn the Windows 7 launch into a more social event.

- Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP
   deb@shinder.net   www.debshinder.com

Hands-On with the Monster Turbine Pros

I tend to be pretty hard on the gear I carry with me as I commute.  For that reason, I tend to shy away from spending a ton of money on headphones and ear-buds in particular.  After all, cords can get caught in car doors, jacks can bend, wires can pull out of the main housing or, far more common, a small break can develop in one of the conductors and render your stereo recording an incomplete mono. While the Turbine Pros do offer strain relief and stranded conductors to take away some of those risks, it still seemed inevitable that I would eventually break them.

Furthermore, every single piece of music I listen to via headphones is an mp3. My collection is fairly old, some of it dating from the dark ages where there was a real risk of having more songs in your library than you had room for on your player. That translates to pretty low bitrates - 128 in nearly all cases with the occasional 192 if I really felt like there was some depth to the music that was worth the extra space.

So, the Turbine Pros were up against my disregard for property and my pragmatism, but I tried to keep an open mind. The first thing I noticed, before I even hit play, was how comfortable they were. The rubber tips on the speakers were just the right size and sealed my ear off from the outside world without exerting uncomfortable pressure from being too large. For ears that aren't the same shape as mine, the Turbine Pros come with an assortment of tips, one of which is sure to fit. I had no idea that ear-buds could actually be comfortable. I had always assumed that mild discomfort to dizzying pain was the normal fitting range of in-ear headphones.

Comfort, though, is just a bonus. The primary function of these things is making noise - so I hit play. I listened, first, to a little Pink Floyd, figuring it would be a good test for distinctly hearing the layers of the mix. The good news is that I am sure I heard everything that was there. Where the bass was strong in the recording, it was strong in my ear, but without being overpowering or muddy. The middle and upper registers were clear without being piercing. The bad news is that I was listening to an mp3 that I had optimized to take up as little space as I could on my player. There were, certainly, some shortcomings in what I heard, but I am convinced that the problem was in the mp3 and not in the Turbine Pros.

That test, however, was conducted at my desk. Most of the time I am actually listening to headphones, I am on a train, at a bus stop or in my car. Though it is not a good idea to ever do this, I decided to test the Turbine Pros in my '62 Falcon which might have the loudest exhaust leak I have ever heard. It was the most hostile test I could think of without renting a jackhammer. Besides, I was familiar with how other bargain ear-phones performed in my car, so I had a basis for comparison.

Honestly, I was really surprised. As I climbed a particularly steep hill, I noticed that my motor was not drowning out the music to the same degree that it normally does. I was able, in fact, to keep my volume about a third lower than I normally keep it while I drive home due to the excellent seal of the aforementioned rubber tips. That, in addition to the better speaker quality, helped the music remain undistorted and crisp.

The long and short of it is that these headphones delivered a noticeable improvement in how my music sounded. Limited as I was by bitrate, this morning I still found myself listening to songs I thought I knew backward and forward only to discover harmonies, whispers, guitar fills and background percussion which I had missed before. I considered an ambitious plan to re-encode my music with improved quality – but that would take a lot of time. For those of you who were wise enough to encode your music at a level that maintained some sound quality or, better yet, if you still listen to portable music from CD, you will be able to get the most out of these headphones.

As for the durability issue, Monster seems to acknowledge that, no matter what protective measures they put in place, there will come a day when you break these headphones. It’s a fact of life that Monster attempts to circumvent with the one-time replacement warranty covering damaged caused by the owner. I’ve never heard of a warranty like that, but I imagine I will definitely be taking advantage of it at some point in the future.

The Monster Turbine Pros are available for $249.95.

-    Matt O.

Hands-On with the New Sonos CR200 Controller and BU250 Digital Music Bundle

If you're not familiar with what a multiroom music system is, here's the short version: multiroom music systems allow you to take digital music from a single source, such as your PC, and play it on one or more other sources. The simplest types of these will be, say, an AV receiver that can connect to your home wireless network and stream music off of your PC or laptop. On the other end of the spectrum, you have Sonos.

Sonos is a system that lets you stream music from multiple sources or the Internet and play it on any attached source in your home. While the field of multiroom music systems is starting to grow, particularly in the last year with new products from Linksys by Cisco and Philips, Sonos was one of the first to really figure out the ecosystem--and it's still one of the best. Many multiroom music products require special software, wireless network configuration, or even hardware installation, but Sonos is essentially a drop-in ecosystem for wireless music. It requires no setup beyond attaching your speakers and registering your units, doesn't need to be linked to your existing network, and will work with any product that can connect to it (i.e., most anything). It's completely modular, supporting anywhere from one to 32 zones (rooms); if you want to expand your wireless music network, just plug in another receiving unit and the proprietary mesh network will immediately "see" and configure it for you. Other products can give you this functionality, but we've always liked Sonos for its complete no-brainer setup.

Then last October they upped the ante even further when Sonos went out on a limb and released a free Controller app for the iPhone. The app complelely replicates the functionality of the then-current CR100 Controller, which itself cost several hundred dollars. Rather than an attempt to cannibalize their own sales, the idea was to give the general public a taste of how Sonos works--Sonos is one of the leaders in the multiroom music field, but even now it's still a pretty small field. Their gamble worked, as the app was downloaded by many, many more people than there were Sonos units out in the wild. CNET pronounced the iPhone app interface, which differed substantially from that of the CR100, "better than the system's own [controller]", going so far as to say, "It will definitely make you want to ditch the CR100 after you've used the app for a while."

But the developers at Sonos had another trick up their sleeve: the iPhone app was actually the interface to be loaded onto their newest controller, the CR200. At half the size of the CR100, the CR200 runs more or less the exact same software as the Sonos iPhone app. And with its 3.5-inch, oleophobic, full-color LCD touchscreen and adjustable LED backlighting, it clearly took design inspiration from a certain Apple-y device. The CR200 is the core of the updated Sonos starter bundle, the BU250.

The BU250 consists of the CR200, one ZonePlayer 120, and one ZonePlayer 90. The ZonePlayers are the receiving units, differentiated by the fact that the ZP120 has an amplifier and just needs passive speakers hooked up to it, while the ZP90 doesn't have an amp and is a simple receiving unit. The bundle also comes with the Desktop Controller software, which gives you a similar interface of controlling the system on your PC. It's not driver software, and you don't have to install it for the system to work, it's just there as an extra option. The BU250 bundle is enough to create two zones of wireless music. (One will have to be attached to an existing system since the ZP90 doesn't have an amplifier.)

Setup consists of this entirely:

1. Unbox the devices. Charge the Controller if needed in the included cradle.
2. Connect the ZP90 to your PC or whereever your digital music lives. Plug it in.
3. Connect speakers to the ZP120 anywhere in your home. Plug it in.
4. Turn on the Controller, select "Set Up Your Sonos System" and follow the on-screen instructions.
5. That's it.

Because it runs on its own wireless mesh network, you don't have to configure it to work with your wireless system. You don't really have to configure it at all, beyond naming your zones and linking or unlinking them, and signing in to one of the many compatible digital music services like Rhapsody and Pandora. I've been living with the BU250 for a couple of weeks now and it has required no maintenance--software updates happen automatically, and I've had no issues with devices "falling off" my home network, as I've had with some similar multiroom systems in the recent past.

One of the key questions here is: If you already have an exising Sonos system such as the BU150, is it worth the upgrade? The CR100 is still a pretty handy controller in its own right, so replacing it's really up to the "wow" factor of the CR200.  (Also it's worth nothing that the CR200 comes with its own charging cradle--the CR100 cradle had to be bought separately.) You're not really getting a suite of completely new and different features, just a better method of controlling them. 

However, it's a must-have if you're only just getting into multiroom music systems, or expanding an existing Sonos system; nobody's really figured out the digital distribution game like Sonos, and each iteration of the series gets noticeably better. The CR200's screen quality, size, and ease of control don't really have an immediate peer in this space, which is kind of odd since many of Sonos' competitors are at the same price points.

The Sonos CR200 Controller has an MSRP of $349, and the Sonos BU250 bundle has an MSRP of $999. Both are available now.

--Aric A.

New MediaSmart Home Servers with Improved Mac and Media Functionality

The nicely compact HP MediaSmart home server.

The new Mac interface.

As mentioned in last week's roundup of Apple news, HP just released updated versions of its MediaSmart home server line--the EX490 with a 1 TB hard disk drive and the EX495 with a 1.5 TB drive. If you're not familiar with the concept, a home server provides much of the same functionality as an external hard drive connected to one of your home computers--you can store media files for accessing by the connected PC as well as other computers on the network and back up your PC's hard drive. Where the home server differs is how it's connected. Instead of being attached to a single PC via USB, the home server connects to your home network's router using Ethernet. This in turn provides you more flexibility for accessing content and backing up files from all of your home computers as well as providing a gateway to accessing files remotely while outside your home.

As noted, both models come with a goodly amount of storage to start you off (either 1 TB or 1.5 TB). But with the growing amount of digital storage home users require for storing digital media files--especially as we move into a brave new world of TV and movies downloaded from the Internet--both MediaSmart servers provide three additional bays for plugging in optional extra hard drives for up to 7 more terabytes of storage. But wait, there's more... Using the four USB ports and one eSATA port, you can connect additional external hard drives for a grand total of 17 TB of internal and external storage.

Back in early 2008, I got to play around with HP's Media Vault mv2120--a smaller version of the MediaSmart server line that offered just one additional hard drive bay. The installation and swapping of hard drives from that open drive bay was easy peasy, and I enjoyed using it for the most part. At the time, our household was a mixed PC/Mac environment, and my wife got the most use out of it as she was the Windows user of the family and the mv2120 only did automated backups from Windows machines. I could manually back up files from my Mac--including an iTunes library that could be shared--but that was it. We also had to use the Windows PC to perform most of the management and maintenance as the web control interface was limited.

HP made great strides at improving functionality for Mac users with its previous MediaSmart release at Macworld earlier this year (the EX485), with compatibility for Time Machine backups--but, it was subsequently discovered that while you could recover individual files, you couldn't do a full system restore.

However, the new EX490/EX495 models now offer full recovery from Time Machine as well as some additional functionality that Mac users have been yearning for from HP's MediaSmarts. TUAW has the overview:

HP obviously listened to the concerns of Mac users while designing the new servers, since a Windows PC is no longer required in order for administration. Instead, Mac owners can use Microsoft's new Remote Desktop Connection for Mac 2.0 to log in and make changes. The servers are also Time Machine friendly, and include a new HP utility that allows bare metal recovery of machines backed up onto the server. Also new to the servers is the HP Media Collector, which automatically collects and organizes media files from Macs or PCs on a network, and then makes the data available for streaming over the Internet.

Additionally, the MediaSmart now includes a video converter software that, according to the press release, "automatically converts videos, including unprotected DVDs, into a format that can be played at the home or remotely. Users are able to control how their videos are converted by selecting the device the video will be played on or choosing specific video settings using the advanced controls features."

And, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, HP provides a free app (downloadable from the iTunes Store) that enables you to stream your photo, music and video libraries wherever you have an Internet connection. Other improvements to the new lineup include more powerful processors (2.2 GHz Celeron for the EX490 and a 2.5 GHz dual-core Pentium for the EX495) and improved web-based administration interface. I've been dabbling with some research into Mac-friendly home servers recently--now that my wife has inherited my old MacBook Pro--that could handle effortless Time Machine backups as well as provide better media serving to all of our Mac-based machines (including an Apple TV). I'd been focusing on the good potential offered by Iomega's new NAS solution, the StorCenter ix4-200d, but I think I'll be investing in one of the new MediaSmarts this fall.

For more on the new crop, check out this hands-on review as well as a review of the Mac-friendly features over at MediaSmarthome. Both the EX490 and EX495 are shipping now.

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Amazon.com Launches AmazonBasics: Private-Label Electronics Accessories

Amazon.com has just announced that it will be retailing a selection of branded basic electronics accessories, dubbed "AmazonBasics".  Starting with blank CDs/DVDs and audio/video cables, AmazonBasics will be a growing line of accessory products that combine quality and value.

From the press release:

SEATTLE

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 19, 2009--

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the launch of AmazonBasics (www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics), a new private-label collection of consumer electronic “basics” created for customers who want exceptional value. The AmazonBasics line currently includes audio video cables and blank DVD media, with additional accessories and other items to be added in the coming months.

“We saw an opportunity to create a line of consumer electronics basics that combine quality and low prices for an overall focus on value,” said

Paul Ryder

, vice president of Consumer Electronics for

Amazon.com

. “We drew on our history of developing other private-label brands and combined that with our mission to give customers the ultimate in selection and value. AmazonBasics is the result. We will continue to gather input from customers and evaluate opportunities for new products under the AmazonBasics brand. We aim to offer our customers as wide a selection as possible, and we think AmazonBasics makes a great addition to the brands we already carry.”

The AmazonBasics line currently features a growing assortment of blank DVD media, cables and accessories, which are available now in the U.S. on www.amazon.com, with plans to introduce the line on Amazon’s international sites over the coming months.

All AmazonBasics products ship in Amazon.com’s Frustration-Free Packaging (www.amazon.com/frustration-free), which is easy-to-open and made from recyclable cardboard, alleviating plastic clamshells, wire ties and excessive packaging. AmazonBasics products are eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping or

FREE Two-Day Shipping

with Amazon Prime (www.amazon.com/prime). Like all products sold on

Amazon.com

, customers can compare prices, do research, read customer reviews and see what other customers have purchased after viewing these products. AmazonBasics products include a one-year warranty.

Read the full press release here, or browse our AmazonBasics Store.

--Aric A.