It was only a matter of time, really. Remember when Media Center Extenders were all the rage (yeah, for around ten minutes) at CEDIA 2007? Remember how everyone balked at paying $350 for one when you could just buy an Xbox 360 for the same amount and get two things in one? Apparently those "everyones" were right, as Linksys' slow-selling DMA2200 Media Extender has sunk from $349.99 on day one to $94.99 today at NewEgg. Quite honestly, this thing looks about 8.98 times sexier with its slim new sticker -- anyone thinking of getting into Extenders now that the barrier to entry is all but gone?

[Via Slashgear]

We've already heard that Best Buy is aiming to spruce up its entire home theater department while undercutting Walmart, and now we're hearing that Panasonic individually is looking to stores more like Best Buy to sell its products. In a rather bizarre move, Panny is reportedly aiming to "tighten distribution" of its products by ditching dealers who add no value (and sell cheap) and sending more product to retailers who are willing to "implement Panasonic's stricter marketing policies and programs" (and sell high). Without getting caught up in the minutiae, what this essentially means is that it'll be harder for independently informed consumers to find Panny products on the cheap, but it'll be easier for the technologically illiterate to find Panny dealers surrounded by informed CSRs and information packets. It's possible that the company is simply trying to improve its image and appeal only to a certain class of people, but for those of us smart enough to do our own research beforehand, it looks like we'll be shopping other brands. Your loss, Panny.

Our hearts were aflutter at the sight of a new Kaleidescape product today, but alas, it wasn't the fabled Blu-ray player we were hoping for. Instead, we're getting the cutely named Mini System, which bills itself as a complete multi-zone entertainment server for those with oodles of cash and a thing for ease-of-use. The device is the company's first to combine the player and server functionality into one unit, and it's also the firm's first product to ship with a remote control. With installation "as ease as an ordinary DVD player," the system contains space for DVD and CD storage as well as a main "Player" zone and two music zones; those wishing to expand things can tack on more Mini Systems or additional Players / Servers. Said system is available as we speak for a somewhat reasonable (by Kaleidescape standards) $7,995, and the 1080p Player, 1080p Mini Player and Disk Cartridges for the 1U, 3U and 5U Servers will all fall to $2,995, $1,995 and $995 (respectively) on March 16th in the United States.

We had a sinking feeling those promotional prices over the holidays wouldn't stick once Santa had done his duties, but rather than ratcheting price tags back up entirely, it has decided to permanently reduce the retail price on its standard VUDU movie set-top-box by half. As of now, prospective buyers can snag a box for $149 (down from $299), while the more capacious VUDU XL is dropping from $999 to $499 (and that'll include a gratis home theater connectivity software package). Also of note, the rack-mountable VUDU XL2 is stooping from $1,299 to $799 for those who prefer that form factor. So, these stickers low enough for you? Or are you really planning to wait 'til Christmas 2009 to score an even more special deal?

Some might say that a perpetually decreasing price tag could foreshadow certain doom. We aren't quite on that bandwagon yet, so instead, we'll simply point out that $99 out-the-door for a movie set-top-box capable of HD (and "Blu-ray rivaling" HDX) quality ain't a bad deal. VUDU's post-Christmas sale has actually ended up better than the one hosted up a few weeks back, with the previously required $50 in movie credits being removed entirely. Also of note, the VUDU + Wireless Kit is now available for just $148. So, are the new price points low enough for you, or are you waiting to see what CES might bring?

[Thanks, Ben]

We know it's a touch late to be ordering up a gift for unwrapping on the 25th, but this one just might be worth the IOU you'll likely be forced to give. VUDU's movie set-top-box, which typically goes for $299, is now priced at just $99 for a limited time. Of course, VUDU forces you to purchase $50 in movie credits along with it (thus the asterisk being applicable here), but it's not like you're just going to buy this and never watch anything, right? There's also a bundle that includes a Wireless Kit at 50% off (now just $49), making the grand total for a VUDU, $50 in movie credits and a Wireless Kit only $198. Let's just say now is about the time to buy if you've been holding off on a VUDU -- we hear those HDX titles are mighty tasty!

[Thanks, Rob]

Missed your opportunity to score a low-cost Blu-ray player on Black Friday? Worried senseless about how you're ever going to get a BD deck for that special someone at a price you can stomach? Chill, please -- you're making us all anxious around here. As you can see above, Target is planning to slash the price on the Olevia BD-100 starting Sunday to a totally delicious $149.99. Granted, the cut is slated to be for "a limited time" only, but that's all the time you need to get in, right?

Despite the mass media crying their hearts out about how dreadful sales would be on Black Friday, things actually turned out pretty good. 'Course, we suspect that had just a wee bit to do with how deep the discounts were on big ticket items, and a new report from iSuppli suggests that the premium brands peeled back the furthest. Yeah, Sony was talking tough about keeping its prices high, but it was still one of the six top-tier brands that slashed LCD prices 23% on average for the Black Friday weekend. Lower-cost manufacturers like Vizio and Westinghouse dropped their prices only 19%, though analysts are expecting the decline in prices to remain steady or fall even more as the end of 2008 draws near. If you've been holding off, there's never a time like the present...

[Image courtesy of SanDiegoHomeBlog]

Generally, we wouldn't bother covering that Wally World was moving Blu-ray Discs at a discount -- after all, isn't that store like the low price leader or something? But this just reeks of something different. This just reeks of change, and we certainly hope it's a sign of things to come. With Black Friday far behind us, Walmart has seen fit to start selling a few Lionsgate (read: non-sucky) BDs for $10 each, and the news comes just days after one reporter questioned when Blu-ray software would fall more in line with the hardware in terms of dollars. Really, every other retailer out there has to pay attention to this should Walmart start to drastically undercut the rest in terms of BD pricing, so here's hoping the store puts even more at the $10 level, and soon.

[Thanks, Joel]

We've already seen that a number of retailers will be offering Vizio HDTVs on the cheap this Friday (or Black Friday, as the in-crowd calls it these days), but the company is stealing a bit of their thunder by announcing cuts from the top a few days early. Vizio's 19-inch VA19 LCD will be offered for just $199.99 at Costco through December 7th, while the 32-inch VP322 plasma (pictured) will go for $437 at Walmart starting today. There's also the 37-inch VW37 LCD HDTV for $499.99 at Costco, the 32-inch 1080p VOJ32LF LCD for $559.99 at Sears and the 42-inch 1080p VS420 for $698 at Sam's Club. If none of these sets float your boat, check out our condensed guide to Black Friday: HD style for something more to your liking.

It's impossible to know just how accurate Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch's director of North American TV market research, will be with his latest predictions, but we figured it prudent to pass along these figures if for nothing more than to look back and see just how right / wrong they were. With Black Friday 2008 hastily approaching, Mr. Gagnon has put out his assumptions of where prices will head on that fateful day. He reckons that a 19-inch LCD will be selling for just under two bills, while a 32-inch LCD HDTV will go for $399 to $499. For those seeking a big screen, we're hearing $799 to $999 for a 40-inch 1080p set, $599 to $699 for a 42-inch HD plasma (for realz?) and $899 to $999 for a 50-inch HD plasma. Mark 'em down folks, and make sure you're not utterly shocked if these end up being off by a buck or two (or more).

[Via Home Theater Mag, image courtesy of TeamSugar]

Those price drops you've been noticing are more than a figment of your imagination. In fact, they're very, very real. According to hot-off-the-press research from DisplaySearch, global TV internet pricing for TVs declined 22% on average this September compared to a year ago. More specifically, plasma prices sank (on average) 27%, while CRT stickers actually rose 4%. When looking at the all-important LCD TV category, we're told that prices in Europe declined the most at 30%, while China, North America and Japan were down 20 percent, 16 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Also of note, it was the big screen sets plummeting the most, as 52-inch LCD TVs sank nearly 30% year-over-year while 20-inch LCD TVs dropped just 4%. Oh, and we'd totally expect to see things head further south exactly one month from today -- at least in America.

[Via CNET, image courtesy of DayLife]

Just two weeks ago the Wall Street Journal was telling us that Blu-ray still hadn't arrived, players having an average price way up there at $350 and only 1.7 percent of households owning one. Now the WSJ is telling us to watch out for Black Friday, indicating that retailers have warehouses full of dusty old BD-Live-less players and will be slashing prices to get rid of them. Brick and mortar shops are also said to be cringing at the looming threat of digital distribution, which could be another factor driving low prices this holiday season. The $150 price point, which we've seen predicted elsewhere, is mentioned again, and with units on store shelves around the nation for well under $200 we just might be getting close to mass adoption of the format. Now, if only they could do something about those $30 movies...

Chi Mei Optoelectronics, one of the world's leading manufacturers of TFT-LCDs, is licking its wounds after announcing a staggering $125 million loss in Q3 of this year. Of course, it's not like this was difficult to see coming -- after all, those plummeting LCD prices that we consumers love so dearly have to be detested somewhere along the supply chain. At any rate, CMO's profit suffered a " three-fold decline compared to that in the same period last year," and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight for the free fall of LCD panel prices. President Ho Jau-yang asserted that the company would "review and modify its operational orientation" while "safeguarding liquidity" as it rode out the storm. We could be badly off, but we'd say the real beatings are yet to come.

[Image courtesy of GigaComputers]

Just over a month after the Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player fell to $229.99, Best Buy has now reduced it $30 further in order to compete with all those other recently reduced rivals. Best of all, the big box retailer is still throwing in that $100 coupon book for use on BD movies from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax, and even though there's no Profile 2.0, all the bare essentials are here. The best part of this news, however, isn't that we're seeing yet another sub-$200 Blu-ray player -- it's that this thing now has a real chance of being stickered at $150 or less on Black Friday. Gimme, gimme.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]