Just when the U.S. was getting used to 16:9 televisions, Phillips is showing off its new 56-inch 21:9 aspect ratio LCD television. If the numbers mean nothing to you, it just means really, really wide-screen television. The first number is the width, the second is the height (width:height).

HDTV is in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Not many movies are in built for that. That’s why you’ll still see black bars on the top and bottom of video even on widescreen televisions. Phillips’ super widescreen will eliminate some of those lines. Sounds like a great idea to watch movies. The only problem? Video formatted for HDTV will have black bars on the left and right of the picture.

If you go onto YouTube today you may notice something different and although you may be a regular visitor, you could still not notice for half an hour like me. If you don’t want me to spoil it for you (assuming you didn’t read the title of this post) run off to www.youtube.com and see if you can spot anything different, but for those who don’t like a challenge, who are lazy, or never go on YouTube here it is…

YouTube has finally gone widescreen.

If the just released Flip Mino HD would be available in any of the local stores in the country where I’m currently residing, I would certainly not hesitate in getting this as a gift to myself. In fact, I might even get another one for my son. The Flip Mino may be so cool and attractive enough to get you to buy it even before you take a look at its specs. In fac,t you don’t have to worry about the specs, as you would certainly not be short changed in this department.

The Flip Mino HD is Pure Digital’s take on HD-capable camcorder market. And instead of clashing with the other HD-capable camcorders in coming out with their own units touting support for large-capacity storage SD cards, Pure Digital opted to use built-in 4GB flash memory only. For some camcorder users this would be enough for a one-hour video which they can easily upload to YouTube or other video sharing sites. Find out more after the break.

Last week, Mark Rollins covered Vuzix’s widescreen head mounted display. I recently got a chance to play with the AV310, their widescreen portable viewer.

What’s Cool: Picture this: you are on a train or an airplane and you don’t want to talk to that stranger sitting next to you. You have noticed headphones no longer guarantee privacy. That is where the Vuzix AV310 comes into play. Putting the Vuzix AV310 on is like putting a big “Do Not Disturb” sign on your face.

More on Vuzix’s AV310 after the break.

Toshiba has added the 17.1-inch laptop, the L355D-S7819 to its existing Satellite L350 series. The Satellite L355SD-S7819 is bringing multimedia features and high-speed processing power with AMD’s advanced family of dual-core processors. Sweetest deal is, the L355SD-S7819 will sell at an affordable price, starting at $749.99. The Toshiba Satellite L355SD-S7819 packs a 17.1-inch diagonal widescreen more »

Toshiba has announced that it has updated its highly successful A200 series laptops with even more options for users to have their preferred computing machines at an affordable price. The A200 series now begins at just $600, but keep in mind that price tag is just for base model, and you may want a more powerful laptop once you get the feel of the Toshiba A200 series.

For $600 you’ll get an A215 series model that has a 15.4-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, a 1.9 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, DVD SuperMulti drive, ATI Radeon X1200 with 128MB for graphics and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g as well as the usual array of ports. Moving up but still an A215 model, you can get a 2.0 GHz processor along with 2GB of RAM and a 200GB hard drive for $749.

BenQ wants to define a new lifestyle trend in the design of computer hardware. And as an opening salvo, BenQ has released the 24-inch V2400W widescreen LCD. Fresh from receiving the iF Design Award, which is given to elite computer companies for their outstanding design, the BenQ V2400W gives a sneak peek at BenQ’s newly evolved Kinergy Design, that almost mimic a B-2 stealth bomber.

BenQ claims the V2400W LCD as the thinnest 24-inch widescreen LCD, with only 2.44-inches at its thickest point. This measures more than 21% of the next thinnest LCD monitor available in the market today. It has blue-LED and touch controls that adds to its elegant appearance. And how about durability? Was this not taken for granted in place of design and aesthetic features? Definitely not, as the LCD’s stand can fully support the 24-inch widescreen and even provide flexibility for adjusting viewing angles. This was made possible by the precise torque and friction applied between the metallic parts of the hinges.

Dell’s got a spanking new 20-inch widescreen flat panel LCD monitor. Based on the specs it should offer exceptional color accuracy, the Dell UltraSharp 2009W display is fully adjustable even down to the tiniest detail. Just by looking at the 2009W LCD monitor, you’d immediately know that underneath its elegant look are high end technology features waiting to be used and explored. The 20-inch size may not be enough for your personal widescreen viewing pleasure, but it is definitely more than enough to answer everyone’s need for additional workspace in their desktop computing needs.