Toshiba used its pre-CES party to reveal its Blu-ray player range for 2013, which will be released under new Media Box branding. The range is much more compact than the average Blu-ray player, and will support Toshiba's new "Cloud TV" Smart TV platform. The slot-loading optical drive, slim dimensions and rounded edges are all part of Toshiba's new uniform design scheme, which is consistent across the entire range. The glowing circular power button is also appearing on Toshiba's upcoming TVs and audio products, in the hope that it will give the brand better recognition with customers. We liked its minimal approach, although the more budget-friendly models have a more traditional slot-loading optical drive. If you splash out on the top end Media Box 6400, you'll get integrated Wi-Fi and Miracast wireless streaming, as well as DLNA support and Toshiba's CEVO 4K quad+dual core ultra-high definition upscaling chip. It promises to improve Blu-ray video when connected to a 4K TV, although we have yet to put it through its paces. Also present is the Cloud TV platform - Toshiba has signed up to the Smart TV alliance, meaning it now supports a greater range of apps, and has added a selection of its own including a family messaging system and interactive calendar. It looks much slicker than previous iterations, although there are plenty of extra apps for us to test before we can give our judgement. The new design is a radical departure for Toshiba, but we think it's one that will pay off - some of its new Blu-ray players are verging on Apple-like levels of simplicity and style. Unfortunately we don't yet know when each of the new models will be available, or for how much - Toshiba's representatives weren't able to tell us, but that may change over the course of CES. ___________________ Russell77
