Inkel is offering folks in South Korea the VR-654BD Blu-ray player, which comes equipped with a built-in 7.1-channel AV receiver for your home theater system. Of course there’s Blu-ray and DVD support, but the device also features USB 2.0 connectivity as well.

Some other features include the ability to handle DivX and XviD file format playback straight from a USB flash drive, DB Live 2.0, and an integrated FM tuner radio. It should hit the South Korea market by the end of this month for $600. We may see it elsewhere soon after.

Pioneer’s VSX-920-K, VSX-1020-K and VSX-1120-K 7.1-channel systems for the iPhone and iPod are being readied for their release this May and June. All come with a compatible USB port which will play Apple devices and charge them.

The 1020-K and 1120-K come with support for the iControlAV app (available for free in the App Store) which will steer the receivers, including multiple audio or video zones, balance tuning and input selection. Aside from that, all three feature an iPhone Control button which offers control on the touchscreen display instead of the receiver.

Philips is the latest company to out an HD PVR. The HDT8520 HD recorder is a sleek design and holds 500 GB of storage space. That’s 125 minutes of HD video. It can live pause TV and has a three hour buffer limit so you won’t miss your favorite TV shows.

Some other features include DD5.1 audio support, parental locking, 8-day EPG and a power consumption capacity of under 1W in standby mode. There’s 1080p HD up-scaling, and USB and Ethernet ports for enhanced connectivity. Philips has also introduced a slim receiver called the DTR5520, which offers superior sound and great quality picture.

The Onyko TX-SR608 receiver is the latest receiver from the company. It will arrive next month for $599 and for that price you get six, count em six, HDMI 1.4 inputs and the ability to upscale lower resolution video to 1080p.

All six HDMI 1.4 inputs are capable of passing 3D video as well, with one of the inputs located on the front. All HD audio formats are able to be decoded, and it uses 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown DACs. Dual subwoofer outputs and 7 x 160W output is an upgrade over the previous TX-SR607 model, which only had 90 watts per channel.

3D is a real pain in the ass. First, all of this new fancy 3D equipment is costing you a lot. But it’s not just the price. Your receivers can’t pass 3D signals because they aren’t equipped with HDMI 1.4. Here’s some more bad news. Only one of Sony’s 4 new receivers supports 3D.

The 7.1 channel, 110W STR-DN1010 will be Sony’s “affordable” 3D receiver. It will cost you $500 when it becomes available this June. It’s the first to support HDMI 1.4 3D pass-through technology over 4 HDMI ports.

If you have been shopping for some new gear for your home theater this is the week to be in the market. The CEDIA Expo is going on this week which means just about everyone capable of making home theater gear is pulling out their new wares.

Harmon Kardon has announced a new AV receiver that uses the latest components for good sound. The device is called the AVR 7550HD and features a TI Aureus DA710 audio digital-signal processor. The receiver has HDMI 1.3a with deep color capability and support pass through of 1080p signals.

Onkyo has unveiled a new home AV receiver that means business. It’s the company’s first that includes Pandora, Rhapsody, and Sirius streaming internet radio support. The Onyko TX-NR807 supports DLNA 1.5 media streaming, for playback of media stored on networked computers and drives, along with six HDMI ports, Faroudja DCDi Cinema 1080p upscaling and both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

You’ll also get Audyssey DSX soundstage extension processing and support for MP3, WMA, FLAC, Lossless, Ogg Vorbis and AAC files, a bi-directional remote control, ethernet port and 7.1 surround sound. There’s more. The TX-NR807 also supports multi-room audio, with powered zone two and three options and a serial port for system integration and more.

One of my all-time favorite mobile mice for notebooks is the Logitech VX Nano. The reason I liked the mouse so much was that it had a tiny Nano receiver that was so small you didn’t even need to unplug it to pack up your notebook.

Logitech has announced a new Nano receiver called the Logitech Unifying Receiver that eliminates the need for multiple wireless receivers when used with compatible peripherals. The tiny receiver protrudes from the USB port only 8mm and can connect with up to six different Logitech wireless peripherals.

Marantz has introduced an entry-level AV receiver in the NR1501. List priced at $600, the AV receiver comes with four HDMI inputs, onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and analog video upconversion.

The NR1501 is a tad smaller than most receivers. The NR1501 has an onscreen display, but it’s the basic white text on a black, while many receivers in this price range feature full graphical user interfaces.There are also no 7.1 analog inputs, multizone functionality, or satellite radio connections.

The TwoNav Aventura GPS receiver is interesting as it can accept virtually any kind of map without running into compatibility issues. It would be a good tool for those who want to scan and calibrate any type of map prior to uploading. The Aventura comes with a 3.5″ touchscreen display that will serve you for both handheld and automobile use.

It also has pre-loaded Tele Atlas maps and topo maps for most of the countries where it is sold. The display can be rotated in portrait or landscape mode. It’s also rainproof and powered by a SiRFStar III chipset, offering an SDHC memory card slot, an electronic compass, a barometric altimeter and it will provide up to 20 hours of battery life.

There are lots of iPod accessories on the market today and the bulk of them may work with the iPod, but they are not iPhone compatible. That means when you plug them in you get that message on your iPhone screen saying you can’t make calls.

Pioneer has announced a new line of A/V receivers that are designed to work with both the iPhone and the iPod touch. The VSX-819AH, VSX-919AH and VSX-1019AH receivers are all certified for the “Works with iPhone” and “Made for iPod” line of products.

Some new Pioneer receivers were caught talking at CES 2009 about how they want to hook-up with iPods and how they require Apple’s standard USB data cable to do so. The VSX series receivers won’t kill you in the wallet too badly, and they have features that I’m sure you will want, including out-of-the-box compatibility with iPods.

Just hook up your iPod or iPhone to the USB jack in front of the receiver and you’re ready. All you need to do is kick back, listen and check out the album art. The receiver remote also offers full control of your iPod, but surprisingly,(This may hurt sales) there’s no support for playing video off your iPod except for the VSX-919 and VSX-1019AH, the two models on the high end of the budget-minded VSX line.