I appreciate the design aesthetics of Bang & Olufsen, even if it at times seem a little stark. If one thing can be said about them, it’s their dedication to hardware design complimenting functionality. This is the case with their American bound BeoVision 7. You get the top of the line 40″ LCD TV with one of those cool simulated 7.1 channel surround audio systems. All this wrapped in the obligatory metals and glass rising from a motorized floor stand.
How much? Try $13,250 for the basic package. My my, it must be nice to burn hundred dollar bills so easily.
The new 40″ and 46″ MultiSync 20 Series HDTVs by NEC can go down on my list of totally hot must haves of the year. Both sets offer 1366 x 768 resolutions and enough ports to make any PC or TV user happy. That’s DVI, VGA, coax, HDMI, RCA, S-video, and a serial port all in one. Of course a lot of TV sets offer all the above amenities but NEC 1ups them by using new pixel technology called CV12. Essentially, instead of your typical square pixel, they’re chevron shaped (triangular). This allows amazing depth and clarity when it comes to color and curves in images.
Bad news is these bad boys will set you back $4,400 and $6,300 respectively. Look out for them end of June.
The undeniable leader in plasma technology, Pioneer recently unvieled their 8th generation plasma TVs. These new models sport the latest plasma technologies with 80% deeper black levels, mind boggling 20,000:1 contrast ratios and full HD 1,920 x 1080 resolutions. They’ll be offered in sizes from 42 - 60 inches this September. No price was mentioned but expect to pay a pretty penny. Now excuse me while I go wipe the drool off my mouth.
Fred Rated, the spokesperson/advertiser/random crap extraordinare, has done over one thousand commercials for the tech product chain store The Federated Group, and his advertising contract lasted for six years. The once large chain, with a force of 14 stores that grew to 78 different locations stationed in five states, had a huge increase in sales after the Fred Rated commercials started airing. Shadoe Stevens, the man behind the over-the-top and occasionally ridiculous television ads, has always been a genius marketer, and this legendary advertising campaign is probably the best example.
Now, sit back and watch these video montages of the best Fred Rated ads ever, and finally realize what your life was missing- store ads that made you laugh (or cry). Why doesn’t Best Buy, Fry’s Electronics, Circuit City, or any other electronic store have this much awesome in their ads? The world may never know.
If you can still look yourself in the mirror after watching that commercial collage, then please watch this one too:
Have a Zune? If you join ZuneReactor, you can get an unlimited supply of media for an annual fee of $39.96, or even pay the current introductory price of $29.46! As always, don’t jump aboard this site of lecherous pirates without doing some research, unless you love throwing money at people (send me some).
As if this site didn’t already seem illegitimate, all of the links that should lead to the list of artists, shows, and movies that they have to offer just direct the browser towards the “buy it now!” page. As a matter of fact, the site kind of resembles the misleading nature of gym memberships, porn web sites, and school.
Even if I did have a Zune, I probably wouldn’t trust this site without seeing a list of available media and first-hand hearsay from satisfied customers. But seriously, this site sounds great, no doubt a product of smart advertising from money-hungry web-hooligans:
Download as many songs, HD-quality movies, and tv shows as you want for your Zune MP3/Video Player, plus get unlimited access to all the latest Zune downloads as soon as they are released. With ZReactor, all the best content for your Zune is just a click away. Get an unlimited access pass and start downloading your favorite videos, music, themes, pictures, and more for your Zune in just a few minutes.
Sounds scandalous. At the very least, if the site is legit but has a subpar selection of media, you get a copy of Zune Converter Pro for free. Can anyone attest to this site’s quality?
The Apple TV has been out for less than a week and already the thing has been ripped, hacked and tweaked to do the things existing computers already do. Yes, the $300 price tag looks nice but if you’re like me and prefer convenience over confusion, then the Mac Mini might be perfect for you.
For the past couple weeks I’ve been building my own entertainment center using only a handful of tools and the outcome thus far has been more than pleasant. I wanted a set up that could download TV shows, rip movies and output at a crisp resolution … you know, like an AppleTV.
Now I would like to share the steps, equipment and software I went with to complete construction on my first media center and if it’s worth putting together over buying the AppleTV.
The Digital Television Transition Coalition (DTTC) announced their dedication on Wednesday to ensuring that all television viewers will still be able to rot their brains when the U.S. goes to all digital broadcasts in February 2009. The group promised to use public service announcements and community-based campaigns to educate the public on the switch from analog to digital. Hopefully they will not consult Best Buy employees to explain the difference. Analog signals will no longer be broadcast over the air after Feb. 17, 2009, and over 90 million boob tubes are currently incapable of receiving digital signals. Who wants to buy a new tv?
Thankfully, those unable to purchase a new television or pony up the cash for cable or satellite will not be left in the dark. No baby boom in 2010 after all. Federal vouchers totaling $1.5 billion will help the poor and elderly make the transition by providing them with the dough to purchase digital-to-analog converter boxes. It’s probably no coincidence that a portion of the Coalition is made up of consumer electronics vendors, as those digital-to-analog converters will conveniently be available at your friendly neighborhood electronic store.
The first step taken by the DTTC was launching a Web site, which is sure to help educate the poor and elderly on getting the necessary tech to upgrade their televisions. The next logical step is probably to broadcast PSAs on HD channels. I just hope the group gets their act together, because if those old people can’t watch their game shows come 2009, there’s going to be an uprising. For the lucky few who don’t know, a cane to the kneecap really hurts.
If you’re anything like me you have always thought of in car TV/DVD players as some what of a novelty. I mean sure they are useful when you go on a long road trip and want to bring along a DVD to watch, but for those shorter rides it’s more of a hassle then a help. The problem is that you’re limited to your own DVD library.
Well the company WI-FI TV is looking to change all of that by attempting to integrate their existing WI-FI TV technology into cars and cell phones. Currently WI-FI has a Web site set up so that users can upload videos and watch existing stations through their computer. Kind of like a Youtube with the added feature of stations.
The site itself is relatively new and doesn’t provide many details yet, but it’s nice to know that we are moving in the right direction.
Building a media center is something that can take a lot of time, effort and above all else: money. So testing the foundation before building the house makes sense right? Right.
Finding the right cables that work for you can, if not anything else, be a real pain in the rear. Thats why we’re sacrificing our hard earned paychecks testing this stuff so you don’t have to. (insert smiley face)
This review is actually just a portion of a much larger walkthrough for building your own media center and doing it for under $1400. But since that project is taking much longer than expected, please enjoy this quick review of one of the basic components. (more…)
