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This Multimedia Coffee Table reminds me of that spoof video mocking Microsoft Surface, the table-size PC you can now find at AT&T stores. In that vid, a narrator describes how amazing it would be to look at maps —...
POSTED Thursday, May 8, 2008
Looks like our parent company NBC has brushed aside iTunes for its online iPhone viewing, and gone directly to the people. If you navigate to NBC.com on your iPhone’s Safari browser, you can now watch full episodes of 30...
POSTED Thursday, May 8, 2008
Sony’s already into the digital picture frame biz, but now it busts out one that’s truly useful. The Canvas Online VGF-CP1 leaps into the next level with its Wi-Fi connectivity, opening up way-cool possibilities such as automagically showing your...
POSTED Wednesday, May 7, 2008
If your daughter has always wanted a horse of her very own to ride and take care of, but you're the type of OCD, animal-hating tyrant who couldn't stand to take care of an animal that defecates and needs constant...
POSTED Wednesday, May 7, 2008
When I decided to turn myself into the Video Rebel — eschewing all cable and satellite TV as well as Blu-ray discs and DVDs — the one thing I figured I’d miss the most in my cable-shunning, disc-free experiment...
POSTED Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Fast forward to the future: What will life be like without cable TV, Blu-ray discs and DVDs, or any other spinning, removable disc-style means of entertainment delivery? What if you downloaded all the titles you watched, and got everything...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
The BBC commissioned this novel idea that combines social networking with a digital radio, and the result is Olinda. It’s a normal digital radio until you remove its translucent orange cap, exposing a plug-in interface. You can add modules...
POSTED Monday, May 5, 2008
Apple pulled the trigger on the DVD industry today, announcing that movies will now be available on its iTunes Store on the same day they’re offered on DVD. Lining up for the deal are majors such as 20th Century...
POSTED Thursday, May 1, 2008
Look, I can kind of understand how some audiophiles justify spending a lot of money on fancy audio equipment, but don't they realize that the CD is a dying format? I mean, I'm sure this ridiculous-looking $12,000 CD player is...
POSTED Thursday, May 1, 2008
Now here's an interesting combo of gadgets: a radio with a removable MP3 player built in. The player is designed to record from the radio so you can listen to it from wherever you are. It's an interesting device,...
POSTED Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sharp announced a wireless option to its super-thin X-series LCD displays today. Sharp will incorporate Amimon WHDI (Wireless High Definition Interface) 1080p wireless tech into its thinnest flat panels, meaning you won't have to connect any cables to your...
POSTED Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Like it or not, LED color therapy is a thing. We've even been in a LED color therapy sauna (at InSpa World), though left unconvinced about the power of blue light vs. green light to make us "succeed" or...
POSTED Friday, April 25, 2008
When you think ring tones, you may not have a doorbell in mind, but why not? Now our quest to have Captain Picard’s doorbell sound in our very own abode has met with success, with a product that can...
POSTED Thursday, April 24, 2008
After a false start almost two years ago, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is talking more about a set-top box in the company’s future. In addition to dropping the bomb that prices will go up for Blu-ray discs on the...
POSTED Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Intempo Rebel is a new kind of FM radio. Available first in the UK, this nicely designed receiver records songs off the radio like a TiVo would, but it’s much smarter. Not only can it cut out the...
POSTED Monday, April 21, 2008
This has got to be a first. The Quadruple-Neck Guitar has now exploded on the scene, but the problem now is, who the heck will be able to do it justice? Contrary to the fake, musical-talent-free Guitar Hero paradigm,...
POSTED Friday, April 18, 2008
This unique sound bar is called The Hive, shaped as it is like a honeycomb cluster. Each segment of the speaker that you see is an individual unit that can be tilted and positioned independently, allowing you to set it...
POSTED Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Looking to keep your DVD collection hidden away from view yet still keep it accessible when you want to bust out that shameful copy of Tomcats that you own? Simple! Just turn a gigantic speaker into a makeshift shelving system....
POSTED Monday, April 14, 2008
This week the Hollywood Reporter reported that movie-rental chain Blockbuster is going to announce a set-top box for streaming movies sometime later this month. Its sourcing was anonymous, but PR for the company issued a coy non-denial, making it...
POSTED Sunday, April 13, 2008
On the one hand, this replica antique gas pump is pretty cool looking, and sticking an entertainment system inside is a unique proposition. On the other hand, the biggest TV it can hold is 13 inches, and it looks to...
POSTED Saturday, April 12, 2008
Some people want their gigantic TV to be the centerpiece of their living room, the object that immediately screams out for attention and says "look at me! I'm a gigantic TV!" Other people, however, just want their TV to blend...
POSTED Thursday, April 10, 2008
If you’ve ever had an aquarium in your bedroom, you know there must be some truth to the research that shows your blood pressure is lowered by the sight of fish swimming by. The $199 Sega Private Ocean Interactive...
POSTED Thursday, April 10, 2008
While some people insist on having their home theatre setup be the most conspicuous aspect of their living room, others would rather have it blend into the background, remaining invisible until it was needed. That's the idea behind the Zero...
POSTED Wednesday, April 9, 2008
With an African-American candidate looking like he may have a legitimate chance at making it into the White House, we recently decided it was time to review several seasons of the startlingly prescient TV show "24." After several weekends...
POSTED Wednesday, April 9, 2008
If you’re familiar with Singgih Kartino’s elegant wooden radios he’s designed for Areaware, you might like this newest iteration, the Magno Wooden Radio that’s much smaller than his original medium-sized creation. At $220 (available in July), it moves beyond a...
POSTED Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Pinnacle’s seen some success with its PCTV HD Sticks over the past year, letting you turn your PC into an HDTV and TiVo-like digital video recorder (DVR) for peanuts. But we weren’t really interested until now. The change? This...
POSTED Monday, April 7, 2008
Nowadays you can't walk around a busy area, college campus or get on a train or bus without seeing those familiar white earbuds. Yes, iPods are popular and we all know it, but when a company like Copulare decides...
POSTED Monday, April 7, 2008
Cue the parade, iHome has managed to do it again and innovate the iPod dock, kind of. The latest product from the iPod dock-maker is the iPod dock lamp. This is a nice addition because it helps eliminate desk...
POSTED Friday, April 4, 2008
Blu-ray officially won the format war against HD DVD more than six weeks ago. It's old news, but I'm still thinking about it. Ever since HD DVD died, commentators have been less than optimistic about Blu-ray's future. Just last...
POSTED Thursday, April 3, 2008
Thank goodness the lovely damsel — let’s call her Dawn — wrapped around this Pole Dancer Alarm Clock remains fully clothed, or else all your lady friends visiting your bedroom might think you’re a bit sleazy. Risking your stellar...
POSTED Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Since Blu-ray has won the high-def-disc format war, the HD DVD add-on that Microsoft released for the Xbox 360 has become completely obsolete. It only seems natural, therefore, for Microsoft to be working on a Blu-ray add-on for its console,...
POSTED Tuesday, April 1, 2008
No sooner had Comcast relented on its BitTorrent spoofing scandal than we see the cable company cutting corners elsewhere, now compressing HDTV shows so much that blocky noise is plainly visible on most of its HDTV channels. Trying to...
POSTED Monday, March 31, 2008
Look, I know that the future is coming, if it's not here already, and that's all very exciting. But come on. That doesn't mean it's time to start forcing it. Let it come naturally! Don't start designing things that look...
POSTED Saturday, March 29, 2008
When you’re not docking your iPhone or iPod into this iTam Tam, it looks like you can just dock your butt on it. But wait just a second. While it looks a bit like a stool, it’s not for...
POSTED Friday, March 28, 2008
The HDTV is usually the center of attention in a home theater, but a speaker set like Paul Scarfe's Aura could upstage it. Aura is cone speaker made with molded glass that produces exceptional sound. The glass is supposed...
POSTED Thursday, March 27, 2008
Maybe Blu-ray and HD DVD wasted too much time fighting it out for the consumer high-def disc market. “I think it’s too late for Blu-ray,” says Laurie Fincham, Chief Scientist at George Lucas’s THX, the standard bearer for only the...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Toshiba is working on a new universal remote that's a little different. It's a robot that'll learn how you interact with your house, rather than force you to program it. Let's say you picked up your remote to turn on...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Looking to record your favorite HD shows to a digital video recorder (HD DVR)? You’re not alone. As of December, 2007, 20% of U.S. households had a DVR, up from 12% at the beginning of the year. Your choices...
POSTED Wednesday, March 26, 2008
As a technology writer, I'm often asked what gear I've chosen to open my metaphorical wallet on. In many cases, though, my choices aren't necessarily the best in their class. For instance, I got cheap and bought a 50-inch...
POSTED Thursday, March 20, 2008
Bang and Olufsen make some pretty crazy remotes, but so far none of them creates the illusion of floating above the coffee table. And as far as we know, none controls the television without you having to touch it....
POSTED Wednesday, March 19, 2008
After reviewing several dozen iPod speaker systems over the last two years, I’ve discovered that, despite the incredible variety available, very few of them are worth your hard-earned cheese. Once in a long while, though, I hear a system...
POSTED Tuesday, March 18, 2008
There goes one more reason why dogs need masters. This tennis ball launcher will keep that mutt entertained for hours, with no effort required from you. Jerry the dachshund appears to be well-trained, not only to place the ball...
POSTED Monday, March 17, 2008
hulu, the NBC Universal and FOX-owned website that offers ad-supported movies and network TV shows, launched to the public this week. We should first note that NBC Universal also owns DVICE: in December we even gave out logins for...
POSTED Sunday, March 16, 2008
If you're under 25 you might find this tough to accept, but back in the '70s and '80s people used to actually pay good money to go sit in a tent, and watch a laser light show that was...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
The best-selling disc players aren’t high-def models like Blu-ray machines — they're upconverting DVD players. Those are regular DVD players that sport an HDMI output for easy connection to an HDTV (HDMI carries both audio and video). Oppo has...
POSTED Friday, March 14, 2008
This could be taking a note from Guitar Hero, but this oversized five-note keyboard is trying to make being a musician pretty easy. This keyboard goes by the name "Big Daddy" and is the work of Michael Robson. It...
POSTED Thursday, March 13, 2008
So you have a fancy HDTV, killer speaker system and plenty of game consoles? Think your home-entertainment center is pretty top-notch? Well, then there's not much left to do but slap a big, beautiful frame around your gear to...
POSTED Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The age-old conundrum of deciding between something that's highly functional or highly stylish is back again, but this time it's in the speaker department. This is kind of like deciding between the classic supercar and something a little more...
POSTED Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Available in Japan since December, the Wii Fit is scheduled for a spring release Stateside. We couldn't wait that long. Determined to check out the Wii Fit early, we went to Chinatown in New York City to search for a Japanese version. Mission accomplished. But is it any good? Vanessa has the verdict.
POSTED Friday, March 7, 2008
Standing four feet tall, the Ferrari Art.Engine has something that real Ferraris have, besides a shiny red paint job: Power. It's equipped with its own amplifier, so you can just plug in your disc player, iPod or MP3 player,...
POSTED Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The VirtualGT personal racing simulator is an arcade-style machine that'll let you live out your dreams of professional racing right in the comfort of your own home. To spice the experience up and give it a bit of personalization, however,...
POSTED Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Making hi-fi speakers with drivers fashioned from woven hemp fibers might sound a bit like the plot for a long lost Cheech & Chong movie. The people behind Omega Speaker Systems however, will insist that the HempCone drivers they...
POSTED Monday, March 3, 2008
When Warner Bros. announced in early January that it was pulling the plug on the release of HD DVD discs and going solely with Blu-ray, everyone could read the writing on the wall without even squinting. Last week, speculation...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sony put on a big bash in Las Vegas this week, showing off its latest wares in its Annual Product Showcase, and we were there, snooping around just for you. The company was strutting around like a barnyard rooster,...
POSTED Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sony ships its MDR-NC500D headphones on March 21, touted as groundbreaking technology. The company sent us a pair just before we hopped on a plane to the annual Sony Open House in Las Vegas, inviting us to take a...
POSTED Wednesday, February 27, 2008
One wonders how many Eidos 20 BD Blu-ray DVD players Goldmund plans to sell. Granted the company lives in the high-end-equipment space, but seriously folks, what’s up with the price? Yes, this is a very posh Blu-ray player with...
POSTED Tuesday, February 26, 2008
This "Stringless Pleasure" stereo system is a combination of home theatre equipment and furniture, combining a high-end stereo setup with shelving for holding your CDs and things of that nature. Yes, this fancy offering was designed by the architect Chi-wing...
POSTED Tuesday, February 26, 2008
So HD DVD is officially dead, and we're more than a little pleased— as of a few months ago there was no end in sight for this tiresome format war. Last week teary commenters were bemoaning the death of...
POSTED Sunday, February 24, 2008
HD DVD is flopping about in the last of its death throes — player and disc prices are down across the board as anything HD DVD is headed for massive 30%-50% sales and bargain bins. For most consumers, however,...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
So Blu-ray has won the format war, sending HD DVD into the grave, where it'll join other failed formats such as Betamax, MiniDisc, Laserdisc, and the UMD. So long, HD DVD. We barely knew you. We, the people who follow...
POSTED Wednesday, February 20, 2008
And so it ends — not with a whimper, but a bang. Well, an official announcement, anyway. Toshiba said today it would stop developing and building HD DVD equipment, killing the format and handing victory in the HD-disc format war...
POSTED Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Do you hear that sound? It's the fat lady, and she's singing for HD DVD. If you're one of the unfortunate people who gambled on an HD DVD player while the format war was still raging, I have bad news...
POSTED Saturday, February 16, 2008
As much as I try to prevent pink, plastic toys from entering our house, that damn tooth fairy has been a cash cow lately, and my daughter’s toy collection is reaching critical mass. Extreme situations call for extreme measures,...
POSTED Friday, February 15, 2008
Bang & Olufsen, a company known for charging insane amounts of money for gadgets and gear due to their sleek designs, is at it again. Its new BeoVision 8 is a 32-inch TV, and a nice one at that....
POSTED Friday, February 15, 2008
Here's a universal remote that can do it all. The Universal KP-900 Wireless Keypad resides on the wall for controlling your house's lighting, blinds, thermostat, and security systems, and then you can pick it off its wall bracket and take...
POSTED Thursday, February 14, 2008
Forget all those tacky TV stands you've seen at Best Buy. This simple and adjustable TV Easel by Swedish designer Axel Bjurström, on display at the Stockholm Furniture Fair last week, takes a familiar form and applies it to...
POSTED Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Yes, this concept CD player is really slick looking, what with its touchscreen interface and unique-wall mounted design. Yes, it would make your apartment or house look that much more futuristic. But did nobody send the designer the memo that...
POSTED Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Unlike the electric coconuts we have featured in the past, this coconut mod produces noise, rather than reporting it. It was found over at MAKE's Flickr pool uploaded by Steve Lodefink and not much other information is known. It...
POSTED Tuesday, February 12, 2008
We've seen plenty of cool steampunk style gadgets before, but never anything quite as ambitious as this. The Nautilus home theater was created to resemble the interior of the submarine of the same name from Jules Verne's classic novel...
POSTED Sunday, February 10, 2008
How much would you be willing to spend on a home theatre? $1,000? $5,000? Maybe you're loaded and don't mind dropping upwards of $50,000? Hey, good for you. Guess what? No matter what your answer, your setup really sucks compared...
POSTED Saturday, February 9, 2008
Settle back in the AquaFit 19DT for a relaxing soak in its hot tub, or mosey on over to its other side for a vigorous aquatic workout. It 's so versatile, you can either outfit it with the exercise...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Who needs to fly an actual personal helicopter with all that danger when you can vicariously fly a Silverlit Picoo Z that's about the size of a deck of cards? They've been improved, flying forward now instead of just...
POSTED Friday, February 8, 2008
Last year when Steve Jobs announced Apple TV at Macworld 2007, I wasn't impressed. I expressed my displeasure at the fact that the media was basically giving a free pass to a product that I predicted would be an...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
Faux wood grain will be no more if MAGNO has anything to say about it. MAGNO wants to eliminate the fake look of wooden gadgets in favor of real wooden gadgets. The MAGNO Wooden Radio is essentially that, a...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
At this point, having a 60-inch TV won't win you any neighborhood mid-life-crisis contests, as everybody is getting giant TVs these days. Now, you need to take it to the next level if you really want to prove to everyone...
POSTED Thursday, February 7, 2008
Let's say you're ready to chuck your DVD player and make the jump to renting digital content from a box near your television. Congratulations! You've discovered Pay Per View. But PPV has few choices and even less flexibility: What...
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Make fun of that friend of yours who got busted last weekend by giving him this Police Alarm Clock, scaring him out of bed with siren noises, that familiar flashing blue light, and a realistic-sounding threat from the cops....
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Aura Note might not be the flashiest piece of stereo equipment around, but hey, it's what's inside that really counts, right? The retro-looking all-in-one bundles a CD player, tuner, and power amp all into one unit. The components are...
POSTED Wednesday, February 6, 2008
CNN's been trailing Fox News in ratings for years now— how can it gain viewers on an important day like Super Tuesday? By imitating Minority Report, of course. Recently the cable news network introduced what it calls the Magic...
POSTED Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Super Bowl, that pageant of 63 advertisements with a football game hidden somewhere within, has become an incubator of commercial creativity. Many of the most popular spots have something to do with animals, but we're more interested in...
POSTED Monday, February 4, 2008
It's been a long time since flying was anything but a chore, but now you can recreate at least part of the experience at home anytime you want. The First Class seats from MotoArt, are genuine aircraft seats pulled...
POSTED Sunday, February 3, 2008
When Super Bowl XLII game hits the eyeballs of 158 million Americans this Sunday, its television images will have winded their way through enough high-tech gee-gaws to launch a squadron of space shuttles. The super broadcast racks up some...
POSTED Friday, February 1, 2008
Time Warner just launched a test of its new HBO on Broadband service, only available so far to residents of Wisconsin who are subscribers of Time Warner Cable, HBO and Road Runner broadband. It so happens that some of...
POSTED Thursday, January 31, 2008
Just when we thought we couldn't stand to look at another iPod dock, here comes the Moderna from Phiaton. We have to admit the design is pretty cool on this one, with nice sleek lines and those tubes on...
POSTED Thursday, January 31, 2008
There's a national holiday coming up this Sunday, the day where over 100 million people in America worship football by watching Super Bowl XLII. You might be among the 2.4 million people (according to the Consumer Electronics Association) who...
POSTED Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Bamboo Speaker is a slick little concept design that uses bamboo as an inspiration for its shape. The unique design apparently uses the "natural acoustics of cylindrical objects" to enhance the sound, which may or may not actually do...
POSTED Wednesday, January 30, 2008
If there's anything people have been clamoring for, it's a more complicated remote control. I mean, sure, you might have a bunch of remotes that all run different things and all with tons and tons of buttons, but you need...
POSTED Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sorry, let me pick my jaw up off the table. It's not often that a simple consumer electronics doodad is as beautiful and magnificent as the Alfie Audio iPod System. I'll start with the downsides: This is a pretty...
POSTED Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Adding to the ever-expanding multitude of USB-powered thingamajigs is this Smartech USB Aroma Radio + Speaker. It lights up your abode with seven soothing colors while playing music from its internal AM-FM radio, or lets you plug in your...
POSTED Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Aquavision already impressed us with its combination LCD TV and heated towel rack, but now the company goes a step further, creating the world's largest waterproof TV for your bathroom. Measuring a generous 57 inches diagonally, it doubles as...
POSTED Monday, January 28, 2008
Sony teamed up with the Nichia Corportation, a Japanese manufacturer and supplier, and the happy result is a smaller Blu-Ray laser. Measuring in at 3 millimeters, the new laser is cheaper for Sony to manufacture, and anything from laptops using...
POSTED Monday, January 28, 2008
If the Australian Tourist Board wants to dispel the Crocodile Dundee bigger is better, Texas with a funny accent image many of us have of their country, they'd better slap an export ban on Lenard Audio speakers pronto. I...
POSTED Saturday, January 26, 2008
I have, on two occasions in the past, gone to Staples or the nearest local pharmacy to purchase a $10 replacement "universal" remote control. These remotes aren't pretty. They take a bit of finagling to set up. But they...
POSTED Friday, January 25, 2008
You, faithful DVICE reader, have nothing to fear from the digital TV transition, when the FCC is due to officially "switch off" the analog-TV spectrum next February. I’m sure if you don't already have an HDTV, it's high up...
POSTED Thursday, January 24, 2008
I hate to break it to you early adopters who gambled on HD DVD as your choice in the HD disc format war, but it looks like Blu-ray won. After Warner Bros announced that it was going exclusively with Blu-ray,...
POSTED Wednesday, January 23, 2008
While I'm of the mindset that traditional remote controls don't need too many updates, what with them being loaded up with buttons that all do specific tasks, not everyone agrees. Specifically, designers love reimagining remote controls as overly-simple things that...
POSTED Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Now that our favorite television shows are on a writers-strike hiatus, that TiVo Series 3 you spent your hard-earned money on is sitting there begging to be used. While your To-Do list may be bare, fear not as there...
POSTED Tuesday, January 22, 2008
HBO is testing a new Broadband On Demand service on Time Warner Cable in Wisconsin right now, allowing current HBO subscribers to download any of its movies or shows whenever they want. It includes pretty slick features like season passes...
POSTED Monday, January 21, 2008
While some people want to make their technology as big and as noticeable as possible, people without complexes that demand that they get validation every five minutes would rather make their personal technology more subtle. That's why strange devices such...
POSTED Thursday, January 17, 2008
As expected, Apple announced it would offer movies for rental through its iTunes (they really need to think about renaming that) store, starting today. Steve Jobs said in his keynote that Apple has deals with all the major studios...
POSTED Tuesday, January 15, 2008
The Monos modular wall unit by MisuraEmme pretty much gives you space to do anything: it's an entertainment center, a bookshelf (or a space to shelve anything really), and provides plenty of slick lighting for even classier setups like...
POSTED Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Ceramic is a great material for sound amplification. Does it follow that if you wrap your earbuds in ceramic that you'll have instant loudspeakers? Maybe. The "loudspeakers" pictured here were made from clay and discarded musical scores by designer...
POSTED Monday, January 14, 2008
I doubt you're going to save the environment by buying SWEDX's LCD TV that's "embedded in natural wood," but damn it sure looks nice, doesn't it? And that's all that really matters. The TV's themselves have 1920x1080 resolution, come...
POSTED Saturday, January 12, 2008
And the remote responds with an enthusiastic yes! The Harmony One is Logitech's latest addition to its line of exceptional consumer-focused universal remote controls. The One seems to be a happy middle-man between Logitech's high-end Harmony 1000 and some...
POSTED Saturday, January 12, 2008
Perhaps it has something to do with Vegas' surreal take on life, but every year we see more and more wild and crazy loudspeaker designs in the high performance audio exhibits. If you're one of those people who think...
POSTED Friday, January 11, 2008
I’m not sure if I should question how they do it or why they do it, but they did it. HiVi created the Swans 2.3A, a home theater system powered speakers that takes up a lot of space and...
POSTED Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The WAVEscape gives Vanessa a hands on experience against virtual pandas.
POSTED Wednesday, January 9, 2008
TV in a mirror. Hmm̷ I like that. A cool application would be to have a 20-inch LCD screen in the bathroom mirror — I for one would take more baths if there were a TV in the bathroom. M-Touch...
POSTED Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The Liberty home theater system by B&W is a beautiful thing. It's 5.1-channel surround system that you can expand to 7.1 channels with an extra zone. But the best aspect of this gorgeous system is that it's wireless, sending...
POSTED Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Don't look down — that's the idea of the Wavit remote control. With a twist of the wrist, you can control volume, fast forward and how quickly you're fast forwarding without looking down at the remote. When you need...
POSTED Tuesday, January 8, 2008
After Michael Douglas kicked off the XStreamHD press conference, company reps gave us the 411 on what the hell it is. First, yes, it is yet another way to get HD movies into your home, though they won't exactly...
POSTED Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Heard of XStreamHD? OK then, how about Michael Douglas? Yeah, that's exactly what they want you to think — the Oscar-winning actor lent his star power to the nascent company, which has plans in '08 to sell a new...
POSTED Tuesday, January 8, 2008
You might not be up for singing in the rain, but if you want to hear music when there's a chance your speakers will get wet you'll certainly want all-weather speakers. While touring the Hilton Pavilion, home of numerous...
POSTED Tuesday, January 8, 2008
If JVC has its way, you'll be able to permanently lose your TV remote control and just use hand gestures to change channels, adjust volume, drill through menus and turn it off. The company demonstrated a Snap & Gesture...
POSTED Monday, January 7, 2008
While everyone at CES is showing off their biggest screens, Sony may very well be debuting their best. The XEL-1 ($2,500) is a new OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) television, with a screen that is absolutely amazing. The technology...
POSTED Monday, January 7, 2008
German company Sonoro will introduce its Cubo radio in the United States this year, hoping to grab a piece of the market for Bose-style simple looking, high quality audio in a small box. The radio includes an alarm clock...
POSTED Saturday, January 5, 2008
CES is barely underway, but I can already determine one of the biggest trends of the show, and even the upcoming year, and that is media steaming set-top boxes. SanDisk bestowed the TakeTV a couple months ago and now...
POSTED Saturday, January 5, 2008
Could the HD disc format war be coming to a close? It looks like a nail might have been put in HD DVD's coffin today, as Warner Brothers has completely dropped it in favor of competitor Blu-ray. That leaves only...
POSTED Friday, January 4, 2008
Netflix has been providing streaming movies to its customers for a while now, but it's all been trapped on that most unappealing of watching devices, the computer. I mean, who wouldn't rather just watch said streaming movies on their TV,...
POSTED Thursday, January 3, 2008
Green activists and fans of The Flintstones should enjoy the latest offering from AssistOn called the Magno Wooden Radio. Four single cell batteries power this AM/FM portable radio that also tunes into certain television audio frequencies. Resistant to decay...
POSTED Wednesday, January 2, 2008
The Rubik's Cube may be a staple of any cubicle or time capsule, but in this new generation it's all about making this simple puzzle device bigger and better. This homemade Rubik's Cube subwoofer is probably as big as...
POSTED Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Sure, you could set your fancy HDTV up on a plain old table, but doesn't that seem like a waste of space? I mean, you've got all sorts of bulky equipment, and you're going to take up space with a...
POSTED Wednesday, January 2, 2008
LG Philips has plans to unleash a couple of monster multi-touch displays at CES next week. The 52-inch and humungous 82-inch displays will be able to be manipulated in similar fashion to the iPhone's screen, just on a much, much...
POSTED Monday, December 31, 2007
If you're not looking to burn upwards of $380,000 on high-end and designer speakers, but still want something that looks nice, take a gander at the NACsound Sonance speakers. These speakers don't look anything like speakers at all, resembling...
POSTED Saturday, December 29, 2007
Host Vanessa Rae takes Suki, her dog, and Pleo, a robotic dinosaur-like companion, out for a whirlwind tour of Manhattan.
POSTED Thursday, December 27, 2007
Having all of your CDs out on a bunch of shelves may look impressive, but it can be a pain if you don't have them organized in any way. The CD Carousel Plus holds 150 CDs at once, has...
POSTED Thursday, December 27, 2007
The way things are going, before too long we'll all be trying to find our invisible gadgets. From tiny cellphones to thin TVs, everybody wants smaller and thinner gadgets. And Japan is here to deliver what people want. Just take...
POSTED Thursday, December 27, 2007
Although this Netgear ReadyNAS hard disk enclosure looks almost exactly like a dehumidifier that's buzzing away in our basement right now, it's a whole lot more useful. That's because it's a well-known fact that you can't be too rich, too...
POSTED Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Tired of tripping over an unsightly bulge every time you walk to your couch because you ran your surround-speaker wires under the living room carpet? Or worse, because you're like us and just left the wires sitting on top...
POSTED Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Apparently, in the world of high-end home theater speakers, bigger is better. If that's the case, then these Nucleus Reference 5LS Loudspeakers have got to be some of the best-sounding speakers around, as they stand at a whopping 6-feet...
POSTED Tuesday, December 18, 2007
We can't imagine that a folding cardboard boombox will get terrific sound out of your iPod, even with working speakers. (Having to clarify that the iPod speakers you're selling actually work is kind of a warning sign right there.)...
POSTED Tuesday, December 18, 2007
If you want to have a slick little speaker for your iPod and torture a fish at the same time, the iPond was designed with you in mind. While it's certainly a unique little product and is pretty cool...
POSTED Monday, December 17, 2007
Nothing says "I'm not good in social situations" like building a gigantic, elaborate home theater setup dedicated to an old sci-fi movie. And that's just what superfan Darren Mortenson did, creating a totally epic setup dedicated to Terminator. Featuring...
POSTED Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Bathrooms are generally pretty tech-free places. Sure, maybe you have a shower radio in there so you can listen to NPR in the mornings while you bathe, but otherwise, it's a pretty low-tech affair. Well, that doesn't mean it has...
POSTED Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Must to the dismay of parents of college kids everywhere, a company has come out with a gadget capable of helping students binge drink. The Shot Caller is essentially a timer designed for the Power Hour drinking activity. For...
POSTED Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Nothing says luxury like gold and glass. Or, rather, nothing makes something look luxurious like a healthy sampling of those two materials. I assume that's where Perfect8 gets off charging $40,000 for a single center-channel speaker made of mostly...
POSTED Monday, December 10, 2007
Are you a lazy parent who wants to protect your kids from the horrors of movies made for adults but are too lazy to pay attention to what they watch? Well, good news! For you, I mean, not your...
POSTED Monday, December 10, 2007
Look like something you see in one of those "homes of the future"? It should, this ridiculously designed thing is a tabletop radio by LG. The guts inside the PC12 radio aren't too shabby with an HD radio tuner,...
POSTED Saturday, December 8, 2007
If you're like me, you care a lot more about your HDTV handling games well than you do it handling movies or TV shows. Personally, I use HD for gaming at least twice as much as I do for...
POSTED Thursday, December 6, 2007
I love concept designs that clearly have horrible functionality in order to maintain some unique design or concept. I mean, I guess love isn't the right word. Because they will never, ever get made, so perhaps I just feel...
POSTED Thursday, December 6, 2007
Plasma TVs used to cost a fortune. Then, after a while, only the big ones cost a fortune. And now we've finally reached the point where only the crazy-big ones cost a fortune — even reasonably big ones like...
POSTED Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Some people want their home theater components to look classy and uniform, looking like the fashionable pieces of technology that they are without standing out and drawing too much attention to themselves. That's why almost every component out there comes...
POSTED Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Nothing says annoying like setting up a speaker system. Running and cutting wires and placing speakers is pretty much the opposite of fun, but a trial that you have to go through to get a decent setup. Or at least...
POSTED Monday, December 3, 2007
Got $11,000 and an obsession with jazz musicians? Sweet, you are a the perfect demographic that Terresonic is looking for with its limited edition Jazz Legends speaker line. There are only ten pairs of speakers available for purchase, but...
POSTED Friday, November 30, 2007
If you're looking to intimidate the crap out of anyone who comes into your house while also being able to listen to music and movies at ear-shattering volumes, nothing does the trick like a set of humungous, ridiculous speakers. Speakers...
POSTED Friday, November 30, 2007
Yesterday TiVo announced that a software company called Nero will create a platform to "bring TiVo features to the personal computer." TiVo realizes that a lot of people out there have tuners for their computers. and is hoping to...
POSTED Thursday, November 29, 2007
So you say you want to keep your environmentally green cred, but can't dispense with your budding DJ career? Have we got a set-up for you... Designed by the good people at Samurai Studios and Taguchi, the Organic Speaker...
POSTED Thursday, November 29, 2007
I've never really understood the appeal of buying some huge, fancy item to plug your iPod into. I mean, the iPod is a nice, simple device on its own, it really doesn't need some hulking piece of overpriced technology...
POSTED Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Japanese audio hardware company Taguchi recently teamed up with designer Jin Kuramoto to unveil the understated yet powerful Supper audio system. Designed to appear as a wine bottle, two glasses and a food basket, the Supper audio system's clean...
POSTED Wednesday, November 28, 2007
As a sure sign we are getting lazier by the minute, One For All has introduced an uber-remote that can control any device in the entertainment center. TV, DVD player, amplifier? No problem, this remote can even be programmed...
POSTED Monday, November 26, 2007
Apparently, there's no limit to how much high-end speaker manufacturers are willing to charge the super-rich for ludicrous speakers. I mean, how good can speakers possibly sound? Good enough to justify a $180,000 price tag? I doubt it. But...
POSTED Monday, November 26, 2007
Most projectors are pretty bulky affairs, designed to take up a shelf facing a wall and never move. But what if you want to bring your projector with you, setting it up wherever you want and turning any surface...
POSTED Tuesday, November 20, 2007
You know this big ol' format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray? Well, I hope you haven't spent too much money choosing sides. That's because sooner rather than later we're not going to be all that interested in either...
POSTED Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Lars & Ivan motto, posted on its website, is "less is more." One look at the PA-40Ti Hybrid iPod Dock makes it clear that the company's serious — notice the lack of speakers? You won't hear anything when...
POSTED Friday, November 16, 2007
Clearly inspired by the minimalist future visions of Stanley Kubrick, Zumreed has released the uber-stylish Rain Drop Speaker for the iPod. Shaped exactly like a raindrop, the waterproof speaker conceals your iPod within it's circular interior allowing you to...
POSTED Friday, November 16, 2007
If you're the type of person who gets a lot of satisfaction from building something with your own two hands, you probably don't get a lot of pleasure out of your home theatre setup. After all, it's pretty tough...
POSTED Thursday, November 15, 2007
Slingbox, the company that makes everybody's favorite TV to computer accessory, announced a product that it calls SlingCatcher earlier this year. The company was showing one off last night at a CES press event, which is a pretty good...
POSTED Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Some people treat their TV remote like it's the most precious thing they own, but if you had one of these solid gold remote controls by Lantic Systems, it really would be. The Gold RC1 will control more than...
POSTED Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Wouldn't it be great to wheel the home entertainment system into your bathroom while you soak in the spa? Unfortunately water and electricity don't mix well, and getting fried in your tub while watching Grey's Anatomy would make for...
POSTED Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Here's the weirdest drinking set we've seen yet, and it will probably seem even stranger the tipsier you get. This Roly Poly Shot Glasses Cordial Set aims to please, with a raised area on the bottom of the decanter...
POSTED Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The ASUS Internet Radio (also known as AIR) was more or less just a whisper until now, but tonight we saw it in all of its retro-styled glory. The features listed on the box promised to fulfill some of...
POSTED Monday, November 12, 2007
Let's be honest here: looks are pretty much just as important as how well a gadget works in many instances. As long as a product isn't complete crap in the functionality department, having a really slick casing on it...
POSTED Thursday, November 8, 2007
You say you like your sound to be heavy? Well, I hope you meant that literally. That's because I have here for you a set of concrete speakers guaranteed to ding and scratch the hell out of your entertainment...
POSTED Tuesday, November 6, 2007
If our favorable impression of Razer products such as the Pro|Type keyboard and Mantis gaming mouse pad is any indication, these Razer Mako speakers might be worth the wait for their December ship date. This THX-certified 2.1 speaker system...
POSTED Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Are you stuck in a suburb and bored out of your wits at 3am? Soon, you may be able to mix things up by heading to the nearest 24-hour Walgreens for a pint of ice cream and a store-burned...
POSTED Tuesday, October 30, 2007
You might think that your home theater setup is impressive, what with all the time, effort, and money you put in to getting it perfect. The big-screen HDTV, the surround sound, and the layout were all chosen so meticulously....
POSTED Tuesday, October 30, 2007
These here are some fancy, expensive speakers. The Pantheon Loudspeakers from Siltech stand an imposing 63-inches tall and weigh a hefty 310 pounds, but it's more than their size that makes them stand out. No, what makes them unique...
POSTED Monday, October 29, 2007
Though it looks like some kind of stubby, cone-nosed alien with one eye, the Mobius MKII stands over three feet tall and the omni-directional, eight-inch speaker array provides 360 degrees of sound. The array is made from two midbass...
POSTED Monday, October 29, 2007
Having trouble finding room for all those unwieldy AC adapters that seem to proliferate like amorous bunnies? While you might like the excellent Power Squid ($11.95), a more-conventional yet precise approach is this Tributaries T10 Power Strip. It aims...
POSTED Friday, October 26, 2007
I don't really use CDs unless I'm ripping them, but this Marantz CD player looks good enough to make me wish I did. The Marantz CR201 Personal CD System takes a vertical approach to the whole affair, featuring a...
POSTED Friday, October 26, 2007
You may have seen a mirror like this before, with points of light that seem to lead off into infinity and beyond. Well, maybe not infinity, but it seems like it's at least 5 feet deep. This 60"x36" Infinity...
POSTED Thursday, October 25, 2007
TiVo HD and Series 3 owners, listen up — your TiVo experience just got a heck of a lot better thanks to a few much needed upgrades. Firstly, no more dirty hacks are required to boost the capacity of...
POSTED Tuesday, October 23, 2007
We were surprised at Hitachi's 32-inch HDTV whose thickness was just 0.74 inches. Now it looks like Samsung has topped that, creating a flat-panel HDTV that's half that thick. Imagine a TV that's just 10mm thin — just over...
POSTED Monday, October 22, 2007
The world of consumer electronics, especially home theater, is an interesting one. Manufacturers are generally looking to one up each other with bigger and better goods. LG has thrown these rules outside of the window by busting onto the...
POSTED Monday, October 22, 2007
The HD DVD and Blu-ray format war has been going on for an exhaustingly long time. We've been hoping for a definitive resolution (go Blu-ray!) since both formats debuted more than a year ago. There have been several developments...
POSTED Sunday, October 21, 2007
We've seen media centers of all shapes, sizes and types around these parts, but they all share one similar flaw — too big and too complicated. Most people already have at least one PC in their home, so there...
POSTED Saturday, October 20, 2007
Boy, the timing is quite peculiar, but a mere day after Sony announced a cheaper PlayStation 3 to combat the Xbox 360 and its cheaper price tag, a "senior Toshiba executive in Singapore" has come out of the woodworks saying...
POSTED Friday, October 19, 2007
Love planes? So do we, but it's probably a safe bet that John Davis loves them more. Rather than go for a bedroom built into a plane, he turned his own into a fully functional, professional-grade simulator. Now 47...
POSTED Friday, October 19, 2007
Sony just rolled out the HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album, aimed at photographers who would like to fill it up with their digital photos. Hook it up to your network via Ethernet, and send your photos to it over your...
POSTED Thursday, October 18, 2007
That lap of luxury in which you immerse yourself with a nice long Jacuzzi soak now finds itself in the iPod era with the J400 series of Jacuzzi hot tubs, giving you an iPod docking station where you can...
POSTED Wednesday, October 17, 2007
It is pretty dang surprising that this technology trend is so slow to take off. With displays so small they can be rolled up, everyone and their hamster owning an iPod and wireless everything existing; it was only inevitable...
POSTED Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Some aficionados trick out their media rooms with specialized themes, while others prefer to go old school. Regardless of which way you swing, it's all for nothing if you don't have an awesome sound system. Swiss manufacturer Goldmund has...
POSTED Friday, October 12, 2007
Okay, so maybe the Planet speakers by Urban Fidelity won't be heard by the whole world, but they are designed to bring 360-degrees of sound to your home theater. The idea is simple; the speakers fire up at the...
POSTED Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Good news for the two or three of you out there who still care about SACD, the dead format of audio CDs with super-high fidelity and surround sound capabilities: Pioneer has got your back. Its new PD-D9 SACD player...
POSTED Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Short-throw projectors are great for smaller spaces. Rather than having to be set back 10 or 20 feet from the wall that they project against, they aim their image upwards, allowing you to set it up close to the...
POSTED Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Art Lebedev design crew is at it again, this time designing a remote control that has 100 buttons — each designating a specific channel. There are directional keys as well as buttons to select channels in either the...
POSTED Saturday, October 6, 2007
Do you really, really like your LG Chocolate phone? Do you wish more of your personal electronics looked and behaved like it? Well, that's bananas, but it's your prerogative, I suppose. And you must not be the only one...
POSTED Friday, October 5, 2007
This year's Createc Japan conference is chock full of electronic goodies, but nothing seemed to capture the attention of conference-goers more than the Hosiden prototype Polyhedron Speaker system. Looking like a mix between Darth Vader's Death Star and a...
POSTED Friday, October 5, 2007
German zeppelins killed hundreds of English in World War I bombing raids, so it's rather sporting of Bowers & Wilkins to model an iPod dock after the infamous flying object. B&W, of course, is best known for its world-beating...
POSTED Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Any self-respecting movie fan has to have a sound system with a subwoofer (Bose's latest toy notwithstanding). Whether you have stereo or surround sound, the only way to get those thumping deep-bass frequencies without cluttering your house with truly...
POSTED Tuesday, October 2, 2007
How thin is too thin? No such thing if you're Sony, who just announced a TV that's a mere 3 millimeters — or just 0.12 inches — thick. The secret to the XEL-1's trim figure is the quickly spreading...
POSTED Monday, October 1, 2007
Another day, another gigantic pair of overpriced speakers. Today's contestants are the Penaudio Chronos speakers. They're pretty nice looking towers, cased in wood of various colors (your choice!) and standing tall enough to let people know that you're really...
POSTED Monday, October 1, 2007
Polk Audio's I-Sonic 2 entertainment system isn't an upgrade from the first I-Sonic — it's almost a completely different table radio. First, it uses the latest HD Radio tuner available, which should theoretically make the I-Sonic 2 a better-performing...
POSTED Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox line of place-shifting devices and recent acquirement of EchoStar, have just announced their new SOLO model of Slingbox. Between the AV unit and the Pro unit on the price/feature scale, it's aimed at...
POSTED Thursday, September 27, 2007
There's no room for my subwoofer along the wall where my TV is. And since I need to put it in a corner to get the best bass, there's no escape from stringing a long cable from the front...
POSTED Monday, September 24, 2007
Put your cell phone to work when you get home by parking it in this iHome iHC5S clock-radio speaker system, and it will communicate with this four-speaker mother ship via Bluetooth. Then you can access all the music on...
POSTED Monday, September 24, 2007
Personal-viewing eyewear — wraparound sunglass-type video-projection goggles that create the illusion of watching a movie on a big screen floating before your eyes — has been around for years. None model has taken off because the resolution is too...
POSTED Saturday, September 22, 2007
How big a Star Wars nerd are you? Even if you wear a Stormtrooper costume to conventions and sleep in Han Solo bedsheets, you're probably still nowhere near as nutty as Vic Wertz and Lisa Stevens. They wanted a...
POSTED Thursday, September 20, 2007
In today's installment of "idiotic and expensive things for very rich people to waste many thousands of dollars on," we have a hot tub with a built-in 61-inch flat-panel TV. Sure, having a giant TV combined with a hot...
POSTED Wednesday, September 19, 2007
As we mentioned earlier today, Bose has just announced a new PC-speaker system, and the company staged a huge press event to roll out these tiny, aluminum-encased speakers (whereas last week, it just sent out a press release for...
POSTED Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Bose made a "major announcement" today, so we're here at the company's headquarters in Framingham, Massachusetts, where we listened to a lecture by Dr. Bose himself. Yes, there is a Dr. Bose — in fact, he's a MIT professor....
POSTED Tuesday, September 18, 2007
When you're trying to get away with charging an exorbitant amount of money for a piece of antiquated technology like a turntable, you've got to make it look unique. That's probably the most important thing you can do to...
POSTED Thursday, September 13, 2007
Despite both HD-disc formats stalling out with mediocre sales due to a justifiably confused consumer base, Sony has gone ahead and announced not one, not two, not three, but four Blu-ray recorders. Keep chasing that shooting star, Sony. The...
POSTED Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Need a home theater system to pump out the tunes from your $150,000 turntable? Look no further — SE2 Labs has the perfect $20,000 system for you. The ITC One is a behemoth of system: almost 2 feet tall...
POSTED Wednesday, September 12, 2007
This might be the ultimate addition to any serious nerd's home theater setup. Not only is it a ridiculous subwoofer, with ten speakers angled in different directions, but it's shaped like a 12-sided die. Yes, it's the dorkiest shape...
POSTED Friday, September 7, 2007
Bang & Olufsen, makers of overpriced and strangely designed home theatre equipment and gadgets, are at it again. This wacky little doodad is their new Beo 5 remote control. It doesn't look like the most ergonomic remote ever, but...
POSTED Friday, September 7, 2007
An easy way to cut down on the amount of space taken up by a comprehensive movie, music and disc library is to buy a storage tower to put all the discs in. While a simple wooden shelf would...
POSTED Friday, September 7, 2007
Remotes that can find your house keys, wallet and purse have been around for a while now. But if you're someone who is prone to misplacing things, then that remote will probably go missing before you can say, "Hey,...
POSTED Thursday, September 6, 2007
No, this isn't a reject from this summer's Transformers movie; it's a turntable. And not just any turntable, either: an idiotically expensive turntable aimed at lobotomized, overmonied audiophiles. Yes, it's the "Work of Art" (yes, that's the product name)...
POSTED Thursday, September 6, 2007
Despite reports of its