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Ears On
Cable Ops Bemoan Deregulatory Whopper
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 21, 2006  |  3 comments
The legislative silly season is barely underway but this year promises a bumper crop of whoppers. Arguably the biggest mistake about to be written into law is a national franchise agreement for telcos muscling their way into the video-delivery biz. Cable companies have to win municipal franchises that bring in money for local governments and give consumers at least an indirect stick with which to beat slovenly cable operators. They are also required to serve all paying households in their service areas. Now the telcos can compete with cable companies while remaining blissfully free of the local regulation that encourages your local cable op to serve every neighborhood and keep his nose clean. If you think your cable company is arrogant, wait till you've got one wire coming into your home from a company that doesn't have to play by the rules, be it AT&T or Verizon. The cable industry is crying foul, and let's face it, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Give due consideration to this heated position paper from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
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Other Tech
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Bob Lefsetz  |  Mar 20, 2006  |  0 comments

There was a curious note on the front page of the L.A. Times Business section at the end of last week. They were dropping stock tables from the paper (Times Trims Stock Tables, Expands Business Coverage).

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Ears On
iPope Gets iPod
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 20, 2006  |  1 comments
Pope Benedict XVI is now an iPod owner. According to the Catholic News Service, employees of Vatican Radio honored the pontiff's first visit to their premises by giving him a nano inscribed on the back, "To His Holiness, Benedict XVI." The pope accepted the gift saying, "computer technology is the future." The iPod—in white, appropriately enough—is loaded with Vatican Radio programming, including a documentary on the life of St. Thomas a Becket, and music, including the works of Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. The iPod will allow the pope to enjoy Vatican Radio's daily podcasts, which are offered in eight languages.
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Pioneer Elite PRO-1130HD Plasma Display System
Thomas J. Norton  |  Mar 18, 2006  |  0 comments

Pioneer's newest flagship 50-inch plasma display differs from its predecessors, including the <A HREF="http://ultimateavmag.com/flatpaneldisplays/405pioneer/ "> Elite Pro-1120HD</A>, in a number of important ways. For the buyer, however, the most important change is the price. At $5500, the Elite PRO-1130HD is a whopping $8000 cheaper than the $13,500 PRO-1120HD we reviewed back in April 2005. The fact that the PRO-1130HD is also better than last year's model illustrates just how competitive flat panel sales have become. Pioneer has had to dance as fast as it can to keep up with the major players in the market.

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Audio Video News
Warner HD DVDs Officially Delayed; LG To Build Dual-Format Player
 |  Mar 18, 2006  |  0 comments

<B>Three Warner HD DVD Titles To "Launch" HD DVD</B>
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The HD DVD launch is beginning with a whimper. Warner Home Video, the only studio committed to supporting the March 28th debut of HD DVD hardware has officially announced it will not have software titles ready until April 18th, citing technical issues as cause. While more titles are to follow in subsequent weeks, exactly three titles are currently announced for the new April start date, <I>Million Dollar Baby</I>, <I>The Phantom of the Opera</I>, and <I>The Last Samurai</I>.

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Geoffrey Morrison Blog
Things I Learned in Vegas at the Sony Line Show
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Mar 17, 2006  |  9 comments
Not that I want to cover more Sony stuff so soon, but that’s the way things work out. Here’s a list of things I learned on the Sony Line Show in Las Vegas yesterday (in case the title didn’t give it away first).
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Bookshelf Speaker Reviews
JBL CONTROL 1Xtreme Speakers
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 17, 2006  |  2 comments
Xtremely good on the desktop.

What you are about to read is partly a review of the JBL speakers known as CONTROL 1Xtreme, partly an essay about how I rediscovered stereo, and partly a tale of audiofool upgrade fever run amuck.

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AV Receiver Reviews
JVC RX-D702B A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 17, 2006  |  0 comments
Clap to calibrate, and don't forget the PC.

During the first hour that the JVC RX-D702B surround receiver sat on my rack, it began to wirelessly suck MP3s out of my PC. Then it sensed the clapping of my hands and automatically set its channel levels. Unpredictable moves are typical of JVC, one of the most underrated companies in consumer electronics.

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Projector Reviews
Epson PowerLite Cinema 550 LCD Projector
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Mar 17, 2006  |  0 comments
The power of love.

My love affair with front projection began one fateful day in 2002. My safe, usually reliable RPTV was away at the repair shop, so a coworker innocently introduced me to the PowerLite TW100 from Epson. It didn't take long for this fling to evolve into a full-blown romance. The TW100 fit so easily into my lifestyle. And that picture—it was so detailed, so noise free, and so. . .big.

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In-Wall Speaker ReviewsOn-Wall Speaker Reviews
Totem Acoustic Tribe I Speaker System
Steve Guttenberg  |  Mar 17, 2006  |  0 comments
Flattery will get you everywhere.

Just when I thought speaker designers could focus 100 percent of their talents on creating the best-sounding speakers, flat-screen TVs came along and created a burgeoning market for ultrasvelte plasma-friendly speakers. Anything other than the most demure designs now elicit comments like, "They're too big," "I think they're ugly," or the perennial, "Not in my living room!" from reticent shoppers. This just goes to show that, for some customers, style and size are the dominant factors when picking out a set of speakers. Maybe I'm overstating the case, but it's starting to look like colossal towers and even fairly small monitor speakers' days are numbered. Skinny on-walls are what's happening now.

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