Audio Video News

A satellite receiver with programmable recording capability is now available nationwide from <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>. The result of a four-way collaboration among the direct broadcast satellite service, hard disk recording pioneer <A HREF="http://www.tivo.com/">TiVo, Inc.</A>, Philips Electronics, and Sony Electronics, the DirecTV Receiver with TiVo technology allows consumers to select, record, and time-shift programming selected from among DirecTV's more than 225 channels, according to a November 2 press release.

Digital television, the broadcast format, may still be in limbo, but digital television, the consumer electronics category, is going strong. Figures released November 2 by the <A HREF="http://www.ce.org/">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) show 368,947 DTV displays were shipped from factories to dealers during the first nine months of 2000, nearly seven times the number of displays sold during the same period in 1999.

The results of a recent study released by <A HREF="http://www.techtrends.net">TechTrends</A> last week reveal that consumer electronics manufacturers are poised to take significant market share from traditional set-top box makers. TechTrends reports that, by next year, half of North America's leading cable operators will deploy digital set-top boxes from Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer or Sony, at the expense of Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta.

Last January, Runco International took a bold step by building an affordable lightweight projector incorporating Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology. The sub-$10K VX-101 was among the first affordable projectors using TI's single-chip device, with near-high-definition results.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.world.sony.com">Sony</A> and <A HREF="http://www.candescent.com">Candescent Technologies</A>, a developer of flat panel displays (FPD), announced an agreement to extend their existing partnership. In October 1998, the two companies announced their initial agreement regarding the joint development of high voltage Field Emission Display (FED) technology for "next generation" thin, flat-panel displays. The new agreement extends their joint technology development partnership, under which the two companies say they will co-fund these activities, until December 2001.

M<I>ichael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd. Directed by Sidney J. Furie. Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (widescreen). Dolby Digital mono. 107 minutes. 1965. Anchor Bay DV10925. NR. $24.98.</I>