LATEST ADDITIONS

Tech2
PlayStation 4 Revealed! Sort of…
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 21, 2013

It's hard to write up news about the PS4 when there wasn't any actual news about the PS4. At what best can be described as a "Save-the-Date" event, Sony laid out their ideas for their next-gen console, but gave few, if any, specifics.

What we found out is... interesting. By far the PS4 is being pushed as a gaming console to act as a central hub for a gaming lifestyle, than a hardcore, cutting-edge, gaming machine.

That and other disappointments AWESOME GAMING NEWS after the jump.

Continue Reading »
Other Tech
Truly Useful Apps: Watching TV on the Second Screen
Michael Antonoff  |  Feb 21, 2013
So desperate are the networks to keep you cuffed to their shows that they’ve been launching apps for the second screen. Made for the tablets and smartphones to which viewers’ eyes keep darting—often at the expense of the TV screen—these apps are intended to boost fan loyalty.
Continue Reading »
Power Amplifier ReviewsSurround Processor Reviews
Marantz AV8801 Surround Processor & MM8077 Amplifier
David Vaughn  |  Feb 20, 2013

AV8801 Surround Processor
Audio Performance
Video Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
 
MM8077 Amplifier
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
Price: AV8801, $3,599; MM8077, $2,399 At a Glance: Up to 11.2-channel playback with Audyssey DSX and DTS Neo:X Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and Sub EQ HT Apple AirPlay support

As A/V enthusiasts, we are constantly on the lookout for the best audio and video we can find, and when we reach that state of nirvana, we enjoy our equipment until the next CES or CEDIA when we then hear about something new and begin to worry that our system will soon be second best. Writing for Home Theater makes me an unwilling accomplice in this never-ending cycle of upgrade-itis, but truth be told, I’m just as affected by this as the rest of you. Thankfully, I’m able to get my fix by having lots of equipment moving through my rack, but every now and then, I fall in love with a piece and don’t want it to leave my possession.

Continue Reading »
Projector Tech
Calculating Projector Brightness for Your Screen
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 19, 2013

Every once and a while I get an email questioning our choice of using a 100-inch screen to measure projectors. I feel this size is the best way to judge the performance of a projector, while at the same time offering you, our fair readers, a way to judge how bright the projector will be on your own screen.

This is easy to do, but it involves the maths.

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Circuit boards Out, Meta–boards In?
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 19, 2013
Conventional circuit boards and their metallic tentacles may be on their way out—someday. Scientists at Oxford University have developed a new kind of sealed “metaboard” by embedding copper coils into a conductive layer. This meta- board can transfer data and power using magneto-inductive waves instead of wires.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
School of Rock
David Vaughn  |  Feb 19, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
Kicked out of his band and desperate for work, Dewey Finn intercepts a call meant for his roommate and lands an extended gig as a substitute teacher at Horace Green Elementary, a $15,000-per-year private school in the Northeast. The school’s uptight principal suspects something is amiss when the new teacher is less concerned about the students and is more interested in when the school day ends, but he gets the gig anyway. Dewey’s attitude changes when he hears the kids in their music class and realizes they have some serious potential if he can take them under his wing. He forms his own “classroom band” and involves the entire class with a costume designer, backup singers, security, and even a band manager with two goals in mind—to not get caught by the principal and to win the local Battle of the Bands contest.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Chico & Rita
Fred Kaplan  |  Feb 19, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
Chico & Rita is a wonderful movie, a valentine—poignant, sweet, but never sentimental—to Cuban jazz, bebop, and the street scenes of 1940s and ’50s Havana and New York. It’s a sophisticated animation, drawn in an evocative sketch-edged style similar to that of Waltz With Bashir. (It’s based on a graphic novel, a few pages of which are reproduced in the Blu-ray box’s booklet.)
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Cabin in the Woods
Shane Buettner  |  Feb 19, 2013
Picture
Sound
Extras
Interactivity
What a swift kick in the ass! Co-written and produced by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly on TV, The Avengers), The Cabin in the Woods is the most self-aware and gleefully gory comedy-horror flick since the Scream series devolved into a parody of a parody. As I write this, there are probably forums of fanboys aflame, identifying and exchanging the horror movie references throughout. Its plot practically defies description, but the elevator pitch would be Evil Dead meets The Truman Show.
Continue Reading »
This Week
This Week New Movies for February 19th 2013: Hostages and Heroes
Josef Krebs  |  Feb 19, 2013

Argo

Based on real-life events, the nail-biting dramatic thriller Argo, directed by Ben Affleck, is set at the height of the chaos of the Iranian revolution when, on November 4, 1979, militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran taking 52 Americans hostage and six embassy workers went out the back door.

Continue Reading »
Vote
HT Poll: What Is Your Favorite Music Streaming Service?
HT Staff  |  Feb 19, 2013

We all know that traditional radio and CDs are in decline. Even digital downloads are waning in popularity, giving way to music streaming options from an ever-growing roster of online services. All of which makes us wonder if on-demand music streaming is the Next Big Thing in music listening.

Cast your vote in this week’s HT Poll, and if you don’t see your favorite music service in the list below (we were shocked by how many we found) tell us about the one you like most in the Comments section.

HT Poll: What Is Your Favorite Music Streaming Service?
AOL Radio
0% (3 votes)
Grooveshark
1% (13 votes)
Jango Radio
0% (3 votes)
Last.fm
1% (12 votes)
MOG
7% (71 votes)
Music Unlimited
1% (9 votes)
Napster
0% (1 vote)
Pandora
37% (392 votes)
Pure Connect
0% (1 vote)
Rdio
1% (16 votes)
Rhapsody
4% (40 votes)
Slacker Radio
3% (37 votes)
Songza
2% (19 votes)
Spotify
14% (151 votes)
Stereomood
0% (1 vote)
TuneIn Radio Pro
3% (27 votes)
Turntable.fm
0% (1 vote)
Other
4% (41 votes)
None – I don't stream music
21% (229 votes)
Total votes: 1067
Continue Reading »

Pages

X