I'll be honest, I can think of few things less sexy to review than an antenna. This isn't because they're not useful, it's just without a lot of specialized equipment, there isn't much I can say about them.
I live in The Valley, with a direct line of sight to the HDTV transmitters that cover all of Los Angeles. On the clear day each year, I can see Mt. Wilson from my front door. TV reception is so good, I could stick my finger in a TV's antenna input and my dome could probably pull in a signal. Picture that for a second.
But The Leaf by Mohu is actually kinda cool, and looks very different from any antenna I've seen.
The daily deluge of news into my inbox included a very sad item yesterday. Insight Media, a display-industry analysis firm, reported that Samsung will not be making so-called "active retarder" 3D LCD TVs in collaboration with RealD. This approach places an active polarization-switching layer over the LCD layer, much like the polarization switcher placed in front of a projector lens in a commercial RealD theater. The viewer wears standard passive glasses, and the TV quickly alternates the polarization in sync with the alternating left and right images on the screen.
It's been a big week for digital music. First Apple finally rolled out iTunes Match, the final link in its chain of cloud services, allowing users to get anytime, anywhere access to all those songs they ripped from CDs over the years or acquired by, uh, let's say "other means." Then on Wednesday Google unveiled Google Music, its fully armed and operational online music store.
Things come full circle for Harry Potter in the thrilling conclusion of the popular franchise. At the end of Part 1, Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape from the clutches of the Death Eaters, but their loyal friend Dobby the former house elf perishes. The trio has little time to mourn as they continue to hunt down and destroy the horcruxes that hide tiny pieces of the evil Lord Voldemort's soul. Their quest takes them to Gringots Bank and into the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange and eventually back to Hogwarts, where Harry confronts the new headmaster, Professor Snape.
While Part 1 was a slow build toward a cliffhanger ending, Part 2 is a pure adrenaline action film from the first moments that Voldemort steals the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's casket. As a huge fan of the books and the movies, I was more than happy to see Warner split the final book into two filmssomething that should have been done with every movie starting with The Goblet of Fire. Even with the extended time given to the story, there are quite of few characters who don't receive as much screen time as they deserve.
It’s always fascinating to see how important films age over time, especially those that elicited strong, visceral reactions from audiences and critics when initially released.
Since returning to independence under the leadership of founder Chris Byrne in 2007, NHT has moved on from its DSP-focused experimental phase (which resulted in interesting products like the Xd), emphasizing straightforward, high-quality, reasonably priced speakers.
Over the past couple of weeks Hewlett Packard has rolled out a huge pile of new consumer products, among them a clutch of all-in-ones, touchscreen PCs and tablets, Beats-enhanced laptops, and even a curious little Wi-Fi mouse.
I have a Samsung 46-inch LCD TV, Onkyo TX-NR509 A/V receiver, and KLH HT-60 speakers. I just got the Onkyo, and now I'd like to upgrade my speakers. I am considering the Energy Take Classic 5.1 system as well as the Pioneer SP-PK21BS speakers, but the Pioneers seem a bit large for my room (25x14 feet with a viewing distance of 10 feet). Also, the Pioneer's center speaker is so high, it would block the bottom portion of my screen.
They are not so common any more, but I'm sure you remember used record & CD shops. Now imagine them without the bricks and mortar. Or the bins. Or the records and CDs. Say what? Welcome to the biggest music-industry brouhaha since Napster.
Big screen not quite big enough? Don't like company while you watch TV? You can finally place your order for Sony's widely anticipated 3D headset, the HMZ-T1 ($799.) But before we get to the specs, consider the cool factor: The headset looks like something straight out of Star Trek: The Next Generation.