LATEST ADDITIONS

This Week
This Week in Music, June 18, 2013: Celebrating album cover art
Ken Richardson  |  Jun 18, 2013

What you are looking at above is the “cover art” for Kanye West’s new album, Yeezus (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam). In fact, there’s no cover or CD booklet at all, just a sticker on the back of the package with the track listing. This dovetails nicely with Kanye’s mysterious anti-campaign for the album’s release today. He did perform “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves” on Saturday Night Live in May, and if those hard-hitting, industrial-sounding tracks are any indication, then Yeezus could be a wowzer.

Still, I can’t stop thinking about that “cover art” and, paradoxically, how much it reminds me of this:

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Headphone Reviews
Philips Fidelio X1 Headphones
Steve Guttenberg  |  Jun 18, 2013

Performance
Features
Comfort
Value
Price: $299 At a Glance: Sinfully comfy • Artfully balanced frequency response • Lavish build quality boasts aluminum trim and real leather

It wasn’t that long ago that Philips wasn’t the first name that would come to mind for audiophile headphones. Things picked up early last year when the company totally revamped its headphone lineup, and the Fidelio Series turned a lot of heads. Philips was in the big leagues and fully competitive with the majors.

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Audio Video News
Like Magic: Black Diamond Motorized Projection Screen
Bob Ankosko  |  Jun 18, 2013
Hailed as a sleek “zero-glare” alternative to flat-panel TVs, the Black Diamond Motorized projection screen is ideal for minimalist décors and spaces that simply don’t have room for a huge screen. Hit a wall switch and, like magic, a slender tube descends from the ceiling and the screen unfurls, suspended from ultra-slim aircraft cable.
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This Week
This Week in Movies & TV, June 18, 2013: Visions, Vampires, & Werewolves
Josef Krebs  |  Jun 18, 2013

Lifeforce

With a great sci-fi/horror pedigree - directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Salem's Lot, Poltergeist), screenplay co-written by Dan O'Bannon (Alien, Total Recall, and Dark Star) and Don Jakoby from the 1976 novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson, special effects supervised by Oscar-winner John Dy

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LCD TV Reviews
Test Report: Sony KDL-55W900A 3D LCD HDTV
Al Griffin  |  Jun 18, 2013

Sometimes, new isn't necessarily better. One example: MP3 downloads provided a convenient way for listeners to store and share music, but MP3 sound quality was a steep downgrade fromthat ofthe long-running CD format. And remember when Windows Vista OS was trotted out to replace Windows XP? Okay, some things are better left forgotten.

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SmartStream
Minx Air 100 Speaker vs. Sonos
Barb Gonzalez  |  Jun 18, 2013
Cambridge Audio's Minx Air 100 speaker streams music via Bluetooth and AirPlay. See how it compares to a Sonos home music system.
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Headphone Reviews
Review: NoiseHush i7
Brent Butterworth  |  Jun 17, 2013

Noise-cancelling headphones shouldn't be so expensive. In most cases, the technology is simple: a couple of tiny microphones, a cheap amplifier chip, and a simple filter circuit.

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Out Of The Blu
At Long Last Love, Adventure Time and House of Cards
Chris Chiarella  |  Jun 15, 2013
Peter Bogdanovich's buried musical resurfaces, a Cartoon Network favorite arrives in complete HD seasons, and a Spacey/Fincher collaboration is no longer a Netflix exclusive.
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Audio Video News
ESPN’s Decision to Close 3D Channel Raises the Question: Is 3D Dead?
HT Staff  |  Jun 14, 2013
Is 3D dead? That’s the question being asked in the wake of news that ESPN plans to close its ESPN 3D cable channel by the end of the year due to low demand—so low that audience ratings were below Nielsen's measurable threshold, according to a StarTribune report.

Voices throughout the industry are questioning whether 3D will ever take off or remain as a little used TV feature that will eventually wither away.

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Audio Video News
Cutting Edge Technologies Supplementing, Rather than Displacing, Older Tech
HT Staff  |  Jun 14, 2013
Tablets Owners in Particular Show Stronger Ownership/Uusage for Just About Every Type of Tech

The technological world moves incredibly fast, with cutting edge trends sometimes getting pushed to the edge of the information and entertainment superhighway almost before the digital ink of their announcements has dried. Netbooks, for example, seemed to be the next big thing for a short time until falling victim to their own limited capabilities. E-readers have faced speculation that they may follow a similar trend, though the jury is still out on this category, with 17 percent of U.S. adults owning one.

In fact, adopters of new technology appear reluctant to let go of the old technology their new devices threaten to replace.

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