LATEST ADDITIONS

The battle of the giants continued in late October as <A HREF="http://www.disney.com/">Walt Disney Company</A> filed another complaint with the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A> over a proposed merger between Time Warner and America Online. This time, Disney is protesting that the companies will keep competitors from using AOL/TW-controlled interactive-TV services

If <A HREF="http://www.c-3d.net/"> Constellation 3D, Inc</A>. succeeds with its ambitious plan to develop a high-density optical disc, "FMD" will be the next acronym to enter the technophile lexicon. The letters stand for Fluorescent Multilayer Disc, a recordable format under development that promises 100 gigabytes of storage on a disc no bigger than an ordinary DVD.

Seldom in my life as an equipment reviewer has a product arrived that, out of the box, I've known I wanted to own. The Pioneer DV-AX10 is one of them&mdash;the first universal player that can handle CD, Super Audio CD, DVD-Audio, and DVD-Video, complete with progressive-scan video output. It's a wonder to behold and a joy to use.

Gestalt
Time after time, I find myself asking, "Now what did I go and say that for?" Recently, while sitting in our weekly staff editorial meeting, I once again opened myself up to an idea that would inevitably lead to more work for me. After requesting speaker systems to have on hand for review, I realized that they all shared one common similarity: They were all around $3,500 or less. I don't know of a retailer on this planet where you can audition Polk, Klipsch, and RBH speakers at the same time, yet I'm sure it will cross some reader's mind who's looking to spend that extra change under the mattress.