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Ears On
Moviegoers Catch a Whiff
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 13, 2006  |  1 comments
Moviegoers in Japan will get a special treat when they see The New World starring Colin Farrell. Telecom company NTT will supply hardware that releases aromas from scented oils. According to Yuri Kageyama of AP: "A floral scent accompanies a love scene, while a mix of peppermint and rosemary is emitted during a tear-jerking scene. Joy is a citrus mix of orange and grapefruit, while anger is enhanced by a herb-like concoction with a hint of eucalyptus and tea tree." Variations of the technique date back to 1959 when Aroma-Rama delivered scent through the air-conditioning system during Behind the Great Wall. In 1960, Smell-o-Vision injected olfactory enhancements into the seating for Scent of Mystery. Most notorious was John Waters' Polyester (1981) with Odorama, a relatively low-tech scratch-and-sniff card that provided suggestions of flowers, pizza, glue, grass, and feces. Waters later exulted over having gotten audiences to "pay to smell..." the latter.
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Audio Video News
Mitsubishi Gets Large!
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 12, 2006  |  0 comments

Last week Mitsubishi launched its 2006-2007 line of big screen televisions. The broad lineup consists of no fewer than fifteen models using a variety of technologies, including DLP rear projectors and LCDs in both flat panel and rear projection configurations.

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Audio Video News
JVC's New Display Line
Thomas J. Norton  |  Apr 12, 2006  |  0 comments

JVC announced a number of new additions to its lineup of video displays at January's CES. But the company showed at an off-site hotel and there just wasn't time to get to it. At a recent event in the Los Angeles area JVC exhibited its new models for dealers and the press.

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Fred Manteghian Blog
Posed Thumbs
Fred Manteghian  |  Apr 12, 2006  |  1 comments

I've got the next hot product for Apple, the hardware cum music company, not the Music company the Beatles conceived or even the fruit that ultimately made Eve conceive.

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Accessory Reviews
Philips RC9800i Touchscreen Universal Remote Control
John Higgins  |  Apr 12, 2006  |  0 comments
This Isn't Your Grandfathers Remote Control.

Say the words "universal remote" to some, and disturbing visions of programming a remote button by button fill their minds. Quite often, after these long, intimate sessions between you and your remotes, the universal remote doesn't perform exactly as expected, and you find yourself keeping the old remotes within reach in case something doesn't work as planned. After some time passes, the old remotes are used more often and the universal remote eventually disappears beneath the couch to be forgotten. So, why bother with another remote that supposedly does everything?

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Ears On
Netflix Attacks Blockbuster Online
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 12, 2006  |  2 comments
Blockbuster's online DVD rentals have attracted a patent-infringement lawsuit from Netflix. At issue are two patents. The first one, granted in 2003, concerns the method of letting users choose and return titles. The second relates to the waiving of late fees, obtaining new discs at no extra charge, and prioritizing want lists. For Netflix, the timing is interesting—that second patent was granted just last week! For Blockbuster, it's disastrous. The company is a billion bucks in the red, spent $300 million to set up Blockbuster Online, and has only one million subscribers, versus four million for Netflix. Compulsive letter writers, here's a hot question for your senators and congressthings: Why is the federal government granting business-methodology patents that squelch competition and raise prices for consumers?
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Audio Video News
Editors RAVE About the Best Gear
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Apr 11, 2006  |  0 comments
The editors of Home Theater magazine have announced the winners of the 2006 RAVE Awards (Recognition of Audio and Video Excellence). Open to all manufacturers, the RAVE Awards, now in its third year, recognize excellence in the manufacturing of superior audio and video components that have been reviewed and tested by the Home Theater staff and respected contributors over a 12-month period.
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The S&V Interview
HT Talks To . . . Robert Rodriguez
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 11, 2006  |  0 comments
Cinematographer/Editor/Visual-Effects Supervisor Robert Rodriguez might well be the hardest-working man in show business.

Much like the guitar-playing hero of his Mariachi trilogy, Robert Rodriguez is a one-man army—a veteran moviemaker well versed in all of its disciplines. Success born of unending creativity has led to unmatched creative freedom at his own Troublemaker Studios, far from the stodgy bureaucracy of Hollywood. Somehow, he found some time to talk to me about his work, including the ceaselessly stunning Sin City.

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AV Glossary
Surround Revisited
Mark Fleischmann,  |  Apr 11, 2006  |  0 comments
Dolby and DTS help renovate high-def DVD digs.

Have you ever heard wine lovers obsess about the bottle? Of course not. True oenophiles care most about what's in the bottle. There, in a nutshell, you have what's most peculiar about the high-definition-DVD format race. All we hear about is the vessel. What about the contents?

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Geoffrey Morrison Blog
Sharp's Two-Way Viewing-Angle LCD
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 11, 2006  |  0 comments
See double. (No booze required.)

Every once in a while, a new technology pops up that is so cool and so different that it has to create its own market. Sharp's sexy-sounding two-way viewing-angle LCD technology is just such a thing. It allows for diverse and unique uses that were previously not possible—or at least difficult.

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