Audio Video News

Forty years ago today Sony introduced a portable cassette player that would forever change the way the world experienced music on-the-go.

The videocassette recorder (VCR) seems quaint today but 32 years ago this week the Supreme Court handed down a landmark 5-4 decision that supported innovation (try to imagine home entertainment without it) and essentially legalized time-shifting—which in those days meant recording a TV show on tape for later viewing. (Consider for a moment what clarifying that right means today.)

In December 1999 the music industry sued (and ultimately shut down) downloading service Napster. Three years later Apple opened the iTunes Music Store, pointing the way to the future of music distribution and turning the recording industry on its ear.

The consumer electronics landscape was a very different place 30 years ago. There was no Internet. The marriage of audio and video had yet to be consummated. Brick-size cellphones were a curiosity/status symbol...

This is really, really cool, but don't toss your TiVo just yet. Swann Security has a new surveillance device that's part flashlight, part DVR. Now it's not meant in any way to replace your home theater's DVR, but who doesn't think that this is...

Who's the king of the hill in flat-panel TV, according to the NPD Group, for the first quarter of 2009? In overall sales, Samsung. In LCD, Vizio. And in plasma, Panasonic.

When will prices drop to truly affordable levels for flat-panel televisions?