Audio Video News

Direct-broadcast-satellite service <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com/">EchoStar Communications Corporation</A> will be first in line to buy Hughes Electronics Corporation, if parent company General Motors decides to spin it off. Hughes operates EchoStar's competitor, <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>. The acquisition would create a virtual monopoly in the skies, according to analysts who attended the <A HREF="http://www.sbca.org/">Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association</A>'s SkyForum conference in New York on Thursday, September 21.

Home theater fans almost universally agree that multichannel sound is great, but not all agree on how best to achieve it. Most find that incorporating five large box speakers---plus subwoofer and all the necessary cabling---into a typical home is difficult at best, and a point of contention that can strain even the most solid domestic relationships.

Video hobbyists tend to be pro-choice when it comes to deciding what they can and cannot record. Their choices may soon be limited by a September 14 ruling by the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov?">Federal Communications Commission</A> requiring that the next generation of video equipment be copyright-compliant.

In the past two years, more than 8 million households returned recently acquired electronic products. Most of the returned goods were thought to be defective, but a new study released September 11 indicates that three out of every four "defects" are actually "operator error"&mdash;the owners didn't understand how the products were supposed to work. More surprising is a finding that most consumers are really pretty happy with the industry's return and repair policies.

Home Entertainment 2001 (formerly The HI-FI Show) is heading back to the heart of New York for the first time in five years. Described as "a unique hands-on event where attendees will see and hear the newest and the best in home audio and home theater," HE 2001 will take place May 11–13 at the Hilton New York.

Thanks to an agreement announced September 8 by <A HREF="http://www.philips.com/">Philips Electronics NV</A> and software giant <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/">Microsoft Corporation</A>, "Enhanced TV" is coming your way. "Philips will license Microsoft TV software and collaborate with Microsoft on the development of a range of set-top boxes based on the Microsoft TV software and Philips Nexperia&ndash;based hardware platform," said the joint press release.