Without question, Sony's XEL-1 is one sweet TV. Its OLED display, the first in a commercially available TV, is wafer thin, its colors are vibrant, and the contrast ratio is outstanding. Be sure to see it, and don't wait too long. Because it might...
Leave it to an Italian design company to turn something as mundane as brushing your teeth into art. Musical and visual art, at that. The WET design firm with a creative flare when dealing with plumbing (get it,... wet?...) has come out with a...
Did you miss the Futuresonic 2008 Festival this year? If so, you also missed Aleks Kolkowski's seminar during the Urban Festival of Art, Music, and Ideas. Mr. Kolkowski is using a vintage record cutting lathe to create 45rpm records on your own...
Not really known for being a big player in the consumer electronics world, DuPont just entered into a strategic partnership with Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. The goal is to create a more affordable manufacturing process for printed...
So, you've read all the reviews, scoured all the forums, even asked your know-it-all next door neighbor for his opinion. You agonized for months, debating back and forth between plasma and LCD. You finally got permission from the significant other...
An interesting press release crossed my desk (read: popped into my e-mail Inbox) on Friday: "John Mellencamp's Life, Death, Love, and Freedom, from Hear Music, July 15." Buried down in the fourth paragraph is this: "The album will...
While it's not big news that Amazon's Unbox has partnered with TiVo, it is news that HD content will also be available. Unbox is the service that lets you buy and download movies and TV shows directly from Amazon to your PC or broadband-connected...
Know any retrogrouch Luddites that have resisted the temptations of cable TV, to say nothing of the latest in satellite TV? Here's your chance to bring them up to date, and win some cool schwag for yourself too. The Consumer Electronics Association...
In a scene from a great Kabuki play, some of the biggest players in the Japanese manufacturing arena are shaking things up. Stick with us in this -- the plot's complicated. Especially in Japanese. Panasonic's parent company Matsushita is also...
The dance has begun. The first moves are subtle. One partner dances slowly around the other, the other shows a vulnerable side. Certain moves are expected, others a surprise. In the world of corporate takeovers, actions speak volumes when it comes...
Yamaha is making a big splash to bring Bluetooth convenience and ease to a whole new line of products. Some of them are quite exciting, and include receivers, home-theater-in-a-box systems, and perhaps the most interesting, a portable speaker,...
Okay class, let's settle down. Today's topic is "Globalization." Please remember that term, because I want you to know what to blame when you're wondering what happened to your livelihood. Globalization is when trade barriers drop and...
While 45 rpm records aren't exactly news, and even 45 rpm LP records aren't news, most pop and indie fans will be surprised when they see these as new releases. Over at CNET, it's an interesting read. What's the frequency, Kenneth? R.E.M. released...
The 66th Cannes Film Festival kicks off with killer custom sound systems from JBL. Four JBL Synthesis systems, large-scale and according to JBL, ultra-high-end, are going to be installed in the theaters built in the Hotel Gray d'Albion to showcase...
Competition isn't always a good thing. From VHS vs. Betamax all the way to SACD vs. DVD-Audio and most recently Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, competing formats have always been controversial. In the case of SACD and DVD-Audio, it could be said that the war...