Car and Auto Technology Digital Trends :: Friday, February 20, 2009
Carputers, smartphones and cloud computing will transform our car into a mobile command center."
Kentech Labs Ps-Mi Portable Apple iPod Audio System Review Legit Reviews :: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"With more than 173 million Apple iPods sold as of September 2008, the iPod has become a staple in households and offices around the World. Since the Apple iPod has become so popular many find themselves unable to part form them and take them to and from work, which means you have to have a way to listen to your large collection of music at both locations. Using headphones to listen to your music in the privacy of your own home does not really make sense, and transporting a docking station between multiple locations isn't going to happen. That leaves you with the option to buy a docking station for wherever you plan on listening to your music. With tough economic times you have to get certain 'bang for the buck,' and the Apple iPod universal docking station by Odio called PS-Mi might just be a winner from both an audio and price perspective..."
7 Ways to Save on Home Theater Digital Trends :: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"Want it all when it comes to the ultimate home theater, but don't have the spare funds to afford splurging? Behold a few simple ways to build the ultimate A/V center without breaking the bank, or shortchanging the kids' college fund."
Interview with James Hildebrandt of Psyko Audio Labs Tweak Town :: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
"Our audiophile James has caught up with the CEO of Psyko Audio Labs to talk about the company’s new award-winning Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headphones.
Thank you for the opportunity to conduct this interview about your exciting new award-winning product, the Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headphones. What was your key motivation for designing a dedicated headphone solution that does not use software to create an artificial surround environment?"
Aten CS1782 KVMP Switch Hardware Bistro :: Monday, February 16, 2009
"Two months ago we have tested Aten CS661 which is a KVM laptop USB switch and today we will take a look on another Aten KVM switch; CS1782. Aten CS1782 is a desktop DVI KWMP switch by combining 2-port KVM switch with a 2-port USB 2.0 hub and 7.1 channels surround sound is supported as well. Let us go through further to find out this interesting device."
Dream Theaters: Five Stunning Home Setups Digital Trends :: Friday, February 13, 2009
"Some home theater enthusiasts dream of kitting out their pad with 50-inch plasma HDTVs and surround sound audio in every room. Others refuse to settle, instead shooting for the moon with the type of custom cinemas guaranteed to shame the local Cineplex and make the neighbors' jaws drop. From over-the-top entertainment centers to house-sized residential theaters, here's a look at five incredible home cinemas that'll give any audio- or videophile something to dream about:"
HD and Internet Radio Digital Trends :: Friday, February 13, 2009
"Radio certainly has come a long way since the days of the dial. Aside from fancier presets, and the presence of pushbuttons, free music is no longer constricted to the car or a tiny transistor set. Don't worry about huddling around a boombox or even the computer. Thanks to advances in technology, there are now plenty of ways to listen to radio, without having to sample the snaps, crackles and pops that are a trademark of the medium."
Death At A Funeral HD Movie Review Tweak Town :: Thursday, February 12, 2009
"When a family patriarch dies, the extended family, including son Daniel (Matthew McFayden) come together to bid the man goodbye. However, the good intentions slowly unravel by way of incorrect corpses, accidental drug taking, an extortion attempt by a Dwarf (Peter Dinklage) - with a revelation that would destroy the deceased mans reputation, capped off by another possible death.
Death at a Funeral is a very British comedy, directed with style by Frank Oz. It runs fairly briskly at just over 80 minutes and is fairly unrelenting in its comedy. With so many low brow comedies produced these days, Death at a Funeral is a breath of fresh air for the genre. Highly recommended."
10 Best Blu-ray Movies for Home Theaters Digital Trends :: Sunday, February 08, 2009
"There is nothing quite like popping a Blu-ray disc or DVD into your new system, hearing that first explosion or the swelling score, and witnessing the opening scenes of a truly great film. No doubt you've read many articles about the best discs to show off your system with. Unfortunately, you'd be hard-pressed to actually sit through some of these recommended movies, because despite how great the audio and video may sound and look, the film may suck. So toss your Fifth Element and Speedracer discs aside and enjoy one of these 10 films that feature excellent audio and video, not to mention incredible stories."
Badaboom Media Converter v1.1.1 Legit Reviews :: Friday, February 06, 2009
"Just yesterday Elemental Technologies released a second update to Badaboom Media Converter with release v1.1.1. This version fixes 12 bugs and also adds new features like FRAPS support for gamers that record demos and a new 960x540 resolution for Apple TV users. Legit Reviews asked Elemental Technologies to think about including FRAPS support in December as I thought that gamers and enthusiasts would see a value in being able to easily record and format movies for social networking sites like YouTube. It is a great feeling to see your ideas come to life, so let's take a look at the latest version of Badaboom Media Converter..."
Western Digital TV HD Media Player Reviewed IT Reviewed :: Tuesday, February 03, 2009
“All of us have large digital libraries that are all but trapped on our computers. In order to play our content on our TV we have to struggle with clumsy solutions such as copying onto multiple CDs and DVDs or connecting our PCs to our TV via wires or complicated home networking solutions. The WD TV HD Media Player enables anyone to easily access their high-definition content on the biggest screen in the home in a matter of minutes. Using the WD TV HD Media Player couldn’t be any simpler - plug in a storage device and the unit will automatically scan it for multimedia and automatically add the files to its library, which is split up into video, audio, and images. That’s it! WD is onto a winner here, as long as you don’t crave a fantastic selection of outputs (including Ethernet), 5.1 surround sound, and expandability with optional extras like Wi-Fi and a Freeview receiver.”
Slingbox Pro-HD and SlingLink Turbo review Tech Spot :: Monday, February 02, 2009
Some of the best inventions are envisioned when ordinary people find a void in the marketplace and aim to exploit it. The Slingbox concept was developed by two sports fans in 2002 when they were away from home and missed some key MBL baseball games. Three years later, the Slingbox became a reality.
The Slingbox is a placeshifting/media extending device, meaning that it allows you to listen or watch media remotely over the Internet. The latest Slingbox model is eloquently called the Slingbox Pro-HD, as its name suggests, the Pro-HD offers high-definition streaming to Windows-based systems out of the box as well as other notable improvements over the previous Slingbox Pro.
We will also be taking a look at the optional SlingLink Turbo 1-Port accessory which lets you extend your wired connectivity at home using power lines.
How To: Setup an HDMI Home Theater Digital Trends :: Sunday, February 01, 2009
"Although today's high-definition televisions (HDTVs) are more technically advanced than ever, the good news for everyday users is that connecting home theater components keeps getting simpler. Thank the advent of HDMI, an all-in-one digital cable that carries both audio and video signals between individual pieces of equipment. With just one cable connecting each device to your AV receiver or your TV, it's easy to mix and match parts in minutes. Here's a step-by-step guide to connecting standard home theater components using the format, including a Blu-ray disc player, satellite (or cable TV) receiver, an AV receiver for surround sound and an HDTV."
Logitech SqueezeboxT Boom Review RB Mods :: Friday, January 30, 2009
Imagine this: A Boombox that plays all your internet radio stations through a wireless connection. At the same time it's reasonably sized but is still able to actually pump out a good sound. You are probably wondering, is this even possible?! Well Logitech claims their new Squeezebox Boom is that device, this means you can even have it with you and just hook it up to any WIFI connection and play your favorite radio stations by adding the feed to your list.
Blu-ray Release Line-up for 2009 Tweak Town :: Friday, January 30, 2009
"2008 saw a lot of traction and gains by the Blu-ray format, not least of which included the death of HD-DVD, the first million selling disc (The Dark Knight), amongst quite a few other killer titles. But 2009 has been billed as the year of Blu-ray by many industry pundits and we are certainly looking forward to many great releases.
I’ve taken the liberty of rounding up the rumored release lists of titles for the year. I will stress that these are not confirmed and are in certain degrees of production. It is also possible some may be delayed. Additionally, this does not profess to be a list of every Blu-ray to be released this year, but a selection of the major ones. And there are of course many others that I don’t know about. That said, let’s take a look and start saving accordingly!"
Spectroniq Portable DVD Player Review OCIA :: Saturday, January 24, 2009
"The portable DVD player we have for review from Geeks.com is the PDV-70X from Spectroniq which offers a 7" widescreen LCD display housed in an attractive silver body. It supports 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio, has a standard 480 x 234 resolution, supports DVD, VCD, CD and JPEG playback and advertises up to 2˝ hours of power with the included rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack."
The Godfather Trilogy HD Movie Review Tweak Town :: Friday, January 23, 2009
"Every film critic, would be actor or director, fans of film – everyone, should see these films. There really is no other way to cut it. I can’t stress enough how important these films are and it truly is a blessing that we can view these films in this quality in our own homes with this Blu-ray release. Over a year and millions of dollars was spent re-mastering these films, but thank goodness they were. The aging materials that were used to release the previous DVD in 2002 were a far cry from what we have now and Paramount now has a properly re-mastered backup in much higher than Blu-ray resolution; this for further use and theatrical distribution.
There was a real danger that the Godfather would not have been able to be bought back from the brink if action wasn’t taken when it was, but the image we have now is breathtaking in clarity. If you have never seen these films, now would be the best time."
Verbatim MediaStation Pro Inside HW :: Friday, January 23, 2009
“Multimedia players capable of reproducing various file types have become more and more popular lately. If someone, by any chance, is asking himself why anyone would use multimedia player instead of PC for watching movies and listening of music, than, we must tell you – because of so many advantages. First of all, multimedia players are very easy to use, secondly, you can enjoy in picture on big screen (many people don’t hold PC beside TV) and one more thing that some of you find very important – you have a chance to keep family away from your computer for awhile…”
SageTV HD Theater Review Digital Trends :: Thursday, January 22, 2009
"The SageTV HD Theater is akin to Western Digital's WD TV HD Media Player in that it can stream music and video to your television independent of a computer-that means you don't need a computer at all. Like that device, it's outfitted with HDMI, composite, component, and S-video outputs, and analog and S/PDIF audio outputs. Also similar to the WD TV, the HD Theater delivers video resolution up to 1080p. But if you're the type who expects to plug something in and have it just work, the SageTV HD Theater probably isn't the right media extender for you. That's not to say that the device is extremely buggy or poorly designed; it's just most appropriate for people who like to tinker and share their experience on online forums."
Sony Blu-ray BDV-IS1000 Review Digital Trends :: Thursday, January 22, 2009
"Blu-ray home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) systems are still a rarity-there are currently only a few models available from Panasonic, Samsung and Sony. What's more, they're pricey. Sony's BDV-IS1000 lists for $1,000, keeping it just outside the realm of most mainstream consumers. But the biggest hurdle, as we found out, is simply that they don't always work. Despite trying two systems, spending an hour on the line with a support specialist, and about half that time again on a conference call with a product manager, we were unable to make the system's rear wireless speakers connect with the main amplifier. Other than that one, rather significant inconvenience, it's a sweet system."
Bablylon 5 on the Big Screen? Monday, January 19, 2009
So JMS says that there is no more Babylon 5 unless it is a full picture and is ready to leave the series be rather than compromise it with on the cheap sequels. Seems that despite the series constantly selling better than Warner dreamed of, they always do it cheap. Well as he prepares for New York City Comic Con, JMS, series creator says that now that he is doing films, (The Changeling), and (Upcoming Forbidden Planet), and that he is getting award talk, Warner Bros has initiated contact to ask JMS just how “Big” does it have to be in order to bring Babylon 5 to the screen.
I confirmed this through a JMS source and we are breaking the news to you fans first. I will believe it when and if shooting starts, but I am happy to see that Warner Bros has initated the conversation rather than the other way around.
Top Online Video Services Compared Digital Trends :: Saturday, January 17, 2009
"With more than a dozen services competing for the same eyeballs, a shakeout is pretty much inevitable, though. Here's our guide to eight contenders with the best prospects for long-term survival. Amazon Video on Demand, Blockbuster OnDemand, CinemaNow, the iTunes Store, and Vudu all rent downloadable movies and sell downloadable episodes of new and classic TV shows. Netflix allows you to stream many older movies and some TV episodes as part of its subscription DVD-rental service. Hulu and Joost are free movie-, TV-, and music-streaming services supported by advertising. Have a look through our in-depth recaps of all, and we're confident you'll never bother checking out a DVD again."
Logitech Squeezebox Boom Inside HW :: Saturday, January 17, 2009
“Twenty first century is here and with it came new technologies like wireless connectivity that we will be focusing on in this review. Nowadays everything “must” be wireless and portable so folks from Logitech created one very unusual device. Name Squeezebox Boom doesn’t speak for itself too much. Actually Logitech Squeezebox Boom is speaker with two integrated wireless devices that allows it to be connected to your computer and internet at the same time…”
CES 2009: Creative Think Computers :: Saturday, January 17, 2009
“Creative had a very strong showing this year, once again featuring Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendell in frag matches throughout the day. They showed off a new video recorder, new speakers, a new sound card, new OEM partners, and a kick-ass new processor architecture, too. Let's take a look!"
Do Expensive Home Audio/Video Cables Matter? Digital Trends :: Friday, January 16, 2009
"The question is as old as the audio-video industry itself: Do high-quality cables really matter? In fact, it may not surprise you to note that it's even one of the most common questions that custom installers are asked by clients building high-performance systems. But finally, we here at DT can provide an answer: Predictably, it's an emphatic "yes!""
GeForce 185.20, ambient occlusion tested TechConnect :: Thursday, January 15, 2009
"Everywhere you turn these days you see people saying that 2009 will be tough, with economic recession, more trouble in the Middle East and the filming of BloodRayne 3. Despite the grim outlook, this year has started on a high note for Nvidia graphics card owners as a new GeForce driver bearing a new feature and the potential of improved performance got trapped in the spider-less world wide web. Also coming with a rather high number jump - from 180.70/87/88 to 185.20, the driver features support for every GeForce desktop card from the 6 series up and adds a new tab in the Nvidia Control Panel that enables Ambient Occlusion, a lighting model that's supposed to bring more realism to 3D games."
Azden SGM-X Shotgun Microphone Review PC Shop Talk :: Saturday, January 10, 2009
While many users use Standard or High-Definition camcorders for their vacation videos or perhaps for making some home-made movies, the onboard sound quality becomes noticeable to the user as they want to make more professional movies. The reason for this is because the onboard microphones tend to pick up background noises that lower the quality of your audio. Some cameras that use MiniDV tapes tend to pick up a small hum sound from the motor inside the camera itself. Whether you are aiming for just a home-made footage of your family and/or you just want to film your own little short, we highly recommend a shotgun microphone for all users that want to get the most out of their camera.
Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player Review Digital Trends :: Friday, January 09, 2009
"With so much digital media available at our fingertips, the computer has become a trusty companion when it comes to content management. It may be busting at the seams, but it's a nice alternative for those that don't have thousands of dollars to plunk down on a dedicated media server. Now the only problem is how to enjoy that entertainment. You could curl up on the couch or office chair and experience everything right on your desktop. However, unless you're the type to hook a 60-inch screen up to your PC, stuff can often get a bit lost in the translation. For those times when the small screen just doesn't deliver the goods, the WD TV HD Media Player wants to make the transition from small to big screen pretty seamless."
Is Blu-ray Worth Buying? Digital Trends :: Wednesday, January 07, 2009
"With stock values plummeting and your 401K on the brink of becoming a 40K, it's getting increasingly hard to look at next-generation Blu-ray disc players as a sound investment. The big question: While the high-definition storage format quickly ousted HD DVD for popular dominance amongst entertainment enthusiasts, at current prices, does it deserve a place in your home?"
Audio Archiving Guide: Part 2 - CD Ripping Techgage :: Tuesday, January 06, 2009
In the first part to this series, we took a deep look at the various music formats available, while here, we'll tackle the actual ripping process. Believe it or not, some methods are better than others, and we'll explain why. We'll also discuss specific rippers for Windows, Mac and Linux, so no matter your OS choice, we have you covered.
