Now you could probably guess my excitement last week during the Keynote when Steve Jobs announced movie rentals…in High Definition (HD). Two great things that I had been longing for and here they were, right before me. Yes! But I also noticed that Apple’s CEO mentioned this during the Apple TV update and made no stipulation to if the HD would be on both AppleTV and iTunes. I guess raising my hand for a clarification would go unnoticed, so off to the Apple booth I went to find someone who could answer that. After bouncing off a few Apple employees, I finally found one who could answer my question. The answer, “No iTunes support.” Well, would it ever come to iTunes I begged? “I don’t know. Maybe.” Joy.
Here’s the deal with HD and AppleTV. The upgrade supports Dolby 5.1, common to HD set-ups but not exclusive in addition to the menus and other additions. Apple must feel that that coupled with the fact most watch movies from their couch in the living room (or their bed in the bedroom), support for us Mac users isn’t needed. But the thing is, a vast majority of DVD players and HD players (Blu-ray or HD-DVD) aren’t hooked up to audio systems taking advantage of the bliss of digital sound coming from the discs or to even attached to HDTVs (initial install base is at single digits.) Expect similar results out of Apple TV 2.0. Further added frustration to this thought is that Apple’s own web page states, “Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound is not available with all HD rentals.”
Another interesting hitch to all of this is the fact that current Apple TV owners will be able to upgrade their firmware and receive HD content without the ability to hear that 5.1 sound. (Kinda kills the audio argument for Apple at this point, I guess.) Erg.
Looking to the visual aspect, what makes a plasma or LCD TV more special than my 30 inch Cinema HD display? Let me repeat my monitors name, Cinema HD. Um, don’t you think, Steve, that my Cinema HD device is just a wee-bit perfect for HD movies? In fact, I’d say it’s freakin’ over kill it’s so good!
So where’s the HD in iTunes, then? I don’t have to have 5.1 audio support, but it’d be nice to have it and with many after-market sound card options, Dolby’s theater performance isn’t an issue. Dying to push my Cinema HD screen to its limits, I’m tired of SD (Standard Definition) content on my lovely screen that I nearly had to hock my first born for to afford it. Give me something, Steve. What gives?
My only hope is my thinking that Apple TV 2.0 gets HD first to push more of Steve’s “hobby” off the shelf. Once the sales are serious enough for Steve to be pleased with them, I think we will see HD on iTunes and finally on my Cinema HD display.
Digital Foci, Inc. announced today “Pocket Album,” a digital keychain photo viewer with a 1.5-inch color LCD screen that lets you carry your favorite photos right in your pocket to share and relive your photo moments wherever you go. Pocket Album holds a selection of up to 74 pictures with its 8MB internal memory. Photos can be viewed by scrolling manually or through an automatic photo slideshow with adjustable slideshow intervals.
Pocket Album includes user-friendly Photo Viewer Software that makes it easy to convert JPG or BMP images from your computer to Pocket Album. You can crop and rotate any photos you wish to transfer, and then automatically resize the photos for optimal storage and display on the digital keychain. The perfect sentimental gift, you can even preload precious photo moments on Pocket Album to give to friends and family for the holidays.
Pocket Album runs on Lithium-ion batteries with up to 9 hours of battery life. The batteries can be easily recharged with the included AC adapter or with the USB cable by connecting it to your computer. Pocket Album also features a built-in clock with automatic on/off timer. LCD contrast is adjustable for choosing your optimal viewing angle.
Pocket Album Features:
- Holds up to 74 digital photos with 8MB internal flash memory.
- 1.5” color LCD screen.
- 9 hours of battery life on Lithium-Ion batteries.
- LCD contrast adjustable for choosing optimal viewing angle.
- Builds automatic photo slideshows with adjustable time intervals or photos can be scrolled manually.
- Built-in clock with automatic on/off timer.
- Photo Viewer Software is included for converting JPG & BMP images from the computer to Pocket Album (compatible with Windows Vista/XP/2000, Mac 10.x or later).
- Software crops and rotates photos before automatically resizing them for optimal storage and display.
- Easily recharges battery with the included AC adapter or with the included USB cable by connecting it to your computer.
- Compact and lightweight design makes it convenient to carry.
Priced at $39.95, the Pocket Album digital keychain measures 2.2” x 1.6” x 0.5” and weighs only 1.2 oz. It is available in Black, Silver, and Blue and includes a USB cable, USB-AC Adapter, Resource Disc, Photo Viewer Software, and User’s Guide. Pocket Album is available immediately and is compatible with both Windows and Mac. For more information, see www.digitalfoci.com or http://www.digitalfoci.com/pocket_album.html.
This month, ViewSonic launches four new value-priced displays that further enhance its position as a leader in display technology innovation.
“These latest displays reflect ViewSonic’s ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of the small business and education markets,” said Jeff Volpe, vice president of marketing, ViewSonic Americas. “Our VA Series of displays deliver the features and performance to make the most of a customer’s technology budget.”The four new displays include the 19-inch VA916 and VA926, traditional 4:3 displays, the 20-inch VA2026w and the 22-inch VA2226w - both widescreen displays that bring panoramic viewing for multiple documents and HD video content to the desktop. The dramatic increase in viewing area on the widescreen allows users to navigate between multiple windows and applications in less time and with greater ease, expanding virtual desktop space without sacrificing physical desk real estate.
All displays are Windows Vista™ certified, and incorporate a stylish, thin-bezel design and a clean cable management system. Each display also includes additional features: Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, now Altec Lansing has just released the inMotion iMV712, I’ve got to ask, “Where’s the car video version?” Alpine, Pioneer, Sony, they all have iPod connectors now. Most after-market radios do, period. Now with album art as the new big thing to show on the display, why can’t we just get the whole video on these screens? Altec Lansing has proven that it can be done no problem as have other brands with home docks that also produce video on TV screens from a cradled iPod. So what gives?
For the last few months, I’ve been wondering why this hasn’t happened. I know there isn’t any technical difficulties to work around especially since now Altec has shown us that it can be done. With the prevalence of LCD screens in cars and SUVs everywhere today, this just makes SO much sense to do. In fact, the first company to do it will probably sell tons of units. So where are they Alpine? Sony? Pioneer? Clarion? Eclipse? You all pioneered the LCD screen in cars so won’t one of you pioneer iPod video in the vehicle?
Envision Peripherals Inc. (EPI), home to the AOC and Envision branded displays, today expanded its Envision line of value priced high-performance displays with the introduction of a new series of TFT active-matrix LCD monitors that allow users to take advantage of the benefits of Microsoft’s new Windows Vista Operating System.
Leading the new line of LCD displays is the 19-inch widescreen Envision G918w1, offering Windows Vista Premium certification to complement Microsoft’s aim to provide enhancements for productivity, multimedia and entertainment. EPI also announced the addition of two new Windows Vista-ready TFT active-matrix LCD displays, the 19-inch Envision H1981 and 17-inch Envision H1781.
The new line of Envision branded monitors is designed to be as attractive as it is functional. Featuring a matte-black cabinet with sleek low-profile design, these units complement virtually any PC or Mac computer, while saving valuable desk-top real estate. Their durable screens are finished with a glare-resistant hard coating that reduces eye-strain and helps prevent scratch-damage. Read the rest of this entry »
Techwell was showing off their broad line of high performance TW88xx In-Car LCD display processors at their booth in Las Vegas two weeks ago at CES. The leading manufacturer of semiconductor solutions for the automotive world produced these processors in response to the growing demand for LCD displays in vehicles, primarily for Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and DVD players. All of the TW88xx processors featured at CES 2007 can directly support a variety of small size LCD panels from LG.Philips, Sharp, TMD, Hitachi, and others along with integrated timing controllers.
“Techwell has made a determined effort through R&D and collaborations with panel providers to develop the most integrated and feature rich LCD display processors available for in-car display applications.” said Feng Kuo, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer. He added, “We are very pleased to supply our high-performance, scalable, and low cost products to the growing in-car entertainment market.”
The great thing about these processors is that they have the ability to simultaneously display different content viewable from various user angles in the vehicle. This means that the driver can be getting directions from the GPS while the passenger can be watching a DVD. Or the two kids in the back who can never agree on what movie to watch can watch two different DVDs at the same time, all on the same screen!
According to Telematics Research Group, shipments of navigation, entertainment and driver information systems are expected to grow from a combined 16.5 million units to a combined 47.2 million units in 2009, representing a compound annual growth rate of 23%. Along with automobile manufacturers who incorporate them into their new vehicles, These systems are also increasingly being purchased by consumers in the aftermarket. The newest model, The TW8806 is in mass production and will be available in mid 2007. Visit www.techwellinc.com for more info on this product.
This year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), it was the coming out party for Wireless USB. Not too many products were retail shelf products, but there was an abundance of prototypes, many that were very appealing. Alereon demonstrated two digital cameras transferring pictures from one to the other and vice versa, all using wireless USB technology. Now that in itself is awesome, being able to send pics from one camera to the other without wires is cool. But this will also work with cell phones, which is even more compelling. All those teenage girls who can’t stop text messaging will love this. Alereon also demonstrated printing photos from a Kodak camera on a Kodak printer, also using the Wireless USB technology. It’s extraordinarily fast, and you don’t have the messy wires to deal with. They also demonstrated the ability to transfer pictures onto an HDTV.
This new WUSB technology is an awesome feature that provides very fast performance and keeps your desk nice and neat at the same time, free of all those annoying cables. This was demonstrated by Toshiba. They used a high data rate version of Wireless USB and a 5:1 compression to connect a laptop to a wireless-enabled docking station. This in turn drives the LCD monitor. According to representatives, using this technology you can have your laptop 18” to 30” away from your monitor with yup, you guessed it, no wires. Alereon demonstrated a similar mechanism using a chip from DisplayLink of the UK. It’s a PC driver that transmits in a compressed fashion display data over WUSB. At the other end the chip decompresses the data and drove it to an LCD monitor. Using this method, you could be on your couch with your laptop looking at photos, watching music or youTube videos, all on your LCD screen! All without the hassle of wires. Very cool.
In the automotive world, Intel and DaimlerChrysler demonstrated the connection between a mobile PC and a monitor in the headrest of a car, using controller chips from Intel and WUSB chips from Alereon. This can also be used for video iPods and other MP3 players. Life without wires. Sounds good to me.
Someone once mad the comment that: “I’ll be willing to look at thinking outside the box only after I’ve seen proof that there’s any thinking going on inside the box first.” This new product is definitely an example of thinking outside that box, and I mean, way outside.
The new product, Concierge, is actually quite simple. It’s an LCD screen built into a shopping cart. When a customer walks into their local supermarket and grabs a cart, the screen will come to life. It’ll tell its user about the store, provide them with a map so they don’t get lost. But it doesn’t stop there, oh no. Concierge will be able to provide shoppers with coupons, recipe ideas, and even keep an ongoing tally of your selected items.
It’s not only a tool to help shoppers; it’ll benefit storeowners as well. With built in GPS technology, managers will be able to see what isles are most visited, which ones aren’t visited at all, and what products are most often selected or just left alone on the shelf (hopefully for not too long.) Supermarkets and stores everywhere will be able take this info and tailor their establishments to consumers needs.
Rob Segal, Springboard’s CEO puts it this way. He said: “Every so often, you read about a device that just makes sense – so much so that you if find yourself thinking, ‘I can’t believe no one thought of that before.’ Concierge is just such a device.” Read the rest of this entry »
We told you about Westinghouse’s Digital LCD Photo frame early this week and now we’ve seen it in the flesh. I must say, when I first glanced at it, my eyes almost seemed to be deceived as the picture was too bright, too vibrant, too hardcopy like. I picked up the frame, gave it a close look to see if pixels in fact where being displayed and not ink. Then I found the NEXT button on the rear. I pushed it and sure enough a new image appeared. ‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘This really is the display!’
It’s incredible kids and if you’re looking for an easy way to display your pictures but would like to add pizazz to the frame with frequent changes to the art being displayed, this I think may be your ticket. In fact, this is the first time that I would even recommend a digital frame. I was impressed!
We just got word from our contact at Westinghouse that it is now showing off the worlds largest LCD TV. It’s a honking 82 inches large and has all that quality of the other Westinghouse monitors. If you’re lucky enough to be at CES, go by its booth (#21707) for your picture next to the President, er, Largest LCD TV.
We’re working on getting you a picture now as we won’t be at CES until Wednesday.
UPDATE: Our crack contributor Jon has just informed us that Westinghouse only held this honor for a few minutes as Sharp 26 inches! That’s right, Sharp now is the holder of the worlds largest LCD TV at 108″.
UPDATE II: At closer inspection of our press release we received, we missed the “one of the” in the line about the worlds largest part. Sorry, when your Inbox gets blasted with releases, it’s hard to keep up. We’ve whipped our monkey and asked him to be more detailed in his reading. We’re sure this won’t happen tomorrow at Macworld.