Oh! Gizmo

By Chris Scott Barr

Remember back when TVs were just boxes that were just used for watching movies, cable and playing video games? I guess that wasn’t all that long ago, since the TV I just bought a few months ago still needs another device in order to really do anything. However, soon you’ll be able to go and get yourself a Vizio HDTV that comes with all sorts of cool applications built-in.

I’ve got a small PC that sits in my entertainment center which gives me access to streaming video, audio and of course the web. With the new line of Vizio XVT HDTVs, I could almost get rid of it. Owners will have access to free streaming content from Revision3, Showtime and Pandora while also being able to subscribe to services such as Vudu, Netflix, Blockbuster OnDemand, Amazon Video On Demand and Rhapsody. The icing on the cake is access to Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Yahoo Widgets.

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By Chris Scott Barr

I have enough devices in my home entertainments center to fill up an entire 12-port surge protector. While not everyone has a dozen devices to hook up, it can be a pain to get everything plugged in as it should be. Plus there’s never an outlet where you need it, right? Well here’s an interesting concept, fill your entire wall with outlets!

I’m no electrician, but I can imagine that this is a fire hazard waiting to happen. Not to mention dangerous for small children to be around. However, you have to admit that it looks pretty damn cool. With so many outlets, at first glance it just looks like the person has fancy wallpaper. Then again you could always fill most of the area with false plates if you just wanted the look. Of course that would defeat most of the purpose in the first place.

[ Ironic Sans ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Monster Cables is a company well-known for suing other people for uttering the word “monster” when not referring to their products. Oh, and they produce overpriced cables. Unfortunately it would seem that the poor economy and sheer amount of lawsuits over trademark infringement have really taken their toll on the company. As you can see from their latest product, the MCC AV50 Home Theater Controller, they had to let go their entire design team.

Normally I wouldn’t bother writing about a $50 universal remote, but this thin is too hideous to pass up. Sure, if it were coming from some unknown company out of China, I wouldn’t have given it a second glance. Yet somehow this is being sold by Monster Cable. I suppose if you needed a remote to fit in with your living room which has been modeled after the original Enterprise, then this might do.

[ Monster Cable ] VIA [ BoingBoing ]

By Shane McGlaun

It hasn’t been too long now since HDMI specification 1.3 came on the market and it’s already time for another specification to drop. I am glad to see that the HDMI Licensing company doesn’t sit on its laurels when it comes to adding new features to HDMI.

The full specification is due to be available for download no later than June 30, 2009. Until we can see the full specification, we do know a few of the features that HDMI 1.4 will offer. One of the most interesting is an HDMI Ethernet channel that allows HDMI connected devices to communicate at 100Mbps without needing another cable. An audio return channel is also featured in the spec along with support for 3D over HDMI.

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By Shane McGlaun

I have several iPod accessories around the house and each time I dock my iPhone I get that wonderful “this accessory is not iPod compatible” message. That little message means you can’t place calls while the iPhone is docked in the accessory, but I assume calls will still come in. I haven’t had that happen yet.

Pioneer has announced a new A/V receiver series that are certified to work with the iPhone and iPod touch. The receiver models include the VSX-819AH, VSX-919AH, and VSX-1019AH receivers. Users can plug their iPhone or iPod into the receivers and use the full-color GUI to browse album art and control music playback from across the room with the A/V receiver remote.

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By Shane McGlaun

I really like home theater gear and have wanted a projector set up in my living room for a long time. The thought of a massive image in HD resolution for watching the UFC and playing games makes me giddy. The problem is that getting all the gear together to set up a projection system can be a pain and it’s expensive.

Epson has announced new Ensemble HD home theater kits using the latest 1080p HD projectors from Epson. The new Ensemble kits include the firm’s 3LCD 1080p front projectors, motorized 100-inch screen, integrated surround sound, AV controller with built-in DVD player, universal remote, and the components needed for installation.

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By Luke Anderson

How often do you watch the special features that come on most DVDs? Personally I’ll watch the outtakes once in a while, but rarely dive in much deeper than that. If you’re the kind of person that likes to listen to all of the director commentary on all of your flicks, you just might get a disappointment next time you go to rent a movie released by Fox.

It seems that Fox is trying to encourage people to rent less and buy more by taking out the special features on rental DVDs. The first movies to be released with a special stripped-down version will be “Slumdog Millionaire”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, and “The Wrestler”. It will be interesting to see the reaction to this move, though I doubt that a lot of people will be all that upset. I mean, if you really care enough about a movie to sit through 4 hours of commentary and behind-the-scenes footage, maybe you’ll actually want to watch the movie more than once.

VIA [ Crave ]

By Luke Anderson

Well it seems that this whole DTV transition delay is finally happening. I’ve hoped that our government would see the light, but that is not the case. The latest bill has passed at the House and is on its way to President Obama’s desk. Since he’s been pushing for the bill all along, we can assume that he will sign it without hesitation.

One interesting tidbit that made it into the bill is that stations that are ready for the switch may go ahead and do so. That’s just great, first you confuse people by telling them that their old TVs will keep working until June 12, then you let stations pull the plug. I can’t see where that would cause any issues at all. I’m pretty sure the only thing they could do to make this worse is attempt to delay it once again in June.

VIA [ Gearlog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m still finding stuff from CES to write up, and one of the very first gadgets I had the chance to play with was the new Logitech Harmony 1100 universal remote. In fact, it turns out the person I was sitting next to on my flight to Vegas was the Logitech ‘demo guy’ for this product, so I had an ‘in’ even before the plane touched down. The Harmony 1100 is an upgrade to the 1000 model, and features a 3.5 inch color touch screen that’s complimented with a set of ’soft’ buttons on the sides, and dedicated volume and channel buttons to the right. Now these buttons technically duplicate functionality already found on the touch screen, but I like the fact that you can adjust the volume and change the channel without having to look away from the screen. Who knows when that crazy island from Lost might up and disappear again while you’re not paying attention?

And like with all the Logitech Harmony models, programming the 1100 to replace up to 15 different remotes is easy thanks to their guided online setup that currently supports more than 225,000 devices from over 5,000 brands. But if things get too complicated, the UI on the large touch screen can also be re-configured to show only the commands you want to see, even to the point of choosing a custom icon for each one. Now that large display does raise the issue of battery life, but the remote comes with a docking cradle, so whenever it’s not in use or lost, the battery should be recharging. (I think the Logitech rep suggested 3 or 4 days of use before it needed to be recharged.)

The Logitech Harmony 1100 is expected to be available in February for $499.99.

[ Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote ]