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No fast-forwarding at TiVo, Rhapsody party

When I walked into midtown Manhattan's flashy Arena nightclub on Tuesday evening for an event celebrating the introduction of RealNetworks' Rhapsody music service on TiVo, a waiter approached me with a tray full of tumblers containing a clear liquid accompanied by slices of lime.

I was thirsty. "Is this water?" I asked him.

"No, it's an HD Crystal Clear Cosmo," he replied matter-of-factly, "so, no, it's not water."

A little bit of journalistic digging--i.e. finding a sign detailing the evening's signature drinks--yielded that that the HD Crystal Clear Cosmo … Read more

Presenting Goldmund's Media Room, prices start at $300,000

Goldmund, a Swiss-based company, announced the availability of its media room "that exceeds the quality and performance of the nation's top commercial movie theaters and director's screening rooms." They call it "perfection in an imperfect world." Goldmund competes in the ultra-luxury stratosphere of the audiophile universe.

The Goldmund Media Room has up to 128 channels of audio, individual amplifiers for each speaker, and uses proprietary technology to overcome challenging room acoustics. Using their high tech room modeling software, Goldmund's team of professionals determine the number of speakers, and designs all the signal processing … Read more

'Raiders' theater is buried treasure

Its media gear may not be state of the art, but we're just happy to see a home theater that, for once, doesn't have a Star Wars or Star Trek theme. The designers of this Raiders of the Lost Ark theater were commissioned to spend more time on ambience than technical specs, if that's not obvious from the photos. That means special attention was paid to such props as torches, hieroglyphics and Indiana's trademark hat, jacket and whip, as well as the original idol from the movie's opening, according to Electronic House.

The room, which … Read more

Xtreme Notebooks announces all-in-one PC/TV

Xtreme Notebooks, the company responsible for sticking a quad-core desktop processor in a laptop case, may have to change its name: This evening the manufacturer announced its first nonlaptop offering, the all-in-one Xtreme XN1 PC/TV hybrid.

Key features include your choice of a 19-inch or 22-inch WSXGA+ LCD display, optional dual TV tuners, high-definition audio and room for two terabyte hard drives. The whole system runs on Core 2 Duo E series or Extreme Edition series processor, with your choice of integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics or a 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card. There's also a … Read more

Enhancing the loudspeaker voice through alcohol

CHIBA, Japan--Who said work and drinking don't mix?

A number of years ago, during an economic downturn, JVC had to lay off an engineer who had worked for the company for around 20 years. Sometime later, the engineer was in a tavern with a friend when he contemplated the squid snacks.

Why, he thought, are the squid so flexible? The bartender told him they soak in sake first.

The engineer had an insight into how to tackle a problem that had vexed acoustic engineers for years: how to make loudspeaker cones out of wood. Making speaker cabinets from wood … Read more

InGrid caught breaking and entering DIY home security market

The DIY home security market is one of those fast-growing markets you don't hear that much about. But trust me, it's hot, and InGrid, one of the leading developers of digital home protection services, has entered the fray with the announcement today of the direct to consumer availability of its Digital Home Protection system.

According to the release, "The next generation in home security uses portable, digital technology and fully integrated broadband providing a nearly impossible to defeat system. Each InGrid kit comes with quick, easy step-by-step instructions and illustrations that guide installation and activation in less … Read more

Old DVD-recorders selling for $1,900

DVD-recorders with hard drives may be old technology, but they're commanding astronomical prices on the free market these days. Case in point: We reviewed the Panasonic DMR-EH75V about a year and half ago when it had a list price of $500. If you search for the DMR-EH75H on Amazon, you'll see three resellers (all with reputable ratings) selling them for insane prices:

New DMR-EH75V: $1,895 New DMR-EH75V: $1,899 Used DMR-EH75V: $1,498

Is it just a glitch with Amazon? You might think so, but that's pretty clearly not the case. Jumping over to eBay, we found some recent auctions for the same product.

New Panasonic DMR-EH75V: $750 Refurbished DMR-EH75V: $675 Used DMR-EH75V: $760

Sure, that's less than half of the Amazon prices, but they're still very high. How often does the price of electronics increase after being used for a few years? What's going on here?

The answer is pretty simple--if you know the gritty details of consumer electronics and a little economics.… Read more

Cisco partners with Chinese appliance maker

Cisco Systems will partner with one of China's largest appliance makers to develop networking gear for homes, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Cisco and the Haier Group said in a statement that they will share best practices in management, strategic investment and construction in an effort to build home networking systems. Specific details of how the companies will do this weren't provided.

The Haier Group has been expanding into international markets for the past couple of years. And CEO Zhang Ruimin said the company will look to Cisco to help it expand its brand overseas.

"We believe … Read more

Windows Home Server update coming Tuesday

Microsoft said Monday that it has finished a planned update to its Windows Home Server software, paving the way for Hewlett-Packard to finish its product based on the new operating system.

HP, which had expected to be one of the first to offer a home server based on Microsoft's software, earlier said that it would wait for this update before releasing its MediaSmart Server. The changes are designed to improve the products "usability and out-of box experience," Microsoft said.

The software update is also being made available to other Windows Home Server customers via Windows Update. More … Read more

Sunfire CRM-2 Cinema Ribbon: The biggest sounding tiny speaker you can buy

Nowadays it seems like everybody wants tiny speakers. Catch is, most small speakers sound small--they squash dynamic range, can't play at all loud, and produce a lot more distortion than large speakers. I've always been frustrated by the sound of really tiny speakers--until I reviewed Sunfire's CRM-2 satellite ($800 each) in the May, 2007 issue of Home Theater magazine .

With its grille removed you notice something unusual: the CRM-2's front baffle is almost completely covered by a 6-inch "ribbon" tweeter (essentially a lightweight aluminum foil, suspended between neodymium magnets). The ribbon's ultra-low moving … Read more