Props to Pioneer and their ability to make flat panels actually produce a decent black. They are introducing their eighth generation of plasma screens that emit shades that are 80% darker than anything available at present. Usually plasma screens display pixels that are self-emitting and produce their own light, while LCD screens must be backlit when turned on, resulting in color flaws in both systems.

The technology will be available in a series of TVs in 42, 50 and 60-inch screen sizes, with a full 1080p resolution that they refer to as “Project KURO,” and have a contrast ratio of 20,000:1. Look for the KURO (which means “black” in Japanese) line to become available very soon. Even Apple has announced that all of their LCDs will be based on this technology by the end of this year.

Read More | Pioneer via Daily Tech

Gallery: Pioneer Develops Better Black with KURO

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

For families that insist on making their kitchen an actual meeting place, LG Electronics is once again donning its innovation cap with the supposedly first-of-its-kind HDTV Refrigerator. Debuting at the 2007 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas May 8 - 10, the side-by-side features a 15-inch remote controlled ATSC-QAM-NTSC digital television tuner and FM tuner on its right door.

In addition, the left door of the fridge contains a four-inch Weather & Info Center LCD above the ice and water dispenser. There is also a pre-loaded recipe bank and USB port for slide shows, a date/time clock, a child lock function, temperature display, and a calendar that will sound off the next time your spouse/partner forgets your anniversary. With all those nifty accessories, we are just wondering if it can actually contain enough room for, dare we say it, foodstuff.

Read More | LGE

Gallery: LG Refrigerator Encourages Family Get Togethers

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

A few years ago, Richard Schneider went into his garage and began creating and selling TV antennas. Really. His Missouri-based business Antennas Direct is so successful that he made $1.4 million in sales last year and expects to double that amount this year.

“Eighty-year-old technology is being redesigned and rejiggered to deliver the best picture quality,” said Schneider. “It’s an interesting irony.”

Although many of us are opting for LCD and plasma TVs these days, we forget the obvious, that HDTV comes over the air and is free. No need to worry about a fuzzy picture, because you either receive the signal or not. Schneider suggests the use of an indoor set of rabbit ears for those within 25 miles of a station’s tower, while an outdoor antenna can capture signals from as far away as 70 miles.

Read More | Antennas Direct via CNN

Gallery: Rabbit Ears Back in Style

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has just released the results of a study they conducted in February, and the word from them is that the average American household spends about $1,200 per year on gadgets. It appears that televisions are the biggest piece of the pie, as 92% of American homes have them, and 25% of those homes own HDTV sets. Mobile phones are also way up there, not surprisingly, owned by 76% of all American households. Focusing on more recent times, it seems that network hardware components are the hottest sellers right now, as American households are integrating more personal computers into the mix, requiring routers and wireless access points. Along with DVRs, network equipment purchases rose by 8%.

“Many of the top owned products have enjoyed mass-market saturation for years and will likely see growth based on upgrade and replacement sales,” said CEA senior research analyst Elena Caudle. “Some of the more intriguing categories are those that still occupy niche markets, such as mobile CE devices like GPS systems and satellite radio, which have seen healthy growth in the past few years.”

Even more interesting though, is that it was determined that the average teen spends about half of their total income on consumer electronics and gadgets. Households with teenagers exceed the national purchasing average of $1,200 by up to $500.

Of course, to readers of this site, this is nothing new. In fact, we bet that many of you, like us, can spend upwards of $5,000 a year on gadgets or more. Are we right? Let us know in the comments, or hit up the forums. How much do you spend on gadgets on an annual basis?

Gallery: Survey Says: American Households Spend $1,200 A Year On Gadgets

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

Following in the footsteps of Hitachi, Toshiba-Samsung, and LG, Pioneer is launching a dual BD and HD DVD. In a translated interview, Shannon Yu, Pioneer’s ODD sales general manager for Asia Pacific region, stated that although at present blue-laser ODDs cost too much to become mainstream, they feel that eventually it will be worth their investment. Pioneer has given the BDC-S02 Combo a MSRP or $299.00 in an attempt to attract potential blue-laser ODD users who might otherwise be unwilling to purchase. They estimate a total sales amount of 4 million ODDs this year, which is double the total from 2006.

Read More | DigiTimes

Gallery: Pioneer Releases Dual ODD

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

Our bad! When we put up our Apple TV Unboxing Gallery, maybe you would have appreciated it if we actually let you know it was there. So, here we are to redeem ourselves, with what we think is a not-too-shabby look at the Apple TV unboxing experience. If you are curious about what comes in the box (not much, really) as well as what is lacking (video cables?), you may find our gallery of some use to yourself. Once again Apple has done a fantastic job of making a device possibly feel more special than it is simply by the way they packaged it—although, with their failure to pack in any sort of video cable, be it digital or analog, they managed to also make you feel like something is missing at the same time. See for yourself in our Apple TV unboxing gallery.

Read More | Apple TV Unboxing Gallery via Unboxing

Gallery: Unboxing Apple TV: Gallery

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4

Read More | The Bleeding Edge

Gallery: The Bleeding Edge 165: AMD LIVE! Digital Home Cinema

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

It’s not exactly

mid-March, but it’s close enough. Apple has finally started shipping its Apple TV from its iStore. With a 40 GB hard drive that will store up to 50 hours of video, 25,000 photos, and 9,000 tunes, it has a hi-def 720p output. Standard features include HDMI, component video, analog, and optical audio ports and it is compatible with both PC and Mac.

The iStore now carries over 400 movies, 350 TV shows, 4 million songs, 100,000 podcasts, 5,000 music videos, and 20,000 audio books. Even with all that accessible media, at a price of $299.00 we think we will just wait for the early reviews before we place our orders.

Read More | Apple

Gallery: Apple TV is Finally Available

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

We love our ancient portables with rabbit ears and were shocked to hear that there is now a government mandate to make us convert to digital signals by February 17, 2009. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration claims that every household will be eligible to receive two coupons worth $40.00 each for converter boxes, which must be requested between January 1 and March 31 of the same year.

Congress has come up with $1.5 billion to pay for the coupon program and has set aside a portion of the funds for households that only have over-the-air TV. The FCC has said that as of June 2005 there were 15.4 million households in the U.S. that received such signals, leaving experts to think that there won’t be nearly enough money for the boxes. We suggest enterprising entrepreneurs should get on the ball now and try to come up with a cheaper kind of gadget, just in case they run out while we are waiting for ours.

 

Read More | ABC

Gallery: Doomsday Warning for Analog TV

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story

Here's how to get the show:
|Download| - iPod-formatted H.264
|Download| - Apple TV High Resolution
|Download| - MPEG-4

Read More | The Bleeding Edge

Gallery: The Bleeding Edge 156: Samsung K5, K3, T9, BD-P1200 Details

• Tools:
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Comments (0)
• Email this story