Operation Gadget

Category: Home Theater

  • What Color “Screen of Death” Does Your Favorite Gadget Produce?

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhile researching my article on the White Screen of Death problem my Treo is having, I ran across a recent piece by Stewart Alsop where he asks “Do the vendors choose the color of the death screen intentionally?” He says that the screens of death for his favorite gadgets are: Blue…

  • Howard Stern Does His Last Show on Traditional Radio; Next Stop Sirius

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Associated Press reports that Howard Stern bid his terrestrial audience fairwell today and encouraged them to tune in to him on Sirius Satellite Radio on January 9, 2006. According to the article, Stern began his show by saying, “Good morning, and welcome to the last show on terrestrial radio,” while…

  • Ion iTTUSB Turntable Helps You Turn Your LPs and 45s into MP3s

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteMy father-in-law has gotten back into LPs lately after the family got him a stereo with an integrated turntable. When he got it, the thought crossed my mind that someone who has a big vinyl collection and liked the sound would have all kinds of trouble ripping those tracks to their…

  • DirecTiVo Owners Have a Pretty Simple Upgrade Option to Get Series 2 Features

    Reading Time: 3 minutesOn Thanksgiving, my cousin Brian Lynch and I exchanged emails about our dilemma as owners of DirecTV Series 2 digital video recorders. Brian said: My DirecTV Tivo has two USB ports in the back. The instruction book says the ports are for “future use”. Do you think I can hook a USB…

  • Should I Buy a Plasma HDTV to Replace My Rear Projection TV?

    Reading Time: 2 minutesMy friend Ralph Guarrieri has a rear-projection standard definition television, wants to upgrade to a new HDTV set, and asked me, “Which HDTV set should I buy to replace my Rear Projection TV?” Like practically everyone I talk to, he had already heard about plasma televisions and asked if I thought buying…

  • TiVo Programs Coming to Your iPod or PSP

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteMany media organizations reported that TiVo announced that the ability to transfer recorded programming from TiVo Series 2 digital video recorders to iPods with Video Playback and PlayStation Portable handheld devices. I emphasize that this capability will be available from TiVo Series 2 DVRs such as the TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour…

  • Electronics Dominate the Toy Wishes “Hot Dozen” Holiday Gift List for 2005

    Reading Time: 3 minutesToy Wishes Magazine has released its ever-popular Hot Dozen Toys for 2005. This list is intended to forecast which toys will be the most popular during the 2005 holidays. We can safely assume that if the magazine is correct, many of them will also become hard to find in stores at some…

  • NBC and CBS Strike Video on Demand Deals with Cable and Satellite TV Carriers

    Reading Time: 2 minutesThe Wall Street Journal reports in its Tuesday edition that NBC and CBS have struck video on demand deals with cable and satellite TV providers to allow the replay of some of the most popular prime time television shows for a fee of 99 cents. This will allow the subscribers to Comcast…

  • Sales of Dell Home Theater Products Limited by Direct Sales Model

    Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis morning’s Wall Street Journal reports that Dell is having trouble competing with electronics superstores in the home theater market. This is most clearly illustrated by Dell’s decision to eliminate its business unit that exclusively sold and marketed products aimed at “consumers”: regular people who buy electronics for use in their…