Feb 20, 2008
Now how cool
would this be?
…For several years people have been talking about the idea of miniaturizing a projector so that it’s small enough to fit inside a cell phone or digital camera. Now it’s finally been done.
The mobile projector is about a centimeter thick and about 4 centimeters tall by 3 centimeters wide — small enough to fit inside portable devices like cell phones, PDAs, or a digital still camera, said Todd Rutherford, product development specialist with 3M’s optical systems division.
It uses an LED as the light source and can project a VGA resolution (640 pixels by 480 pixels) image through a lens that’s about a centimeter in diameter.
3M is demonstrating the projector at CES built into a small handheld device that runs video from flash memory. The image projected onto walls or other light surfaces was good enough and easy enough to see over a distance of about half a meter, although it suffered over greater distances due to the bright lights of the show floor.
The demo attracted a lot of attention and a constant stream of show attendees, many of whom had badges identifying them as employees of mobile phone makers or network operators….MORE….
Can’t imagine the havoc this would wreak in school, mind you….. :/
ThankYouVeryMuch!
Owlbert
ps - looking for other cellphone goodies?
Feb 19, 2008
Haven’t heard of SyncTV?
That’s okay, neither did I! However, The Home Theater Blog guy was invited to test it out and the results are really promising. To wit:
…Never one to shy away from new sources of content, media, entertainment what have you, I was pleased to get an invite into SyncTV’s beta program. Haven’t heard of SyncTV? I wasn’t overly familiar with it myself but it didn’t take long to grab my interest. In the weeks since installing the software I believe I’ve caught a glimpse of the future and its one where physical and digitally distributed media can happily coexist.
I suppose a more formal introduction is in order as we’re discussing a yet to be launched product. SyncTV grew out of the advanced research labs of Pioneer Electronics but according to President John Gildred, it soon became apparent the service was larger than any one platform and or parent company for that matter, and to grow into its full potential SyncTV would need to be its own entity.
In my perusing of Sync’s documentation and corporate philosophy I noticed repeated mention of their open platform standard. They really seem to be pushing this aspect to other consumer electronics manufacturers in hopes of broadening SyncTV’s reach to other segments of the market. Another example of this open platform mindset is the fact that even in beta stage SyncTV is already available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, which to my knowledge marks the first time a premium video download service has been available on all three platforms (at least at launch)….MORE….
It’s a fascinating read. Here are some more resources:
ThankYouVeryMuch!
Owlbert
ps - looking for a good home theater in a box?
Feb 18, 2008
Who can forget
those wondrous nostalgic times in which we’d take our dates out to the local sock hop and dance the night away to the melodious songs from the iconic jukebox?
Well, technology and taste and iPodiness have been married together with this unique testimony to digital ingenuity! To wit:
…Featuring original-style percolating bubbles tubes, dual-toned neon lighting, high gloss furniture-grade wood and wood veneers, the look is sure to amaze. Encased within this charismatic cabinet is a fully functioning video and music server capable of storing up to 1500 hours of content. In addition, the unit is designed to rip CD music content direct to the hard drive, burn CDs with music or video content and allows the user to connect to the internet to access music and video downloads as well as internet radio for maximum entertainment possibilities. In addition to its functionality, what also sets the Crosley Digital Jukebox apart is its timeless design complete with the Touch Screen Interface…..MORE…..
Talk about a conversation piece! Now, if only there was a life-size Elvis too…. 
And if you’re a Jukebox collector (confess!), have you checked out:
ThankYouVeryMuch!
Owlbert.
ps - other Jukebox goodies include:
Feb 15, 2008
So. You’ve finally decided
that that 50K that you found lying about on your bedroom floor should really be put to astonishingly good use….ideally as the ultimate of home theaters.
‘Course, I don’t blame you - what better way could you spend that money (unless it’s for 4 12K exercise bikes)?
But what sort of home theater design should you have? Should it be centered around:
- Indiana Jones
- The Titanic
- The Natilus
- The Matrix
- The Terminator
- The Death Star
- The Batcave
- The Starship Enterprise
Well???? Tell tell tell, what’s really the best? The folks at Slippery Brick obviously have been pondering the same thing, because they came up with 15 of the coolest home theaters imaginable! You should definitely check them out; your mind will spin with ideas.
Want some resources for DIY home theaters to boot? Enjoy:
Gotta love ingenuity.
ThankYouVeryMuch!
Owlbert
ps - some nifty home theater goodies include:
Feb 14, 2008
You know,
I have fond fond memories of when I was growing up, my dad would play his phonograph records on high end audio equipment that was utterly astonishing to me. I mean, records were, well, records….and yet he had a setup that reminded me of an air traffic controller site.
In today’s digital era, one would think that vinyl records are long since history. But puttering around online shows that’s simply not true! Take
Around in business for 25 years, they have a sterling reputation in many of the high end audio forums that I frequent (take this posting, VPI Customer Service ROCKS! for example).
Speaking of high end audio forums, have you seen:
I have a vivid memory of my father showing me the record for a recording of the 1812 Overture….the grooves were so wide for the cannon shot part, it made an indelible impression on me (how did they get the music into those tiny lines?). Ah, memories….
ThankYouVeryMuch!
Owlbert
ps - some cool vinyl record goodies:
