Home Theater

Review: Audio Technica ATH-CKM50A Earbuds

Chuck Tomasi — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:36:38 -0400

When it comes to portable listening, there seems to be two types of people – those who like headphones and those who prefer earbuds. For portability and sound quality, at a reasonable cost, I prefer earbuds. Choosing earbuds can be a difficult task – after all, they are a rather personal item. Once I find a set I like, I have a hard time changing my mind. Now that time as come.

Recently I had the chance to try out a pair of Audio Technical ATH-CKM50A earbuds. Very nice. I am an iPod owner and started with the generic white earbuds that came with them. I used them so much I wore them out. I’ve been through several pair of earbuds in the past six years, but have settled on one pair with good results for the past year or so. I was rather skeptical that I would find anything I liked better until Dale provided me with the opportunity to try the Audio Technica ATH-CKM50A. I just finished listening to 6 hours of podcasts and music and I have to say these hold up well. The audio quality is great. From the high tones to the low bass, and even the spoken words, the ATH-CKM50A did not fail to produce great clarity.

The first thing I noted about the Audio Technica earbuds is their shape. As you can see from the picture, they aren’t a simple right-angle in to the ear. I didn’t know what it meant until I was outside cutting the grass that I realized they never slipped out of my ears once – something I had to repeatedly fix on my old earbuds. Cutting my grass is analogous to running a couple miles, it is very jarring to the body. These earbuds stay put! The lawnmower also provides me with a test of how well they seal out ambient noise (something I adore on plane rides.) These units did an excellent job at that also. With the lawnmower going all out, the volume on the iPod was never at more than 75%.

The second thing I noticed is they come with an extension cord! Thank you! This lets me put the iPod in my front pocket of my jeans and still have slack in the cord when I stand up. I can just as easily put it in the back pack and go for a bike ride. I love having the option of using a short cord or a long cord. When using the extension, the audio cable from the iPod fits at a right angle – another feature I love. It means if I have a clumsy moment, the connection is more likely to spin than twist and do damage to the cable or iPod.

The next thing is the way the headphones are worn. I have used phones of equal length and those with different length right and left earbuds. In case you don’t know, the ones with equal length are meant to be worn in front while the ones with unequal lengths are meant for one to go behind your head and the single cord worn on the side. Now you can watch for people who don’t know this and smile in the fact that you know something they don’t.

Available in red, white, and black, you should find a color that suits you.

Finally, there is the price. The ATH-CKM50A earbuds list at $79.99 USD. These are the best earbuds I have used in the sub-$100 range. The ATH-CKM50A are on my recommended holiday list for the music or podcast junkie on your list.

E308: Get Netflix Movies via XBox Live

Dale — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:45:06 -0400

Microsoft is taking on Roku before it even launches. They're certainly taking away any reason to buy an AppleTV.

Microsoft and Netflix Unveil Partnership to Instantly Stream Movies and TV Episodes to the TV via Xbox LIVE

Exclusive agreement creates game-changing home entertainment experience; more than 10,000 movies and TV episodes will be available to watch instantly at no additional cost to paying subscribers.

LOS ANGELES, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- An exciting new home theater experience is coming to living rooms this holiday season. At the E3 Media and Business Summit, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today unveiled an exclusive partnership to offer consumers the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. Xbox 360 will be the only game system that lets users instantly watch movies and TV episodes streamed from Netflix. This movie watching innovation will be available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers and will let those users enjoy streaming movies from Netflix on Xbox LIVE at no additional cost.

A growing library of more than 10,000 movies and TV episodes will be available from Netflix when it launches on Xbox LIVE in late fall, with more choices added over time. Through this agreement, along with the existing Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store, Xbox 360 will be home to more movies and TV shows on demand than any other device connected to the TV. Xbox LIVE quickly and easily connects consumers and their friends to the entertainment they want -- with no PC required for viewing.

Netflix on Xbox 360 is an important component of the new Xbox experience, a new generation of games and entertainment experiences that will be available on Xbox 360 consoles this fall. The new Xbox experience, also announced today at the E3 Media and Business Summit, represents the first time in history that a mass-market consumer electronics device has been re-invented through free software, giving people more fun and intuitive ways to interact, play and enjoy entertainment content.

"Watching movies at home will never be the same. Netflix on Xbox 360 is an entertainment first, and we are bringing friends together with the best in entertainment content like no other device in the living room," said John Schappert, corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment LIVE, Software and Services Business at Microsoft. "We are creating a completely new social entertainment experience, and Xbox 360 will be the only video game system where you can access your library of instantly streamable movies from Netflix and turn any room into a virtual movie theater."

From the Netflix Web site, members simply add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will be automatically displayed on the TV screen via Xbox 360 and available to watch instantly. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. In addition to instantly streaming movies to the TV, Xbox LIVE Gold members can fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either their Xbox 360 Controller or Media Remote. In all, the user interface creates a highly personalized experience that puts viewers in control.

"Netflix and Xbox 360 are a perfect combination, the leading online movie rental service and the leading games and entertainment system joining forces to create an all-in-one entertainment experience with content for everyone," said Reed Hastings, chairman and CEO of Netflix. "For Netflix, it represents an important step forward in making instantly streaming movies on the TV more broadly available to our members."

The library of movies and TV episodes that will be available for instant streaming from Netflix via Xbox 360 includes scores of Academy Award winners and nominees, episodes from a number of popular, currently running and classic TV shows, and 24 of the movies rated by the American Film Institute as the greatest ever.

Today, Xbox LIVE members can also download movies and purchase TV shows from the industry-leading Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store, currently packed with content from more than 45 networks and studios. The Xbox LIVE Marketplace Video Store offers more than twice the high-definition content than the nearest cable provider and more than 6,000 hours of TV shows and movies.

Review: Neuros OSD

rmgreg — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 17:21:34 -0400

A couple of months ago, Dennis Gray of 101 Uses For Baby Wipes asked me what I, as a father, thought was the best electronic gadget of the past 10 years. I told him that in my opinion, it had to be Tivo with its user-friendly ability to schedule television viewing around one’s life, and not vice versa. Unfortunately, we received our Tivo as a package deal with DirecTV who, in their misguided, infinitely lacking wisdom, decided to cripple Tivo-2-Go, the feature that gives one the ability to move recorded shows off of one’s Tivo and onto one’s computer, thus enabling one to enjoy pre-recorded shows anytime and more importantly, anywhere.

Enter the Neuros OSD, which features the catch phrase, “Free your video.” And that is exactly what it does. In a nutshell, it is a compact video converter, which allows one to move video from point A, where it is immobile, to point B, where it is mobile.

The Basics

The ability of Neuros OSD to liberate your video can be broken down into 3 basic steps…

Step 1: Record anything from DVD players, VCRs, Tivo/DVRs, Satellite/Cable TV, or Camcorders; basically video from any RCA or SVideo source.

Step 2: Store anywhere on USB external drives, networked PCs, networked attached storage, portables (iPod, iPhone, Sony PSP, MP4 players), or memory cards (SD, MS, MMC, CF).

Step 3: Play everywhere on TV, PC/Laptop, iPod/iPhone, PSP, Smartphones, or MP4 players.

The Set-up

The ‘OSD’ in Neuros OSD stands for ‘open source development,’ which means that its continued development is the result of a worldwide collaboration of program developers and designers. I’ll admit that this is one of my first forays into Open Source and I feel a little bit like a hacker, however you do not have to have hacker kung fu to use the Neuros OSD.

In the box you will find everything you need to make set-up a snap. The instructions claim that it is as easy as connecting a VCR… I found it easier. First, I took the unit and connected the 110-240V AC/DC power supply (supplied). Next, I connected the unit’s input to my Tivo using standard A/V RCA cables (supplied), and then its output to my television, again using standard A/V RCA cables (supplied). In other words I spliced the Tivo to television connection and inserted the Neuros OSD. You can also connect the video source via SVideo in (not supplied). After all of the connections were made, all I had to do was turn on the unit, turn on my television, use the supplied remote control to navigate through the on-screen menus, attach a storage device, in my case I chose to use a 4 Gb USB thumb drive, and I was good to go. In addition to this, I could have attached an IR Blaster (supplied), which would have allowed the unit to control my Tivo or other video sourcer.

Because this is an Open Source product, and its abilities are constantly being expanded and fine-tuned, it has an Ethernet connection to allow for automatically updating the firmware. So I plugged that into my Apple Airport Express, which I use to stream music to my stereo system. Also included in the box was a CompactFlash Card, which the unit uses to store its firmware updates. Just insert it in the CF card slot and leave it there.

The Experience

After I turned the unit on, I went through the customary process of setting up the time and date and then I ran the software update to get the latest firmware, all of this was done surprisingly without a hitch. Next I tried recording something, and that’s when things got a little wonky. Because this product is constantly being tweaked and updated, the instructions in the box are very lacking. To solve this, Neuros invites you to go to their website to get the latest user manual. However, I am a brave soul (read “self confident”) and a guy (read “lazy”), so I ventured off without heeding Neuros’s suggestion to download the manual. It didn’t take me long to figure things out, and before I knew it I was recording the Season Finale for Lost in order to view it back on my iPod Classic. The on-screen menus were a bit clunky, and the user interface takes a bit of getting used to, however, since this is in ongoing development, I’m sure things will be further fine-tuned in the future.

Now it should be pointed out that the Neuros OSD doesn’t simply transfer files from one source to another; it is a converter, and in this case it converts the video output from one source to another, and thus it performs in real time. So if you are converting a one-hour program, it will take one hour to complete this task. Of course this begs the comment, well if you are going to do that, you might as well watch it then and there. However the Neuros OSD has timer capabilities, so before I go to bed at night, I set-up the Neuros OSD to record my Tivo for one hour, start the playback on the Tivo, hit the record button on the Neuros OSD, and head off to bed. When I wake the next morning, I eject the thumb drive, plug it into my computer and transfer the recorded file over to my iPod. Since the file has already been formatted for playback on my iPod, there are no further steps. A typical file size is 400 Mb for 30 minutes, 800 Mb for an hour, and so on. The Neuros is also capable of formatting for playback on all of the devices listed above.

The playback on my iPod looks great and I am quite pleased with the final result. On my standard TV it looks better than a VCR tape and approaches DVD quality. However, this is by no means a high definition product. It is designed and ideal for mobility and therefore for mobile products. Right now, max resolution is 640x480 at 30 frames per second (fps), however more resolution options will be available in future upgrades.

Now we only have one television in our house, and we Tivo a lot of the boys’ favorite shows, which they like to watch over and over and over again. So with the Neuros OSD, I am able to transfer their shows to their iPod Nanos, where they can repeatedly view their programs and thus free up the family television. They think this is really cool, I think this makes this product worth its weight in gold.

The Extras

The Neuros OSD is a video player capable of playing back;
MPEG-4 SP with MP3 audio, 30fps up to D1 resolution (720x480)
Quicktime 6; MPEG-4 AAC-LC stereo, MP4 format at up to D1 resolution
H.263 with MP3 audio, FLV format
ASF, AVI (including Divx and Xvid), MP4, WMV (up to QVGA) MOV, MPG, MPEG, FLV_extensions

A picture view capable of viewing:
JPEG (baseline up to 32 M pixel), BMP, GIF (nonanimated)
With thumbnail view and zoom in/out (2x, 4x)

An audio player capable of playing back:
Stereo MP3/WMA @ 30-320kbps (CBR & VBR)
Ogg Vorbis
FLAC
WAV
Stereo MPEG-4 ACC-LC
G.726

And when the Neuros OSD is connected to the internet, it is capable of connecting to and playing back YouTube videos on one’s television.

Finally, the Neuros OSD is packaged with a serial cable for those advanced users. Because this is an Open Source product, Neuros invites you to hack it and make it better. They solicit user input to further develop and advance the product. It is stuff like this that excites me because who knows what some kid surviving the winter in Nome, AK may come up with to get this product really hopping.

The Downside

The on-screen menus are a bit clunky, but that’s to be expected with an open source product. If you want sleek and refined, then you get an Apple product. If you want something with open possibilities, then you go open source.

The other draw back is the price, which at a MSRP of $179.99 seems a bit steep, however I did state it was worth its weight in gold… So at a unit weight of 230 grams and a gold price of $27.98/gram the calculated price tag is $6,435.40, which makes the MSRP come out to be quite a steal. That said, shop around and you can find it online for around $159.99.

Overall impression

The Neuros OSD does exactly what it advertises, and the results are better than expected. However, I am still a bit smitten over sleekness, therefore I’ll give the Neuros OSD 7 out of 8 Dancing Elephants.

Parting thoughts

Yesterday I stopped by a big box store to take advantage of a sale on 8 Gb USB 2.0 thumb drives… Yep, I’m banking on the Neuros OSD’s future potential.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America and PTA Launch Digital Video Service for Families

Dale — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:42:52 -0400

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in conjunction with HPtoday launched a first-of-its-kind national digital video service program that allows families to access and purchase age-appropriate digital content in a safe and secure online environment.

Created and managed by Harmony Digital Media Consortium with the support of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), this initiative encourages families to make informed media choices by serving as a tool for parents to help them manage their children’s exposure to electronic media. Additionally, the program helps raise funds for two child-focused non-profit organizations, BGCA, which serves 4.8 million youth through club membership and community outreach, and PTA with more than 5.5 million members.

“Boys & Girls Clubs of America provides a safe place for young people to learn and grow, helping them develop into caring, responsible citizens,” said Cyndi Court, senior vice president, Resource Development, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “This program extends our vision by providing a secure environment for youth to enjoy entertainment that is appropriate for them, while raising funds for important programs that benefit youth in cities across the country.”

One of BGCA’s programs to benefit from this collaboration is the Family PLUS (Parents Leading, Uniting, Serving) initiative, which serves as a model for Boys & Girls Clubs wanting to implement family support activities into their programming.

The digital video service program also supports PTA’s mission, which is to help children reach their full potential by providing tools for parents to get involved and manage their children’s health, education and safety.

“As the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the country, PTA believes that it is the responsibility of parents, teachers and caregivers to influence children’s exposure to electronic media,” said Jan Harp Domene, national president, PTA. “The resources offered through this program help parents fulfill this responsibility by bringing educational and age-appropriate entertainment and technology to children and families.”

Beginning today, consumers can browse and purchase content on one of the two online video stores powered by HP – www.ptavideostore.com and www.bgcavideostore.com. Video gift cards also are available on these sites.

BGCA cards will also be available at Circuit City stores nationwide and PTA video gift cards will be available at Office Depot stores nationwide later this year. Additionally, this program will be available as a fundraising tool for local PTA units beginning in the fall. Proceeds from the purchases on these sites will support the child-focused work undertaken by both organizations.

Gift cards can be redeemed at one of the two online video stores. Collectively, these sites offer more than 10,000 movie and TV titles from all major studios, including all MPAA member companies and most independent studios, as well as numerous specialty content providers. Movie titles include Alvin & The Chipmunks, Bee Movie, Enchanted, Nancy Drew and National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets; TV titles include Avatar: Last Airbender Book 3: Fire Volume, Sponge Bob Square Pants: Pest of the West and Speed Racer the Next Generation: The Beginning.

In addition to age-appropriate TV titles, the BGCA online video store will carry movie titles with a G or PG rating from the MPAA. The PTA video store also will offer movies rated PG-13 by the MPAA. Movie and TV titles will be offered in a variety of formats, including DVD, Blu-ray and as digital downloads.

With a variety of appropriate G, PG and PG-13 titles available, the video gift card program is supported by the MPAA, which, through the film ratings system, plays an important role in providing information to parents about the content of films so that they can make informed viewing decisions for their children..

“For 40 years, the MPAA’s film ratings system has helped millions of parents make informed decisions about appropriate film content for their children,” said Joan Graves, chairman, Classification and Ratings Administration, Motion Picture Association of America. “This effort further arms parents with the information they need to make more educated choices for their children.”

Development of the online video stores for this fundraising program is made possible through HP Digital Content Services, which created a platform that enables consumers to acquire video content in various forms, such as digital downloads, traditional-packaged DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

“HP is providing the technological backbone of a program that offers digital content, such as movies and TV shows, in both familiar and emerging formats for the whole family to enjoy,” said Willem de Zoete, vice president and general manager, Digital Content Services, HP. “This program provides busy parents with a simple, secure solution for ordering age-appropriate video entertainment, while also benefiting the child-focused missions of these important nonprofit organizations.”

Review: Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus for Windows

Dale — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:56:24 -0400

Desktop video production has made what used to be limited to Hollywood studios the work of anyone with a mouse and enough hard drive space, but video software varies widely in capability and usability. Corel's Ulead VideoStudio offers a consumer-level product with lots of powerful features and add-ons.

To import video for use in the editor, VideoStudio offers several options: Capture video (in real time, most useful with webcams), DV Quick Scan (for importing from a digital camcorder), Import from DVD/DVD-VR (for non-copy-protected DVD's), and Import from Mobile Device, including any external devices that the PC sees as a disk drive. This part of the process is the simplest, and the multiple options greatly expand the usefulness of the application. (It can't import commercial DVD's with copy protection, but this is the fault of the DMCA, not the software.) During the import, the Plus version has an "Ad Zapper" in case you're importing a TV show and want to easily remove the commercials, great for moving them to your portable media player.

Once importing finishes, the fun begins, or should begin. The next step is actually grabbing the manual, because you'll need it. What should be a simple process of cutting, dragging, and dropping becomes a hassle due to the applications little quirks. (Note: these are not bugs. The software works as it's supposed to, but it was made to work with manual in hand instead of just doing what you would expect to work.)

While adding chapters is easy enough, the real power of video editing is cutting the video into segments and applying various effects and transitions to those segments. You should be able to go through, find the splitting points, chop, chop, chop, and you're done. Not so this software: you have to select the beginning and ending of each clip, even if you have consecutive clips with no space in between. While this allows for overlap, which is rarely needed in video editing and could be accomplished with a duplicate command, it makes for a tedious process.

Once the video is divided into clips, effects can be added via drag and drop. Note that you'll want to set your monitor to its maximum resolution, if it's not already. The editing area is split into multiple timelines, so you can easily see which effects go where, with titles on one line, overlays on another, extra audio on another, and so forth.

The number of available effects is staggering. Transitions especially are available in 15 different categories, plus custom additions, and each category has multiple options. Want to add some kind of text over your video? This software offers 31 different presets which can be tweaked and customized, or just start from scratch with everything from font to duration to animation. Adding audio offers a small collection of clips, but you can also add music from a CD or a music file on your hard drive.

Once you finish editing, the "Share" options are as numerous as the "Capture" options, creating a video or sound file, creating a VCD, DVD or Blu-ray disc, or moving it to a DV camera. A collection of customizable menu screens for DVD burning allows for fast, easy, and professional-looking discs.

The software comes in two versions, the regular and plus versions. The company site offers a comparison of the two.

With video software, you generally get affordability, power, and usability--choose any 2. Ulead Video Studio offers affordability and power but falls short on usability. That said, if you read the manual and spend some time with it, you'll get used to it, and once you finish your first project, the rest will be a breeze, and you'll have a lot of fun with this software, whether preserving your home movies or copying TV shows to iTunes.

Review: Audio-Technica QuietPoint ATH-ANC3 Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Dale — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:41:02 -0400

The average consumer home, at any given time, assaults the ears with noise: dishwasher, laundry machines, fans and vents, hard drive noise, not to mention the outside noises of lawnmowers and passing trucks. Sometimes, you just want some peace and quiet, or at least quiet enough to listen to a podcast on your portable media player without having to crank up the sound and destroy your ears just to understand what's being said. If you listen while mowing the lawn or on a plane, the only way to hear spoken word is cranking the volume to the maximum level, possibly for hours.

That's the beauty of noise-cancelling headphones. These clever devices sample the outside noise and create an opposite wave of sound to literally silence the outside world. Note that they won't block out a screaming child, music, or other variable noises very well--they mainly work on constant noise like running machines and fans.

I've tried many different noise-cancelling headphones, and the Audio-Technica QuietPoint earbud headphones excel in cancellation and are sure to impress. Audio-Technica claims up to 85% noise reduction, and depending on the noises being reduced, I would definitely agree with that. In a small room with washer, dryer, and vacuum cleaner running, I could still listen to spoken word on my iPod at about 30% volume and understand everything. Turning them off left me lunging for the vacuum cleaner to cut the noise.

Sound quality is decent for earbuds. Don't expect deep bass, but all but sound connoisseurs will find no problems with the quality of both voice and music.

A small control unit requiring one AAA battery has a switch to turn it on and off, plus a "Monitor" button that turns off both noise cancellation and the incoming sound so you hear only the outside world and can then say that word so often heard in your home: "WHAT?!" The control unit also includes a small "clothes clip" that will work with a belt or shirt, and the cord is 34" on the earbud side of the control unit. I'm 6'4" tall, and it's the perfect length to clip to my belt and comfortably reach my ears.

Speaking of comfort, the buds include 3 sizes of ear tips, fitting nearly any ear, sitting softly in the ear, yet firm enough to avoid unexpected removal. An airline adapter for in-flight movies, carrying case, and 23" cord extender round out the package in a soft-but-sturdy carrying case. They come in either black or white. I recommend black if you spend time in an urban area where iPods are targets for muggers, as black attracts less attention, but either way, you'll find comfort and function in these earphones.

Ultralink/XLO Products, Inc. releases the ULTRAPOWER® PS-103 providing power management and surge protection for A/V devices

Dale — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:30:11 -0400

- Protects home theatre components from surges and spikes
- Reduces EMI/RFI noise in AC line

MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANADA – April 16, 2008 - ULTRAPOWER®, a division of Ultralink/XLO Products, Incorporated, among the industry's fastest growing manufacturers of audio/video interconnects, cables and power products; announces the introduction of the POWERSOURCE™ PS-103 to their ULTRAPOWER® line of AC power management and surge protection products. The PS-103 is rated at 1,080 Joules and provides an energy absorbing "shield" around components connected to the device, protecting them from dangerous and polluted conditions that can affect performance and even cause long term damage.

The POWERSOURCE™ PS-103 features three AC outlets with high frequency filtering to reduce EMI/RFI interference and other noise in the AC line. One of the AC outlets rotates at a 90-degree angle to accommodate plugs that will not fit in the two fixed outlets on either side of PS-103. Additionally, two bi-directional, RF coaxial connectors are included to protect cable TV/DSS signals against surges and spikes. These outlets also rotate 90-degrees for easy installation.

ULTRAPOWER’s proprietary X3™ MOV technology provides common and normal mode protection from high-energy spikes. Unique and distinctive Fail-Open Safety Shutdown Circuitry is an advance feature that automatically cuts off power to connected components in the event of a catastrophic surge.

All ULTRAPOWER® products are an integral part of the ULTRALINK SDS™ (Signal Delivery System™). The connection of every component within a system can be the most pervasive element because when the cables, wire or power management system is inferior. AC power can be polluted causing poor performance and can even result in damaged equipment. A complete ULTRALINK SDS™ ensures full performance of every component for the ultimate in picture and sound.

The ULTRAPOWER® PS-103 is UL and CSA listed as well as ROHS compliant for protecting the environment. It is currently available with an MSRP of $49.95 from authorized Ultralink distributors, retailers and custom installers.

Review: Genius GHP-05 Live DRD 3D Surround Premium Stereo Headphones

Dale — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:00:35 -0400

As TV screens get larger, video games get higher in resolution, and sound quality improves, media becomes increasingly immersive. But let's look at portable media for a moment. iPods and other portable media players continue to increase in screen size, but most ship with poor quality earbuds. If you can't have a huge screen, at least a decent sound experience could help, and that's just what the Genius GHP-05 Live DRD 3D Surround Premium Stereo Headphones provide.

The biggest problem with most earbuds and similarly cheap headphones is the complete lack of bass, leaving music sounding hollow. The GHP-05 presents a whole new world of depth of sound, nicely handling all ranges. It's not the same as having a subwoofer in the room, but it provides a pleasurable experience and nicely captures the clink of a chain to the boom of a giant monster footstep.

The surround sound capability offers a unique experience and comes in handy for a number of situations. While watching a movie, I could tell where certain sounds were coming from, thus knew where various elements and characters would be coming from, finding myself saying, "Over there!" For action movies where things constantly move, these put you right in the center of the action. It would also come in handy for video games that offer surround sound capability, knowing where opponents are based on sound when not being able to see them.

If your TV has no miniplug-out, a cheap RCA-to-miniplug adapter can be found at your local electronics store, and the included 6.3mm adapter offers additional options. The 2 meter cord is plenty long for computer gameplay or watching a TV close-up, but if that's not long enough between your TV and easy chair, you can always use the included extender.

The headphones require 2 AAA batteries (included) and will not work at all without them. I wish it had some kind of auto-off, since I keep forgetting to push the power button when done using them, but power consumption is minimal, so even accidentally leaving them on overnight wasn't a big deal. (Batteries last "up to 50 hours.")

The headset adjusts not only in height, but the "cans" swivel to comfortably fit their velvet cushions onto your head even if your head isn't perfectly square, as most aren't, and they fit comfortably on my oversized head as well as on my 6-year-old.

If you're looking for an immersive experience for video games or video viewing, the GHP-05 offers a great experience for a $60 headset.

Femma Geeks Take Charge: American Women Take to Online TV, DVRs, Games, Social Media

Dale — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:06:08 -0400

TORONTO, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- American women are now ahead of men in activities ranging from streaming on network TV websites, frequent DVR use and casual gaming to participation in social media such as MySpace and Facebook, according to the results of the Women and Digital Lifestyles report released today by Solutions Research Group.

Among the key findings:-- More women stream TV shows from network TV sites than men -- 15%American online women did so last month compared to 11% of men. Momswith kids under the age of six and English-speaking Hispanic womenwere the most active women's segments with 19% and 21% streaming,respectively.-- Women in DVR households are more enthusiastic about them. They usetheir DVRs 9.3 times per week on average, compared to 8.3 for men.And DVR-owner women with kids watch 56% of their TV on a time-shiftedbasis, much higher than the average of 42% among male DVR owners.-- When it comes to gaming, 70% played a PC game in the last month vs.69% of men. Among teen girls and young women 12-24, 82% participatedand among those 40+, 66% played PC games.-- Men continue to lead console gaming (Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, et al)with 50% participating but the gap is narrowing. Overall, 38% ofwomen played a console game in the last month, up from 35% a yearbefore. Among teen girls and young adults 12-24, 69% play consolegames (up from 63%) and among 25-29, 55% play console games, up from47%.-- Top handhelds and consoles for girls and women were: Sony PS2, GameBoy, Xbox, Nintendo 64 and DS. Women were also more likely to have aSony PSP than men. African-American women are particularly engaged inconsole games, with two-in-three participating.-- Women also lead the social networking crowd where 42% of online women(vs. 41% of online men) visited a social media site in the last monthup from 30% the year before. In the "Young Singles" segment, 74%visit social media sites. But even in the older "Empty Nester"segment of online women 40+, participation nearly doubled from 14%to 25% driven by a desire to connect with kids and family.TOP DIGITAL LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS FOR WOMENDigital Camera 24%Wireless/Cell Phone 23%Game Console/Handheld 19%Digital Media Player 14%Laptop 14%GPS Navigation Unit 10%Note: U.S., 12+, bought for self or received as a gift betweenDecember 2007 and February 2008-- Shop till you click? Although "Empty Nester" women over 40 were lesslikely to be above-average in any aspect of technology use, the majorexception was online shopping. Sixty-four percent of empty nesteronline women bought something online compared to only 55% of women25-39 and 58% of men.-- The biggest gap between men and women related to movie and TV showdownloads (peer-to-peer sites or sites like iTunes) where men were1.5 to 2 times more likely than women to participate.-- And interestingly, while men were more likely to transfer songs fromtheir PC to a portable unit, women were more likely to transferphotos from their digital cameras to their PCs, underlining theimportance of lifesharing aspect of social media for women.

Women and Digital Lifestyles special analysis was designed to understand the emerging digital lifestyles of American women and key drivers of adoption in four lifestages: young singles, moms with young kids, moms with tweens/teens and empty nesters. The primary data source for the analysis is SRG's Digital Life America syndicated study based on tracking studies of the U.S. online population and accompanying focus groups. The special analysis is based on trending interviews with 1,508 online U.S. women between October 06 and November 07, complemented by 517 additional interviews in February 08. The sample for the study represents the regional, age and ethnic make-up of the U.S. women's online population on a proportionate to population basis.Â

DivX Goes on the Road with In-Car Entertainment Systems

Dale — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:55:55 -0400

More Than 200 Models of DivX Certified(R) In-Car Devices Available Worldwide from Major Brands

SAN DIEGO --(Business Wire)-- Mar. 20, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX), a digital media company, today announced that over 200 in-car and in-dash media device models from a variety of manufacturers have received DivX(R) Certification. Thanks to the superior technology of the DivX format, consumers can enjoy their full library of video content in the car, fitting up to 6 hours of high-quality video on a single DVD. DivX Certified(R) in-car media players are available from major consumer electronics brands and are licensed to ship from DivX partners to a number of automotive manufacturers including BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Honda, Saab, Toyota, Ford and more.

The DivX format lets anyone enjoy high-quality digital video from the PC or the Internet on virtually any device, including DVD players, gaming consoles, mobile phones, digital televisions and more. Major manufacturers including LG, Alpine, Pioneer, Visteon, JVC and Kenwood currently offer over 200 models of DivX Certified(R) in-car and in-dash devices, joining the rapidly growing ecosystem of over 100 million DivX Certified(R) devices that have been shipped around the world.

"DivX makes it easy for anyone to enjoy a high-quality video experience on any device, and the in-car market is a rapidly growing and increasingly important extension of the consumer media experience," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "We're pleased that DivX is on the way to becoming a checklist feature for in-car video devices in much the same way that we have already become a global standard in the living room and on the PC."

Products that bear the DivX Certified logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure interoperability, security and visual quality. DivX Certified products enable consumers to create, play and share high-quality video content across a range of devices and platforms.

For more information on DivX, visitÂ http://www.divx.com.