Latest in Home Theater, Cool Homes and Home Electronics

If you’re looking for B&W’s inexpensive offerings, the ASW 610XP can add some boom to your budget. Granted, $1,200 isn’t exactly cheap, but in the land of high-end audio, it’s practically a freebie. As part of the company’s 600 Series, the ASW 610XP packs one 10-inch paper/Kevlar driver and a 500-watt amplifier to do all of the dirty, deep-sounding work.… View this story

Everyone is so busy going Blu-ray these days. LG decided to truly make themselves stand out with the DVS450H. This new DVD player does not do Blu-ray. Instead, they went for the DivX crowd. Sweet! However, it’s not the technology that makes you look closely at this unit; it’s the super-cool design. Designed to mount horizontally or vertically on a… View this story

Buttons are so old school. In an attempt to make the good old radio interesting again, the Hidden Radio is more like a puzzle. How the heck do you turn this thing on? Electricpig says you can twist and pull it to make radio magic. The unit goes up and down for on/off functions. Twist it to tune in stations.… View this story

Q. My housekepper used a cleaning solution on my Sony TV (Wega KV-34HS420) and the protective coating has been removed. Can this be repaired? - Rich, CA A. It may not have been your housekeeper’s fault. This particular model had problems with the coating coming off from a microfiber cloth and water. Soon after the model’s release, Sony stopped offering… View this story

Sometimes gaming is a solo experience. Sometimes it should be. For both of those moments, Plantronics just announced the GameCom 777 headset.  Promising a comfy fit for hours of gaming pleasure, the set has a noise-canceling microphone, which tucks nicely into the headband when not in use. It can even kick things up to 11 (or at least 5.1) via… View this story

DVDO is taking video processing to the Edge—the company’s new budget-friendly video processor and upscaler. The Edge upconverts all video formats to up to 1080p output, incorporates Anchor Bay’s Video Reference Series (VRS) technologies, has six HDMI 1.3 Deep Color inputs, two HDMI 1.3 outputs and a multitude of analog and digital A/V connections. DVDO will be shipping Edge in… View this story

For Sondie Reiff and Don Glickman and many more who love pop music, and pop culture, next February will mark the 50th anniversary of “The day the music died"….when a tragic airplane crash killed a number of top pop singers. For Sondie and Don, next February 17th, may be the day that TV dies. On that day the recently retired,… View this story

More proof that green is going mainstream: Sam’s Club, the wholesale division of Wal-Mart Stores., has created Home Efficiency Centers in nine Southern California outlets. The Home Efficiency Centers will showcase energy efficiency, water conservation and sustainability—including the promotion of solar panels. Sam’s Club is teaming up with Borrego Solar Systems, a leading designer and installer of solar electric power… View this story

Rotel just released 10 new products under the name of the 15 Series. Shouldn’t it be 10 Series? Maybe not. The company says there should be additional models in early 2009. For now, the new line will have receivers, a preamp-processor, power amplifiers, and power amplifiers designed exclusively for custom-installation. “This is Rotel’s most important intro in many years,” says… View this story

Clean power doesn’t always leave a clean setup. For those occasions where you don’t want to add a box into the mix, Richard Gray’s Power Company has the PowerLink 3G. This in-wall solution adds power protection to the outlet, for up to three wall-mounted displays or other non-rack products. Aside from easy access to RGPC technology, users will appreciate a… View this story

Pop goes the weasel? Actually, pop goes the 110-inch projection screen, thanks to a new cabinet solution from Vutec Corporation. The company is introducing a new addition to its line of screen concealment solutions—handcrafted designer cabinets for its Retracta-Vu Pro model screens, which it will show at next week’s CEDIA Expo 2008. The cabinets will be available in standard sizes… View this story

Mama’s got a squeezebox that goes in and out. This one goes Boom. Logitech just announced the latest in its music player line, the Squeezebox Boom. Instead of lining up little bits and pieces to play music from your PC, this new device puts speakers and an integrated 30-watt amplifier into one unit. Like your good old ‘80s boombox, this… View this story