Recently Filed in Industry

Among the myriad connections, cables and equipment that make up a home theater, one remains misunderstood: HDMI. At times it gets a bad rap for being too expensive. Other times it’s praised for its ease of use and ability to de-clutter the back of your equipment rack. Even though in most cases HDMI works perfectly, there are some shortcomings to this wünderkind cable. High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) was launched in 2002 as a partnership between Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba, Philips, Thomson and Silicon Image.… View this story
Cables, Wires and Tools • Audio Cables • Video Cables • Industry • Home Theater • Info and Answers

We’re not sure if it’ll make Best Buy the hip social hangout that the Apple stores are, but the Minnesota-based megaretailer is going to start selling the iPhone next month. Starting on September 7, Best Buy will be the first U.S. chain to sell the ubergadget outside of Apple or AT&T (the carrier—remember, along with all the cool apps it is still a cell phone) stores. Apple began peddling its 3G iPhone last month, about a year after the phones hit the market in its… View this story
AV Components • Portables • Industry • Retailers • Miscellaneous • Gadgets • Networking and Communication • Cell Phones • Networking • Product News

At the DSI Entertainment Systems showroom in West Hollywood, CA, there’s everything you’d want an A/V boutique to carry: flat-panel TVs, blow-your-socks-off speakers and cool controls. Like many A/V firms, DSI has chosen to showcase its systems and installation handiwork in a setting that looks more like a high-end apartment than a standard shelf-lined brick-and-mortar store. It’s a style that enables homeowners to picture technology in their own homes, says DSI systems designer Josh Colletta. Inside the 1,200-square-foot DSI showroom you’ll find a fully functioning… View this story
AV Components • Industry • Info and Answers

Are the video game ratings strong enough, effective enough? With kids of all ages and their parents depending on the industry to police itself, is there anything we can do or should do? Here are two opposing viewpoints. A Necessary Label (By Lee Danuff, an 18-year veteran of the CE and video game industry, both as a senior editor for Newsweek, Japan and several other news and technology venues.) A few weeks ago, six Long Island youths—one as young as 14 years old—were accused of… View this story
Gaming • Games • Industry • Info and Answers

A short while back we wrote of a GreenTV logo that will be applied to some energy-saving LCDs, as part of an initiative by the LCD TV Association. I just tracked down Bruce Berkoff, the association chairman, who’s been busy traveling to evangelizing the program, and we had a chance to talk in more detail about it. The GreenTV logo will first be applied to LCD TVs that have ambient backlight sensors, and can dim the backlight depending on the light level in the room.… View this story
Industry • Green Technology • Home Theater • Product News

First the bad news - the U.S. economy ain’t all roses lately. The good news? Home entertainment spending is rolling right along with over $6 billion spent on DVD on Blu-ray discs alone. Add in rentals and that number climbs to over $10 billion. That’s quite a relief for industry execs who had braced themselves (and the Blu-ray format) for a rough ride through 2008. Why the success? Experts suggest that given the high cost of going out (dinner, drinks, movies) the home theater experience… View this story
Industry • Blu-ray • Home Theater • Product News • Slideshows

These aren’t the greatest of times to be in the housing industry, but for the consumers the benefit comes from how homebuilders are trying to differentiate themselves. That means bundling cool A/V and automation technology into your new home, as well as working in ways to make today’s new homes energy efficient. The Innovative Housing Technology Awards (IHTA) recognize the advances and practices by manufacturers, electronic systems installers and builders to bring such solutions to the home. Electronic House sister publication TecHome Builder presents these… View this story
AV Components • Home Control • Industry • Manufacturers • Installers • Enhancements • Product News

Are you ready for 3D in the home? Mitsubishi thinks so, and the manufacturer has enlisted the help of graphics processor Nvidia Corp. and media server manufacturer Aspen Media Products to get there. Mitsubishi announced an alliance with Nvidia and Aspen Media Products today. No specifics on what they’ll be providing together, just that the trio is using its collective brainpower in their respective realms—television production, such as Mitsubishi’s 3D-ready Diamond line; stereoscopic 3D technology that’s been a hit with PC gaming; and the media… View this story
Displays • DLP • LCD • Industry • Manufacturers • Enhancements • Product News

Ding ding ding! Three cheers for Samsung Electronics and its Four Seasons of Hope charities today. The major electronics manufacturer is having a gala in New York City benefitting its Four Seasons of Hope—which supports community-based foundations and charities that are headed by some sporting legends. Before the gala, Samsung and two sports heroes—Dan Marino and Jason Taylor—got to ring the closing bell on the NASDAQ market. Bell-ringing honors for Samsung went to DJ Oh, president and CEO of Samsung North America. Marino and his… View this story
Industry • Manufacturers • Miscellaneous • Enhancements • Product News

“Try Me,” announces most of the product demonstrations at the new Tweeter concept store in Dedham, MA. OK, sounds good to me—after all, that’s what experiencing electronics is all about, right? Indeed. Demonstrations—and within those, self-guided demonstrations you can do without any intimidating sales presence—really allow customers to see the difference between TV sets and loudspeakers, or even figure out what the heck home control is if they’ve never seen it in action. Tweeter, whose recent struggles include filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a year… View this story
AV Components • Displays • Industry • Retailers • Home Theater • Enhancements • Product News

Black jack, poker, roulette ... Crestron? The home control manufacturer has made its way into more than just the affluent homes of Sin City, opening up a new Crestron Experience Center in Las Vegas just two blocks off the Strip. Two years after having opened an office in Vegas, the Rockleigh, NJ-based company plans to open the doors to a new 5,000-square-foot facility on July 1. Crestron says the goal of its Las Vegas Experience Center is to offer customer support and dealer and partner… View this story
Home Control • Home Control Systems • Industry • Manufacturers • Home Control • Product News

If you’ve upgraded your TV or computer recently and were scratching your head about what to do with the old one, you could be in luck if you live in one of the areas where Best Buy will be testing a new, free recycling program for your electronics. The retail giant has launched this trial recycling program for 117 of its stores in its Baltimore, San Francisco and Minnesota markets (the company is based in Richfield, MN). If you live near one of these pilot… View this story
AV Components • Displays • Industry • Retailers • Miscellaneous • Green Technology • Enhancements • Product News