Gadgets

The PC industry has been on a quest to reduce the power consumed by notebook displays for several years. Now the big guys are starting to get the hint that less is more when it comes to the power consumed by a big-screen TV.

3M is showing off its Vikuiti technology at the DisplaySearch trade show in San Diego. The Vikuiti Dual Brightness Enhancement Film (DBEF) helps recycle light used to produce images, allowing TV manufacturers to use fewer bulbs in their products, said David Iverson, business manager with 3M's Optical Systems Division.

A polarizer reduces reflection in LCD … Read more

The exotic Pong Clock, designed by Netherlands based-design studio Buro Vormkrijgers , merges old-school video game chic with new flat-panel technology.

The clock is based on the original "Pong" game released by Atari in 1976. Although a phenomenally basic game by today's standards, "Pong" was cutting-edge back when it came out.

The Pong Clock features both the game and the time, automatically playing a hypnotic game of "Pong." A minute passes and the "player" on the right scores a point. When an hour rolls by, the "player" on the left … Read more

I made the mistake of trying to watch "Dances With Wolves" on a plane headed to L.A. once. Of course, my player ran out of juice right when I got to the good part of the movie. Belkin's TunePower for video-capable iPods should be able to prevent this type of cliffhanger ending.

The TunePower adds up to six extra hours of video playtime to the iPod video on top of the approximately two hours the iPod is natively able to provide. This means the battery pack should be able to provide enough power to last from … Read more

Sometimes, familiar is comfortable. I grew up listening to Prince, Madonna, Tiffany, and the rest of the one-name gang. I had posters of Cyndi Lauper on my wall and vinyl records on the shelf.

I know, vinyl records don't have great sound quality and they were never exactly good for portable music. But people like me still have stacks of albums. Unfortunately, the best way to use them today is to convert them into record bowls.

Steve Guttenberg at CNET Reviews shares my pain. He covers all the details necessary for you to pick a quality turntable to use … Read more

Viiv wants me to enjoy my PC, my music, and my video all in one place. She is a stickler though, because she insists I have Intel inside. Viiv is Intel technology that lets system integrators build their computers with all the multimedia features you would need all in one little computer. One of the most exciting features is that Viiv can help tie these multimedia components together to make your PC act like a digitial video recorder.

Living rooms used to be where the stereo system and television lived. These technologies are SO past their 90-day warranty. Now, a … Read more

SAN DIEGO - Life must be hard for a CFO at a display manufacturer.

Supply and demand naturally fluctuate in any market. But the dramatic swings in the supply of flat-panel displays drives manufacturers and retailers crazy with shortages and surpluses from year to year, said Ross Young, founder and president of DisplaySearch, at his market research company's conference Tuesday in San Diego.

Of the last 11 quarters in which the display industry posted an overall profit, 9 of those quarters were characterized by shortages, Young said. Demand for flat-panel displays has been growing very strongly in the past … Read more

SAN DIEGO--Wondering if the world is ready for the ultramobile PC? The demand for portable DVD players might provide a clue.

Microsoft and Intel are promoting the Origami/ultramobile PC device as a multimedia powerhouse that's small enough to cart around. Early protoypes use 7-inch displays, which are the preferred size for portable DVD players, said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis with NPD TechWorld, at the 2006 DisplaySearch conference.

The ultramobile PC may have its problems, but watching a movie on the device shouldn't be one of them, Baker said. Portable DVD player sales are growing … Read more

Sony has announced the next in its HT display series--a 20-inch LCD PC display that doubles as a television. The MFM-HT205 will be available in April for around $900. The HT series includes the 19-inch MFM-HT95 display and 17-inch MFM-HT75 display. All of the HT series PC/TV displays have a built-in NTSC television tuner.

The replacement of the old-school home entertainment center with a PC-based digital entertainment center is looking more inevitable as VCRs are being phased out in favor of DVRs and Window XP Media Center Edition-based PCs and HDTVs replace analog TV and analog receivers.

The 205 … Read more

AT&T, Vonage and other carriers are probably coming to terms with the notion that voice over Internet Protocol is the future of residential and business telecom. So, apparently, is Patton Electronics Company, which is shipping the SmartLink M-ATA, an ultra-miniature analog telephone adapter that Patton claims is the world's smallest.

The SmartLink M-ATA can connect any standard analog phone or fax machine to a service provider's VoIP network over a broadband Internet connection. Using VoIP can significantly reduce phone charges, which is especially important to small businesses with remote offices.

The adapter was designed to be … Read more