Televisions

The Sceptre 24″ E246BD-FHD LED HDTV / Monitor with DVD Player Review

When we built our house, for various reasons we decided not to put a TV in every room; we installed one 55″ LED VIZIO on the wall in the living room with all the home theater options, and we called it good. Well, sometimes the best laid plans don’t quite work out. Over time, we realized that it would be handy to have a second television as backup, so that the girls could pop in a DVD when we were watching something “boring” like the San Diego Chargers and Texas football games, or the Tour de France. Because this second…

Editorials

Apple Moving into HDTV Market? Here’s a Great First Step

Last night I was a bit under the weather. I went in search of something to watch and came upon the new Starz/BBC series Strike Back on my iPad’s browser. A few taps of the screen and it was playing on my large Samsung HDTV. It was just another reminder of the way in which Apple’s technology can create a seamless ecosystem for work and entertainment. Then today Cult of Mac published a post entitled Could Apple Enter Sub-$1K Premium TV Market With A Real iTV? In it they write News that high-end TVs are nearing the sub $1,000 range…

Reviews

Photography Gear Review: USBfever HDMI Adapters and Retractable Audio 3.5mm Jack AUX Auxiliary Cable

My pile of field production equipment is ever-growing. I am a “one-man-band” of sorts so I am constantly looking for gear and “doo-dads” to make production work easier. Recently I picked up a great set of headphones (which I will feature in a separate post), and I learned the Swann RC helicopter won’t lift my HDHero POV camera — so no aerial shots for right now. When I first began updating all of my camera gear, I remember receiving a note from USBFever.com announcing some HDMI to mini HDMI adapters and cables. I also remember saying to myself “What the…

Reviews

Review: Aluratek Cinepal HD Personal Media Player

Something has changed with my use of all of my devices. Due to memory issues, I have gone back to using dedicated devices. I listen to music on an iPod rather than my iPhone and have been looking for a better way to show off my photos and videos than the iPad. It is funny how I have gone full circle with the devices back to a day where I kept many things separate. The Cinepal HD Personal Media Player is a product that could solve some of my issue of photos and video. Let’s take a look. The Cinepal…

Reviews

Review: Warpia StreamHD Streams Video from Your PC to the Big(ger) Screen

The modern computer is an amazing thing. It is a work device, a communication device, a jukebox, and a video machine. I don’t know about you, but I probably watch just as many shows through either iTunes or Hulu or Netflix as I do on my HDTV these days. Yes, a huge amount of video entertainment comes through our computers now. The real challenge is getting that video, and the accompanying audio, seamlessly pushed over to a large television for enjoyment. Apple is making a huge play in this area with their AirPlay technology, but that requires you to use…

Editorials

In the Sea of Sameness- Sony Seeks to Swim to the Top

The consumer electronics world is a “sea of sameness”, and that’s not a good thing if you are an electronics company. “Sea of sameness” is the term that was used numerous times during a private briefing with the number of Sony’s executives. The issue is this: You walk into a box store such as Best Buy, and you go to the back of the store. There on the wall you find high-definition television, after high-definition television, after high-definition television. They all look pretty much the same, and they all pretty much have the same price points. Some are a little…

Events

CES: Oakley 3D Glasses

CES Day 1: Dan to Judie “3D TV is one of the big things this year… I just don’t get it.” Judie to Dan “I KNOW, me either…” Kevin (thinks, but does not say) “Phew, one less new gadget this year…” CES Day 2, Morning: Judie, Dan and Kevin spend time with Oakley to learn about, and experience 3D TV using their passive 3D glasses. CES Day 2, Afternoon: Dan to Judie “WOW, I take back what I said about 3D TV yesterday.” Judie to Dan “I was JUST saying the same thing to Kev… I WANT!” Kevin (thinks but…

Events

CES: VIZIO

VIZIO is moving toward all connected televisions. VIZIO is introducing a universal wireless HD video and audio kit sub $200. Can put about 20 Myers away from TV and it will stream the content. They have introduced their first dual band router for video and computer wireless access. 7 and 9″ portable LCD TVs. For Mobile and auto applications. Their new Cinematic Experience id available in 50, 58 & 71″ (240Hz) sizes starting in June. Connect with Skype to any VIA HDTV for video chat. Head to head video gaming on one screen, by using versus lenses. Each set has…

Reviews

Gear Gadget Review: Veebeam Set-Top Box Lets You Stream Content from Computer to TV

Imagine if you could simply tap a button and both the audio and the video loaded on your laptop or desktop could be sent to your large HDTV? Sure, Apple’s AirPlay has brought us partly there. In fact, just the other night I wanted to watch a movie I had rented on my iPad and decided to view it on my large Samsung TV instead. I started the movie on my iPad, tapped the AirPlay button and, within a few seconds, it was being streamed from my iPad to my Apple TV to my HDTV. It works seamlessly. The only…

Editorials

Guess Who Buys More LCD TVs Than The US? Nope … Try Again … Sorry …

It is Russia. That is right – the same Russia that was in economic ruins for the entirety of the 90’s and most of the new millennium. For contrast, in the US flat panel TV sales are stagnant in terms of numbers, and plummeting in terms of dollars according to recent reports: In terms of dollars, U.S. sales plunged 15.4 percent from the same month a year ago. That reflects the sharp price declines that are pushing prices of some low-end models below $200. October also saw the number of LCD TVs sold in the United States decline by 7…

Reviews

Neuros Link Review

Imagine being able to watch Hulu, Fancast, Youtube and many other streaming services on your TV. How about Boxee? Yes, that too. What if you don’t want to share your local video viewing? XBMC is on it too. What can do the things I am talking about? The Neuros Link, one of the latest products from Neuros Technology. Setup To setup the Link, you plug a HDMI cable into your HDTV, plug in the power, and then plug in the keymote’s dongle. If you do not have a HDTV, you can use it with a DVI or VGA monitor, although…

Reviews

The Hillcrest Loop Pointer Review: a Mouse for Your TV

It never failed that when someone would visit while I was testing the Hillcrest Loop pointer, they would invariably pick it up and wear it like it was an over-sized bangle — because at first glance, that is exactly what it resembles. But the Loop is much more than just a piece of giant plastic jewelry. The Loop pointer actually got its start as an “iconic concept product to showcase Hillcrest Lab’s Freespace technology and HoME system solutions.” People who saw it liked it, and they wanted one; so Hillcrest, whose primary focus remains “licensing interactive media systems software for…

News

Never Miss a Minute of the Game to Open a Brew!

It is March Madness, the game is coming to a close and yet another of your bracket picks is about to fall. You do not want to miss the last second shot from the latest 14th seed Cinderella story. If you are like me, there will now be three or four bracket pools that will need to be paid up soon. As a tear goes into your beer, you notice one last sip. This is no time to be hunting that bottle opener! Another brew needs to be opened quickly to serve as a celebration for a miracle that keeps…

Reviews

HAVA Review: Live TV for PC and iPhone

When I saw the press release announcing that HAVA was coming to the iTunes App Store and that it was an application which allowed for live streaming of your home television, I was intrigued. I like to think I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the live TV options available for the iPhone but I have to admit I’d never heard of HAVA. I’m currently running both a Slingbox Solo and an EyeTV Hybrid in my home office. The Slingbox allows me to view live TV on my Mac as well as my iPhone and doesn’t require the connected computer…

Editorials, How to Do It Yourself!

Bloggers Photo Guide

The idea for this post came from a little back and forth amongst the GearDiary team concerning getting better images to go along with our blog entries. Specifically, some were looking for tips to produce better tech gear images with monitor screens, i.e., multimedia devices, smartphones, laptops, video monitors, etc.

Reviews

The Netflix Player by Roku Review

I know it’s just the first week of 2009, but I suspect that when we are preparing to welcome 2010 in some 360 days, the Roku player that I purchased just over a week ago will be on my list of “favorite gadgets of 2009”.

Reviews

Hauppauge HD PVR Model 1212 Review

Would you like to record video from HDTV without having any DRM(Digital Rights Management)? If so, the Hauppauge HD PVR may be for you. Similar in size to the Mac Mini, the HD PVR is a small and light box. In the front, you have a SVideo, Composite Video, Left and Right Audio for connectors.

Reviews

Oppo DV-981HD Upconvert DVD Player

I have a large DVD collection. I am not yet all that excited about investing in Blu-ray where I get to pay twice as much for each new title. Although many HD televisions perform certain image upconvert functions (to improve the way standard TV and DVD images appear on the higher-resolution HD display), they don’t necessarily perform that function very well. Enter the Oppo DV-981HD DVD Player. The 981HD was introduced a while back with some state of the art features for the time at a moderate price. I recently got the opportunity to work with this player and put…

Reviews

HTC Advantage X7510 Review

When I first began my adventure into mobile technology, it started with Handheld PCs. H/PCs, as they are known, were made from the late 90s to 2003 by a variety of manufacturers, most notably NEC and Hewlett Packard. The devices were more-often-than-not a clamshell form factor, with a built-in keyboard and VGA or HVGA screens. They were powerful and business friendly, especially in light of the fact that at that time, Pocket PCs (as they were known) did not have built in keyboards. Through a variety of market changes and marketing blunders, the H/PC soon became a non-factor in the…

Reviews

Hava Gold Review

With the Hava Gold, you can watch your TV, anywhere you can get an Internet connection. Does the Hava Gold give you what you want, or does it provide a gilded experience? Let’s take a quick look and see how it goes… Software Installation Installing the software went about as you thought it would. However, there were a couple of interesting steps that I’d like to take you through. Before anything else happened, after inserting the software CD into the drive and clicking on the software installation link, the following graphic appeared: Hava Driver installation The start of the device…

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