Posted on 01/09/2012 2:07:22 AM PST by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (January 8, 2012) -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will give the pre-show keynote address Monday night kicking off the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With Microsoft saying it will be its last appearance at the gadgetfest, the Ballmer keynote likely will be more symbolic than one of substance.
Like Microsoft at CES, the CE industry is changing, reassessing past projects and future goals. Consequently, companies are getting more creative and entering fields they once feared. For instance, tablet/mobile king Apple is now facing stiff competition from a host of companies, even low-cost TV maker Vizio. And Apple itself is reportedly preparing to launch a company-branded HDTV. What was once black is now black and white.
And speaking of the TV category, manufacturers are desperately trying to morph the traditional TV by adding features like 3D and Internet capability to compel cost-conscious consumers to buy. While the new products have been met with mixed success at best, CE companies hope that better marketing and (perhaps) better versions of the devices will ultimately change consumer attitudes.
But always looking to plan B, TV makers are also rolling out new sets (OLED and 4K) featuring possibly revolutionary picture technologies. Although they will initially carry hefty price tags, TV makers believe they could boost consumer interest in televisions as a category, which could lead to greater sales of all sets.
What the CES attendees -- and the tech media -- say about these sets could go a long way to whether they succeed. Which is why, by Wednesday, you might see a few TV company executives walking around the show floor looking as if they've had a few restless nights.
(Excerpt) Read more at tvpredictions.com ...
I have this “friend”, who loves his gadgets, and routinely wastes his money on them (hey, more power to him, he overpays for the stuff that funds the market which eventually brings the price down...). Anyway, last summer, he was all set to get a 3D TV. I argued that he was wasting his money, that he would be better off spending the money on a larger screen. But nooooo, he had to have his 3D. So he spent his money on a 42 inch 3D TV, instead of a nice 52 inch or so. Well, here he is, 6 months later, with a wittle TV that does a kind of cool effect, which is good for a few minutes until you tire of the glasses and the overwrought 3d effect, with all its quirks. He hardly uses the 3D anymore.
Not just that, but he insists on using the “motion flow” setting, which makes everything look stupid. sheesh..
I was at CES last year and Samsung showed some fantastic OMLED’s you could bend, etc. One thing they showed us on film (well, video) was a 19 inch screen you could roll out like today’s front projection screens. Imagine 120 inches where the screen’s the TV.
Won’t happen for a while, but the picture quality on those screens blew my socks off. Wonder if LG’s is true AMOLED..
Cheers
Jim
Someone on this board reported them still being mastered and for sale in the UK. I also need some new rubber bands for inside the machine. It is beginning to slip a bit.
While in the Navy I worked on RTTY machines as a teletype repairman, (the Model 28 ASR machines made by Teletype Corp), both high-level and low-level machines.
“Although he had some that were HUGE - 2 to 3 inch diameter and 10 to 12 inches tall IIRC.”
Tubes for large radio transmitters. Some ham operators like my buddy still use them. If the tubes were still good, you threw away some real money.
I know one computer that was available 30 years ago. The Commodore 64 which was available in January 1982.
I heard about that too. They predict the price should drop in half by the end of 2013.
“I know one computer that was available 30 years ago. The Commodore 64”
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I, along with most everyone else, had a C-64.
The vic 20 came before it, along with my first computer play toy, the timex/sinclair...maybe 1980?
Someone on this board reported them still being mastered and for sale in the UK. I also need some new rubber bands for inside the machine. It is beginning to slip a bit.
Don't know about the tapes, but for outstanding service, parts, repair and/or rebuilding of classic high-end audio equipment I highly recommend Soundsmith in New York. For tape decks they specialize in Tandberg, but can probably help you with your Akai as well.
They are so good that when necessary replacement parts are no longer available they manufacture their own. In my case they restored my 32-year-old Bang & Olufson Beogram 4002 turntable, including a new belt and motor. My phono cartridge/stylus was okay, but if I'd needed one they build their own (under license from B&O) which exceed the specs and performance of the B&O originals. I'd bet they have your Akai belts.
Here's the link: www.sound-smith.com
Thanks very much !
PINGING THE HDTV LIST, (with special thanks to “I Drive too Fast”)!
http://news.yahoo.com/vizio-to-ship-ultra-wide-screen-tvs-by-february.html
Vizio to ship ultra-wide-screen TVs by February
LAS VEGAS—Do you think your wide-screen TV isn’t wide enough? Vizio’s 21:9 TVs have you covered.
(Credit: Vizio)
The company’s CinemaWide models, dubbed the XVT3D0CM series, offer three screen sizes (50, 58, and 71 inches) that have an aspect ratio of 21:9, which in person is noticeably wider than the normal 16:9 rectangle shape used by typical HDTVs.
The advantage of the shape, according to Vizio, is that it allows the sets to display 2.35:1 (CinemaScope) movies without any black bars. As the company points out, many big-budget Hollywood flicks are shown in CinemaScope, which means that standard 16:9 wide-screen HDTVs have to either zoom the image, cropping or distorting it, or show black bars above and below (more info). The new Vizios will have a 2,560x1,080 native resolution, compared to the 1,920x1,080 of standard TVs.
The wider aspect ratio also allows the TVs to display a full 16:9 wide-screen image while simultaneously showing a screen-worth of Vizio’s Internet Apps.
If the above two paragraphs elicit a sense of deja vu, it’s not a glitch in the Matrix. It’s because Vizio’s 21:9 TVs were announced at CES last year but, along with the company’s full-array local dimming passive 3D XVT3D5 series and Google TV equipped VIA Plus XVT3D6SV series, never shipped in 2011.
The company assures us that the CinemaWide 50- and 58-inchers will be available to buy in February, with a new 71-inch size to follow later in the year. The main differences? The smaller models will be edge-lit with local dimming and a 120Hz refresh rate, while the 71-inch gets a full-array LED backlight with local dimming and 240Hz (more info).
Here’s my quick take from last year, which still applies:
It’s a cool idea, and I’m always intrigued by something different, but when I asked Vizio’s reps how the TVs handled CinemaScope Blu-rays I was disappointed by the answer. Since such movies are formatted to a 1,920x1,080 resolution, some of the 1080 lines actually consist of black bars. That means that the 21:9 TVs have to zoom the image to eliminate those bars, scaling the image and preventing the 1:1 pixel matching achieved by actual 1,920x1,080 HDTVs. Still, I’m curious to see the sets in action, and I doubt most viewers will notice the scaling. On the other hand, they might notice the need to zoom/stretch/crop (or deal with black bars to either side) when watching normal 16:9 movies, TV shows, and sporting events.
When I mentioned these issues again to Vizio VP John Schindler during a CES 2012 prebrief, he told us that the company intended to face the chicken-and-egg problem of sparse ultra-wide-screen content by delivering the hardware first, and encouraging software and content developers to follow the lead.
The original IBM PC came out in ‘81. I got mine in Spring of ‘82, it had an Oct ‘81 ROM date.
Thanks for the ping. In attendance.
I think I’ll pop by there one day this week to see what’s happening.
I’ll be interested to see the crowd size.
I use to go to both CES shows back in the 80’s, come home with a ton of gimmes. I have stacks of electronic gear out in my storeroom, some of it never used.
I use to go to both CES shows back in the 80’s, come home with a ton of gimmes. I have stacks of electronic gear out in my storeroom, some of it never used.
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