Heroic Designs – February 2009
I just sent out the February issue of my e-blast. You can see the email version here.
Hot Electronics
Last month I was able to find a way into the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This is the show where manufacturers show off all of their latest and greatest gadgets. The show was a bit like being in a giant Best Buy on steroids (yes that’s right, a giant on steroids). There were two things that really caught my eye.
The first was a Panasonic presentation of Digital 3-D. Just days before, a good friend of mine saw the College National Football Championship game in digital 3-D. Though his team lost he was raving about how excellent the broadcast was. Panasonic had a mini-theater set up and I got a chance to see what he was talking about. I could not believe the picture quality. The promo reel showed different kinds of scenes and sports events. The picture was so dynamic that it even piqued my interest in professional wrestling. If you get a chance to see anything in digital 3-D, take the opportunity to have your mind blown.
The second was a piece of software called RealDVD. Just like iTunes does for music, RealNetworks has created a solution for storing all of your DVDs to your computer. Unfortunately, shortly after they released the software, they were sued by the motion picture industry. Given the similarities to CDs and the music industry, I think we can expect to see this solution back on the market really soon.
Analog TV Has “Jumped the Shark”
As if there weren’t a lot of confusion about the digital broadcasting switchover, Congress has just passed legislation to postpone the final days of analog television. So, if you watch TV over the air, you don’t need a converter box until June 12, 2009. But wait! It gets even more confusing. Apparently some TV stations no longer wish to carry the cost of analog broadcasting. They plan on switching over on the original February 17 date. So beware that your TV may no longer work in February even if your Congressman says otherwise.