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Newstips Electronic Editorial Bulletin Issue # 2008-01e
Post-marmot umbrage tri-fortnight unsprung news
NEW JVC SLIM LCD TV DESIGN LOWERS POWER USAGE
You may have seen the thinner new displays in the new JVC Slim
LCD line at CES but you have to look deeper to learn that they
also slimmed down power usage in these sets to just 145 Watts.
It's all about the backlighting, still based on cold cathode
fluorescent lighting (CCFL) but using innovatively optimized
reflection & diffusion optics to squeeze the panel depth,
maintain high luminance without adding CCFL tubes & use less
power. Part of the power savings is also in a direct-mount power
distribution substrate that dissipates heat without adding the
audible noise or power drain of a fan. The chunkiest part of the
display is at its center (still less than 3") but most of its
acreage is just 1.5" deep & with their new, thinner bezels, more
of the display is picture while less is frame. These new sets
will hit stores by summer in 42" & 46" models; JVC is also
offering companion wall mounts that let them hus a wall more
tightly than standard mounts. Contact: Chelsea Vander Groef, JVC
COMPANY OF AMERICA (Wayne, NJ) 973-317-5000x5312
mailto:cvandergroef@jvc.com http://jvc.com
TIFFEN PMA PREVIEW: TRAVELER IN CARBON
There was a PMA preview at PMA of a secret new carbon version of
the economical Traveler monopod. Traveler is a perennial favorite
camera mount for many users because it collapses down smaller
than many umbrellas yet extends upward to provide a stabilizing
foot, an overhead high-view pole mount, a foot-level ground-rider
view or an out-the-side mobile shooting platform. The new
lighter-weight carbon version offers the same flexibility & a
feel that's perfect for outdoor work. (The original aluminum
Traveler, by the way, is what Marty had in his shoulder bag a few
PMA shows ago when he was hit by a car, causing more damage to
the car than to him). Ask Hilary. Contact: Hilary Araujo, TIFFEN
COMPANY (Hauppauge, NY) 631-273-2500x1216
mailto:haraujo@tiffen.com http:/.tiffen.com
USB MICROSCOPE SNOOPS BEYOND VISIBLE
You have to love this: a custom-modified USB microscope (a
640x480 image displays on your PC) that can detect IR + visible +
UV images at 10-200X magnifications. The MaxMax XNite QX5 ($197)
version of the Digital Blue USB QX5 electronic microscope has
been converted to let its camera see beyond the visible range;
they also added a 25.5mm filter ring for even more flexibility.
The microscope illuminates its sample with top- & bottom-mounted
white LEDs; MaxMax can (for a fee) swap those for specific
wavelengths in the IR, UV or visible spectrum. You can set it up
to capture single images, time lapse or movies. Third-party
software can also let this work with a Mac. Think about the new
security fibers in money, the micro-printing on checks, the germs
on school drinking fountains or cafeteria utensils; now you see
them, human-scale on a PC screen, where once you couldn't. You
don't need a microscope to see the coverage possibilities here;
dial Dan to get one in hand. Contact: Dan Llewellyn, LDP LLC
(Carlstadt NJ) 201-882-0344 mailto:dan@maxmax.com
Http://MaxMax.com
APRICORN MAKES NOTEBOOK ELBOW ROOM EASIER TO GET
We're about to turn in our ThinkPad Z61T but thought we'd check
it out on the Apricorn Web site to see what drive upgrade options
are available. Just 2 clicks later, we saw half a dozen. None of
them were at lower-performance 4200RPM spindle speeds. At
5400RPM, we saw choices from 80-250GB ($79-199) & at
hold-on-tight 7200RPM, 80 or 100GB ($119 & $149). The notebook's
current drive is 120GB with about 15GB free; upgrading to a 160GB
($129) or 250GB ($199) drive could add years to the notebook's
usefulness. That could be an important consideration for many of
the people you reach & since Apricorn offers both upgrade drives
& really simple 3-step drive upgrade kits, maybe it's time to
think about a review. Contact: Michelle Fischer, APRICORN INC.
(Poway, CA) 858-513-4480 mailto:mfischer@apricorn.com
http://apricorn.com AGENCY CONTACT: Jennifer Olson 415-402-0230
mailto:jennifer@atomicpr.com
NEW 5-MINUTE IPHOTOMEASURE WALK-THROUGH ONLINE
Now http://www.iphotomeasure.com/demo has a real-time video
walk-through demo of how iPhotoMeasure software works & runs just
5 minutes, start to finish. It even shows the results of
exporting the photo & measurements to Excel; pretty impressive.
Still not easy enough? Paul will work with you to take a snapshot
you provide (he'll need something of known dimensions in it) &
send it back to you with the measurements overprinted; if it's
for a TV segment, he can provide that as either mounted photos or
before & after "slides" you can showcase on a notebook screen.
Hands-on with the product to do a review is OK, too; call Paul.
Contact: Paul Minor, DIGICONTRACTOR INC. (Tarzana, CA)
818-888-3687 mailto:paul@iphotomeasure.com
http://iPhotoMeasure.com
KOMFORT PETS SMALL NOW, MEDIUM IN A MONTH, LARGE BY JUNE
Creature comforts happen with Komfort Pets carriers because solid
state Peltier heating/cooling elements & a thermostatic
controller plus air circulation keep a pleasant temperature
inside the carrier when the weather outside is not. The small
size (for cats or small dogs) has been shipping for several
months & is reviewable now. The medium size (40% larger) with
second-generation features debuts at the end of February. Look
for the intermediate & large sizes (for those big dogs) to arrive
by June. Contact: Bob Inello, KOMFORT PETS (Revere, MA)
781-485-0077 mailto:rinello@komfortpets.com
http://KomfortPets.com
WHEN YOU'RE READY LET WI-EX CLOSE THE GATES TO CELL HELL
You've driven through "Cell Hell"; it's that spot (maybe more
than one) you drive through where the signal strength drops &
your call along with it. The new Wi-Ex in-car cell booster ($300)
puts a magnet-mount antenna outside the car to feed all the
signal it can get to a booster unit inside the car that makes it
even stronger. It can't help if there's absolutely no signal
along that patch of road, but it can absolutely make the dips
disappear. Ask Sharon or Deanna to arrange a review for you.
Contact: Sharon Cuppett, WI-EX INC. (Norcross, GA)
770-239-5475x6380 mailto:scuppett@wi-ex.com http://wi-ex.com
AGENCY CONTACT: Deanna Anderson 404-759-1890
mailto:danderson705@comcast.net
THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THAR HULLS
Check the basement, the garage, the dresser drawers & the attic
for those old computers, cell phones & other electronic gear you
long ago retired but haven't yet had the heart to discard. Look
them up on the MyBoneYard.com Web site to see what they're worth
& if you follow through, they'll e-mail you a shipping voucher
now then load your reward on a prepaid Visa card you'll get in
the mail. Your old gear gets reconditioned for resale to people
in third-world countries or recycled or, if there's no other
option, conscientiously scrapped. This is the coolest thing to
happen to old stuff since bread pudding; ask Thomas. Contact:
Thomas Muhs, MYBONEYARD (Chanhassen, MN) 952-294-6154
mailto:thomas.muhs@young-america.com http://MyBoneYard.com
MOGO DESKTOP MAY MAKE SENSE
Mention a MoGo Mouse & people think of how it folds flat to
charge in a notebook slot & how cool it is that something with
its geometry works out so very well as a pointing device. You may
never have thought of using a MoGo Mouse with a desktop PC, but
it's worth thinking about, especially with the new X54 models &
their impressive list of added features. The no-moving-parts
scroll, 6-button functionality & switchable second role (as a
remote for playing media in the standard product or as a remote
for presentations - including a built-in laser pointer - in the
Pro) also make it mightier than mere mortal mice. Adapting it to
a desktop (through a USB charging cradle & a new Bluetooth 2
Dapter USB plug-in) works out pretty well, too. Ultimately,
though, the most compelling reason is that it's the best pointing
device for a notebook user, so you might as well enjoy the
comfort of always using a MoGo Mouse with both. Have Jack set you
up. Contact: Jack Corrao, NEWTON PERIPHERALS (Natick, MA)
858-792-0944 mailto:jack.corrao@newtonperipherals.com
http://NewtonPeripherals.com
SURPRISE: ZOOM H2 ALSO A GUITAR HERO & SAVES PLANET
The "genetic" background of the Zoom H2 Handy Recorder ($199) is
in the Zoom line of goodies for guitar players, from pedals to
rhythm boxes to recorders, which may explain a couple of Zoom H2
features that many of today's non-musical users have yet to
discover. You may not know, for example, that it has a built-in
guitar/bass/chromatic digital tuner & a built-in metronome (with
a range of available beat sounds). When you're not using its AC
adapter, the H2 runs on standard AA cells, good for about 4 hours
on a pair of alkalines or all day on those E2 Lithium cells, but
here's something noteworthy: a menu choice lets you optimize it
to work with either alkaline or NiMH rechargeable AA cells, which
are good for about 3 hours per charge but usable for something
like a thousand charge cycles (based on NiMH batteries currently
available in stores). It's about more than living in harmony;
next time we'll look at who needs it; if you're already convinced
it's you, for review, drop a message to Mark. Contact: Mark
Wilder, SAMSON TECHNOLOGIES (Hauppauge, NY) 631-784-2200x142
mailto:mwilder@samsontech.com http://SamsonTech.com
HOW NEW EUBIQ POWER STRIP KEEPS PUSH-IN POWER SAFE
If you look closely at the back side of one of the sockets
designed to insert and twist to connect in the innovative Eubiq
power strip, you can get a sense of how clever & safety-conscious
a design this is. Initially, you only see the small ball-shaped
grounding connector at the center of the back of the connector;
this pushes in on the spring-loaded grounding plate that runs the
length of the strip, just behind its rubber-lipped
socket-mounting slit. When you twist the socket, inner arms
rotate out of the double-ended sleeve that inserts into the slit;
each of these arms reaches at right angles to the slit to connect
to hot & neutral leads that run in recessed cavities for the
length of the power slit (visible in the cross-section view you
can see on the Web site). If you were to throw caution to the
wind & stick your finger through the lips & into the strip, all
you would touch is that spring-loaded ground plate. We'll tell
more next time; for now, the Web is your best resource since US
availability must await full UL approval. Contact: NG Kee Haur,
EUBIQ PTE LTD (Singapore) +65-6372-9393x380
mailto:keeng@eubiq.com http://eubiq.com
HOW TO GET A FREE PHONE WITHOUT A MORTGAGE-LIKE DEAL
Most cell services will offer you gear for what they tout as free
when you lock into multi-year commitments with lots of gotchas;
Virgin Mobile can beat them by 23 months with offers that get
updated all the time. In last November through January, for
example, if a new customer bought $9.99 in air time, a K10 Royale
phone (otherwise $9.99; includes full color screen, voice
dialing, Web browser & more) would have been on the house; a
$19.99 air time purchase could have scored an Oystr flip phone
(otherwise $19.99; includes full color screen, text messaging,
Web browser, 2-way speakerphone & more) on the house.
(Disclosure: the way it works is you pay for the phone & when you
activate it, the price is applied as an airtime credit). With
Virgin Mobile, you just buy minutes or months as you need them;
is there anybody you can think of for whom this might be a more
sensible answer than the usual alternatives? That makes it worth
writing about; contact Corinne. Contact: Corinne Nosal, VIRGIN
MOBILE USA (Warren, NJ) 908-607-4235
mailto:corinne.nosal@virginmobileusa.com
http://virginmobileusa.com
PRESSING A TORNADO
Press people are a lot like many business pros who more than
occasionally take work home or whose work requires occasional
travel, though press people may encounter a few more computers
than other professionals. People in such circumstances are almost
always notebook users with a desktop computer at work & perhaps
another at home; for press people, you can also factor in the
press room computers (where it's often easier to sit at one of
theirs than to find an Internet connection for your own). The
traditional way of transporting work around has been with a USB
drive, but that takes 2 steps for every transfer in a world that
offers an easier one-step solution. With a Tornado (between
Windows PCs) or an iTornado (for Mac and/or Windows PCs; $80,
March), files get where they're going without having to ride a
USB drive en route. If you've not yet tried a Tornado or the new
iTornado, contact Clint to get one to you for review. Contact:
Clint Hughes, DATA DRIVE THRU (Dallas, TX) 972-897-7057
mailto:chughes@datadrivethru.com http://TheTornado.com
SPECIAL REPORT: CE RETAIL RECESSION BRATS
In a briefing to companies on how to survive the Consumer
Electronics retail recession (available to you for citation but
not for reproduction), Marty predicted a 5% reduction in retailer
floor space dedicated to TV sets, with TV purchases fading after
the Super Bowl. It's also significant that shopping for new TV
sets has been a major driver for all store visits. With less
viewing, there's also less demand on cable services, satellite,
DVR or other related products. It would normally be an
opportunity period for high def DVD sales but for the format
wars; a major price reduction in multi-format players could
provide a breakout winner in an otherwise bleak horizon, but we
have no sure intelligence to indicate that's coming. TV is not
the only contributor to this Dark Age. Digital cameras are long
past pixel overkill & oversaturation of the user population & in
terms of the raw number of pictures being taken, losing ground to
cell phone cameras. Saturation in the cell phone category has
driven purchases & upgrades into lock-step with carrier contract
renewals; at best, it might bring retailers some Bluetooth sales.
Camcorders are on a steady upwards sales growth & there seems to
be nothing about the dearth of fresh TV shows likely to daunt
that, so we foresee business as usual in that category, noting
that HD camcorder growth should outpace growth for SD models. If
TV sales are to be retail's biggest losers, will there be any
winners? Consider the imploded mortgage market, the terribly
depressed housing market & the continuingly ominous high price of
gas; people who may not be shopping (nor able to shop) for a new
car or new home could be placing a higher priority on improving
what they have. Also, with fewer reasons to stay at home (which
is to say, favorite dramatic series all reruns) there may be a
bit more driving. We think it's going to be a fairly good era for
GPS systems & for car audio. We don't foresee a lot of specific
category buying within consumer electronics for making homes more
convenient or comfy, but there could be some little blips in
categories like clock radios, cordless phones (less TV time means
more phone time) or lighting. Less TV time also means more time
for computers & game consoles; alas, it will be summer before
parental permission lets most of that purchasing happen. Also,
with less TV time, musical instrument sales may pick up; that
would buck that category's usual seasonality. Our recommendations
to writers who want to keep their product coverage relevant to
consumer interests: GPS & related "live" services, Bluetooth,
real-life-related computer games (like those that help players
pick up musical or math skills), multi-format high def DVD
players, DECT phones, weather devices, the new smaller camcorders
(SD & HD), notebook PCs with notable bullet points (lighter
weight, longer run time, etc.), special-purpose scanners, new
gizmos based on relatively new technologies (like Peltier
heating/cooling devices or LED illumination, speech recognition,
etc.), HD Radio, car audio & items with newly portable
usefulness.
SPECIAL REPORT BONUS REVIEW: DVR XPANDER
This is how we got the used space on our cable box DVR to drop
from 32% to 7% in just a few minutes, without erasing a thing. If
you get HD over cable & your cable box has a built-in hard drive
for DVR functions, the odds are pretty good that box is a
Scientific Atlanta (Cisco) Explorer 8300HD, which happens to be
what we have here in our local Time Warner (formerly several
other owners) cable system. The 8300HD box has an eSATA connector
for expanding its storage capacity; this is the cable realm, so
that task isn't as straightforward as it sounds. (For example,
the first thing the cable box does when it sees the drive
attached is to reformat it & we know from industry insiders that
this creates some handshake elements that make the drive less
than useful if connected anywhere else). We were thrilled to see
that the Apricorn DVR Xpander drive is tailored for use with the
8300HD; theoretically, it should work just as well with any cable
box that offers an eSATA connection. The one we got for review
holds 750GB (they also offer 500GB &1TB models), adding enough
capacity for almost 4 full days of full-quality HD recording.
Capacity had been a challenge, since we try to collect episodes
for son Ian to watch when he's home from college, but no more;
now we can snag more HD movies to watch when prime time doesn't
offer anything we find tasty. Bottom line: easy to install,
transparent to use & as welcome as dropping enough weight to let
favorite clothing fit again, comfortably. (Note: this is the
first exception ever to our policy of never reviewing a product
from a company that appears among our sponsored items; we chose
to do so because this specific product will not appear there & is
on a topic about which we're frequently asked our experience).
SPECIAL REPORT BONUS REVIEW 2: DYMO 400 TURBO
We've had a few label printers through here but had not yet
tested the Dymo LabelWriter 400 Turbo, so we had them send us
one. Several things about it raised our eyebrows (not in a good
way): for one, the software disc claims Windows 2000/XP
compatibility, not Vista; indeed, the installation under Vista
caused an unacceptable number of confirmation interruptions & did
stall during the first pass, finally completing on the second.
The installation wizard is of that objectionably rude variety
that insists on filling your screen & not letting you view other
applications (very 1983). It insisted on closing both Word &
Outlook though it doesn't appear to have touched either one;
indeed, its address book doesn't have a direct importer for
Outlook contacts & its add-ons list only Goldmine & Act. It does
print labels, but every element of it seems to consider that a
secondary function to the act of selling labels, especially the
ones it has for printing stamps using an online postage service
to make sure you're paying for them. Bottom line: adequate
hardware, marginal software & a terrible sense of
socialization.
SPECIAL REPORT BONUS REVIEW 3: MEGA PLUG AV
It says right on the box that the Actiontec Mega Plug AV that
it's "Perfect for... real-time HD video, but many users seeking
it as a simple answer to a challenge, for example, of getting an
HD satellite or cable box signal to a remote set without running
cable will be frustrated. This is a 200Mbps (at the very best,
under absolutely the most ideal circumstances) HomePlug device
with prongs to plug into a power outlet on one side, a modular
10/100 Ethernet jack on the other; even a solid signal over a
short path can only deliver that 10/100 Ethernet bandwidth at
best. You may not want to plug it into where your computer is
plugged in if there's a surge protector in that path; its signal
can cross circuit breakers but surge protectors stymie it. It
operates in the 2-28MHz RF band, shared by "long-wave" ham radio
through CB bands; if you or your neighbors operate that kind of
gear, you may face some additional challenges. It's also possible
for a neighbor with a similar device to pick up signals from the
one in your home or office; at these frequencies, power line
wiring acts as a very effective radio antenna. So where do you
plug in your TV set? You don't; the box stretched the truth. The
Web site talks about extending IPTV, but we have reservations
about that working & in any case, there are no instructions in
the documentation (including the 45-page PDF Manual on the CD) &
this product is not among those for which the Web site currently
offers support. There are no HDMI adapters or accessories
included or offered either. In other words, the "AV" part of the
product name is, we believe, there to mislead consumers. Too much
of the finer points of installation are buried where most users
(who don't RTFM) will never see them, like the right-click & run
as administrator instructions for Vista or the need to plug into
an outlet that isn't surge protected or the need to encrypt to
avoid interception. So here's a product with adequate hardware,
thoughtlessly strategized documentation & misleading claims on
the box. Bottom line: an advanced user may find this useful for
extending Ethernet by up to a thousand feet at good speed, but
the guy who wants this as an HD video extender will end up
frustrated, disappointed & quite probably angry.
RETHINKING OUR EVENTS
For Cherry Picks at CES 2007 a year ago, nobody had to pay
anything to enter or win but Marty had to foot a $75,000 bill for
food, facilities, the AV package, printing, etc. For Cherry Picks
at CES 2008, we tried to spread that out by charging $500 to
enter & another $1000 as an acceptance fee. We're delighted with
the roughly 20 products we chose - a small fraction of previous
years - but darned disappointed that companies thought so little
of our audience that submissions were way down, even among
companies with good products who had won in previous years. Our
costs were not down, so this was an adventure in red ink. Several
elements for The Big Event disappointed us, not the least of
which was our last-minute discovery that the true size of the LA
press pool covering holiday tech was not sizable. Marty thinks he
knows how to make The Big Event work out much better for 2008 &
we'll talk about that in a while. Cherry Picks is much more up in
the air: we can't afford to keep doing it with the current
economics but we don't want to give it up because we think it's
fundamentally a Right Thing to Do. Our suggestion box is open for
any ideas you might have. Contact: Martin Winston, NEWSTIPS
(Novelty, OH) 440-338-8400; mailto:marty@newstips.com
http://Newstips.com
FOOTNOTE: BAGS IN TOWN
Here's an update on our Cherry Picks gift bags. The bags
themselves are in town but not yet here. When they arrive, we'll
load one and measure it for a shipping box, then order the
shipping boxes (won't take long). Once those are here, we'll
start the joy of stuffing, packing, labeling & shipping them all.
It wasn't supposed to take this long; our apologies. (And we
probably won't do it this way ever again).
# # #
Newstips Bulletin [Novelty, OH] +1.440.338.8400 http://Newstips.com
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