This is the space age. We are living in the George Jetson era and Mr. Spacely is holding the phaser to his ear as we microwave our raw foods and contemplate which robot should serve us dinner. Anything is possible via wireless remote control. OK, maybe it’s not that cool yet but with the application overload from Apple devices, the future is in your hand in your living room. Now. Today.

Think about throwing away all your remotes and using one touch screen display form your Ipad or Imac I-something gadget. Think about how cool it will when visitors and guests watch you nonchalantly make the room erupt in transducer-boggling sound. (That’s after you learn how to work it). NB: These are not whole-house controls, just AV room wireless tech.

I-Got-Control operates much like the wireless connectivity in your laptop but searches for identified devices and appliances in the home that fit the wireless bill. A touchscreen selector wheel allows for easy on-off control of the upstairs air conditioner, the blast speakers that wake the neighbors, and/or the transducers that make Darth Vader’s breath almost pour into your ear.
Price: About $70.

The application RE operates channels like Room, Devices, and Activities for easy punch-in of wireless device direct control. Thumb control save us a trip over “there” or permits easy access when folded within a group of pets/children/loved ones. Unleash audiovisual power with an intuitive grasp and feel for those of us weary of manuals that outweigh the device on “how to work the thingy”.
Price: About $70

FLPR works from the device brand name and launches a mini-universe of specialized software with visual skins in you just have to have your special thing on there. The device lines up programmed macros that work with your home’s sensitive machines. Dongle-enabled gear emits an IR signal in a tiny gadget for micro-mad home entertainers. FLPR is particularly game console friendly.
Price: About $80

The iMac-daddy of them all is the RedEye solution.The big news for the RedEye is a standalone gadget that radiates signal from a cool line-of-sight docking base. This app has the least mobility because there’s no mobile dongle to pocket, the base has to stay near its programmed master. But there is no “aiming” of the oblong McPhone. Meat-and-potatoes wireless device users may prefer the RE, FLIPR or I-Got-Control i-motes.

The RedEye works it own mini-network and will be the lover of the first adopter on your block. A sophisticated app using cloud technology, this software stays updated and uses the “Room, Activities” setup like the RE. The advanced features of the RedEye base make is gesture-programmable for gameplay (Yes, it’s amazing) but additional base nodes are needed for additional rooms. A One-Roomer app.
Price: About $190

Iphone lovers will continue to evangelize their (device’s) superiority, but McPhone owners who are still adapting to their device (resistance is futile!) may want to test drive these for look and feel in the shop. Bare bones home entertainment systems may not need the full fledged RedEye treatment. But gamers will insist on its shake-and-flick gameplay cool.

How can you blend home entertainment devices with art? Invest in quality high tech equipment that looks like European designed conceptual art. Some crazy cool speaker transducers are out this month, like the conch shell B & W Nautilus and the Vienna Acoustics offset speaker module mounts. The Sonus Faber now offers speakers that looks like Bang & Olufsen and Ikea had a kid. The German Physics model is titled the Loreley MK IIIs and looks both futuristic and retro at the same time. Pricing? From $12.8K to $200K.

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The Internet has spoken and put its brand on the most important consumer purchase in every home around the globe: the color television. Webby LCD TV is the new must-have in home television, long the standard of consumer wants and needs. Consumers now must have their Internet and LCD TV in one, confirming the congruence between entertainment and information transfer.

The integration of a social network function like FaceBook with a passive activity like watching television is phenomenal. LCD quality picture users can enjoy more fluid video streaming and definition. Uploading photos on Flickr just became a family affair.

The web connectivity enables Pandora and Twitter in one video display conjoined with one keyboard. That’s one better ease of use caliber than dueling desktop windows online. Television in 3DTV is deliverable to the home in high definition. With wireless networks in, the home as well as office and the car, high definition and LCD TV is here.

What can television watching net surfers do? Live chat rooms are hosted by the major networks presently by CBS, for example, to chat with other fans live during an episode of “Survivor”. Will there be a new generation of shows for web enabled TV watchers? Time will tell. A keyboard enabled television experience is now just a mouse click away.

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Using a consumer digest to guide your LCD purchase? Not so fast! Not all consumer reviews and buyer reports and evaluations are valid. I know this because I recently picked up a leading consumer magazine and was appalled to find the leading netbook was not even included in their ’substantial” overview of the entire product offering industrywide.

The competing publication, Laptop Magazine, had a comprehensive report on all the notebook brands including MSI. The rationale for the product ratings for different categories and subjects and consumer response across many categories was explained in detail. But consumers and readers reviewing the consumer magazine would have missed that fact.

With the television consumer product market the largest and most profitable big box universe going, the retail world depends on reviews and consumer ratings to drive demand and sales. But consumers need to know which units of LCD TV will mount on brackets, be flexible to swivel mounts, and work well wirelessly when elevated above the midlevel of a room.

Online ratings and test drives of technical devices should be reported by intelligent writers capable of knowing much more than the product range or likely uses of the device. Sadly, many online ratings writers and device analysis reviewers have very little experience simply producing an adequate review result. But readers may not know that, and readers who expect expert opinions and qualified judgements to guide their buying decisions assume a larger ability to judge technical merit than just “the man on the street”.

Someone experienced in installing bracket mounts and home theaters is the right person to judge a LCD TV unit’s fitness to be a functional part of the home entertainment area. They know which connectors and formats should be included, and when the placements of outlets and wiring housings is awkward.They can tell if the thinness of the device is vended with halts to visual quality, audio spectrum, and tuning performance.

As home theater troubleshooters, they know when subwoofers are hitting the floor more than the ceiling, when modal density is weak, and when basses are tinny and inconsequential. but the best person to write the LCD TV or accessory review may not work for a consumer magazine. Accessory components should be tested with the LCD TV model, even earphones.

Publishing, especially magazine publishing, operates under rules of its own. Print deadlines require less flexibility than online reporting. When a summary of opinions is slapped together to meet a deadline or make a cover story complete, the quality of the writing and the data is sacrificed.

But the masthead of a consumer or industry publication creates an aura of authority that underscores the written account regardless of its veracity. For advertising revenues and the magazine business model, this happens more often than readers might believe.

Publications compose LCD review features for press deadlines, not from expert judgement panels. The consumer reviews of the LCD market is much the same. Many of the consumer reviewers may be looking at “small” or “midsize” LCD television options when their reviewers want to write sexy text blocks about stadium sized LCD units like the new HDTV and 3DTV products, the Jumbotrons of the American living room.

These writers may know (or consider) the needs of the American reduced footprint green smart house, or the thrifty LCD buying habits of the retired senior citizen. With the reduced size of the high definition and LCD televisions now available, consumers have new choices about the new high quality LCD television they bring into the home. Online feedback, consumer based reviews, and YouTubes are all good legitimate LCD TV review sources.

From a previous post.

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Having guests over? Expecting family for a visit? Asked the boss over for a game day or inviting that special someone for a casual movie night? These tech toys can be conversation starters that make you look ahead of the curve, even with those aging velour pillows and dust bunnies lurking. But also for summer travel, group fun, work downtime and coffee shop bragging rights these gadgets are all “most wanted’.

1. Recharging Mats

Getting more charge in the garage was never more high tech than now. Powermat, PureEnergy Solutions, and Witricity are a few of the companies crafting brilliantly sleek power charging mats for pods, device, cellphones, and more. A black-on-black sexy look and feel gives James Bond upgrade to any room. Clean up your pod area and allow guests a handy place to charge up. Metal and magnetic technology make the options complex but appealing.

2. Sound Bars

Cables and wi-fi for the home theater got you down? Got better things to do with your weekend than a LCD TV installation and reading bracket diagrams? Attach a sound bar device under your new or existing LCD, LED or HDTV and enjoy the fascinating tech appeal of minimal audio footprint with maximum delivery of tonal depth and modular density. LCD TV never looked better. Guests will notice audio quality boost right away.

3. Super Mini Lav Mikes

Input microphones that capture sound quality for ad hoc videos YouTube moments, and brilliant off the cuff home karaoke have been the challenge for all miniature media recording formats and devices. Lavalier mikes get sound from more than one person and clean up those white noisy viral marketing videos. the James Bond factor? Portable use means getting what those people behind you in line said for all eternity.

Why buy a miniature lavalier mike? Fewer echoes, no garbling, better digital results. Clarify your presentation for upload to your site with the $25 Audio-Technica (or $450 wireless Sony ) lav mikes. Make your site videos and home entertainment moments more memorable and reproducible instantly. Condensing audio into amateur video painlessly just got easier. And home business deductible, too.

4. Pocket Projectors

Hone your elevator pitch with devices like 3M’s $395 pocket projector. Make your case to the microinvestor standing next to you at the airport or show the partner your quarterly statements waiting for the shuttle. Be the guy with the coolest gadget in the room. Imagine projecting your pitch in a darkened movie theater before the previews roll an the captive eyes and ears listening.

If you party or entertain at sports venues or private homes, any blank wall in a dark room or exterior surface becomes a conference room. 3 gigabyte memory, Excel and Word, and 20,00 hours of lamp light life mean your message goes until you stop. Make nearby prospects, investors and sponsors speak up and ask to join the party and see the show. Did that Vegas airfare just become tax deductible for your home business?

5. Mini Book Reader

Sony ($400) and CyBook Opus ($199) make some slick little book devices that take the ouch from your shoulder and put that mission to finish “War and Peace’ back on the table. Orientation shifts and menu manipulation bring titles and documents into view. Tiny smart technology LCD screens allow for focused reading in small spaces. A mini book reader is the ultimate grad gift.

Ample space and media access make the sky the limit. The Opus is just over five ounces and the Sony needs a wireless network, but those casual book recommendations just got some instant traction. A USB cable makes reading list content accessible for parents, kids, and companions.

Google books and media card content mean plug and play digestion of the department’s updates and bulletins just got play-date friendly. Got some massive white papers to digest? Waiting for a flight an extra hour? Mixing business with pleasure? Get back to work Monday having done the required reading without lugging the computer bag around all weekend.

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Or visit our partners at: TvSwivelMount.com, FlatTvMount.com

This article is from a previous post.