I swear. This is the last post about stuff I read on the web about the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But the Philadelphia Enquirer summarized the latest trends in a great way:

-A new 108-inch liquid crystal television. Sharp introduced it as the world’s largest flat-panel home screen.
-Something better that Sensurround is available now. EarthQuake Sound Corp. boasts that its new 10.0 Home Theater system ($599, sold through distributors) rattles gamers’ teeth and causes war-movie buffs to run for cover.
-High-definition camcorders. Most camcorders can’t quite catch the beads of sweat as your wedding singer belts out “Night Moves.” New high-def models solve that problem.
-High-definition DVD players. Anyone who lived through the Betamax vs. VHS video-format battle may be reluctant to commit to either of the latest high-definition video formats, Blu-Ray or HD DVD. LG comes to the rescue with its LG BH100, a high-def DVD player that plays both Blu-Ray and HD formats.
Personal Tasers. For $300 each, consumers can now buy a model that delivers 50,000 volts to temporarily stun an assailant. (…) At the Consumer Electronics Show, people volunteered to be Tasered.”

A 108-inch TV? “Earthquake Sound”? Volunteers for being tasered? Well, I don’t know exactly what the mental condition of this people are. I only know that I would volunteer to get a home theater sound system for free….

What do ‘Ugly Betty’ TV star America Ferrera, Queen of England impersonator Helen Mirren and ‘Borat’ comedian Sacha Baron Cohen have in common? They all won a ‘Golden Globe’ last night. Usually I don’t like award shows. But I desperately needed a distraction last night, so I was glued to the TV and followed all the Hollywood stars receiving their awards from the Hollywood foreign press. Men, I wished I would have had a better and bigger televion for this occasion. The picture quality of my old RCA was really crappy. I should have accepted the invitation of my neighbor to come over his place to watch the show. He just bought a brandnew Panasonic SC HT740 and can’t stop surfing the channel since he got it. For once I wouldn’t mind being a total couch potato. Can you blame me?

Who said this? “Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I’d outrun ‘em. Don’t everyone thank me at once.” If you don’t know - you really don’t know what’s important in life. If you do, you’re cool and you’re a great ‘Star Wars’ fan. Andrew sent me the links to a great story he discovered on the Scifi blog. Apparently there is a new projector available which probably will make every die-hard ‘Star Wars’ fan swim over the atantlic in order to get it. But read yourself how the Scifi blog describes it:

“If there’s a normal, unpretentious home theater projector out there in the universe, this is the projector it’s farthest from. Star Wars fans will be knocking each other over to get to Nikko’s R2-D2 home theater projector, which shoots video out of its eye (it would have been perfect if it used the hologram-projector port, though). The resolution is only 800 x 600 (south of high-def), but speakers are built in, and so is a DVD player as well as an iPod dock. And it wouldn’t be R2 if he didn’t move — you can make him follow you anywhere in your house via the remote control. And have we mentioned the remote control? A replica of the Millenium Falcon, it’s a riot in its own right, with controls that pop out of the engines in the back. “

I am positive this projector would be a perfect match this Yamaha Home Theater System Andrew just told be to buy. “Today”, he said. May the force be with me.

I am kind of hooked to YouTube and its endless archive of videos. Everybody is there, it seems: regular Joe’s, artists, exhibitionists, nerds, weirdos - but also entertainment companies, record labels and all kind of consumer products manufacturers, trying to sell their latest gadgets.
Among other I discovered a interesting video from Philips promoting its latest innovations at the CES in Las Vegas. Its new technology promises to revolutionize how people experience their favorite movies, programs and video games by drawing them deeper into the action. Two attractive and young ‘reporters’ hired by the company introduced a brandnews Philips’ HD FlatTV, which comes - as I read in the video description - “in 42-inch and 52-inch models, not only boasts high-definition picture quality, but also features Philips’ proprietary Ambilight technology. Ambilight expands the viewing area and produces dramatic color and light effects to the sides. This also helps relax viewers’ eyes and provides a glow that reduces eye strain.” I also learn that “video game enthusiasts can take advantage of amBX, technology that immerses the user completely in the video gaming experience by using light, wind and vibrating effects. With amBX, players will be engulfed by the sights, sounds and sensations - so they live the game instead of playing the game.” Mmh…sounds cool. But if Santa Claus would show up today and give me a regular Philips Home Theater System - I already would be totally happy with it.

When I was a kid my grandfather always used to tell me stories about the memorable experience to watch Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon July 21 in 1969. “Television was a huge thing”, he would say”, only a few channels, but also less crap than today”. I can’t remember what kind of television my grandparents had, but I always imagined it looked similar to RCA’s first color TV model (picture above). As I found out, this model was introduced in April 1954 and retailed for 1000 dollar. Apparently color TV really didn’t take off until the mid 1960’s when most of the network programming was in color.
Wow! Imagine what great TV you could get for the same amount of money today. Actually you could get a entire Bose 321 GSX Home Theater System for 1000 bucks. Or you could buy this RCA Home Theater System for only 200 dollars - and spend the rent of the money for a fabulous trip to Hawaii!

I have to admit it - the internet is my savior. After I’ve been stuck at home for over two weeks, I really like to browse through the web und find some great sites. I discovered Google Trends whichs helps you to “compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics”. Since I can’t get used to the fact that I am uncapable to go to the movies right now, I was curious to see if the “world” (according to Google) prefers home theaters or movie theaters. I guess what? The world still likes movie theatres more. Although - as the chart shows - in terms of news coverage they are pretty much even. I can’t help myself. Even my friend Andrew tells me that inventions like the THX home theater mave you want to stay at home - I HAVE to see my favorites like Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” or Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon A Time” on the big screen! And oh, what do you think, which of these two great directors is more popular in the search world of Google? Check it out yourself!

After I have not been successful to entertain myself with books and television, I turned on my computer and went online. I browsed through several websites for about an hour, until I found this interesting story on a site called Electronic House about a guy in Philadelphia who build a home theater based on the command bridge of “Star Trek”. Cool! Apparently the whole thing costed him about 15000 Dollars. Kind of crazy, but if you have the money…. I myself would already be happy with a regular Kenwood Home Theater System for 500 bucks. Is that too much to ask?