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Black & Decker TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector finds draft areas in your abode
This one's been around the block a time or two, but sadly, it still won't be available for use as an in-law stocking stuffer. Black & Decker's $39.99 TLD100 Thermal Leak Detector packs an infrared sensor that can detect where cool air is being let in around older windows, doors, etc. You simply aim it at a suspect area on your wall or molding, set the threshold for temperature change and comprehend the readout on the LCD screen. Too bad this will be way less useful when it launches in the Spring, but Old Man Winter's never too far out.[Via Coolest Gadgets]
Many first-time HDTV buyers bypassing the HDTV service
Oh, brother. Not this again. Every year it seems that we get wind of a wonky report that explains just how ignorant many first-time HDTV buyers are to HD programming. And in many cases, we'd argue to no fault of their own. The most recent survey from the offices of Frank N. Magid Associates asserts that "among the 12% of US households who purchased a new high-definition television in the past year, 41% still need to arrange for high-definition programming service from a cable or satellite provider." Granted, some of those folks could be perfectly content with pulling in high-def via an OTA antenna (or hooking up a gaming console / Blu-ray player), but that's still a lot of cats and kittens neglecting that sweet, sweet pay-TV goodness. The survey also found that 43% of new HDTV owners "had not looked into HD services from any provider," and that 41% didn't feel that HD services were worth the cost. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: friends don't let friends own an HDTV without any HD content. It's just not right, people.
GE builds an OLED printer, hopes to challenge light bulbs in 2010
Maybe the incandescent light bulb has been sitting in its socket-shaped throne for too many years -- GE thinks so, anyway. GE R&D guys have produced a machine that prints OLED materials newspaper-style onto 8-inch sheets of metal foil in hopes that the sheets -- which can be pinned to just about any surface -- will start the process of home lighting biz regime change in 2010. Picture, if you will, wallpaper or window blinds that provide soft, diffused lighting for the living room after dark -- no need for special fixtures, just a wall plug. OLED lighting isn't yet cost-efficient for the average consumer, but GE hopes that will change soon. In the meantime, expect to see these sheets in a trip-out Flaming Lips concert in the somewhat-near future.
Sanyo now buying LCDs from Sharp, partnership could spread to kitchen appliances
Considering that everybody is buying panels from everybody else these days, we're thrilled to announce that one more cute couple is joining the fray. Sanyo has recently announced that it has "started buying liquid crystal display panels from Sharp for use in its flat TVs sold in North America." According to Sanyo spokesman Hiroyuki Okamoto, the two firms are also pondering "joint development of kitchen appliances such as microwave ovens," but no further details were immediately available. LCD HDTVs and blenders -- a match made in heaven.[Thanks, Atiba]
Cellphone-only households on the rise, landlines crying a river
Hold everything -- did you have any idea surging cellphone use was putting a damper on landline utilization? Oh, right, common knowledge. Anywho, a recent study conducted here in America found that three in ten households actually relied solely or primarily on their mobile to communicate. In the latter half of 2007, it was discovered that 16-percent of domiciles didn't even have a landline, while 13-percent had one but took all (or nearly all) of their calls via cell. Just to put things in perspective, only 5-percent of US homes were cellphone-only in 2004, while 1.082-percent had not yet surrendered their can-and-string. If you're one of those number lovers, hold your head up high and hit the read link for lots more data about this totally engrossing topic.[Image courtesy of Preston LNO]
HD programming to reach 44 million homes worldwide by year's end
Just in case you haven't been schooled enough by HD research articles of late, here comes another to toss around inside that skull of yours. Based on a forecast by Informa Telecoms & Media, around 4-percent of worldwide households (read: not just homes with HDTVs) will "actively watch HD programming" before 2009 dawns. Just to put that into perspective, only 2-percent of homes globally were tuning into HDTV at the end of 2007. According to Simon Murray, principal media analyst at the company, a "major contributing factor is that set and set-top box prices have fallen substantially in the last two years," and it should come as no surprise that HD adoption has been highest in North America. Per usual, an HD study couldn't conclude without some reference to 2012, and sure enough, Informa is expecting around 179 million worldwide abodes (16-percent, give or take) to have HD programming in less than four years.[Image courtesy of AT&T]
Poll: How long have you been subscribed to pay-HDTV service?
Given that "only half" of US HDTV owners currently subscribe to any sort of pay-HDTV package, yet forecasts are suggesting that 100 million homes will be ponying up for said programming in just four short years, we're curious to know how long you HD junkies in the crowd have been hooked. Relatively speaking, HD content has exploded in just the past couple of years, but early adopters are apt to recall a time when just fetching a feed HD feeds was enough to make one's month year. Pretty simply -- how long have you been paying for HD content, and if you're more the OTA type, how long has your antenna been pulling in 720p / 1080i signals?[Image courtesy of AT&T] %Poll-11906%
Only half of US HDTV owners subscribe to HD programming
We'll be honest -- we US-based HDTV owners are taking advantage of our set entirely more so than those in Europe, but considering the (relative) smorgasbord of high-def options that we have here in the States, the latest data from ABI Research is quite disheartening. Reportedly, some 41-percent of American TV owners possess an HDTV, but out of those, just 56-percent subscribe to a HD programming package. Of course, we're well aware that OTA consumption is on the rise, but still, that figure is simply abysmal (though not at all shocking). The report goes on to mention that while 45-percent of respondents admitted to using pay-per-view, most did so just one time per month. Additionally, 46-percent asserted that they were "unsatisfied" with their carrier, with the primary gripes being high prices and lame customer service. Still, we're glad to see that HD recognition is on the rise here in the US, but we have a seriously long way to go before 100 million homes are signed on to high-def programming services.[Image courtesy of AT&T]
More news from 2012: 100 million US households to pay for HD programming
Alright, so it was mildly humorous at first -- now it's just downright freaky. For the fourth time in just a few months, a report is emerging that forecasts numbers for 2012. Not 2011, not 2013, just 2012. Nevertheless, the latest research doled out by Pike & Fischer asserts that "up to 103 million households will be paying their multichannel video provider for some form of HD service or rental equipment" by 2012. As it stands, around 47 million US homes will be coughing up for HD programming by the end of 2008, which should be a 17 million domicile increase from 2007 if everything goes as predicted. Needless to say, we've no doubts that HD consumption has nowhere to go but up, but even we are taken aback by the $2.6 billion in annual revenue that content providers are expected to garner in just four short years.
20% of US households will spend stimulus funds on consumer electronics
Forget income tax rebate checks -- what are you doing with that bonus that should be arriving between May and August of this year? Apparently, 1 in 5 of you will be spending at least a portion of your economic stimulus rebate check on consumer electronics. Granted, this "research" was dug up and put out by the Consumer Electronics Association, but all in all, it actually sounds about right. After all, shipments for flat-panels have already been on the rise this year despite a softening economy, and according to the CEA, "computers, televisions and mobile phones" are the items most likely to be targeted. More specifically, some 39-percent will purportedly use their extra income on a TV, but for their own sake, we certainly hope they set aside enough to purchase HD service to go along with it.[Image courtesy of Crutchfield]
Pandigital teases your kitchen with HDTV / digital cookbook conglomerate
We can't say we've really spent any huge amount of time wondering just how converged kitchen devices can become, but apparently, the designers at Pandigital have. Announced today, the Kitchen HDTV / Digital Cookbook / Digital Photo Frame (really, that's the name) stays true to itself in three big ways: acting as a 15-inch 720p HDTV (ATSC / NTSC tuner included), a digital cookbook (with pre-loaded recipes and space for more) and a digital photo frame. Packed within, you'll find half a gigabyte of memory, a built-in alarm clock and an integrated 6-in-1 media card reader. And considering all that sauce you'll be slinging, you'll be thrilled to know that it's sealed with glass and boasts interchangeable faceplates to fit varying moods. Heck, this thing even handles Motion JPEG, MPEG4 and AVI files -- not a bad way to spice up your kitchen (and spend $399.99), eh?
33 million US homes could stream HD media in 2012
Considering that NSR thinks that we'll have access to 900 HD channels via satellite by 2012, we're not exactly sure why we'll even need to download high-def media in four years. All jesting aside, a recent report put forth by Parks Associates suggests that around 33 million US households will have 10Mbps+ broadband by 2012, essentially enabling an equal amount of homes to easily stream high-definition video. At the end of 2007, just 5.7 million -- or nine-percent of broadband-enabled domiciles -- had such speeds. Granted, just because speeds creep up doesn't mean that consumers will soon be ditching their packaged media and resorting to streams, but with cable companies gearing up for DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts, we'd say these figures aren't too far fetched.[Via US News]
Over an eighth of US households are totally mobile
As long as we continue to not drop dead from the use of cellphones in our daily lives, the move away from landlines seems totally inevitable for obvious reasons: convenience, portability, having a single point of contact, the list goes on. The Center for Disease Control's National Health Interview Survey validates that Americans feel the same way, showing an upward tick in the number of homes that have gone exclusively mobile (a weird survey to be fleshing out such fascinating stats on the wireless industry, but whatevs). Overall, 13.9 percent said they've ditched the landlines, but the real story seems to be in the breakdowns; 28 percent of renters were mobile-only compared to just 6.7 percent of homeowners. The 25 to 29 year old age bracket was the most likely to rely solely on their cellphones, with 18 to 24 coming in second -- probably because they're still living under their old-skool parents' roofs, we'd imagine. Homes under the poverty level were also more likely to go strictly with their mobiles, and finally -- here's the CDC's health tie-in -- mobile folks were far more likely to be binge drinkers, smokers, and lack health insurance, though they were also more likely to work out in their spare hours. Now if you'll excuse us, we've gotta go hit the treadmill.
DVD player sales sinking, no one surprised
Earlier this year, we saw reports that hinted at "flat" DVD sales for the remainder of 2007, so it follows logic to hear that standalone DVD players are seeing a similar fate. Reportedly, around 80-percent of US consumers have a DVD player somewhere in their domicile, which reinforces the fact that the market is pretty well saturated. Furthermore, sales of the aforementioned units have "declined 15-percent for the 12 months ending September 2007," and that's coming off of a 24-percent slide the year before. As for DVD recorders, things aren't look too much brighter; sales of these gizmos were also down 15-percent during the year ending September 2007, which is quite a change from the 50-percent uptick it saw during the same window last year. Still, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone remotely paying attention, as the age of HD films has officially arrived -- even though we've yet to choose a single format to lead us down glory road. Nevertheless, we still foresee quite a few people picking up incredibly inexpensive DVD players as gifts this holiday season, but we highly doubt you'll need to throw down on anyone in aisle five this year to get your hands on one.[Image courtesy of NY Times]
HD DVD nearing the half million mark in standalone player sales?
Just days after the HD DVD camp trumpeted the fact that 90,000 standalone players were sold in a single weekend after price cuts enabled the units to suddenly fit into quite a few budgets, the same team is now boasting that nearly 500,000 players have been moved to date. Granted, we're taking these numbers with a throw of salt, but according to Home Media Magazine, the recent price slashing has created around 100,000 new HD DVD owners, which, combined with the 320,000 or so units already in homes adds up to around 420,000. Apparently, backers of the format are surmising that the half million mark could be broken by the time Black Friday has made its mark. 'Course, these numbers mean little in the grand scheme of things, but you can bet it'll get people talking.
New York leads the nation in HD adoption
Go on, you New Yorker you, give yourself a much deserved pat on the back. According to recent findings from The Nielsen Company, NY residents are "leading the nation in adopting high-definition television." Reportedly, some 17.5-percent of households in NYC are pulling in HD content of some kind. Notably, Los Angeles has the highest amount of HD-equipped homes, but only 17.1-percent of 'em are actually putting their equipment to good use and receiving an HD station. Taking home the bronze is Washington, D.C., with 16.8-percent of its domiciles enjoying HD programming. Nationwide, 13.7-percent of dwellings are HD-capable, but only 11.3-percent (that's 12.7 million homes) are actually receiving HD signals in some form or another. Seems like we've got quite a ways to go to hit that 50 million mark by next year.
DS Daily: Common usage
It'd be cool to live in Japan, we've always said. The food, the culture, the fact that by 2011, 89% of the Japanese will own a DS ... wait, what?That's insane. Ridiculous. Incomprehensible. We're quite sure that not even close to 89% of Americans have a web-connected computer (2003 U.S. census figures showed 55%), and it's almost assumed in today's society that you've got access to the internet at home.With such a ubiquitous, portable, and interactive device, it's amazing that the Japanese haven't truly capitalized on its potential. They've got English dictionaries and day planners and all that, but everyone's got one! Why not introduce eBooks, or DS-enabled fast food drive-thrus, or ...! Well, we're maybe not so good at this. What would you guys do with that ridiculous penetration rate?
NEC's domesticated R100 robot welcomes you home, flips channels
NEC has a new home-roaming robot on the loose, which doesn't deviate too terribly much from its PaPeRo sibling visually, but sports a much more domesticated allure in its feature set. Weighing about 17.5 pounds, the R100 sports two CCD cameras as "eyes," three built-in microphones to hear commands from any direction, a bevy of sensors which detects your "tap, stroke, or press" to prevent it from cruising into tables or chairs (or children), and even environmental sensors to measure temperature and ambient light. It motors around at a blistering 1.34 miles per hour, and boasts a moveable head, a pair of integrated speakers, and facially-implanted LEDs for flashing communications. The bot is notorious for sparking conversation with its family, greets users by name, asks what it can do to help out, and even reads your email to you via its built-in WiFi capability. Moreover, it can beam commands to switch television channels, dim your lights, or activate a variety of appliances around the house. While there's no set release date for the prototype, we certainly wouldn't mind pairing this fellow up with our own robotic butler for the ultimate life of luxury, and you catch a more in-depth glimpse by sneaking a peek of the R100 in action.[Via Ubergizmo]
Can't cook? Employ the Intelligent Spoon
No amount of hours spent in front of Iron Chef and Good Eats will a good chef make, friends, but perhaps one might consider the employment of one MIT Media Lab experiment by Connie Cheng and Leonardo Bonanni: the Intelligent Spoon. This, um, intelligent spoon has zinc, gold, zener diode, and aluminum sensors to detect the temperature, acidity, salinity, and viscosity levels of the human-feed it's currently stirring, which it then sends back to a host computer for processing and direction. We're not sure this would help us to add a certain subtlety or trans-cultural flavor adaptation to the sweetbreads we were planning on whipping up tonight, but it might just do the trick in keeping you from over-salting that pancake mix on a Saturday morning.[Via The Raw Feed]
