Murray Huppin, President OneCall, and Eliott Peck, VP and General Manager,
Canon Consumer Imaging Group Sales, at the Gala Farewell Dinner

I recently attended the Canon Consumer Imaging Group 2008 Dealer Meeting at the Fairmont Orchid Hotel in Kona, Hawaii (it beats the O’Hare Hilton – believe me).

Canon shared a lot of information about their plans for the future, and what a great year it is going to be. They announced the new EOS 50D Digital SLR with 15.1 megapixels and new Digic 4 image processing as well as the new entry-level Rebel XS DSLR – these will available this fall along with four new point and shoot cameras.

A prime driver for Canon is their commitment to research and development – an industry leading 8% of sales revenue is invested in R&D to ensure that cutting edge, innovative products are brought to the market on an ongoing basis.

And, when it comes to corporate citizenship and green initiatives, Canon is second to none. Over 700 Canon facilities worldwide enjoy a green compliance rating under the ISO14001 environmental standard.

Oh yeah, there was golf, snorkeling, sightseeing and great parties each evening…but don’t tell anyone in my company. I want them to think I was working.

Thanks for listening.

It’s guys night out. Football, beer and some beirut (aka beer pong). And then the phone rings…

Wife: “Honey, I can’t make the TV work. Your sister and I want to watch a movie, but we can’t figure out how to make it come up.”
Me: “Use the receiver remote to switch the TV to HDMI2. Then switch the receiver to Video2. Then hit the DVD button on the receiver remote and push play. Then push the receiver button the remote so you can control the volume.”
Wife: “Sigh….. it’s not working. How come there are five remotes on the table and you’re the only one who knows how to use this?”
Me: “Ok let’s just start over. Turn everything off.”
Wife: “Nevermind!”
Me: “Wait, it’s not that hard to do. It’s only like 3 steps.”
Wife: “I can barely hear you anyways, forget about it. Don’t come home late.” (Click)

This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. What was easy and protocol for me, is not so much the same for my wife. I’d tried to convince myself that I “needed” one long ago, but up until this point, I’d never run into the nightmare that ensued above. I’ve always been in love with the Logitech Harmony remotes, I just was never able to pull the trigger on one. I finally pulled that trigger.

(more…)

5out of 5

Cover Flow
If a picture says a thousand words, think of what all the album art in your collection might say. With Cover Flow on iPod classic, you can flip through your music to find the album you want to hear. Use the Click Wheel to browse music by album cover, then…

80GB iPod Classic Black iPod Classic

Going with the (cover) flow..

By Copywriter Scot from Spokane, WA on 8/7/2008

5out of 5

Pros: Lots of Storage, Great Sound, Simple Controls, Sleek/Compact

Best Uses: Commuting

Describe Yourself: Casual Listener

Primary use: Personal

Bought this for my wife’s new car as a dedicated storage iPod for her digital media receiver. But I’ve been using it at work before I get the receiver installed for her. I love the cover flow feature. It not only looks very cool, but it makes choosing albums to play that much easier.

(legalese)

Canon, Panasonic and Sony ranked highest in their respective segments in J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction Study (SM) released July 31.

Be sure to check it out before your next purchase!

Premium Sound Quality
Use of a highly rigid bamboo material in the center speaker helps achieve an extremely pure, clean sound. A Kelton Subwoofer system with a dual diameter structure delivers a deep, powerful bass. Whisper-Mode Surround allows you to enjoy rich s…

Almost-Perfect Wireless Surround System

By Copywriter Scot from Spokane, WA on 7/29/2008

4out of 5

Pros: Thundering Bass, Easy To Setup, Clear Sound

Cons: Network Interference

Best Uses: Surround Sound Solution, Movies, Living Room, Larger Rooms, Television Shows

Describe Yourself: Practical, Tech Savvy, Professional

The only problem is that the wireless transmitter (sending sound to the rears) is powerful enough to knock my Xbox 360, the Roku Netflix-streaming box, and my wife’s laptop off our wireless network. Granted, these items are all within the same room, so perhaps moving some items to another room (like a dedicated media room) will solve that problem. Otherwise, excellent sound and booming bass. The cats are still sometimes fooled by the sound effects that come from the rear speakers! LOL @ silly felines.

(legalese)

Audioquest cites that there are two issues to consider when purchasing an HDMI cable. First it is important to consider the length that the cable will be ran, and second, it is important to consider your future requirements.

Whereas Monster Cable does not provide any speed ratings for different lengths, Audioquest does. Audiquest rates their HDMI 3 cable as having a bandwidth of 34 gigabytes per second (34 Gbps) for a 1 meter cable. It drops down to 5 Gbps when the cable is 20 meters. Even their lowest end cable, the HDMI A, is listed as delivering 21 Gbps at 1 meter. They do not recommend using the HDMI A for cable lengths longer than 12 meters. At 12 meters they rare the HDMI A at 4 Gbps.

Monster Cable simply lists their top cable, the HDMI 1000, at 10.2 Gbps. They do not differentiate between the different lengths.

According to literature from Audioquest, at 32 Gbps the HDMI cable will be able to handle a 1440p signal with a 120Hz frame rate, and deep color technology. The minimum they recommend for a 1080p signal with a 120Hz frame rate is 16 Gbps. This contradicts Monster Cable’s claim that 10.2 Gbps is sufficient for 1080p with the 120Hz technology.

Referencing HDMI.org there are two speed classes in HDMI cables. Standard speed cables support a throughput of 2.23 Gbps, and can reliably transmit an uncompressed 1080i signal at 60Hz. High speed cables by contrast, will transmit up to 10.2 Gbps of bandwidth and are also capable of transmitting uncompressed 1080p and beyond. Monster differentiates the speed rating according to length like Audioquest. HDMI states that “standard” HDMI cable is good for up to 10 meters.

It comes with a self-cleaning station that also recharges the integrated battery in the shaver. A cleaning cartridge is inserted into the station which works in conjunction with a water tank to clean the shaver. When you finish shaving you set the shaver back in to the cleaning station which cleans the head of the shaver and then drys it. It takes about 2 and a half hours for the cleaning process to be completed including a dry cycle. The cartridges should last about six months and can be bought in a package of 3 for around $16 from Panasonic. The cleaning station has indicator lights on the front also to let you know when it is time to replace the cartridge.

What really attracted me to this shaver was not only the self-cleaning feature but the fact that it could be used as a wet shaver with shaving cream. It can even be used while showering! I have tried electric shavers before but I always ended up forsaking them and going back to shaving cream and a razor. I did not like how I felt after using an electric shaver. More often than not my skin felt burned and scraped from the experience of using the electric shaver. It was the idea of using the shaver with water and shaving cream that inspired me to try the electric shaver again.

I have been using the shaver for almost a month now. Though you can use it like a traditional shaver without shaving cream I always use shaving cream and water with it. I have not had a single uncomfortable shave with it. The ES8109 is not going to give you as close a shave as a razor, but it is much faster and shaves close enough for everyday use. I recommend using it with shaving cream and warm water for a comfortable and expedient shaving experience.

The first day of E3 has produced one major home theater announcement - Netflix streaming on the Xbox 360! Basically the Roku box functionality will be recreated in the new Xbox dashboard update coming this fall. This will allow Xbox 360 Gold members who are also Netflix subscribers to instantly stream over 10,000 movie and TV shows from the company’s Watch Now service.

For someone like myself who has been happy with both the Xbox 360 and Netflix for several years this is very good news and something I’ve been hoping for.

Home Theater Magazine (a great read by the way) recently conducted a battle-royale between the leading HDTV technologies of 2008. Two LCDs, two plasmas, two DLPs, and one LCOS representing seven top tier brands faced off for the showdown.

The article is very well written and quite in-depth, but the results are a little bit surprising. By now 1080p is widely considered a must have for picture quality, but the only TV in their test group that was 720p (included for pricing reasons) happened to come out on top! The now discontinued Pioneer PDP-5080HD showed once and for all that resolution isn’t everything and in fact it’s definitely not the most important thing in choosing a new HDTV.

We’re at the point now where the vast majority of HDTVs are 1080p as the costs associated with the technology have steadily decreased. But this article serves as a great reminder that just because the TV you’re looking at has all the little buzz words attached, that doesn’t mean it’s going to produce the highest quality picture.

Lasers do not fade over time or need to be replaced every 3-5 years, and they require less power to operate. Traditional light sources can only offer a small percentage of the color spectrum, while lasers are capable of reproducing almost 90% of the color spectrum the human eye can see. They are the first technology that will be able to fully take advantage of x.v.Color also known as xvycc color. Traditional DLPs cannot be hung on the wall. The new laser TVs are lightweight enough to be mounted on the wall. They do not fade over time like plasmas. Unlike traditional rear projection systems like DLP, which do not have a very wide viewing angle, the laser sets have an off angle range of 160 degrees.

You might expect them to be much more expensive since they are new technology.

Not so says Mitsubishi. They are stating the price will be comparable to other TVs of similar size. And the early reports from the consumer electronics show were all very favorable. Mitsubishi estimates they will start shipping the first 65-inch TVs in late June or early July. Keep your eyes peeled!