ANOTHER REASON TO HATE REAL ONE PLAYER

Learn to live without Real One Player. You won’t be able to play some audio and video streams – but your computer will thank you. Real Networks has earned a special place for its devious behavior – installing flashing icons down by the clock, popping up incessant...

SPACE SHIFTING

A great new buzz word has turned up. You’ve heard about “time shifting,” in which you use a video-recording device – a VCR or a TIVO – to delay the viewing of live content, such as TV shows. This year will see the introduction of a wealth of portable...

THE FUTURE OF HOME TECH

There’s exciting stuff being developed that will change the way your home entertainment system works. It will take a couple of years for it all to come to fruition, but the devices in the pipeline look very appealing. Here’s an article that sums up some of the trends....

VIDEO ON DEMAND IS HERE TODAY

The New York Times has an article today with an intriguing premise: the world of video on demand is here, and it’s being delivered by . . . the Post Office. DVDs hold digital versions of movies. Netflix is mailing out digital data on DVDs – an estimated 1.5 terabytes...

TELEVISION LOCKDOWN IN PROGRESS

The FCC has proposed draft regulations on two issues: (1) Beginning July 1, 2004, all new televisions with 36” screens or larger must include digital receivers; in 2007, all new televisions must include digital receivers. (2) The digital receiver will be required to...

VHS STARTS TO FADE AWAY

If you’ve been holding off on buying a DVD player, the time has come to face facts: VHS is dead. You’ve already noticed the shift at Costco, always a reliable indicator – the VHS tapes are almost gone. Now Circuit City has become the first major...