Cool Tech Reviews

Yesterday, Google released the Google Media Server:

In the old days, we used to watch a simple device called a television. Nowadays, all the stuff worth watching and listening to tends to be stored on or accessed through a computer. To help remedy this, we are pleased to release the Google Media Server.

Google Media Server is a Windows application that aims to bridge the gap between Google and your TV. It uses Google Desktop technology such as Desktop gadgets for the administration tool and Google Desktop Search to locate media files. All you need is a PC running Google Desktop and a UPnP-enabled device (e.g. a PlayStation 3).

And then you can play all your PC media files (videos, music, and photos) on your TV as well as the unique features of displaying Picasa Web Albums and playing YouTube videos through your TV.

If you are having a hard time breaking the code, UPnP is the acronym for Universal Plug and Play and Google Media Server running on your PC is technically a UPnP AV MediaServer which can send audio-visual data to "UPnP media render hardware" (the UPnP-enabled device above) which also includes the Xbox 360, HP MediaSmart LCD televisions and various networked media players.

If you have one of the right gadgets you probably already know it, but this all seems rather needlessly complex:

Imagine a world where your computer, cellphone, games console, storage devices, media streamers and other hardware all play nicely together, so that, for example, music, photos and video can reach the television or Hi-Fi no matter where in the home it originates.

That world is one which the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), an industry consortium backed by big name consumer electronics, computer and mobile device manufacturers such as HP, Microsoft, Nokia and Samsung, is aiming to create through support for the UPnP (Universal Plug ‘n’ Play) AV standard. For end consumers this means that any ‘DLNA certified’ device should, in theory, be able to share or access media on the same home network — a message that DLNA members have largely failed to communicate, which is especially sad considering that many people already own a number of compliant devices …

Someday, I suppose it will all work, but unless you have a Xbox 360 or a PS3 you’ll have to do your homework to get it all working.

Circuit City has a variety of bargains available in its 3 day Cyber Monday sale, but don’t expect super discount doorbuster specials. Examples:

Laptops:

• Acer Aspire AS5100-5023 15.4″ Widescreen Notebook PC with AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and Vista Home Premium reduced by $210 to $639.96.
• HP Pavilion dv6449us 15.4″ Widescreen Laptop Computer with AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and Vista Home Premium reduced by $210 to $739.99.
• Gateway M6817 15.4″ Widescreen Notebook PC with Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, 2 GB RAM, 250GB hard drive and Vista Home Premium reduced by $200 to $799.96.

Plasma TV - Hitachi 42″ Plasma HDTV Model #: HIT P42H401 reduced $300 to $1099.99.

External Hard Drives - Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 750GB External Hard Drive reduced $60 to $219.99.

There’s much more and note that they are offering %10 off on some items if you choose to pick them up at a local Circuit City store instead of having them shipped to you.

Wal-Mart is famous for their instore Black Friday doorbusters, but you may not realize that they have a large online operation which has Black Friday specials as well. This year both online and instore had a calendar of special sales starting on Monday Nov. 19 and continuing through the end of the month. They will have Cyber Monday and Beyond Online Specials starting Monday the 26th and lasting through Nov. 30, but right now following the link takes you to the two day post Black Friday sale and here are some of the online bargains.

Plasma TV - Philips 50″ Plasma HDTV with Digital Tuner, 50PFP5332D for $1397.00 which is at least $100 less than anywhere else I have seen.  You can get free shipping by having them send it to a local Wal-Mart store and picking it up yourself.

Digital Camera - Kodak 7.1 MP EasyShare ZD710 Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom & Image Stabilization for $149.00.

There are a variety of LCD TVs as well. I’ll be interested to see what they come up with for Cyber Monday.

Toshiba is running a holiday sale on their laptops that runs through November 30.  First, you can save $150 when you customize a Toshiba Satellite notebook PC by using coupon code CRNBRY150 at the Toshiba online store. Then when you get to the website you will find that they are already offering the following on customizable Satellite and Qosimo notebooks:

• Free printer, carrying case, and mouse (after mail-in rebates)
• Free sales tax (i.e. they pay it)
• Free shipping
• Savings of up to 20% on the price. (All but the newest models seem to be 20% off.)

Since Toshiba makes solid laptops, these seem to be good deals and if you select your model carefully the savings is about what you would see on Cyber Monday specials elsewhere.

Eric A. Taub reports that Samsung is going for thin on a new line of rear projection TVs:

Samsung, the world’s largest seller of televisions, will introduce at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show a new line of rear-projection D.L.P. televisions that will not be much thicker than flat-panel TVs but will cost about 30 percent less.

The new sets, aimed at those who want a bigger set but cannot afford a plasma TV, will come in 50- to 60-inch sizes. At 10 inches deep, they can be hung on a wall.

10 inches is not exactly thin, but I’ll be interested to see the full specs.

Sometimes you just have to laugh - TV prices dropping too fast, Sony says:

Television prices are dropping faster than expected, and Sony’s not too happy about it.

Prices for liquid crystal display TVs should drop between 25 percent and 30 percent this year. That’s between 5 percent and 7 percent more than Sony anticipated, Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics, said in a meeting with reporters in San Francisco last week.

And the problem is what exactly?

While this is good for consumers–and it would be hard to find a thrifty buyer sympathetic to Sony’s concerns–the quick plunge in prices could hurt the industry as a whole because it could leave consumer electronics manufacturers financially weakened and less able to invest in future technologies, Glasgow argued.

Mr. Glasgow seems to be unfamiliar with the concept of the free market where efficient producers survive and inefficient ones get forced out. Either that or Sony is on the inefficient side.

“LCDs will continue to experience heavy price erosion, but not at this level,” he said. “It is hard to see that business model (of drastic price cuts) sustaining itself.”

It won’t unless the manufacturers can sustain it.

However, aside from beating up Sony for cluelessness, the point is that there are bargains out there:

“Prices have come down pretty aggressively,” said Steve Baker, an analyst at NPD Techworld. “We saw more big names on Black Friday come out with more aggressive prices than expected. The surprise was that the big guys got dragged into the muck.”

Vizio, for instance, a bargain plasma TV maker, sold a 42-inch plasma for $999 while Panasonic also touted 42-inch plasma deals for around $1,300.

A variety of factors have played a role in the dramatic drop. LCD and plasma TV makers are engaged in a turf war for the key 40-inch to 49-inch TV market, Baker said. Many manufacturers are also trying to get rid of excess supplies of TVs shipped to Europe in anticipation of a big selling binge before the summer’s World Cup soccer tournament. Not as many sets sold as expected.

Consumers are buying bigger, fancier TVs, but they expect to buy them at far lower prices than they did a year ago, which squeezes sales margins. Additionally, the number of companies hawking LCD TVs is putting pressure on big companies like Sony. IDC analyst Bob O’Donnell estimated that there might be close to 90 manufacturers.

“You and I can start an LCD company tomorrow. You buy some panels and circuits, get a Taiwanese (contract manufacturer) and, bam, you’re in business,” he said. “Given that environment, there are people fighting for survival.”

On the latter point, it means you just need to check the reviews of the model and manufacturer for quality, or stick to the big names like Sony as they get dragged kicking and screaming to lower their margins.