Accessories – Page 4 – Devices View

More Inputs, Please!

August 12, 2009 - by Avi Greengart - 2 Comments.

I was talking with Microsoft about the XBOX 360 earlier this week, and one of the things they said will drive consumers to their console vs. the competition is the integration of multiple features into Live, such as Netflix streaming, gaming, and other content. At Current Analysis our Digital Home service covers game consoles from the perspective of connected services; we treat a PS3, XBOX, or Wii like the fancy set top boxes (that not coincidentally also play games) that they have become. However, I thought we were a bit ahead of the curve – most consumers haven't fully embraced …

Accessories

New Logitech Products

August 11, 2009 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

A few months back Logitech sent over their PS3 Harmony adapter, and I've had a half-finished review sitting in my Typepad queue ever since (it's the sort of device that you set it up once and then forget about – in a very good way). I'm going to get that done and posted soon so I can move on to today's news: the Harmony 900, which is what you get when you refine the Harmony One and add RF capabilities to control devices behind closed doors (or, in my case, behind a motorized screen). I recommended the Harmony One in …

Accessories / Audio / Computing

Odds and Ends

September 23, 2008 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Logitech sent over Z-5 Omnidirectional notebook speakers. They're not going to put my Klipsch THX speakers of business (not by a long shot), but you need to remember that they're powered entirely via USB and don't take up too much desk space. Simplicity is clearly the goal here; the last USB-powered speakers I looked at, Altec Lansing's XT1's were designed with portability in mind. Compared to the XT1's, Logitech's Z-5's play extremely loud and sound extraordinary. They should make a great holiday gift for the notebook user who listens to music through fuzzy notebook speakers. Logitech also sent over triple.fi …

Accessories / Industry

Blogging for Dollars

September 3, 2008 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Blogging is strange. I can’t tell you how many times I get asked to provide links or link exchanges or even the occasional "please review our stuff and we’ll pay you for placement." Now, if this were about my day job (Research Director for Mobile Devices), it would be somewhat understandable – I am quoted by the press, and it’s my job to influence industry decision makers. But Home Theater View? Who reads this? Coverage here basically just influences my brother – my mother doesn’t even read this! Perhaps all they’re trying to do is up their Google rankings. So, …

Accessories / Audio / Industry

Logitech Buying Ultimate Ears

August 14, 2008 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Logitech announced today that it is buying high end earbud vendor Ultimate Ears. UE is best known for $1000+ custom headphones for professional musicians, but it also has a line of consumer headphones in the $40 – $400 range. Its business model is incredibly similar to Shure – both come from professional audio (initially microphones in Shure’s case) and branched out into the consumer space. In contrast, etymotic’s background was in hearing aids, and V-MODA seems to have come from the fashion world. Without the custom business, Ultimate Ears is just another headset vendor, and its brand differentiation will be …

Accessories

Monoprice’s HDMI Switcher – and its Customer Service – Work

July 8, 2008 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

A while back I tested ACCELL’s 4×2 HDMI switcher. In closing, I noted that budget cable site monoprice sells a similar unit for just $89, and "For $89, if it just turns on I’ll be impressed." Well, the first unit turned on, but didn’t do much more than that. The box was attractive and well packed – from a packaging perspective it inspired confidence. But it didn’t work. I could force it to manually switch between displays by turning one display off, the other on, and then unplugging/replugging the switch – not exactly what it is supposed to do. I …

Accessories / Audio / Displays / HDTV

Product Review: Accell 4×2 HDMI Switcher

March 11, 2008 - by Avi Greengart - 3 Comments.

HDMI was supposed to bring the home theater world from the confusing age of multiple cables for audio and video (and sometimes multiple audio cables and multiple video cables) down to just a single cable from each component to your display. If your display doesn’t have enough HDMI inputs for all your sources, you need an HDMI switcher or a receiver which has an HDMI switcher built in. Then you need an HDMI cable from the each source to the switcher or receiver, but just one from there to the display. Fortunately, even some budget receivers now have HDMI switching …

Accessories / Audio / Displays / HDTV

Product Review: XTremeMac HD Switcher

November 15, 2007 - by Avi Greengart - 3 Comments.

Sometimes all you need is a simple product that does one thing, and does it well – at an affordable price. If you have an HDTV with only a single HDMI input and multiple HDMI sources, you need an HDMI switcher. New displays may have multiple inputs, and A/V receivers are beginning to provide HDMI switching as a matter of course, so if you’re building a system from scratch, you may be able to consolidate your video switching in your reciever or display rather than buy a separate component. Finally, if you have just a single HDMI component, you won’t …

Accessories / Computing

Logitech MX Air Blends HT and PC

July 13, 2007 - by Avi Greengart - 1 Comment

Logitech introduced a new "mouse" yesterday, and I put "mouse" in quotation marks because it’s an interesting product that blends a PC mouse with a gyroscopic sensor (think Nintendo Wii’s controller and you have the right idea) and software that can be used as a remote control for watching media content on a computer. There have been products like this in the past, notably from Gyration (a company that got bought by Thomson in 2004). A bunch of years back when I was heading home theater research at JupiterResearch I wrote a report where I recommended their Media Center accessory …

Accessories / Audio / Computing

LIVEDigitally Posts Avi’s Holiday Gift Guide

December 22, 2006 - by Avi Greengart - Leave a Comment

Yes, it’s been a long time since the last post here at Home Theater View, but that’s not because I haven’t been writing. My Last Minute Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide has just been posted over at LIVEDigitally. As I write this, there is only one day left to Chanukah and a couple of shopping days before Christmas. I figure there’s no need for a last minute gift list with obvious entries. Let’s face it, if you didn’t already get an HDTV or MP3 player for your home theater and gadget-loving giftees, you don’t need me to tell you that you …