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Among other things, AudioEngine sent over their small PC speakers, and a short review should be posted here soon. First impressions were nothing special, but they are growing on me.

[CEDIA post coming soon] Monster introduced its first in-ear headphones, "turbine," in November 2008. They promised me review units right away (they actually gave out units at their CES press conference, but ran out), but I finally got them last month. At CEDIA last week, Monster announced an even higher end model, "turbine Pro," so I thought I'd better get this review out of the way before the new ones come. I have to admit, I had really low expectations. Monster claims that the turbines are the best headphones on the market. However, Monster's CEO, Noel Lee, is given to …

Wondering what we've been up to in the Digital Home – Devices research group at Current Analysis? (No? Then now might be a good time to skip to the next post. Thanks anyway!) Console price drops have dominated the past few weeks, but before that we wrote up a new connected HTIB system, Sonos' new controller, new distribution for VUDU, and a connected Blu-ray player (if you're sensing a theme, yes, our Digital Home coverage focuses on connected devices).  Please note: the titles below link to reports behind the firewall for Current Analysis clients; journalists who would like access should contact me …

Damn.

The New York Times is reporting that Vizio is getting out of the plasma TV business and focusing solely on LCD. That leaves only Samsung, LG, and Panasonic as plasma TV brands in the U.S., and both Samsung and LG have been shifting more of their lines to LCD. Vizio's rationale is clear: consumers prefer LCD. Why do consumers prefer LCD? Because it's the brighter technology on the showroom floor. Of course, the showroom floor is hardly representative of a consumer's home, and every expert agrees that plasma TVs offer better picture quality than LCD.  I've yet to find any …

Oh, why is this Sunday different from all other Sundays? On other Sundays we care about a team playing, on this Sunday we just hope the game is worth watching in the fourth quarter. On other Sundays we dip only once, on this Sundays we dip wings and chips and salsa and fries and maybe a few veggie sticks and franks n blankets. (Plus hot dogs and hamburgers, but you don't dip those, though you do slather them with condiments.) On other Sundays we TiVo the commercials to skip them, on this Sunday we TiVo the commercials to rewind them …

My annual holiday gift guide, the Last Minute, Mostly Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide has been posted over at LiveDigitally.com. Due to the bad economy, all items on the list are under $200. Past versions can be found here for 2007, and here for 2006. Happy holidays!

Brent Butterworth reviewed Cinepro’s speaker line in a sales showroom combining home theater and Lamborghinis a while back over at Home Entertainment Magazine. I’ve heard Cinepro’s amps at various shows, and they always claim to have the room with the most power – truly crazy claims, especially at some of the smaller audio shows where 10,000 watts of power is pressurizing a tiny hotel room. I have long respected Brent’s reviews and personal integrity, and he’s listened to nearly every high end system on the market and somehow remains grounded in the real world. He stays true to form here, …

The quick post-mortem on HD-DVD: It was a better standard in almost every way but capacity (and double layer HD-DVD discs made even that a moot point). Blu-ray can be spectacular, but the specification is still evolving. HD-DVD died  because consumers bought more Blu-ray discs. Consumers bought more Blu-ray discs because there were more Blu-ray players sold. There were more Blu-ray players sold because most of those were Sony Playstation 3’s (PS3). Thus, Sony’s decision to include a Blu-ray player in the PS3 was the primary factor in the death of HD-DVD. That doesn’t mean Sony won. First, Jeremy Toeman …

My "Last Minute Mostly Non-Obvious Tech Holiday Gift Guide" for 2007 has been posted over at LiveDigitally. (Also, AT&T Tech Channel interviewed me and pulled excerpts out into four video segments: 12/10/07 – Power, 12/12/07 – Web browsing and music, 12/14/07 For the videophile, and 12/17/07 – For the road warrior. A mirror of the text can also be found at Greengart.com.) Happy shopping, -avi