Bob Ankosko

CES 2013
High-Tech TV: Samsung Announces First OLED & Ultra HD TVs
Bob Ankosko  |  Jan 08, 2013  |  2 comments
Samsung helped usher in a new era of television on the eve of CES 2013 with the announcement of two next-generation TVs: the super-sleek 85-inch S9 Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV, boasting four times the resolution of today’s 1080p sets, and the 55-inch F9500 OLED TV with a Multi-View feature that enables two people to watch different programs simultaneously from the same screen. Pricing and availability was not announced for either model.

The S9 (shown) boasts a striking design with a screen that appears to float within a frame. Highlights include “extremely high contrast ratio,” a proprietary upscaling engine that converts high-def images to UHD quality, and a 1.35 GHz quad-core processor that’s more than three times faster than last year’s processor for improved content/app multitasking. The set has enhanced voice and gesture control and uses a new version of Samsung’s Smart Hub interface with five content discovery panels that appear onscreen as thumbnail images.

At the heart of the F9500 OLED TV are self-emitting red, green and blue sub-pixels that eliminate the need for backlighting, which is said to ensure absolute blacks and pure whites with no motion blur. The Multi-View feature is enabled by special 3D glasses with built-in speakers that deliver a personalized audio experience. The set also uses a quad-core processor and the updated Smart Hub interface.

CES 2013
Dish Adds Sling Capability to its Hopper DVR
Bob Ankosko  |  Jan 07, 2013  |  0 comments
Dish, the satellite TV provider that pleased TV viewers and upset broadcasters last year with the introduction of the Hopper DVR that automatically skips commercials on recorded prime-time shows, today introduced a second-generation Hopper with built-in Sling capability. The upgraded box lets users watch and control live TV and DVR recordings from smartphones, tablets and PCs, essentially replicating the living room TV experience wherever they go, and has built-in Wi-Fi for accessing a home network. Dish also upgraded processor speed to 1.3 GHz, which is said to deliver the fastest guide scrolling in the pay-TV industry.

Dish officials said the new Hopper, which has a 2-terabyte hard drive that holds more than 500 hours of high-def programming, will be offered to new customers at the same price as its predecessor with no monthly fee for the Sling functionality.

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CES 2013
Monster Fuses Fashion and Tech with New Headphones
Bob Ankosko  |  Jan 07, 2013  |  0 comments
When it comes to headphones, for Monster it’s all about fashion with lots of color and style, a parade of headphone-wearing models, celebrity endorsements and marketing—lots of marketing. A host of celebrities—including recording artist and former Prince collaborator Sheila E, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, America’s Got Talent host Nick Cannon and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees—were on hand at Monster’s pre-CES 2013 press event to help Monster introduce a slew of new headphones.

Highlights include the gaming-focused EA Sports MVP Carbon by Monster headphone ($270), featuring proprietary surround processing and available in black or white beginning in February/March; the in-ear ClarityMobile line with three models aimed at business travelers—a $50 model with an in-line microphone and two $70 models—slated to hit stores in April; an angular on-ear addition to the Diesel VEKTR line offered in military green and chrome ($280); three washable iSport in-ear models for the work-out crowd, ranging from $80 to $160; seven on-ear and in-ear DNA models, featuring a triangular ear cups and dual inputs that allow five ‘phones to be connected at once, ranging in price from $130 to $230; new on-ear and in-ear Bluetooth-powered wireless models with noise cancellation for the Nokia Purity line; and the youth-focused N-Pulse headphones, a new addition to the NCredible line developed with Nick Cannon and available in black or white for $200.

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Premiere Design
Steinway Lyngdorf LS Concert Speaker: Tall, Dark, and Handsome
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 24, 2012  |  0 comments
The Steinway Lyngdorf LS Concert speaker is distinguished not only for its towering stature and exquisite looks but for its technical design, which combines the virtues of line-source and dipole speaker design.
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Audio Video News
Breakthrough Year for Online Movies
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 24, 2012  |  3 comments
Signaling the beginning of the end for physical media, Americans are expected to spend more on legal, Internet-delivered movies than they spend on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs for the first time in 2012.
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Audio Video News
The Pinnacle for Blu-ray Soundtracks?
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 17, 2012  |  1 comments
Wondering what it means when you see a Blu-ray Disc with a gold seal that says “Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96K Upsampling”? In its never-ending quest to squeeze every last drop of detail out of movie and music soundtracks, Dolby Labs has created a tool that enables studios and authoring/mastering facilities to take sound quality to an even higher level.
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Audio Video News
Time to Replace Your TV?
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Planning to replace your main TV any time in the near future? Households in 14 markets around the world are now replacing TVs every 6.9 years, according to the NPD DisplaySearch Global TV Replacement Study, which is a year and a half sooner than the 8.4 years reported in last year’s study.
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Audio Video News
Women: We Love Tech, Too
Bob Ankosko  |  Dec 12, 2012  |  0 comments
Women are embracing technology more than ever before, buying tablets, e-readers, smartphones, cameras, PCs, and other electronics for themselves and their families. And when it comes to the traditional audio/video categories, there’s no question that the gentler sex is an equal partner in major buying decisions. If she doesn’t like the big-screen TV hubby is drooling over, chances are it ain’t gonna happen.
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Audio Video News
Are You Eligible? Deadline for Cash from LCD Class Action Suit Is Dec. 6
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 29, 2012  |  0 comments
Looking for a little extra holiday spending money? If you purchased an LCD TV between 1999 and 2006 and live in one of the 24 states listed below, you may be entitled to a piece of a $1.1 billion settlement pie.
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Premiere Design
Hart Audio D&W Aural Pleasure Speakers
Bob Ankosko  |  Nov 27, 2012  |  4 comments
Barrister-turned-speaker-maker David Hart had the human ear in mind when he designed this unique speaker—but I see a giant molar turned on its side. I’ll let you decide what to make of it and whether it’s worth the asking price of $64,000 per pair in bronze, $300,000 in silver, or upwards of $5 million in gold (shown). Why so expensive? Remarkably, the 28-inch-tall cabinet is cast in solid bronze, silver, or gold, which explains the 110-pound weight (in bronze). Add to that the 200 hours it takes to cast and hand-finish each pair at Hart’s factory on Isle of Wight.
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