LATEST ADDITIONS

When the retransmission of local TV signals by direct satellite broadcasters became legal, analysts and industry insiders expected an increase in business. They did not expect the surge in new subscribers that came in the wake of the decision. <A HREF="http://www.echostar.com/">EchoStar</A>, the perpetual runner-up to dominant DBSer <A HREF="http://www.directv.com/">DirecTV</A>, added 455,000 new subscribers to its DISH network in the first quarter of this year, bringing its total customer base to more than 4 million as of the end of April.

Last week, <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.co.jp/">Matsushita Electric Industrial</A> and <A HREF="http://www.quantum.com">Quantum Corporation</A>'s Hard Disk Drive Group announced that they have developed what they describe as the world's first audio/video hard-drive subsystem that records and plays back digital content with random-access digital video recording (DVR) functionality over IEEE1394 (aka FireWire).

Just as Lexus is to Toyota, Elite is to Pioneer. Until now, most HDTVs and HD-ready TVs have come from the "elite" line of most manufacturers. The advanced technology initially required high sticker prices, which in turn warranted more-elegant products...until now. The SD-532HD5 from Pioneer is one of the first sets to come from a manufacturer's main line. With that comes the promise of more options in the way of more-affordable products.

If you've got as much gear as the average home theater writer, you can relate to the panicky feeling you get when you go to the kitchen for a beer and some snacky cakes, come back, and find that two of your remotes have shacked up to make a third . . . and a fourth . . . and a fifth—to the point where your collection of expensive coffee-table books is hidden under a pile of black, rectangular gadgets. That's a scary feeling—some of us have even gone into therapy because of it. Don't worry, you're not hallucinating, but you do have a problem. You need to simplify. With all the remote possibilities out there, the possibility that you'll find one that will jibe with your system and your needs isn't remote at all. You just need to figure out what sort of remote is best for you. And since we're, well, sort of control freaks (as the expression goes), we can help you figure out if you want a universal remote, a learning remote, a programmable touchscreen remote, or some combination thereof.