LATEST ADDITIONS

The words "flat-out huge" come to mind when I try to describe Samsung's HPN6339. This massive panel claims the title of the world's largest plasma TV - at least until the Korean electronics giant begins selling its 70-inch model, announced last spring.

In the world of fine art, the name Dal conjures up images of flaccid clocks created by a mustachioed wild man. But in high-end audio, DALI is an acronym for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries. Since 1983, DALI has been producing speakers for the home entertainment market. With a staff of just over 60, DALI doesn't rate as an industrial behemoth, but it does display the kind of creative independence that leads to big things. DALI does all their R&D work in-house, and instead of being built on a standard production line, their speakers are assembled by two-person teams. Although DALI is better known in Europe than in the US, their new line of Euphonia home-theater speakers should change that.

News Corporation is about to become the biggest player on the television playing field, thanks to a December 19 approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of its proposed $6.6 billion acquisition of satellite broadcaster DirecTV. The deal would give News Corp. a 34% controlling interest in DirecTV parent company Hughes Electronics. DirecTV has more than 11 million subscribers.

A cheaper, better future: New microprocessors from <A HREF="http://www.intel.com">Intel Corporation</A> could revolutionize the market for flat-panel and slim-profile big screen televisions, according to a December 17 <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/technology/17chip.html?th">report</A> by John Markoff in the <I>New York Times</I>. Leveraging large-scale integration, the company's chips and design expertise could yield big bright high-definition displays at prices far below today's. In what is perhaps a misquote of Intel executive Richard Doherty, Markoff predicts 50" liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCoS) rear-projection "engines" selling for $1000 by the next winter holiday shopping season.