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Ears On
Broadcast Flag Hoisted Again
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 17, 2007
The battle over the broadcast flag resumes, with the reintroduction of S.256 (the Perform Act) by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Last year it died in committee. Apparently, however, this is going to be an annual occurrence until the entertainment industry and its proxies in Congress get their way. The ostensible aim is to prevent cherrypick recording of satellite, cable, or Internet broadcasts. You could still record by time slot or station, but the bill is widely viewed as a Trojan horse for digital rights management and more draconian future restrictions. As before, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Consumer Electronics Association are leading the loyal opposition. Also up in arms is Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) who has introduced legislation of his own to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from hoisting the flag without even a figleaf of legislation.
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Other Tech
S&V Editors' Super Bowl XLI Picks
 |  Jan 16, 2007

Mike Mettler, Editor-in-Chief (New Jersey) New Orleans Saints over Indianapolis Colts

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Fred Manteghian Blog
A Word from the No Show
Fred Manteghian  |  Jan 16, 2007

I really regretted not being able to go to CES this year. While CEDIA may be more tailored to UltimateAVmag's beat, CES is still the big dog of consumer electronic shows and I missed not getting bitten.

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Ears On
Oh Yes, We Want This
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 16, 2007
"You want this ... don't you?" asked Geoff in our fab CES coverage. Of course you want LG's BH100 Blu-ray and HD DVD combi player--unless you've already bought into one format or the other, you poor sap. Even at $1199, who wouldn't want it after reading this description on the Best Buy site: "With the ability to play both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs, in addition to upconverting standard DVDs, this versatile system delivers crisp and clear images with rich layers of sound that will leave you on the edge of your seat." The site says the unit is sold out and mumbles something about in-store pickup though actually the product is not available yet. But judging from the detailed spec list and photos, it looks as though the product development process was well along before news started to leak out just prior to CES.
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Triad Triumphant
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 15, 2007

Triad's Platinum speakers walked away with Loudpseaker System of the year, with a system with equal amounts of unbridled dynamic power and inner detail and finesse.

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Sony Bravia Video Interlink
Maureen Jenson  |  Jan 15, 2007
Ears On
Meet Codec of the Future: MP3
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 15, 2007
Are you a fan of Norah Jones? If so, you may be looking to download "Thinking About You," her new single. Best place to go is Yahoo, where you can buy it in the latest, coolest codec ever: MP3! Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can buy the track from iTunes. But if you do, it will be wrapped in FairPlay, Apple's brand of digital rights management (yuck, tooey). Wouldn't you rather pay the same to Yahoo, and enjoy the following advantages of DRM-free downloads, so helpfully enumerated by Yahoo? Oooh, talk DRM-less to me:
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Anthem Scores
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 14, 2007

While I haven't finished my full review on the Anthem AVM 50, I'm going to give something away here by showing that it nabbed <I>UAV's</I> Top Pre/Pro for 2006.

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Mad Love For NAD
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 14, 2007

Although our review hasn't been published yet, Tom Norton loved NAD's Masters Series power amp so much we decided to give it our version of a Browny Button!

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Sony Goes Double-Fisted With UAV Awards!
Shane Buettner  |  Jan 14, 2007

Sony walked away with two of <I>UAV's</I> vaunted awards, nabbing Best Rear Projection TV with the KDS-R60XBR2 and Best Value for the Sony VPL-VW50 Pearl projector.

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