Computer-game developers have been moving toward the home-theater market for the last couple of years. And with DVD players now catching on with computer buyers and home-theater buffs, the format is ripe for a crossover hit. What is needed, of course, is the killer title that makes good use of both a computer and a home-theater system.
Recently, <A HREF="http://www.avacademy.com/">The Academy Advancing High Performance Audio & Video</A> (AAHPAV) released its 1998 Golden Note Awards Nominations. Winners will be announced at the Golden Note Awards banquet, to be held June 10 at The Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey, CA. John Hoskins, co-founder of Advantage Performance Group, will present the keynote address, "Why Bad Things Happen to Good New Products."
For the last 25 years, about 1000 engineers from all regions of the world have gathered at the annual IEEE <A HREF="http://www.icce.org">International Conference on Consumer Electronics</A> (ICCE) in Chicago to review and discuss the emerging technology trends in the consumer industry.
Several manufacturers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art home-theater products at <A HREF="http://www.hifishow.com">HI-FI '98</A>---some of which have never before been seen by the public.
Known for ultra-high-quality analog and digital audio electronics, <A HREF="http://www.sonicfrontiers.com">Sonic Frontiers</A> will soon enter the home-theater market. The Oakville, Ontario company announced its intentions less than two months after being acquired by the Lenbrook Group, which also owns <A HREF="http://www.psbspeakers.com">PSB</A>. In addition, Sonic Frontiers recently joined the growing group of companies represented by public-relations firm <A HREF="http://www.jbstanton.com">JB Stanton Communications, Inc.</A>
Home theater just keeps getting better. New products from <A HREF="http://www.toshiba.com">Toshiba,</A> <A HREF="http://www.meitca.com">Mitsubishi,</A> and other companies promise huge improvements in picture quality and greater system flexibility. For example, Toshiba's ColorStream PRO technology in its Platinum Standard SD7108 DVD-Video player preserves the MPEG-2 480-line progressive video scanning inherent in DVDs and outputs it directly to one of the company's new Cinema Series projection TV sets, such as the 71-inch TP71H95.
Like its nymphet namesake, <I>Lolita</I> seems to create nothing but trouble for those who fall under its spell. Director Adrian Lyne's cinematic interpretation of Vladimir Nabokov's still-controversial novel about a middle-aged man's obsession with a teenage girl spent a year in the Hollywood revolving door because no major studio was willing to risk a distribution deal---until now. <A HREF="http://www.viacom.com/press.tin?ixPressRelease=40000482">Showtime Networks</A>, a cable-TV unit of <A HREF="http://www.viacom.com">Viacom</A>, has picked up the film's US rights.