Audio Video News

The city government of Lincoln, Nebraska wants its citizens to enjoy the benefits of cable competition. So it is allowing a second cable operator onto the playing field. And guess what? The incumbent cable operator isn’t happy about it.

Responding to “repeated requests” from its customers, Clarus, the sister brand of Tributaries specializing in high-end audio cables, is updating its popular Crimson line with new Mark II balanced XLR and singled-ended RCA audio cables and speaker cables.

Classé has announced the availability of its new Sigma Series, featuring the Sigma SSP 7.1-channel surround sound preamp/processor ($5,000) and a pair of amplifiers, the AMP2 ($3,000) and AMP5 ($5,000), rated at 2 x 200 watts and 5 x 200 watts into 8 ohms, respectively.

ScreenTek, a company that sells laptop replacement screens (who knew there even was such a thing as a laptop replacement screen? I thought you were simply out of luck...), has developed a cleaning solution for LCD screens that are not in need of being replaced. Called PixelClean, the new screen cleaner was developed for high-gloss LCD screens like Sony XBRITE and Toshiba TruBrite - although the formulation is supposed to work as well on other types of flat-panel screens, such as less-advanced laptops, plasma TVs, and LCD TVs.

In the wake of a rash of horrendous school shootings, President Clinton has ordered a federal study of marketing strategies used to promote movies, music, and video games. The <A HREF="http://www.ftc.gov/">Federal Trade Commission</A> has been given a $1 million budget and 18 months to complete the study, which will be "designed to lift a veil on whether production companies deliberately use violent imagery and language to lure young consumers," according to a June 1 report by the <A HREF="http://www.washingtonpost.com/"><I>Washington Post</I></A>.