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Review: LG Electronics 42LH50 HDTV
LG’s 42LH50 42-inch HDTV sports transparent edges that provide a chic accent to the usual shiny black bezel, broken up by an unusual dip in the lower-right edge where the power-on light glows blue or red. Not only is the 42LH50 good-looking, but it’s the one you want if you’re looking for an Internet-connected TV. It has built-in support not only for Yahoo Widgets but also video-on-demand from Netflix, Vudu, and YouTube. Add the set’s above-average image quality and generally superior feature set and usability, and the 42LH50 is a winning combination.
The LG experience starts out a bit inauspiciously; you won’t find a quick-start guide, per se, in the box. But it turns out that the skimpy printed manual functions as a quick-start guide, so what’s really missing is a full-blown printed manual, and that omission is one of this HDTV’s few weaknesses. LG does, however, offer an excellent, well-illustrated manual on an included CD, and this manual is available online, too.
LG 42LH50
Inputs are easily accessible, and the first-time wizard guides you through language, home versus retail mode, time setting, and network setup before beginning its automatic scan for channels. Network setup proved nearly instantaneous and effortless with the set connected via ethernet to a router with DHCP enabled, and in my tests it prompted an immediate but painless software update.
Fifth-generation iPod nano gets a firmware fix
Apple’s latest iPod nano got a firmware update Friday, aimed at fixing a few performance issues for the miniature MP3 player.
The iPod nano (fifth generation) 1.0.2 update, available via iTunes, is aimed at users of the iPod nano introduced by Apple in September. According to Apple’s release notes, the software update fixes audiobook playback to allow Normal, Slower, and Faster settings to work for audio podcasts. The update also resolves an issue where Genius Mixes were not working for anyone using the Nike + iPod Sport Kit add-on.
Other fixes in the 1.0.2 nano update include one that allows the accessibility setting for Mono Audio to work and another involving a bug where VoiceOver menu items were skipped when using the plus (+) and minus (-) volume buttons on the included headphones.
Additional troubleshooting information for the fifth-generation nano is available from Apple’s Web site.
YouTube adds 1080p HD
The world’s most popular video-sharing site is planning to offer content in all of its high-resolution glory. YouTube announced that it will allow users to upload and view video in full HD; a 1080p test video is now available. All of you viewers with fast computers and even faster broadband connections will soon get to indulge in much more.
It’s been about a year since the Google-owned broadcaster made 720p video available. In that time, full-HD camcorders have become relatively common and more of YouTube’s content has been uploaded as 1080p, though it wasn't viewable as such. The company plans to re-encode all of this previously created material so that viewers will be able to take advantage of its original resolution.
It’s hard to believe that YouTube has only been around for a little over four years. It will not be the first video-sharing site to offer full HD, but it will almost certainly be the one to bring it to the masses. Alternately derided and celebrated for blockbusters like “Charlie Bit My Finger,” YouTube has recently become eager to present commercial content and compete with the likes of Hulu, a joint venture of three major broadcast networks. Last spring, YouTube began to offer some premium content from Hollywood; the term “premium” should be used loosely, however, since the pickings have been slim. In September, the Wall Street Journal reported [subscription required] that YouTube was in serious talks with major film studios to stream movies on a rental basis.
The move to 1080p should support those initiatives. It’s conceivable that YouTube could provide Blu-ray quality streams for paid content. For regular folk, full HD will mean the chance to share those bloopers and family videos on a wall-size screen. Would-be auteurs should be aware that, for now, YouTube will still limit user-generated content to 10 minutes in length. It seems plausible, however, that the current 2GB file-size limit will get a lift, considering how monstrously large those 1080p videos will be. Get those cameras rolling!
Review: Crystal Audio Video SSB-1 surround sound bar
At first glance, the SSB-1 looks like a fairly ordinary iPod speaker system, but there’s a lot more to it. The SSB-1 is actually a sound bar—a speaker system that attempts to create virtual surround-sound effect without having to use a complex surround-sound speaker setup with multiple speakers and yards of ugly cabling strewn across the floor.
There’s a dock for an iPod mounted on top of the unit, plus four analog and one digital input for other types of devices; a small LCD display provides information on volume and more.
The virtual surround-sound option isn’t the SSB-1’s strongest feature, however—the technology doesn’t really live up to its billing. However, it works very well as a general-purpose speaker system.
Macworld’s buying advice
The SSB-1 produces a clean, powerful sound, and the dock and multiple inputs allow you to use it with an iPod, TV, and other devices. But the virtual surround-sound feature doesn't live up to its promise.
Apple launches iTunes Preview
iTunes. You know it. I know it. We all have some sort of a relationship with it, whether it’s love for the things it does or hate for how bloated it has become.
So what happens when you send a link to a song or album from the iTunes Store to somebody who doesn’t have or even want iTunes? Well, the person used to be whisked away to a magical page that would kindly implore him or her to install this wonderful, free software called (yes) iTunes. That makes your hypothetical iTunes-hating buddy unhappy.
But not anymore!
Apple has quietly launched iTunes Preview, a feature that shows what music is available on iTunes from the convenience of your Web browser. Yes, even Internet Explorer 6. iTunes Preview lets anyone browse through the entire iTunes catalog’s worth of music, info, and user reviews for any region.
You can access iTunes Preview in one of two ways, either through iTunes Charts on Apple’s Website or automatically through any link generated from the iTunes Store’s Copy Link feature.
Unfortunately, it’s still not possible to listen to previews outside of iTunes. That makes iTunes Preview’s name a bit of a misnomer, but it’s certainly more marketable than, say, iTunes Tease. Just in case you forget, there’s a giant ad on top of the page to remind you that you must install iTunes to sample and purchase this music.
For now, this feature only works with music, but it’s easy to see how this may someday be extended to movies, TV shows, and the App Store.
B&W announces headphones, computer speakers
High-end audio vendor Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) this week announced the company's first headphones and first computer speakers.
B&W's MM-1 computer speakers
B&W entered the iPod-accessory market last year with the Zeppelin iPod speaker system, and expanded its presence last month with the Zeppelin Mini. The MM-1 Computer Speakers are designed to connect to a computer rather than an iPod or iPhone. The system includes a built-in digital-to-analog converter and connects to your computer via USB for improved performance. (An analog-audio input is also provided.) The MM-1 also includes digital signal processing (DSP) to optimize audio output for the system's small speakers—the company says that the MM-1 can provide "full range sound" without a subwoofer.
Each of the MM-1's speakers, 6.7 inches tall, 3.9 inches wide, and 3.9 each deep, hosts a 3-inch woofer and a 1-inch tweeter; the latter uses B&W's Nautilus tube design, similar to the technology used in the company's studio speakers. B&W says the MM-1 is optimized for near-field listening—situations where the speakers are close to the listener—but also performs well from across a room.
The MM-1's remote, similar to the one included with the Zeppelin, controls the speaker system's volume, as well as playback in iTunes or Windows Media Player on your computer. The MM-1 also includes a headphone jack that takes advantage of the system's DSP to improve audio quality.
B&W's P5 headphones
The P5 is a set of full-size, over-the-head headphones designed, according to B&W, to provide natural, non-fatiguing audio reproduction. While the P5 doesn't use noise-canceling technology, the closed design blocks considerable external noise, the company says. For comfort, the P5 uses an ergonomic design and New Zealand sheep leather on the headband and earpads.
The P5 ships with two cables: a standard headphone cable, and a cable that includes a Made For iPod inline remote. Compatible with the iPod, iPhone, and latest MacBook models, the latter cable lets you adjust volume and control playback; a microphone lets you make calls on the iPhone and make voice recordings. You swap between the cables by removing the P5's earpads, which are attached magnetically.
The MM-1 and P5 will each be available in January, 2010. No pricing information is yet available.
Updated 11/12/2009 12:25pm: added information about microphone on the P5.
Lyrics licensed but with limitations
Last August I wrote about the changing landscape of free lyrics. As detailed in that story, LyricWiki offered an API that allowed applications (including iPhone apps) to access and download ad-free lyrics, free of charge. However, major music publishers demanded that programatic access (read: API) to LyricWiki be shut off, and it was. According to the Ecommerce Journal, this demand was followed by a lawsuit initiated by three members of the National Music Publishers Association—Peermusic, Warner/Chappell, and BugMusic filed suit against LiveUniverse and Motive Force, the entity behind LyricWiki.
Three months later and lyrics are starting to reappear in licensed form. For example, LyricWiki has shut down under its former ownership and is now run by Wikia, which has a licensing deal with Gracenote for legally distributing lyrics. In the process the service has lost some functionality. The API, for example, is still dead in the water. And you’re unable to highlight, cut, copy, or paste content from lyrics pages.
Lyrics are now also available as part of Apple’s iTunes LPs. Regrettably, the lyrics found in iTunes LPs aren’t embedded in tracks and therefore don’t appear on iPods or iPhones that contain the tracks.
The loss of the LyricWiki API also spelled trouble for iPhone applications that relied on it. Browse reviews for many lyrics apps and you’ll find numerous complaints of lost functionality. For example, I purchased SchroederDev’s Lyrics+ and was quite pleased with its ability to find lyrics for songs playing on my iPhone. Yet two weeks after I purchased it, nothing.
Lyrics+
Lyrics+ is back and functional. Its developer, Brian Schroeder, was kind enough to fill me in on the details of its resurrection. The story goes like this:
In early August all apps based on the LyricWiki API ceased to function correctly because of the shutdown of the API. Schroeder pulled the application from the App Store as quickly as he could. During the following one- to two months, Schroeder sought ways to obtain licensed lyrics. He found two sources—LyricFind and Gracenote. He settled on LyricFind because of its extensive database and more favorable terms.
Development took another couple of weeks as Schroeder learned the new API and waited for LyricFind to make changes to the API. The updated version of Lyrics+ was submitted to Apple in early October and three weeks later, released.
In the same vein as Wikia, lyrics displayed by Lyrics+ can’t be copied nor are they available outside the Lyrics+ app. For example, on my iPod touch I’m able to view the lyrics for The Talking Heads’ version of “Take Me To The River” as well as play the song within Lyrics+. But if I call up that same track in the iPod’s Music app, the lyrics are nowhere to be found.
But it works, and works for most of the popular tracks on my iPod. And as with the return of lyrics to the Web, that’s music to my ears.
iTunes Store adds a ton of HD films
An explosion of HD movies rocked the iTunes Store this morning without much apparent fanfare from Apple. There are now hundreds of new and classic films available to rent or purchase in HD from iTunes Store.
Headlining iTunes Store's newly-stocked HD shelves are Wall-E, a pre-order for Star Trek (which was only available in SD until now), Hero, The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Knowing, Bolt, and many more. Plenty of classics have arrived in HD as well, including both Kill Bill movies, Short Circuit, Zoolander, No Country for Old Men, and what is probably my favorite B-budget sci-fi film: Cube.
Most of the new HD films are available for purchase, though some are bizarrely limited to rental only. Unfortunately, most HD films—old and new—are listed at the premium $20 price point. Terminator 2 is one of the few exceptions, as it's been available in HD for $13, at least since iTunes Extras arrived. Top Gun is $18, but almost all the other new HD arrivals, no matter how old they actually are or whether they have iTunes Extras (most do not), are $20.
It's been almost two years since HD video came to the iTunes Store. It first arrived as a handful of rentals for Apple TV in January 2008, then expanded a couple months later to a few HD movies for sale in March 2008, and has been growing very, very slowly ever since. Now I count over 280 HD movies for purchase or rent in the iTunes Store's Featured HD Movies section (which I think is all of them). This may get panned by some as an underwhelming release, but considering that movie studios have struggled to get on board with the digital-distribution age, this is a major step forward for completing the iTunes Store's trifecta of mainstream content.
Nook e-reader demand delays shipments
Christmas has come early for Barnes and Noble. The book store's Nook e-reader is in such hot demand that Barnes and Noble is already announcing production delays before it has even shipped the first device. The e-reader market has gotten crowded lately, but it is the Nook that seems to pose the biggest threat so far to the dominance of Amazon's Kindle.
A recent Forrester Group analysis stated "This holiday season, e-readers will be one category that's a breakout success. Lower prices, more content, better distribution, and lots of media hype are contributing to faster-than-expected adoption of e-reader devices in 2009."
Forrester predicts that there will be nearly 1 million e-reader devices sold just during the holiday season, bringing the total for 2009 to somewhere around 3 million eReaders. It also predicts that the market will double in 2010. The Nook is poised to go head-to-head with the Kindle.
The Nook is impressive on paper. It is built on the seemingly ubiquitous Google Android operating system, has built-in wi-fi, and comes with a split screen providing a Kindle-like black and white display for most of the screen real estate, with a smaller, color screen at the bottom that is reminiscent of the iPhone display. Barnes and Noble is offering all of this, plus access to its extensive library of titles, at the same cost as the $259 Kindle.
It has been a breakout year for the e-reader. The Kindle has been around for awhile and has enjoyed reasonable success, but never enough to guarantee the survival of the niche devices. While there are still no guarantees, especially with Google and Microsoft looking to replace niche devices with simple browser-based alternatives, the addition of players like Sony, Asus, and Barnes and Noble pretty much ensures that the concept of electronic books is here to stay.
The Nook has been challenged recently in a lawsuit. Spring Design, which announced its eerily similar device, the Alex e-reader, the day before Barnes and Noble unveiled the Nook, claims that Barnes and Noble stole the concept for the device from it. That battle is still ongoing.
Amazon is being challenged on multiple fronts and it is going to have to be on top of its game to carve out its share of the holiday spoils. It recently announced same day shipping in some markets, and it has engaged in a no-holds-barred price war for certain books and DVD's against Walmart and Target. Combined with the intense competition against the Kindle, Amazon seems to be in for a rough battle this holiday season.
I have never really been interested in a Kindle at all. I could never justify why I would spend so much money on a device to read books. Even with discounts on e-reader versions of books it would take like 30 or 40 book purchases before I could break even on my investment. I am starting to understand some of the other advantages now though and the lower prices for the devices in general have caught my attention.
I still don't want a Kindle, but I am asking Santa for a Nook and may soon join the e-reader revolution after all--that is if Nook production can keep up with demand.
[Tony Bradley tweets as @PCSecurityNews, and can be contacted at his Facebook page.]
Review: Cygnett Maestro iPod speaker dock
Compatible with a wide range of iPods and the iPhone, Cygnett’s Maestro is a decent sounding (if slightly unattractive) iPod speaker dock. Black and functional, the unit is basically a box on legs and is in need of a design rethink. However, if you like things unfussy and minimal, then the Cygnett Maestro will work for you. With few controls on the unit itself, the understated feel extends to a simple effective remote control.
The remote gives access to many of the iPod’s controls, so you can browse tracks and select playlists without needing to get up or out of bed. Settings include menu, scroll up and down functions, volume control and the ability to repeat, shuffle and pause tracks, although sadly the Maestro omits treble and bass options should you feel the need to tweak the output.
The unit includes a dedicated subwoofer and twin mid-range speakers that produces a solid neutral sound, and we found that the Maestro performed well enough with everything from pumping retro techno to some delicate acoustic foppery. While bass is particularly substantial, the mid-range does occasionally sound muddy and unfocused, with a little loss of detail. The Maestro proved pretty much distortion free when we pumped up the volume, and filled a smallish room well.
One major niggle during unboxing was the protective iPod dock cover, which requires removal before you can dock your device. The Quick Start Guide provided offers little in the way of visual clues as to what bit you’re meant to take off. Removal is tricky—Cygnett suggests inserting a fingernail or blade, but do so with caution so not to damage the dock.
A good range of additional iPod connectors is included along with an auxiliary input for MP3 players and the like. Like most docks, the unit charges your iPod or iPhone when in use, and the speaker will mute if and when a call comes in. Battery operation, as well as the mains supplied, gives some room to roam.
Macworld buying advice
Average looks aside, the Maestro produces decent audio reproduction from a speaker dock that won’t offend the ears, or for that matter the eyes. Sweet sounding and solid with a neat and simple remote control, it complements a wealth of musical styles well, without really ever excelling with any.
[Nick Spence is a freelance writer.]
