Welcome to Home Theater Focus Blogs Sign in | Join | Help

Front Page News

  • Was the PS3 CPU Built for Gamers?

    It comes as no shock that most people employed by Microsoft believe the Xbox 360 is the superior console to the upcoming PS3. But Matt Lee engineer with Microsoft's Game Technology Group digs a little deeper than the average Microsoft artillery lobbed...
    06-20-2006, 2:57 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3510 Views
    Filed under:
  • Philips Rushes to Wi-Fi with Draft-N

    Royal Philips Electronics just announced what might be a royal blunder for consumers. The Dutch electronics company cut a deal with French semiconductor manufacturer Metalink Ltd. The deal will give Philips access to Metalink's 802.11 draft-N chipsets...
    06-19-2006, 4:26 PM by to Home Theater Focus 2846 Views
    Filed under:
  • HD DVD vs Blu-Ray Round: 1

    Now that both formats have their first devices on the table let's see where the format war stands by comparing both feature sets. We'll include Capacity , Interactive Features , Content Protection and everyone's favorite - Managed Copy as our categories....
    06-16-2006, 2:32 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3251 Views
    Filed under:
  • Samsung Blu-ray Players Ship

    Samsung Electronics America Inc shipped North America 's first consumer Blu-ray disk player to retailers today. The playback device is scheduled to be sold to the US market on June 25th, that’s about the same day as the first Blu-ray movies. Samsung's...
    06-15-2006, 12:04 PM by to Home Theater Focus 2773 Views
    Filed under:
  • Yamaha YSP-1000, Surround Sound Projection

    New "holographic surround sound" technology is used in the YSP-1000 to create a single box replacement for a five channel speaker system. One rectangular speaker positioned under your TV is supposed to beam sound around the room to create five channel...
    06-12-2006, 3:08 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3952 Views
    Filed under:
  • Top Home Theater Websites Announce: "Its show time!"

    It's the biggest union of Home Theater on the web since the Home Theater Alliance opened the balcony doors on its A-list of HT. Two Home Theater websites dedicated to consumer help have formed an uncommon bond that makes both bigger and better than ever....
    06-09-2006, 3:34 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3604 Views
    Filed under:
  • TiVoCasting is Here; Is Anyone Impressed?

    TiVo, that little PVR service that keeps on ticking after repeated beatings is continuing to find new services for its customers. TiVoCasting is the new name of the feature unveiled yesterday by TiVo that will allow online content providers to send video...
    06-08-2006, 3:31 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3833 Views
    Filed under:
  • HTFocus Blog Writer Eats Circuit City Crow

    Break out a slice of that humble pie, I'm ready to take a bite. Last Friday I reported on a story about Circuit City forums being hacked. In that news item I made an offhand quote: "It's a good excuse to have better taste in forums." Comments by members...
    06-07-2006, 11:15 AM by to Home Theater Focus 4975 Views
    Filed under:
  • Is an Xbox Portable in the works?

    "Microsoft has been waiting on the sidelines until its gaming console and software business reaches sustainability…" says Thomas Wolf of The Diffusion Group, a media analyst think tank. The Diffusion Group believes Microsoft is only waiting to see...
    06-06-2006, 12:45 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3074 Views
    Filed under:
  • Circuit City Home Theater Support Forum Hacked

    Learn to protect yourself from the latest wave of Russian hackers! Mega-store Circuit City was unwittingly distributing a virus for the past two weeks before it was discovered and cleaned up yesterday. Circuit City 's Home Theater message boards were...
    06-02-2006, 6:50 PM by to Home Theater Focus 9852 Views
    Filed under:
  • Sony Vaio XL2 or wait 'til Blu-ray?

    On the eve of Sony's own Blu-ray revolution Sony just released its latest Windows XP Media Center 2005 based super-system the Vaio XL2. This is Sony's follow up to last year's XL1 and has a few key improvements. The new Vaio will give you the full all-in-one...
    05-31-2006, 9:35 AM by to Home Theater Focus 3038 Views
    Filed under:
  • Toshiba DLP Lamp Problems

    Toshiba is investigating reports of premature lamp burn out in many of its DLP HDTVs . Certain customers who have purchased Toshiba's new DLP HDTVs have been reporting lamps burning out after as little as 300 hours of use. DLP display technology uses...
    05-30-2006, 10:00 AM by to Home Theater Focus 4941 Views
    Filed under:
  • Nike+iPod = huh?

    The most interesting thing about the upcoming Nike shoe that communicates wirelessly with your iPod is its name. Nike+iPod . Nike+iPod is a marriage of two eminently egotistic franchises and guess which one is wearing the sweatpants in the family? The...
    05-26-2006, 9:48 AM by to Home Theater Focus 3333 Views
    Filed under:
  • Why ask Wii?

    Nintendo, you gotta love 'em still hanging on with ground breaking ideas - those stilly little freaks. You have to admire the finesse approach Nintendo has taken with Wii. We already heard about Wii's unique "positional" controller that will make some...
    05-25-2006, 11:54 AM by to Home Theater Focus 2930 Views
    Filed under:
  • Network through your AC power line

    Consumer electronics devices that need to send and receive data to each other have found a permanent home inside our homes. Whether we're using computers, routers, VoIP phones or digital audio and video equipment we need to hook them all up to other devices....
    05-23-2006, 2:28 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3460 Views
    Filed under:
  • Pimp my Pad 4 $1K : Pioneer Elite VSX-52TX

    Yesterday I threw out some model numbers for an affordable and complete Home Theater system. Now let's get a closer look at the individual products that comprise this system. Pioneer Elite VSX-52TX Receiver - $550 US Dollars The receiver is the heart...
    05-19-2006, 4:13 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3487 Views
    Filed under:
  • Pioneer Elite / Paradigm : Pimp my pad 4 $1K

    Welcome to a new blog category called " Pimp my pad 4 $1K ". If you're from the generation who think Snoop Dog is a comic strip beagle, just keep reading. This is where I'll hook you up with a high quality complete home theater system for as close to...
    05-18-2006, 2:49 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3263 Views
    Filed under:
  • RIAA sues XM over Inno

    A new portable XM radio / receiver was released a few weeks ago by Pioneer called the Inno. It's the most advanced portable satellite radio player yet and can receive XM broadcasts while on the go. It's the smallest satellite radio receiver made to date...
    05-17-2006, 3:48 PM by to Home Theater Focus 2693 Views
    Filed under:
  • Vivid Introduces Burn it Yourself Porn

    Never let it be said that the porn industry isn't on the cutting edge of technology. The genre may lag behind the rest of Hollywood in production value but it leads the way in forward thinking distribution methods. Films by Vivid Entertainment can now...
    05-16-2006, 10:47 AM by to Home Theater Focus 3723 Views
    Filed under:
  • Center Channel Speakers: Part 2

    It's a cliché that's worth repeating. The Center speaker is the most important speaker in your system for Home Theater. Look around the local retailers and web dealers for speaker systems. You'll find most 5.1 speaker systems build a center speaker...
    05-15-2006, 2:26 PM by to Home Theater Focus 3911 Views
    Filed under:
  • Center Channel Speakers: Part 1

    Today Home Theater in a box solutions are being snatched up like sticky rice banana leaf rolls at a Dim Sum buffet. These are specialized systems specifically for Home Theater application. You'd think we'd have better acoustic answers for such a specialized...
    05-12-2006, 11:31 AM by to Home Theater Focus 3319 Views
    Filed under:
  • E3: Wii and PS3 dominate the news

    The floor of this year’s E3 had a stark divide between the Sony and Microsoft camps. Some even reported on trenches, barbed wire and land mines in between. Okay I made up the last sentence for dramatic flair, but you get the idea. Meanwhile Nintendo,...
    05-11-2006, 11:21 AM by to Home Theater Focus 3001 Views
    Filed under:
  • E3 '06: PlayStation 3 Concessions

    PS3 Pricing presented with the “clear black“ Model The Electronics Entertainment Expo has begun and so have the PlayStation 3 concessions. I don't know about you but I've been waiting for them. The big news is the North American price per...
    05-09-2006, 5:13 PM by to Home Theater Focus 2909 Views
    Filed under:
  • Apple vs Apple; Apple wins

    Honestly now, does the similarity between these two logos confuse you? This was an interesting tidbit for all music fans. The Beatles formed their own record label named Apple back in the 60s and when Steve Jobs formed Apple Computers in the late 70s....
    05-08-2006, 9:55 AM by to Home Theater Focus 2844 Views
    Filed under:
  • Is 802.11n Ready?

    Wideband demands on wireless home networks such as voice over IP and especially high definition video have hardware manufacturers racing to release newer, faster products. But they might be rushing in just a bit too early for the 802.11n protocol. Cisco...
    05-01-2006, 11:33 AM by to Home Theater Focus 2870 Views
    Filed under: