By Cindy Arce

Along with my Apple TV, I had to purchase a HDMI to DVI cable. I have an older TV without an HDMI connection so this is the cable I thought would get me the best picture. I easily connected it to the television and was able to use every function except for watching a movie (purchased or rented). A message would pop up that blocked the movie due to Digital Content Protection. 

After sulking at the thought of buying more cables to use for this device to work with my old TV, I realized, “Hey, this is exactly what CEA’s PlugFest is for!” In that moment I realized just how much CEA’s Technology and Standards department, where I work, is instrumental in furthering technology for consumers.  Think of how many cables we would have to buy if there was not a standard cable for connecting devices to our TVs? Which brand, what type and how many? Standards make life a lot easier for technology consumers. Even a friend of mine’s five year-old knows that connecting his Nintendo Wii means matching the Ketchup, Mustard and Mayonnaise wires!   

This April will mark my three year anniversary working for CEA and I have now staffed six of the CEA HDMI/Digital Content Protection PlugFests. These bi-annual events bring out engineers from Consumer Electronics companies that test HDMI transmitters and receivers. The data collected from these tests is reviewed and discussed on CEA’s R4.8 DTV Interface Subcommittee. The results collected contribute to the content of the CEA Standard CEA-861-E: A DTV Profile for Uncompressed High Speed Digital Interfaces. Seamless interoperability among the devices that rely upon this standard ensures a positive consumer experience and reduces product returns.

So when you connect your source (i.e. a gaming device or set-top box) to a receiver (your television) via HDMI cable, and it works as expected, that is the result that these engineers are aiming for. They spend a week at the PlugFest , typically held in a hotel, ironing out the kinks in these products and their connections before they hit the market.  Sources carry their roaming devices from room to room to test with receivers, the stationary devices, to verify that the components communicate the way that they should. 

Without PlugFests, engineers would have to travel to and from each of the various companies to test their devices. So PlugFests help to reduce the carbon footprint of CE companies by reducing flights and freight shipping, and instead, gathering companies to test their devices in one location. It brings together engineers working on similar products tackling similar problems allowing them to work together for the ideal solution.

Photos of the March 2010 PlugFest held at the CEA offices in Arlington, VA courtesy of John Lindsey.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Colleen Lerro

Often, the first thing you think of when putting together a home theater system is the big screen TV. Next comes the audio system to get the full HD experience. While not always your first thought, the universal remote could be just as important to a great home theater set-up. In many households being in charge of the remote is a highly coveted position, so why not look for one great remote that can control it all?

Between the TV, multiple set-top boxes, audio systems, Blu-ray players and more, remotes can quickly clutter up your coffee table. Constantly having to use multiple remotes to perform simple functions can be enough to drive you crazy over time. Fortunately, there are numerous universal remotes available to fit anyone’s needs, and let you reclaim your coffee table space.

If you already own a smartphone, you’re just a step away from controlling your home theater system with it. You can turn your Blackberry into a universal remote or do the same with your iPhone by putting it in a case that charges it at the same time. You can also get a tiny plug-in Infrared adapter to turn your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into a user-friendly, intuitive remote for all your devices as well.

If you want to stick with a traditional remote, but not break the budget, there are plenty of options available that your wallet will appreciate. Are you a big sports fan? ESPN has introduced a universal remote to make your sports viewing experience better. If you’re looking for cutting-edge, you’ll find options that can control your entire home ecosystem like this SilverPac remote unveiled at the 2010 International CES.

There truly is something for everyone. Have you switched to a universal remote to control your devices? Check out this guide to all the accessories you need to get a true HD experience.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Laura Hubbard

Part 3 of the Green Life Smart Life Series

CEA and the consumer electronics industry love green.  In fact, CEA supports the Green Life Smart Life home to show that a home built intelligently with consumer electronic products can be green and earn a coveted LEED certification.

Link to Part 1 and Part 2 of the Series.

CEA’s TechHome Rating System played an important role is the design of the Green Life Smart Life technology infrastructure to connect the home control and entertainment features. But, Jeff Mitchell of Robert Saglio Audio Video and Lead Integrator for the project took the project one step further by not just making “green” product choices, but carefully planning the home system’s design to devise a green wiring solution. Running “fewer cables” s not the traditional strategy in custom integration since you want to future-proof for unexpected changes after the cabling has been installed. To plan for any wires that would need to be added or removed in the future, Jeff ran conduit so if they needed to run able later, they wouldn’t need to tear open the walls. An innovative solution that helped them cut down on cables that are not specifically needed.

The home is rated TechHome Platinum, the highest level within the rating system. CEA’s TechHome Division created the TechHome Rating System (THRS) to meet the needs of today’s 21^st century technology.  During the Green Life Smart Life launch event, I was able to talk with Ian Hendler of Leviton. Leviton’s low voltage communications systems was instrumental in helping the home achieved a final rating of LEED-H GOLD, with a score of 92.5.

If you are interested in learning more about this project, make sure to check out some of the great coverage they have received from Electronic House , and Residential Systems and also the Green Life Smart Life blog.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Laura Hubbard

I was looking back through some of the great videos filmed for “CES on the Tube” and was reminded that CES is not just for the big name companies. Each year, thousands of small business owners come to CES to debut their new products in front of an international audience. But, CES also provides a forum for new ideas to be shared among peers.

For the past couple of years, CEA’s Small Business Council has brought together new entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans through its Mentorship Program. During CES, I was able to talk with three new CEA Small Business members and participants of the Mentorship Program who wanted to share their CES experience. CES was just starting to wind down, but as you will tell from their testimonials, they were excited and rejuvenated for 2010. Each of their stories is different, but it shares a common thread. They weren’t letting a downturn in the economy stifle their business, but instead they were using this time to open new doors and opportunities for themselves and their companies.

You might not realize it, but around 75 percent of CEA members are Small Businesses. While looking back through the video of CES, it was great to be reminded of their passion for innovation and entrepreneurship that drive the CE Industry.

As you can tell, the brother and sister team of Denise and Michael Mullen from Konnect With based in Texas are very passionate about their company and the role that small businesses play in the American economy.

Jay Patel of Amtech Electrocircuits in Troy, MI didn’t sit on the sidelines after their company went through a difficult time in 2009. Instead, they used the time to innovate and developed two new products to debut at the 2010 CES.

While a downturn in the economy might stop some people from starting a new retail business, Brian Leitch and Katy Papadopoulos came to CES to gear-up for the launch of their new on-line retail store geared towards women, SheLuvs Tech.

Are you a small business owner who attended CES for the first time this year? We would love to hear your story.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Carolyn Slater

3D was the biggest buzz factor at the 2010 International CES in January. And clearly that 3D buzz has been even louder around movie theaters for the past year or so. So when I saw that Shawn DuBravac (CEA) and David Wertheimer (The Entertainment Technology Center at USC) were presenting a webcast this week “3D TV: Is It For Real?” I was there.

David and Shawn’s presentation was based on the key findings of the second study (by CEA and ETC) to measure consumer attitudes to 3D, including, how attitudes had changed in the year since the first study. A year (2009), in which some 35 3D movies were released in theaters.

The study shows that the biggest drivers for interest in 3D viewing are:

· Movies – theaters are seeing higher revenues from 3D screenings e.g. Avatar generated 80 percent of its box office earnings from the 3D version even though it was shown in fewer theaters than the non-3D. 44 3D movies are scheduled for release in 2010.

· Sports – some sports events are already being broadcast in 3D at special venues. ESPN will offer 3D sports channel in 2010.

· Concerts – AEG Live has partnered with Action 3D to produce a series of 3D concerts that they plan to offer in theaters for limited, one-week releases.

· Videogames – more than 400 videogames can be 3D-enabled.

It’s clear that 3D is not just a fad, for instance:

· Most major TV manufacturers have announced they will be offering 3D displays for sale to consumers.

· Broadcasters in Japan and Korea already offer regular (digital) 3D content.

· Satellite provider, DirecTV, has promised to show 3D in 2010.

And what did our survey respondents really think of it:

· Of the 27 percent of respondents who watched 3D movies in 2009, 49 percent said they saw more than one – so people are actively seeking out the 3D experience.

· Overall people were very satisfied with their 3D experience, overlooking, in most cases, minor inconveniences such as having to wear special glasses.

· In surveying people before and after viewing 3D, their impressions were clearly more favorable afterwards. As David Wertheimer succinctly put it: “Seeing is believing”.

So, it’s here. But how many people really want it? The survey showed that:

· Approximately 25 percent of those surveyed said they expect to own a 3D TV within the next three years.

· 65 percent of those questioned who said they do plan to purchase a 3D TV said their primary reason to buy would be to watch movies.

To view the full report, CEA members can download it at the CEA Members-only site. Non-members may purchase this and other consumer studies at: www.CE.org/research.

If you are interested in learning more about 3D, be sure to check out the March/April issue of CE Vision magazine.

So what do you think?

· Do you plan to purchase a 3D TV in the next year, or three years?

· How much would you be willing to pay for a 3D TV experience in the home?

· What would be your main reason to purchase a 3D TV: movies, sports, videogames, other?

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Colleen Lerro

After a week of dealing with the snow and wind, or just sitting defeated by the cold in my apartment for hours on end, I can’t stop daydreaming about an escape to a beach vacation. I started flipping through my vacation photos from Cancun bringing me back to the sunshine and blue waters, easing my frustration with winter for at least a short time.

Digital Photo Magazine’s latest issue ran an article on top tips to get great photos while you travel. Who doesn’t want to capture memories as a keepsake from their favorite vacations?

The article offers great ideas on new techniques to try, shots to look for and gear you should tote. It talks about paying attention to the background since it can make or break a scene. I love that photos while traveling give you a chance to shoot with new, unique backgrounds that you might never find at home. Read more tips on getting great shots.

My favorite piece of advice in the article is the last tip – just have fun. I love taking lots of shots and trying out new features on my camera. Every shot might not come out exactly as I planned, but I end up with a lot of great reminders of the fun times I had. Remember you’re on vacation, there’s no need to stress over getting the perfect shot. One of the best things about digital photography is the ability to shoot and shoot and shoot, at least for as many photos as your memory card can hold, so you don’t need to miss a thing.

This seasonally appropriate photo courtesy of Joe Gizzi.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Colleen Lerro

As snowstorms hit the east coast beginning last weekend, Washington, D.C., saw one of the worst storms in its history. Dubbed Snowpocalypse 2, Snomagaddeon and eventually Snoverkill, the blizzard of 2010 put D.C. in second place behind only Syracuse (my hometown) and just ahead of Rochester (my college town) on the list for most snowfall this winter. I’m beginning to think I might be bad luck.

By Sunday afternoon, with the Super Bowl still hours away, we found ourselves getting a bit stir crazy and in need of a project. I talked my brother into making the trip to Virginia where I live now to put up the new wall mount I got for my TV.

I’m not all that handy, so if I had to do this on my own, I would call a professional to make sure it got installed right. Fortunately, I had a pretty simple set-up, and my brother is very good at these things. Living in a small space, mounting the TV on the wall and adding a shelf below it for accessories was the perfect solution to get rid of my large TV stand and add more space.

I chose a wall mount that could tilt up and down, rotate side to side and extend up to 15 inches allowing me to have a perfect view from anywhere in the room. Now I might actually eat a meal at my table instead of sitting on the floor at my coffee table in front of the TV! My brother held the TV at various heights and angles while his girlfriend and I decided on the perfect viewing height. Check out five important considerations before hanging your TV on the wall.

Soon after, he had the TV and shelf on the wall, and with the creative use of cord wraps to make all the cords as invisible as possible, it looked great – just in time to enjoy the Super Bowl! For some amazing installations, check out these home theater setups. Tell me about your setup.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Carolyn Slater

In just over a week’s time (on February 25), the Greener Gadgets Conference will take place in New York City. If you are interested in issues of energy efficiency, sustainable design, reduced and recyclable packaging, product end-of-life solutions as well as renewable energy, you should plan on attending. Frankly, nowadays who isn’t concerned about the future of our planet and interested in discovering innovative products and solutions.

The conference boasts an extremely impressive and well-qualified line-up of presenters including:

YVES BEHAR
The founder of fuseproject,

ROBERT FABRICANT
The Vice President of Creative for frog design

LEONARDO BONANNI
A Phd Candidate at the MIT Media Lab

TOM HADFIELD
COO of LaboGroup, a French innovation company

JAYMI HEIMBUCH

Who covers all things techy, gadgety and green for TreeHugger.

ELLEN HONIGSTOCK
Heads an architectural firm

JOE HUTSKO
The author of Green Gadgets For Dummies, Macs All-in-One For Dummies 2nd Edition, and The Deal: A novel of Silicon Valley.

SARAH KRASLEY
Industry Manager of Sustainability at Autodesk

KIMBERLY LANCASTER
Founder of Caster Communications and founder of Green Life Smart Life (GLSL).

JAY MCLELLAN
Co-founder of Home Automation Inc. (HAI)

JEFF OMELCHUCK
Founder of the Green Electronics Council (GEC)

SARAH RICH
Senior editor at Dwell magazine

The conference closes out with the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, highlighting a new class of sustainable product concepts, from those that create their own energy to those that minimize the need for any electricity at all.

And if you’re very quick indeed (voting closes today) you can vote for your choice of greenest gadget.

If you can’t make it to the Greener Gadgets Conference, you can follow along via the website and blog.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Carolyn Slater

Digital Dialogue welcomes guest blogger David Fleck, the creative genius behind the “Innovation Revolution” T-shirt design with which he won the Threadless Loves Innovation design contest. Part of David’s prize was a trip to the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas. David is an architecture student and hails from Edinburgh, on the east coast of Scotland. You can see more of his designs on Threadless.com.

   By David Fleck

As I forced myself out of bed at 3.30 a.m. on January 6^th and looked out of the window to see the streets outside even deeper in snow, I questioned what I had let myself in for. Just a month earlier, I had been up late working on a piece of imminent coursework when I checked my emails and one popped up from Threadless the subject bar reading “Congratulations, your…”.

My mind flicked around what it could possibly be referring to as the email loaded (it’s not that my brain is unbelievably fast, our internet is painfully slow at times) and just as it opened I remembered the design that I had submitted to the innovation competition –just 5 minutes before the deadline – and then resigned to the vaults of relegated illustrations.

It took me a good day or so to take it in, my t-shirt design had ended up winning me an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas, courtesy of the lovely people at the Innovation Movement at CEA. And there I was waiting in the snow waiting for my taxi to come skidding along the road to take me to the airport and away to sunny Las Vegas. I decided to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, which I ended up doing very successfully.

Never having been to America before, I was told by most folk at not to judge it against what I saw in Vegas, although I admit I loved the gawdiness and noise in a short four-day dose. I stayed in what is probably the nicest hotel I will ever stay in, and spent many wondrous hours roaming around the hotel, the streets, casinos, and of course the CES show floor. It is almost fitting that all these unbelievable technologies be exhibited in such an unreal city.

I have to admit that since I’m not part of the consumer electronics industry a lot of what was going on at CES was way over my head, but as an (shamefully) avid consumer of electronics my head was on a swivel trying to take it all in! I’m sure there were many more impressive things to the knowing eye, but I gawked at the 3D TVs and the 6.9mm thick TV in particular. It’s so exciting to see we are still pushing boundaries.

Stretching technology and materials to their limit is amazing and experimenting and discovering new things is exhilarating. I was also impressed by innovations in eco-friendly technology and that is why for me some of the most exciting things at CES were the interlocking recycled plastic bottles that can form load bearing walls, or the super thin insulation from Panasonic. Having better cameras or thinner TVs is cool, but innovations in green technology can change potentially billions of lives for the better.

My smorgasbord of experiences was incredible, from seeing the bright lights of Vegas to the innovations of tomorrow. Many thanks to CEA for such a great time.

Popularity: unranked [?]

By Colleen Lerro

With the New Year always comes the New Year’s resolutions to get into better shape and live a healthier lifestyle. More often than not, it’s too easy to fall back into your old routine though. Why not let some cool gadgets help you out? I know I couldn’t survive a run without my mp3 player in my ears or a flat screen in front of the treadmill.

Nike Plus has been around for awhile now and is a great way to track your runs, measure progress and even adds a great social networking component to provide you with that extra motivation. At the 2010 CES, Samsung debuted the new MyFit wellness promoting mp3 player. It lets you check your stress level, body fat, calorie intake and exercise effectiveness. There’s even a smoking cessation tool for those trying to quit.

My biggest pet peeve when working out is dealing with earbuds that won’t stay in my ears. Check out this list of headphone suggestions depending on whether you exercise indoors or out. You can also go with great add-ons from companies like Acoustibuds and Comply that simply slip onto your existing buds creating a better sound and fit.

There are numerous apps for smartphones to help keep you on track. One of my favorites is Lose It, which lets you set goals and track all the calories you take in and burn throughout the day.

Electronics designed for home exercise are even finding their way into the doctor’s office. The Wii Balance Board for Wii Fit is a cost-effective tool for doctors to use to measure a patient’s ability to balance and stand up straight.

Do you have big plans for staying fit and eating healthier this year? What gadgets help get you through your workouts?

Popularity: unranked [?]