http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/ en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.newtechnologytalk.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/ http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=236 Cable HDTV receiver to decode it, and a sound system that can take advantage of the Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound that's part of the HDTV standard.This may come as a surprise to you, but HDTV is actually a type of TV programming rather than a type of TV. Sure, you need an HDTV set to watch HDTV programming, but the HDTV set does not automatically make everything that it displays into HDTV. The difference is that conventional TV sets only display pictures with up to 480 horizontal lines of resolution, while an HDTV set can display up to 720 or 1080 horizontal lines of resolution- depending on the model. More lines of resolution translate into a more detailed picture, but those extra lines of resolution must be part of the TV programming in order to be displayed on the HDTV screen.

Fortunately, HDTV programming is relatively easy to obtain. It's available through most cable TV companies in the form of channels that are dedicated to providing TV programming in the HDTV format. Some HDTV channels are simply high def versions of channels that are also available in conventional TV format, but some are also specialty channels. More HDTV channels are coming into existence all the time and the cable TV industry sees delivering them to subscribers as a vital part of maintaining its competitive advantage.

Cable TV companies can also provide the HD receiver necessary to view HDTV programming. Often it's included at no extra expense with a subscription to a programming package that includes HDTV channels. These receivers also work with channels of normal TV and many have built in digital video recorders. These DVR's are capable of recording dozens or hundreds of hours of both HDTV and normal TV, depending on the model. More importantly, they can be easily programmed ahead of time to record programs that the subscriber can't be around to watch when they come on. This makes it a good device to have as part of a home entertainment center.

Unfortunately, cable TV companies won't help you out with the sound system that complements Comacat HDTV programming, but such a sound system is relatively easy to install yourself. It involves placing three speakers in front of the audience, two behind the audience, and installing a sub woofer on the floor to provide bass output. Properly configured, this system will envelope the audience in the sound.

As you can see, HDTV places some more demands on viewers in terms of what's needed to enjoy it, but once those requirements are taken care of, it delivers a lot more quality!]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=236 Wed, 2 Jul 2008 13:37:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=235 Dish Network can do for you that can provide you with more choices when it comes to when, how, and where you watch TV, there's one that stands out above all of the others in terms of innovation. That one factor in Dish Network's service is called the PocketDish.The PocketDish is something of an unexpected development from Dish Network, but when you look at how well it ties into Dish Network's over all service it becomes pretty obvious how it can provide a great deal of advantages to its users. In fact, when you see how much sense the PocketDish system makes, you'll have to wonder why other TV service providers haven't come up with their own portable video devices.

At its most basic, the PocketDish is a portable video device, which means that it can store video (along with digital photos and music) on a built in hard drive and then play that video back on its own built in color LCD screen or an a full sized TV set. The thing that sets the PocketDish apart from other portable video devices is the fact that it can get its video from Dish Network digital video recorders. This offers a huge advantage over downloading video from the Internet- the method of choice for most portable video devices- for the PocketDish's owners.

The reason why the PocketDish makes so much sense is because all of the hundreds of channels that Dish Network offers can be seen as video feeds, and Dish Network digital video recorders can be seen as devices to capture that video. Best of all, the fact that a digital video recorder is basically a computer and each TV program that it records is stored in the form of a digital video file, means that it's very easy to isolate a single program and download it to a PocketDish.

Once a TV program has been downloaded to a PocketDish, the number of places where the owner of the PocketDish can enjoy watching that program expand enormously. For example, all of the otherwise wasted time throughout the course of the PocketDish owner's day can be used to catch up on TV shows. The subway suddenly becomes an opportunity to watch the latest sitcom. An unusually long security line at the airport becomes an opportunity to watch a great movie. Even a flight on an airplane can be spent catching up on the latest news programming. And a doctor's office waiting room can become a movie theater.

Of course all of this may leave a lot of people wondering what Dish Network has to gain from going to the trouble of providing the PocketDish. Actually when you think about it, it becomes pretty obvious. For one thing, when a Dish Network subscriber suddenly has more opportunities to watch Dish Network programming, he or she may want to subscribe to a larger programming package in order to take advantage of those additional opportunities. That translates into more profit for Dish Network. The PocketDish option may also attract more new subscribers to Dish Network Deals, which also translates into more profit.

The PocketDish clearly provides a lot of benefits both for its users and for Dish Network.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=235 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:31:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=234 The only problem with ebooks is portability. A computer isn't the most comfortable thing to read off of for long stretches of time, after all! Sitting at a desk, hunched over a computer screen can be tiring, and the ability to cart a laptop computer around the house is only a little bit better because it's still a lot larger than a traditional book. Gadgets that are designed especially for reading ebooks alleviate some of these problems, with their smaller size, greater portability, and longer battery life. However, ebook reading gadgets of the past have had their share of shortcomings when compared to traditional paper and ink books. For example, their LCD screens are difficult to read in the sunlight. (This is made slightly better with the use of black and white screens, but glare is still an issue in direct sunlight.) The other problem with these gadgets is battery life- they are better than laptop computers, but they still don't have a long enough effective battery life to rival the convenience o paper and ink book!

Amazon.com has come up with an improved reading gadget that it calls the Kindle. The Kindle was designed to make reading ebooks and other electronic reading material as easy and practical as possible, by rethinking that technology that goes into this type of gadget. First it makes sense to look at the features that Kindle's design team decided to keep from other types of readers. For example, at first glance the Kindle looks very much like other kinds of portable reading gadgets. It's about the size of a typical paperback book- though slimmer- and its face is dominated by a screen with control buttons below that include a small key board for thumb typing. It's obviously powered by batteries and the designers saw no reason to use any form of date storage other than the fast, energy efficient, and non-volatile flash memory that's used on other gadgets. The Kindle also comes with a USB cable so that it can move files back and forth between its memory and a computer's hard drive.

The two main differences between the Kindle and other reading gadgets are its screen and its wireless connectivity. The screen takes advantage of what the design team calls “electronic ink.” This type of screen contains actual ink particles that are arranged electronically into the patterns of words, letters, and pictures. This means that unlike an LCD screen, it doesn't need to be backlit, allowing the battery to last much longer. The fact that the Kindle takes advantage of the same wireless network used by mobile phones means that it's possible to shop for books and have them downloaded from a huge variety of locations.

The Kindle is a portable reading gadget that rivals paper books in ease of use and exceeds them in practicality.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=234 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:29:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=233
While Moore's Law describes computer processor speed, it doesn't directly address a number of other components that could limit the speed of a computer. For example, hard drives have their limitations. In general, the data contained on a hard drive can be accessed faster if the drive is able to spin faster. That's why hard drives with higher speeds, measured in RPM's, are more desirable and more expensive.

Another type of technology that can speed things up is flash memory. Flash memory operates on different principles than a hard drive does and allows data to be accessed much more quickly. In fact, flash memory has speeds similar to those of RAM, but without the volatility of RAM. Which means that data won't be lost if power to the flash memory is interrupted. Flash memory is also more shock resistant than a hard drive. Despite the advantages of flash memory, it's still more expensive than hard disks and it isn't as reliable.

In general though, hard drives (including models that have a flash memory component) seem to be fast enough to keep up with the needs of modern computing applications. This is particularly true for video applications like DVR's and camcorders that record to hard drives. Generally, video will tend to be the most data intensive application that will be run on most computer systems, so if the hard drive and processors are up to the challenge of video, then there isn't any reason to worry about more advanced technology. However, that may change with HDTV and 3D technologies likely to become more prominent in the future.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=233 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:28:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=232 Comcast Cable Deals.This may come as a surprise to you initially. After all, you may be wondering what cable TV companies know about phone service. When you think about it though, it makes sense for cable TV companies to get into the phone business. Cables bring information into your home in the form of TV programming, and in the case of high speed Internet, those same cables can allow you to transmit data from your home as well. This two way transmission of information is all that's really needed for voice communication over the phone. Therefore, all the cable TV industry had to do in order to offer this service was learn the details about telephones.

The results of this endeavor are pretty impressive in a number of ways. For instance, the calling plans on phone lines from the cable TV companies consistently deliver better features, service, and value than the calling plans that you can get from the traditional phone company. For example, you can pay a small fortune for a basic phone line from the phone company. This is the kind of basic service that doesn't have any advanced calling features and sticks you with the most expensive long distance service. For roughly the same price though, you can get the cable company's basic phone line which has just about all of the advanced calling features that you could want, along with all of the domestic long distance calls that you care to make (including those to Canadian numbers) at no additional charge.

The calling features that come standard on the plans from the cable TV companies are extremely useful both for your convenience and your security. For instance, Caller ID can tell you who's calling before you pick up the phone so that you can simply ignore the calls from people you don't want to talk to and answer calls from people who you do want to talk to. Call Waiting lets you take a call from one person while you're on the line with another. This is especially useful for situations when you want to talk to one person even though you're expecting an important call from another. Voice mail is somewhat like an answering machine, but the messages are stored by the phone company and it can take messages even when you're on the line with someone else. It's a good way to deal with calls when you aren't sure whether or not you should take them.

Another advantage of getting a phone line from the cable TV company is that it's completely compatible with the existing phone system. This means being able to keep your existing number and being able to use 911 service with the confidence that your address will be relayed along with your emergency call. Those are two features that you won't necessarily get with the Comcast Cable VoIP or mobile phone options.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=232 Sat, 7 Jun 2008 13:12:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=231 Next came cable TV and the movie channels. HBO, Cinemax and Showtime were finally bringing movies to the home every day and you may get to watch that movie at last. But if you happened to be on vacation that month, or it was a movie that didn’t make their show lists, then? Too bad.

Finally they came up with VCR’s and that gave us the ability to time shift TV shows so we could watch them when we wanted to, and Hollywood released movie after movie after movie on VHS cassette. Finally you got to see that movie you always wanted to!
Then the DVD’s came out to replace the VCR’s. Almost. The DVD’s were more reliable, they didn’t wear out after only a few views like a VHS tape did, and the DVD’s were smaller, lighter and easier to mess with. The drawback was, you lost the ability to record TV shows.

And then they release DVR’s and PVR’s to take care of that. At last, the consumer had all the tools they needed to be able to watch what they wanted when they wanted. Right?

Almost. When movies completed a theater run, many times it took a year or more before it came to HO or Showtime. This meant that if you missed it in the theater, unless you wanted to spring for the DVD or make the same effort it takes to go to the theater to go to the local video store and rent it, then you were out of luck That is, until they came out with PPV’s. Pay Per View movies generally released about the same time as the DVD, or within a few weeks at worst. This gave viewers the same convenience that they had with HBO and Cinemax, but with movies they’d actually heard of in the last few months, not a year or so after it came to the theater. So, at last. Finally everything a viewer could want. Learn more about Time Warner Cable TV Deals.

Wrong again. Even with this level of convenience, if you have a tight schedule, or wanted to bring the convenience of being able to start the movie when you wanted to start it, just like starting a DVD, but you want to do that with a Pay Per View movie, you couldn’t do it.

But VOD fixes even that. Find the VOD channels, pick whichever movie you want to watch, and when you hit the “Go” button, the movie starts. When you want it to. Just like a DVD.

At last. This is the pinnacle of convenience for the home Digital Cable TV aficionado.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=231 Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:03:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=230 Dish Network is quite adept at providing a high level of coverage for sports fans. From standard definition local coverage to HD national coverage, the selection of sports programming is quite varied.New technologies have made sports coverage better than ever before. Networks have also put a lot of effort into making sure that fans can get better and more expansive coverage than used to be possible. Both of these factors put together mean that today's sports fan can have a much more exciting sports experience while sitting on a couch at home than was ever possible before.

Among the factors that make sports programming better than it used to be is the advent of high definition television. If you haven't yet tried watching HDTV, you are missing out on quite an amazing experience. HDTV is unlike standard definition television because it enhances the viewing experience to a very large degree. It first of all increases the viewing area, which, for sports fans, means the ability to see more of the field and more plays. Another big difference is that HDTV offers a resolution that is about 10 times as good as regular television. This makes a huge difference in the level of detail that you can see and can really enhance the experience of watching sports at home. Finally, HDTV uses a higher quality sound system, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, which allows the viewer to hear sounds as if they were emanating from all over the room. All three of these aspects combined make watching sports on a high definition television a very enthralling and encompassing experience that offers a lot more excitement than watching on a regular television.

Of course, HDTV is only as good as the level of HD programming that a TV service provider allows access to. For subscribers to many television services, this can be a problem as there are not many HD channels to choose from. For Dish Network subscribers, however, the level of HD sports action is quite strong. In fact, the company has just added seven new HD sports channels to its lineup. These channels are comprised of different Fox Sports Network channels and provide plenty of regional coverage. The company also has plans to add new HD regional sports channels to its selection in a few months.

The other major factor that makes watching sports on television more exciting than in previous years is the addition of tons of new channels to the Dish Network HDTV programming lineup. For both standard and high definition, the level of sports coverage is higher than ever before with more choices for types of sports and sports teams. An avid fan can choose a sports subscription to get extremely comprehensive coverage of a favorite sport, or a person who likes a wide variety of sports coverage can opt for some of the broader channels.

Dish Network's sports selection is attracting many people to the company and is proving to be a good way to get high quality sports coverage in both standard and high definition.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=230 Wed, 28 May 2008 13:02:33 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=229
For anyone who isn't familiar with wireless technology, it's basically any form of electronic communication that takes place between two or more electronic devices with the absence of wires or cables. There are actually several different kinds of wireless protocols. WiFi is probably the best known one and it's the form that's present in many public places like schools, libraries, coffee shops, book stores, and even bars. There are several different flavors of WiFi with different speeds, but WiFi is generally the type of wireless connectivity that you'll find in the greatest variety of gadgets. Other types of wireless protocols include Bluetooth, WiMax, and 3G.Since WiFi is the type of wireless technology that's found in the greatest number of places, it's also the type of technology that's found in the greatest number of gadgets. Smart phones are a popular form of gadget that's taking increasing advantage of WiFi hot spots alongside the more conventional, wider area 3G data network. Most of the recent smart phones- the iPhone from Apple, the Helios Ocean, the Prada phone, and the latest Blackberry- can all take advantage of WiFi hot spots for a variety of different purposes. Most, if not all, of these gadgets can download music, stream video, and send and receive emails and text messages over the Internet from WiFi hot spots. This provides a great alternative overall to the 3G network which costs air time to use and has a narrower bandwidth than most WiFi connections these days.

Many portable entertainment gadgets also have WiFi capabilities these days. The new iPod touch is a good example of one of these gadgets. The iPod touch is pretty much just an iPhone without voice or 3G data capabilities. Despite those two omitted features, the iPod touch still has the large four or eight gigabyte storage capacity, touch screen interface, WiFi capability, and media capabilities of the iPhone. This gadget can either stream video from sites like YouTube or any other site that provides streaming video or download video files from iTunes. Another nice thing about WiFi capability in the iPod touch is that when it comes to download new songs, a computer is completely unnecessary. Another advantage of this gadget's WiFi connection is that it can surf the Internet using the Safari web browser.

The French company Archos makes a lesser known competitor to the iPod touch. The Archos 605 WiFi has actually been around longer than the iPod touch, it provides about twice the number of gigabytes for any given price range, and it has a higher upper limit on the number of gigabytes available. This gadget also has comparable features in many ways. It has the touch screen (along with more mechanical buttons than the iPod touch does), it has the WiFi capability, and it has a built in web browser- in this case, Opera, to go along with its Linux operating system.

In all, the fact that WiFi capability is being built into more and more gadgets means that taking advantage of all of the WiFi hot spots out there is only getting easier!]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=229 Tue, 20 May 2008 15:15:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=228
Unfortunately, when it comes to High Speed Internet Access, you have a number of options. This is unfortunate because making a choice among all of these different options can be torturous and the typical consumer is frankly ill equipped to discern the difference among all of these options. This is all the more true when marketing propaganda takes the place of information.The good news about all of this is the the knowledge that you need in order to determine which kind of high speed Internet connection is right for you isn't all the complex. Basically, you need to know about bandwidth and latency. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be delivered in a given amount of time. Specifically how much data can be delivered in a second. The more bandwidth you have, the better. Latency is the time that it takes for you request for data to travel over the Internet and a replay to travel back. The less lower the latency an Internet connection is, the better it is. High bandwidth makes downloading enormous amounts of data easier, and low latency minimizes the time that you spend waiting for the information that you requested. Low latency is especially useful for using Internet tools and applications that are designed for real time interactions. For example, anything that involves voice chatting or gaming works a lot more effectively with a low latency Internet connection.

When it comes to the technology that provides the best combination of low latency and large bandwidth, it's pretty clear that broad band digital cable is the best choice. Basically, broad band digital cable delivers the most bandwidth of any of the mainstream forms of high speed Internet service for the home and as low a latency as you can find. It's also a really good value, with a monthly price that's comparable to the closest competing technology- which is DSL- and it's much cheaper than satellite Internet.

Of course, any assessment of the different high speed Internet products out there would be incomplete without looking at the competition. Therefore, it's a good idea to get an idea of what DSL and satellite Internet are capable of. This also provides insight into some of the details of broad band digital cable high speed Internet technology. DSL is probably the next best service. It has low latency and it's widely available. However DSL also suffers from low bandwidth. While broad band digital cable delivers eight megabytes per second or more of data transfer capacity, DSL delivers about three at most and often a lot less than that! The problem with DSL is that it's delivered over phone lines which just can't carry as much data all at once as a cable can.

In many ways satellite Internet is even worse. It delivers about the same amount of bandwidth as DSL, but has a much greater latency. The fact that the satellites are so far above the surface of the Earth means that satellite Internet will always have a lot of latency simply because of how slow the speed of light is. It's also the most expensive form of high speed Internet service available in the private home.

Hopefully this article puts the issues of choosing a Broadband Internet Provider into a context that makes choosing an Internet service provider a lot easier.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=228 Wed, 14 May 2008 15:12:00 -0400 http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=227 High Definition Television sets. One of them is called an EDTV set, which is short for Enhanced Definition Television. EDTV sets are produce an only slightly improved picture when compared with standard definition TV sets because they have the 16:9 aspect ratio that makes HDTV sets so identifiable just to look at. They're also constructed using similar display technologies, so people who don't know any better tend to buy them. People who buy EDTV sets in large part assume that they're getting a good deal on an HDTV set when in reality they're getting duped.

Then there are 720p HDTV sets. 720p is technically an HDTV resolution, but it's the lowest possible resolution that can be called high definition, and as such it probably isn't a good idea to buy for anyone who is concerned for future compatibility. A much better choice would be a 1080p HDTV set. 1080p is the highest resolution of HDTV and even though HDTV channels don't support anything over 1080i, there's a good chance that they will at some point. In the meantime many video gaming systems, computer's, and high definition DVD players will display video in 1080p.

Another thing that you'll want to think about before purchasing an HDTV set is what you're going to watch on it. After all, the high resolution picture that makes HDTV such an intense experience doesn't just come out of nowhere. You need special programming in order to provide you with the complete HDTV experience.

When you're shopping around for HDTV programming, you'll probably find that Dish Network is the best choice simply because it has the most HDTV channels of any TV service provider. Just as importantly, those channels come in the form of an affordable add on that will complement almost any standard definition Dish Network programming package.

The HDTV add on package is an even better value when you look at the fact that it contains over thirty national High Def channels. That's fifty percent more than what the closest competition offers and presents a tremendous variety of programming. The subject matter of the programming ranges from horror and kung fu movies to fashion and art. In between there are channels devoted to news, home improvement, auctions, cartoons, old reruns, classic movies, recent mainstream movies, travel, video gaming, sports, concerts, and much more. In addition to all of those national channels, Dish Network can also deliver any local HDTV channels that happen to be transmitting in your area.

With all of the HDTV content for you to watch, Dish Network Deals are a good way to maximize the return on your home theater investment.]]> General http://www.newtechnologytalk.com/index.php?itemid=227 Fri, 9 May 2008 15:03:00 -0400