$800 - 750" OLED TV

In my last blog post, I wrote about how LEDs are an improvement in technology and good for the environment.  Here is an application of LED technology in a way you probably have never seen before.  Sony has launched a virtual 750” headset TV.  Read more about it here.Video here. Website here.

The future of lighting….LEDs.

If you haven’t noticed already, LED technology is taking over the traditional light bulb and fluorescent light.  But this transition isn’t because it is considered a ‘green technology’ and the politics not the solution propel it forward.  LED’s are actually a better alternative and consumers tend to agree.  Some examples:

Automobiles

LED lighting in tail lights, turn signals, and even police cruiser light bars have been used for years now.  Next time you come to a stop light, look around and you’ll see what I mean.  A super bright light bulb is simply not needed in a tail light.  It can be difficult to design a tail light in such a way to where the bulb can be easily replaced.  Bulbs are bigger than LEDs.  You can easily design a compact 3^rd LED tail light high above the back glass near the roof line for additional safety.  None of the LEDs will ever need to be replaced as their run time is measured in tens of thousands of hours versus hundreds of hours in a traditional light bulb.  However, headlights in your typical auto are using some form of incandescent bulb.  Really good headlights use Xenon or HID but while both of these technologies are very good, they still use the older technology and consume much power and are fairly inefficient.  Some of the newest generations of LEDs are bright enough to be used as head lights.  German manufacterer Audi uses LED lighting in some of their vehicles and I suspect this will trickle down to other vehicles as the technology and economics develop.

Flashlights

If you think Maglite is the best that flashlights have to offer you are certainly mistaken.  For example, a traditional 2 “D” cell Maglite will emit about 40 lumens of brightness.  A Thrunite Catapult using LED technology will emit 900 lumens of brightness.  It is also smaller and has longer run time than the Maglite.  The quality of the beam and throw of the light is night and day difference as well.  LEDs are clearly superior.  Maglite has recognized this and is starting to incorporate LEDs into their newer line of flashlights.  

Home Lighting

A couple of years ago I went to my local Home Depot to buy some spare bulbs for lamps and various lights around the house.  I noticed a few bulbs that used LEDs we’re also available for lamps.  But the pricing of these bulbs was 10 times higher and efficiency was not that much better than a traditional bulb.  However, today, these bulbs have come way down in price and efficiency is way up.  For example, for comparable brightness a 5 watt LED can give off similar brightness of a 60 watt bulb most of us have in our lamps today.  Everyone wants to lower their electric bill right?  Multiply that by 20 lights in your house and you could see a real savings on your next bill.

Display Devices 

Next time you buy a TV or computer monitor look for LED back lit technology.  For example, LCD monitors still use florescent lamps to light the display.  However, you can now find LEDs that light the same technology.  DLP as well.  Again, it is not unusual for LEDs to last 20,000 – 50,000 hours before failing.  They last longer, require less power, and have a very vivid image quality especially contrast and color definition.  It is a no brainer.  Also, if you are a theater buff like me, ceiling mount projectors for home theater are starting to use LEDs.  In the past, a projector bulb would only last 3,000 – 5,000 hours before having to be replaced.  These bulbs cost $300 - $500 to replace keeping many consumers to stick with large TVs sets instead.  Now, we’re seeing theater quality LED lit projectors above 500 lumens at affordable prices.  Check out the Optoma ML500 if you are interested.  There are several entering the market this month that are very affordable and last 20,000 hours plus for around $650.  A 100” TV set for this price is a bargain.  Never replace a projector bulb again.

Billboards

While you are at the stop light looking at who has LEDs in their auto’s tail lights, take note at billboards using LEDs.  That’s right.  Paper, Vinyl, and Trivision billboards are slowing being replaced by LED billboards that give off similar quality in the day and look terrific at night. 

In sum, LEDs are all around us today and will become even more prevalent in the future.  LEDs are good for suppliers and consumers lowering the cost to brightness ratio all at the same time consuming less energy.  It is refreshing to see a technology that is both ‘green’ and economically viable.

Do you Netflix? Price increase Sept 1st

Today may be good time to login into your Netflix account and change it to ‘streaming only’ for $7.99/mo.  Starting September 1^st, the streaming + 1 DVD plan will increase to $7.99 + $7.99 = $15.98/mo.  Changing the plan to ‘streaming only’ will leave your price at $7.99/mo.  Using your internet connection is the most convenient way to use Netflix.

New Roku 2 now available!

Roku launches a second generation of internet set-top box.  It is a smaller and faster box.  All boxes now do high definition video and have built in wireless “n” networking.  More information can be found at www.roku.com .  Here is an un-boxing video of the Roku 2 XD:

A new way to back-up your data…

Let’s just admit it.  Most of us don’t think about losing digital pictures, documents, home movies, etc. until after something happens.  A computer virus, fire, power surge, or a toddler with a juice box in one hand and a screw driver in the other are all examples of things that can cause you to lose computer data.

     Unfortunately, losing the data isn’t something that can be treated after the fact.  Once it is gone, it is gone.  Yes, a hard drive can be recovered if it fails.  But expect to pay $200 for such a service and it may not work if some of that juice box made its way inside the hard drive.  So was Ben Franklin referring to data backup when he said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ?

     Do you remember your first data backup?  I do it was amazing!  I was 8 years old in the computer lab when the teacher handed me a 5.25” floppy disk.  I saved a picture of a truck to disk.  As I hit ‘save’, the drive clicked and gowned as it saved the file.   Later, a similar sound came from my dot matrix printer as I backed up a document onto paper I created in middle school.  All of this evolved into other similar forms such as the cd, dvd, usb thumb drive, etc.   Many of us use a secondary hard drive or raid array to backup data locally.  Some of these solutions can be complicated to the average user so isn’t there an easy way?

     Yes.  Upload your files to the “cloud”.  There are a variety of services designed for data backup but also file sharing with other devices and/or people.  By uploading your files to a safe place on the internet, you can share and restore files easily.  There are a number of popular solutions such as Amazon cloud drive, Mozy, and Carbonite.  But also some services you’ve probably never heard of such as idrive, drop box, back blaze, and jungle disk.  Each service comes in a variety of flavors.  Some even offer service up to a certain amount of gigabytes for free.  

     An important aspect of online backup is a healthy and robust internet connection.  Because these services rely on your connection to keep your files backed up.  Specifically, your upload speed is crucial as the files are sent up from your computer to the cloud.  Most of us spend time using the Internet the other way around.  But not so with online backup.  Check out which service is right for you.  Never lose data again!

Traditional TV providers losing Customers to Internet TV

Subscription TV providers are reporting losses in Q2 2011.  Comcast lost 238,000.  Charter lost 79,000.  Dish Network lost 135,000.  Up until now, reported loses were blamed on increased competition and a weak economy.  Internet TV is rarely if ever mentioned as a reason by these companies.  Is Internet TV the reason?

Yes and No.  Yes, Internet TV is a substitution service for pay TV.  But consumer behavior studies suggest that the vast majority of TV viewers are using pay TV with Internet TV.  It is a substitution service for many, including yours truly, but not most.  Most disconnects from pay TV aren’t due to Internet TV but because of the value proposition of pay TV.   

Think about it.  Ten years ago cable or dish TV started at $30 or so per month and provided most every channel the typical consumer needed.  According to Centris, in 2011 the average digital cable bill is $75/mo and that is to increase to $95 in five years.  I believe consumers are at a breaking point and some broke years ago and cancelled service finding Internet TV somewhere along the way.  Yet, pay TV providers continue to drive up average billing and refuse to acknowledge replacement forms of entertainment such as Internet TV.  As a result, this presents a larger gap between consumers and providers.  This gap represents a larger audience for Internet TV as a REPLACEMENT entertainment service. 

Roku as a media player!

I like the Roku as it does so many things well.  However, one thing it does not do well is play music, pictures, and videos off a network drive or local storage.  This is where the xbox360 or WD Live TV Plus flex their muscles.   But wait, Roku has a “USB Media Player Channel” that now allows playback of personal videos, music, and photos.  So how does it work?

Easy, an updated Roku player has the channel added with the latest software.  On mine, it was located near the end of the channel lineup all the way to the right.  If you have a USB hard drive or thumb drive simply load it with:

Video (MKV, MP4, MOV, WMV, ASF, or WMV9)

Music (AAC or MP3)

Photo (JPG or PNG)

Then, plug the usb drive into the side port.  It will sort the files into one of the three file types.  Simply choose the file and it will play as long as it streams at 12mbps or less.  It doesn’t play the variety of files that a Western Digital box will play nor does it have network streaming capabilities.  But, it does have basic media center capabilities which will satisfy many users.  No need for iTunes.  Nice job Roku.