Press

Nearly 50 3D movies are expected to hit US theaters this year, making the US the number one provider of 3D entertainment. Although many will be watching these 3D masterpieces at home in front of their TV lift cabinets, with their own pair of stylish 3D glasses, theater owners have long been looking for a way to offer their customers the same quality and comfort as an at-home viewing, without investing too heavily in thousands of disposable 3D glasses. The answer, now, is Xpand, a leader in active 3D technologies for home, cinema and education.

Xpand just released its award-winning, cinema-grade X101 3D glasses, and now cinema owners can provide top-quality reusable 3D glasses without breaking the bank. Each pair runs around $35 and can be used comfortably for up to 5,000 shows. The glasses’ viewing angles have been optimized, so patrons can sit wherever they wish in the theater and enjoy a clear 3D image. Hot spots, usually created by 2D movie presentations will no longer interrupt 3D move-watchers, thanks to the technology found in these glasses.

The Xpand X101 3D glasses are also optimized to work with all Texas Instruments DLP Cinema chips and they allow DC projectors to be at normal lamp setting – extending lamp life by as much as 80 percent. The included batteries will last for up to 300 hours and can be replaced by anyone with an Xpand battery key. The glasses also come with a 10-year warranty.

For security purposes, the Xpand X101 glasses come with a standard EAS anti-theft tag device. Xpand has built its reputation by providing 3D glasses and technology for some of the largest and most prestigious cinemas in the world, and their products have been used by millions of satisfied movie-goers in over 3,000 3D cinemas in more than 50 countries.

Xpand is also the only manufacturer of 3D glasses which work with all 3DTV brands, models, 3D computers, 3D gaming consoles and cinemas.

The big buzz already this year in the world of game shows was not figuring out who was smarter than a middle-schooler, or which shiny briefcase held the most money, or even which contestant could look the silliest running, jumping and falling over an obstacle course. No, the real buzz was summed up in one word, “Watson”. And if you happened to catch an episode of Jeopardy! in front of your TV lift cabinet during February 14-16, you saw an IBM-built, artificial intelligence computer system capable of answering questions (in the form of a question) posed in natural human language.

Beyond what IBM’s Deep Blue did in 1997 to trounce world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, in a game with finite possibilities (as staggering as those possibilities were), Watson was able to process nuances in human language, calculate possible meanings, rank itself on how confident it was in his answer and buzz in – all in less than three seconds.

IBM and Jeopardy! producers joined together to pit Watson against the game show’s two most-winning, most well-known champions – Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Jennings holds the record for longest championship streak, winning 74 straight games. Rutter is the all-time money champion, earning $3.25 million and never losing a single Jeopardy! match – until now.

Watson broke that streak and bested both of the former champions in a two-day match that aired over three days. The first day was a “practice round,” and then the two-day match was split between the Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds. The final results were Watson in first (winning $1 million), Ken Jennings in second and Brad Rutter in last place (with both human competitors winning $300,000 and $200,000, respectively).

Over five years in the making, Watson is a machine constructed of 90 different servers, 2,880 POWER7 processor cores and 16 Terabytes of RAM. It can understand slang, plays on word, double-meanings and phrases previously thought to be only understood intuitively. Watson did stumble on some clues (having a harder time with short clues), and he made a few missteps in game play, such as guessing an answer that was already answered by an opponent and incorrect. It also thought Toronto was a U.S. city.

However, it dissected questions (actually, answers) into keywords and sentence fragments until it could formulate the most-correct response. Programmers “fed” Watson millions of documents to ready him, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference material that it could use to build its knowledge base. Watson was not connected to the Internet during the game, so it could only rely on what it already “knew”.

IBM has stated that Watson’s future could unleash a world of potential good, especially in the medical fields where doctors could consult with Watson to find cures, diagnose ailments and prescribe remedies. Until then, we may just be watching Watson on our flat-screen TVs in our pop-up TV cabinets making his way through the game show circuit.

In the sometimes ever-shrinking window of video game franchise success, Activision has pulled the plug, so to speak, on its hit video game series, Guitar Hero. Known for its colorful plastic guitar-controllers, South Park spoof episode and epic rock ballads, the Guitar Hero division, and its sequels, is no more.

Some may be delighted that no longer will they find their kid’s monstrous plastic guitar leaning against their fine hardwood TV lift cabinet, but those who helped usher in this era of classic rock simulation may have to start looking elsewhere for their Thrash-like fix. Video arcades will likely keep their coin-operated version of Guitar Hero a while longer, if nothing more for nostalgia. But for a game that was only created in 2005, and which spawned various sequels such as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Heroes: Warriors of Rock and Rock Band, which meant buying a whole band set of drums and a microphone, the current sales could no longer support production. In the fourth quarter of 2010, Activision, which bought the Guitar Hero franchise in 2006 for $100 million, posted a $233 million net loss. The company then decided to let go the 500-person Guitar Hero division.

Some critics say the market was oversaturated, and consumers no longer wanted to buy a new controller (a limited one at that) good for only one game or one series of games.

On the flip side, the Guitar Hero games are not out of print yet, so if you are inspired to relive your garage-band glory days and don the fake-Gibson, there’s still time to pick up one or more games and controllers brand-new and unused.

Google has now launched a new service aimed to “simplify wedding planning” with Google Weddings. Pretty much an amalgamation of their pre-existing services, it seems that Google will be the place consolidate, organize, plan and share all the tedious tasks that goes into planning a spectacular wedding. But could this new service be lacking in one of the most important and anxiety-inducing areas? As of yet, there is no place to create an online Registry for guests to purchase wedding gifts. Where would you put down that you want the Ashford Manor TV Lift Cabinet? Perhaps it’s still up to Amazon.com to fill that void –with their versatile Universal Wishlist and Amazon Wedding Registry.

Still, without this key service, Google Weddings can be very helpful for building a unique wedding website or blog with a dedicated site through Google Sites. And the soon-to-be newlyweds can use Picnik to create invite cards and edit photos. Google Docs can be incorporated to organize and plan with multiple parties no matter where they reside – especially helpful for destination weddings and keeping your email Inbox free of a million attachments. Google Docs can handle more than just documents – spreadsheets, budgets and PDF files can be easily uploaded and shared. Google also thought of including its Picasa photo service to the mix, making it easy for people to share photos from the wedding with friends and family.

To boost the initial launch, Google has teamed up with wedding planner, Michelle Rago, for templates and tips for the happy couple to help with planning, and Google is hosting a wedding sweepstakes, offering a $25,000 prize and the chance to have Rago’s help planning your wedding.

The new Google Wedding site is Google’s latest attempt to more fully incorporate itself into its customers’ lifestyles. With other Google sites, such as Google Health, where users can organize, track and monitor their health information, weight changes and prescriptions (via CVS), the perennial question that arises with these launches is just how safe is your information with Google and what sensitive personal information is at risk in Google’s hands? So far there haven’t been any major breaches of security, so check out Google Weddings today and see if it will work for a wedding in your future.

Founded on an idea Reiko Fukushima had nine years ago, coming back to work after maternity leave, Toshiba is now leading the charge on supplying the world’s first “naked-eye” 3-D TV. Recently covered in an interview with Fukushima in The New York Times, the progress of these developing technologies has done two things in Japan – sparked new heights for high-tech women researchers in that country and given confidence to all who were skeptical that a “naked-eye” technology could ever be developed.

Toshiba itself was skeptical when Fukushima first presented them the idea, but now last October at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the prototype of the 3-D TV was unveiled. It was always clear to Fukushima that 3-D glasses would have to go in order for the technology to truly take off, and her approach to the problem was to develop an algorithm that drew on a Toshiba imaging processor, named the “Cell,” to display nine different images for each frame. A sheet on the TV screen, called a “perpendicular Lenticular Sheet,” angles each image so the right eye can only see images intended for the right eye and the left eye can only see images for the left eye. The TV “screen” is actually an HD LCD display and completely unlike any 3-D TV display that has come before it.

The major hurdle for this new technology, however, is making the 3-D images work when viewed from wide angles. This issue is still being thought out, and the current models being released work best when viewed from within a 40-degree zone.  (Again, noting Walter Murch’s recent thoughts on 3-D technology)

There are only two Toshiba “glassless” 3-D TVs available now, a 12-inch screen for $1,200 and a 20-inch screen for $2,400. Toshiba claims that both TVs are for “personal usage.” The way the 40-degree viewing zone works out for these two models is a viewing distance of 35.4 inches for the 20-inch model and 25.6 inches for the 12-inch screen. Neither of these 3-D TVs would likely work well for a TV lift cabinet simply based on the small screen size and close viewing proximity, but with Fukushima and Toshiba clearly on the right path, perhaps it won’t be too long before affordable “glassless” 3-D TVs hit the shelves and you can bring one home to your pop-up TV cabinet.

Comcast-NBC

The lines of division are even blurrier now, at least in terms of who will be providing your cable and Internet service in 2011. The FCC recently approved a Comcast-NBC merger, citing that it did not violate U.S. antitrust laws. So should you expect to see a change in your service when you come home one afternoon next week to watch a show in front of your TV lift cabinet? Probably not. What this merger means is that Comcast now has majority ownership of NBC and its media properties, which includes a piece of TV-streaming giant, Hulu.

The specifics of the merger are an agreement between Comcast and General Electric, which owns the majority of NBC Universal. The merger was approved by the FCC by a 4-1 vote, and Comcast will acquire 51% of NBC Universal for approximately $13.75 billion. This deal has been in the works for more than a year.

One of the major concerns over this deal before it was passed was to make sure it did not hinder or hamper the continuing growth of online video. The FCC ordered that the joint venture “must make available to online distributors (OVDs) the same package of broadcast and cable channels that it sells to traditional video programming distributors.” Additionally, the agreement is that the venture “must offer an OVD broadcast, cable and film content that is similar to, or better than, the content the distributor receives from any of the joint venture’s programming peers.”

Comcast agreed to these and seven other conditions doled out by the FCC and must adhere to them for seven years. All this means that even though the Comcast-NBC merger has created the single largest media conglomerate in the world, there is still room for competition, especially in the world of online video.

Comcast may see this success as an “about face” to their failed 2004 attempt to take over the Walt Disney Co. for an estimated $54 billion. So while Comcast doesn’t own Mickey Mouse or Tinker Bell (yet), it does now own SyFy, G4, E! Entertainment Television, Versus, USA Network, Telemundo, NBC News and NBC.

Where they will take all these channels and companies, no one really knows, but for now it should be “business as usual.” So sit back, turn on the tube and enjoy the show!

Pioneer Elite HDTV

Pioneer Elite HDTVs had been discontinued since 2009, but in a recent press release Sharp announced that it has been granted a license to begin producing Pioneer’s Elite brand of high-end displays in 2011. This is great news, especially since the Pioneer Elite screens were considered some of the top displays in their day, providing astounding color and black level reproduction. And the very impressive Pioneer Elite 60-inch flat-screen fit beautifully in the Banyan Creek XL TV Lift Cabinet.

After the country experienced a recession, however, these high-end (and high-dollar) displays could not withstand the onslaught of cheap LCD and plasma TVs. As part of the new deal, the flat-screen TV displays will be jointly marketed by Pioneer and Sharp, but they will only bear the name “Elite” and be sold, firstly, through Pioneer’s original Elite dealer network.

Sharp and Pioneer rightly believe that the market is once again ready for their Elite line of HDTVs, and we will be following the progress of their sales. Would you consider waiting to purchase an Elite this year over a Panasonic plasma or Samsung LCD? Let us know what you think.

This Sunday, the Green Bay Packers will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dallas, Texas, in the NFL’s Super Bowl XLV. The game will feature the NFL’s top two defensive teams and mark a milestone for the Steelers for the most number of Super Bowl appearances, tying the Dallas Cowboy’s eight appearances in their franchise history. And while most fans will be heading out to their favorite bar, restaurant or over to whichever friend’s house has the biggest flat-screen TV (and fanciest TV lift cabinet), a rather large sub-section of football fans and bystanders will be watching the Super Bowl this year for the ads.

In fact, many are speculating that this year’s Super Bowl will draw record viewership, surpassing last year’s record 106.5 million viewers. And so the advertisers are planning to bring their own “A game”. The price of advertising has risen over the years, quadrupling in the last twenty years. This jump in cost for a Super Bowl commercial from last year to this year was about 30 percent. If you want to air a thirty-second commercial, just one time, during the Packers/Steelers Super Bowl, plan on shelling out $3 million, and that doesn’t even figure into what it cost to produce the commercial.

Super Bowl ads, however, also have a long history of paying for themselves in revenue. Many of the most-watched, most-liked, most “viral” YouTube videos last year were commercials that debuted during the 2010 Super Bowl.

This year companies, like Bud Light, are trying to use social media to create a buzz for their ads before they’ve even aired. Bud Light created a virtual social game called “Unlock the Spot” and is asking fans to guess which storylines will appear in their three Super Bowl ads this year. In 2010, Budweiser, another Anheuser-Busch beer brand, asked its fans to vote for which ad they aired.

The social media tie-in is just one of five speculated themes that will be present in 2011’s selection of Super Bowl ads. Other major themes likely to pop up during pauses in the game and during halftime are cars, women and an overall Hollywood “feel” to these high-dollar ads. Another theme this year will be the list of companies that opted out of advertising during the Super Bowl. Among this list are Pizza Hut, Denny’s and Papa John’s.

Regardless of who shows, who no-shows and who wins this year in the Super Bowl, have fun, enjoy the game and send us a picture of your TV lift in action during the Super Bowl XLV!

ScentScape

Charlie’s fictional trip to the Chocolate Factory may soon be a modern day reality, at least in part. ScentSciences has developed and is about to release ScentScape, a small device that produces smells in conjunction with playing video games. Now you can totally immerse yourself in sight, sound and smell while playing video games in front of your TV lift cabinet.

The ScentScape can emit 20 different customizable scents, but each one must be programmed via the ScentEditor to its accompanying game. The editing program also allows users to create custom scents and share them with friends.

The ScentScape will also work with PC-based video games and it can supposedly be adapted to home videos. But what smells would you pick for a YouTube video? The possibilities are endless.

In any case, as the home theater continues to be a focal point in many family rooms, the ScentScape seems to add to complete realism and total immersion in the entertainment industry. It’s as if 3-D can soon be coupled with 3-Senses (sight, sound, smell). Hopefully, we’re a long way away from integrating the sense of touch in 3-D movies, but who knows?

Oakley 3D Gascan

The world of 3-D technology, movies and movie players is clearly on its way to becoming a large part of the industry standard, and something is going to have to be done to mitigate the number of disposable 3-D glasses tossed out after every big-screen release. In fact, nearly 800,000 disposable plastic 3-D glasses were handed out each day during Avatar’s peak in popularity. No one wants all those 3-D spectacles winding up in their area landfill. So what’s the solution? It’s buying your own pair of stylish 3-D glasses and using them at home when watching a 3-D flick in front of your TV lift cabinet, or while you’re with friends at the local theater, or (before long)while you’re at the corner bar watching a 3-D sports event.

Oakley has been producing some of the most stylish sunglasses in the industry for a long time, and now with the release of their Oakley 3D Gascan, you can be sporting Oakley style day or night.

For something unique in the world of 3-D glasses, consider Look3D’s LK3D252GC, which takes off the fake tint on most 3-D specs and allows your date to gaze into your eyes. These also have some of the thinnest frames found on 3-D glasses to-date.

Polaroid will no longer be held hostage to its old-school pictures that turn from gray to milky white to a colorful image by whipping it back and forth through the air. The reason is because they offer Premium 3D Glasses for around $30. They’re lightweight and comfortable, too.

Probably everyone knows Calvin Klein designs, and if you like designer labels, check out the “ck3D” sunglasses that change automatically from day-wearing sunglasses to indoor 3-D glasses, but you will have to pay for the designer’s premium, as they run about $180 a pair.

Maybe not Top Gun-approved, the Moshka 3D Airframes are lightweight, aviator-style shades that are fun and come in black, white, pink or red, and they only run about $35.

If you really want to invest in a pair of designer 3-D glasses for home or away use, Gucci’s 3-D glasses (at $225 per pair) top the ticket. They might be exactly what you’re looking for, or you might want to go to the movies over 20 times for the same price.

Last but not least, the Look3D LK3D9042GC features a unique vintage design at a vintage price, $27.50 a pair. These glasses seem to honor the rich history of the cinema itself.

Are there any others we should check out? Let us know in your comments below.