and Commerce Committee has taken a critical step toward completing the
nation’s transition to digital television. They reflected the needs of
consumers, manufacturers, broadcasters and all others involved in the
DTV transition, as well as fostering innovation. At the same time the
Senate Commerce Committee has passed a bill which sets the hard date
for cutoff of the analog spectrum at April 7, 2009 (the previous cutoff
date was next year). All analog telecasts in the U.S. will cease at
that time and the frequencies will be turned over to governmental and
security uses.
HP Tries to Bring HD-DVD and Blu-ray Together – HP has announced
two new technologies – Managed Copy and iHD – which are intended to
ensure that customers are not forces to choose between the two
competing HD formats for DVDs coming up. Managed Copy allows users to
make legitimate copies of their HD movies and enjoy the content across
their networks. iHD is concerned with interactivity which HP believes
will be a major part of next-generation HD movies. Microsoft plans to
implement iHD support in its Windows Vista operation system.
Naxos Provides Their Entire Catalog to eMusic – Naxos of America
has offered their entire 75,000-track catalog of mostly classical music
to digital music download service eMusic. Rather than fitting
classical into services designed primarily for pop music, eMusic
displays complete information on each work, down to the track level,
plus insightful reviews from classical experts for most of the
catalog. Browsing and searching tools are more developed than
other music services, making classical music no longer relegated to the
outer fringes of digital music retailing. A special promotion in
Gramophone Magazine offers 50 free MP3 classical downloads from eMusic.
Naxos is also a strong presence in the iTunes Music Store, as well as
Rhapsody, MSN and Napster.
Mark Levinson Sound System for Lexus – A premium Mark Levinson
brand audio and DVD surround sound system is offered in the new Lexus
IS series cars. The 14-speaker, 300-watt package exploits the excellent
acoustics of the car’s cabin and delivers a discrete 5.1 home theater
entertainment experience. Every component is matched with the
particular acoustic properties of the IS interior. An in-dash, six-disc
CD and DVD player is provided, which can handle MP3 and WMA files, and
thru an auxiliary socket – personal portables such as an iPod or
MiniDisc player. The ten-channel system plays back Dolby and DTS 5.1
sources but not SACD. When the vehicle is stationary, music
videos and DVD movies may be played back via a seven-inch hi-res EMV
video display.
