Alan Parsons wishes it wasn't so. But like it or not, the senior vice president of Pioneer's industrial solutions business group has become a wary foot soldier in the battle over the future of the DVD format. As music blares from a band playing at a nearby exhibit at the 2005 International CES, Parsons sits at a small table in a meeting room contemplating how the next couple of years might play out.

eCoustics

It's interesting to walk onto a busy retail floor on a Saturday afternoon and eavesdrop on customers agonizing over their HDTV selection. Flat panel, CRT or projector? Front projection or rear? Plasma, LCD or DLP? Big (42-inches), bigger (60-inches) or behemoth? Now you'd think, after putting all that time and effort into selecting the display device, they'd put equal effort into getting the sound right. Instead, if left on their own, they typically spend just a few minutes deciding between the $199 and the $249 pre-packaged home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB).

Adrian's Rojak Pot was recently invited to the launch of the palmOne Treo 650 smartphone. Our rookie reporter, phr3ak, immediately signed up to the task and checked it out. The Treo was quite successful when it was still a Handspring. In this report, phr3ak explores if palmOne still have what it takes to keep up with the Treo's legacy.

The new 82" panel will be manufactured in Samsung?s 7th generation fabrication facility, which the company will mainly use to produce LCD monitors. The 82" model is announced under a collaborative deal between Sony and Samsung. Last year, both firms announced a joint venture in which they will bring products to consumers under a new corporation entity, S-LCD Corp.

Today we look at a solid state MP3 player that brings the best of hard drive based (high capacity) and solid state (small size) players by boasting even more storage than offered before, Samsung Yepp MT6Z 1 Gig MP3 Player. The Yepp MT6Z 1 Gig MP3 Player, offers a high capacity of MP3 storage,and FM Radio.

As DVI and HDMI connections become more and more widely used, we are often asked: which is better, DVI (or HDMI) or component video? The answer, as it happens, is not cut-and-dried.

Ecoustics

Some people say bigger is better, so if a 17" or a 19" LCD Monitor isn't big enough for you, Samsung's got you covered with their SyncMaster 243t LCD Monitor. This Monitor has a very slim profile and features a huge 24" screen that can also be rotated 90 degrees.

3DVelocity gets wired for sound with Creative's MuVo V200 portable audio player. This tiny player has some nice touches like reversible display for left or right handed use.

Today VR-Zone have a review of MSI's Mega Stick 256, a compact new MP3 player from the motherboard giant. Equipped with an FM radio tuner and voice recorder, do the extra features included with the Mega Stick 256 make it a good candidate for your next MP3 player purchase? Come and take a closer look..

The Archos Gmini XS 200 is cheaper than an iPod mini and still offers 5x the capacity, is made out of metal and has a bigger display and is not a whole lot bigger. It has a few quirks according to TrustedReviews, but considering what you get for your money, how can you go wrong with a 20GB MP3 player for £175.

Looking for an alternative to the iPod mini? The Creative Zen Micro might just be what you've been waiting for and TrustedReviews has a four page review covering every angle of this new 5GB pocket sized MP3 player with touch controls.

Hardware Pacers has posted a review on the Logitech Harmony 676 Universal Remote Controller. Here is a snippet:

Every single device that is utilized for entertainment has controllers today. The problem is that each device has its own controller. Logitech Harmony 676 combines the various controllers into one. It can turn on your television, DVD player, CD player, cable, DVR and satellite controller at the same exact time. It can basically operate anything that accepts infrared signals. Unlike other universal controllers, this controller can connect to the internet and be updated.

Plextor's latest digital encoding device is being marketed at the home user even more so than in the past with their products. Today HTPCnews.com takes a look at their first ever external USB2 Tuner DivX Hardware encoding box.

NeoDigits stepped up and sent the Futurelooks Labs their flagship NeuNeo HVD108 High Definition DVD Player. Now we know that High Definition is really a Broadcast Standard so we need to clarify that the machine takes your regular 480 progressive line output from your DVD's and uses a special pixel based de-interlacing engine to upconvert your 480 progressive line output to 720 progressive or even 1080 interlaced line output compatible with your HDTV. This allows the picture from your DVD Player to really "POP".

If you're in the market to buy a video camcorder there's a lot to choose from. Today we take a look at Samsungs SCD-105 Mini DV Camcorder that loaded with features and can double as a 3 megapixel camera.

PCstats recently had an opportunity to look at Samsung's enormous 61" HLN617W DLP flat screen TV, and we jumped at it. DLP (Digital Light Processing) displays may be less familiar to some of you than the more conventional methods such as plasma, CRT, LCD or rear projection, but it may well be the future of big screen HDTV's. Samsung was one of the first companies to jump into the DLP display market, which is based on Texas Instruments revolutionary HD-2 DLP micro device.

Widescreen LCDs seems to becoming bigger and bigger by the day and TrustedReviews has compared the latest generation of products from HP and Viewsonic measuring no less than 23in. Both of the displays have their own unique features, but the HP offers component input as well as S-Video and composite on top of DVI and D-Sub. So if you have a wad of cash lying around waiting for a new monitor purchase, you might want to check this head 2 head out.

Ok, I have to admit, this has been my first full camcorder experience other than a couple short video projects in college and university and thanks to the SCD103, it was a very smooth full introduction. You see, I walked in just like you would and I have had nothing but a positive experience with this affordable, feature packed and easy to use MiniDV camcorder.

TechSpot has taken an in-depth look at LG's Flatron 2320A 23" LCD, you should know however that calling this a monitor would be an understatement, this is a multi-media workstation. The package consists of a 23" widescreen LCD color monitor, and a multi-media station that lets you connect it's beautiful flat screen to your PC and a number of devices. Feel yourself warned though, luxury does come at a cost.