Audioholics Featured Reviews & Articles

We love CES. It's a time of new gadgets for all things audio and video... and more. We're committed to bring you some of the best coverage, including the hottest items and, in particular, those things which most affect the home theater industry. In 2012 we have yet to identify that "next great thing" but it's certain that streaming media is dominating the thoughts of manufacturers everywhere. Blu-ray is taking a back seat and thin TVs are the talk of the town, with OLED making its way to the front stage for the first time since it was first brought up at the show several years ago. This is by far the largest trade show of the year for all things electronic and CES is one of the hottest times of the year to get your AV fix of news and product information. Stop by throughout the day as our coverage explodes and expands to bring you the hottest items and the newest technology announcements!

CEDIA is more exciting this year for some reason... perhaps because we're so excited to see the new equipment after a year of languishing in an industry trapped in recession. Perhaps it's that we're an official show sponsor this year (a first for us!) Maybe it's because we're tweeting the entire event with photos and coverage. In either case, we'll be there, and there is no shortage of news - which is already trickling in from press & marketing folks who, like little children, just can't wait to tell us about the greatest and latest adventures of their clients. We love it - and you will too. Bookmark this page and also follow us @AudioholicsLive to track the latest products and technologies as we see them!

This year we pull out all the stops and attempt to get you the most possible product info possible from the floor of the 2011 CES (Consumer Electronics Show). This is by far the largest trade show of the year for all tings electronic - and certainly home theater news and product info will abound. From 3D televisions to Blu-ray, to AV receivers and loudspeakers, CES is one of the hottest times of the year to get your AV fix of news and product information. Stop by throughout the day as our coverage explodes and expands to bring you the hottest items and the newest technology announcements!

We like Atlanta, but we can't wait to get back to Denver in 2013. CEDIA is ripe with new product announcements about flat screen LCD TVs (yeah!), 3D TV (meh), and LED lighting technology for projectors and display (woohoo!) For us, it's just a smorgasbord of entertainment goodness and pure, unadulterated, AV fun. This year we are presenting the latest technology and AV product updates as we get them and we will be sure to post tons of show photos as well as we cover the show live from September 22-26.

Let's clear the air on this right off. It's not that I'm too old to want to sit around all day and play video games - I'm not! It's just that I'm old enough to have to respect the responsibility that have been thrust upon me. With that said, I guess the only real difference between me and the fan boys and gals streaming into the Los Angels Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Show (E3) is that I can remember the shows predating it - like the Summer Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Chicago when the founders of E3 first tried to drum up interest in an all-video game show. Who'd guess that E3 would go on to become THE venue for video gaming and gamers to hunger for each year.

We arrived at Atlanta, bitter at the loss of our precious Denver, but excited about the prospects of new technology in the forms of LED, flat panels, and network technology as it relates to receivers and Blu-ray. The show is a bit thin this year, many companies opting to reduce the size of their booths or take the year off. Still, this show has a lot more product info on home theater audio/video products than we experienced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. And that makes us happy to be here.

Game consoles come and go every few years, but peripherals are eternal. Yet this mainstay of the video game scene has been challenged by a new category - hardware that is designed for and made to enhance specific games and genres. And nowhere was this more evident than at E3 2009. In part 1 we discussed the games, check out part 2; the hardware.

Let me start by confessing that I never liked video games because they taught hand/eye coordination or social skills - I liked playing them because they were fun. So the opportunity to attend E3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center was irresistible. Even more so because the nonsense of trying to turn it into a business event over the last two years was rolled back so that glitz and glamor could once again lead the way. And why not? Times may be tough but games touch on so many genres that there’s sure to be something for everyone. Which explains why the video gaming industry has continued to be so profitable through the years.

Wonder why the 3D in the movie theaters or on the TV seems to be almost totally focused on animation? I hadn’t - until I attended this hands on, working demo on 3D put on by SpectSoft. By watching the stereoscopic workflow, I could see just how incredibly time consuming and laborious the process is when people are the ones in front of the camera. But I also learned how SpectSoft’s stereo capture and playback tools can not only speed up the process of shooting people in 3D, but aid in saving time and money as well.