Toshiba pushed HD-DVD against Blu-ray in the high-profile disc format war – and lost.
09 March 2010

You'll be hearing a lot more about webinars, which offer the opportunity to “attend” a conference without leaving home or the office. This is good and bad.
02 March 2010

In the current issue of ERT, I wrote the following in Knightline:
 
“3D sets will look their best when they are demonstrated in a homely atmosphere with appropriate lighting and sound – an ambience that is not normally associated with the shelves of a supermarket.
25 February 2010

A few puzzles came out of Panasonic's press and trade convention in Munich last week, where 3D was pushed as the next big thing with the slogan "Step into a 3D World".
24 February 2010

Thanks to the out-dated Advertising Standards Authority our industry is now stuck with the misleading term “LED TV” to describe LCD TVs that use LEDs to light the screen instead of traditional CCFL, cold cathode fluorescent lighting. And now we can expect a new layer of confusion on what “backlighting” means.
18 February 2010

In a recent Knightline I wrote about Sharp encouraging the members of the Home Theatre Specialists of America (HTSA) buying group to become involved in the installation of solar panels.
11 February 2010

Be careful what you wish for. I’ve often wished for at least three hands. One to hold a torch while delving behind an AV stack, and two more to plug and unplug cables; or one to hold a torch, one to hold a magnifying glass, and two to get a button cell into its tiny dark and shady slot inside a digital watch.
10 February 2010

Sky was so secretive about its 3D football broadcast that us journos were only told where we needed to be by phone the day before the event.
03 February 2010

Dealers with well-stocked showrooms and knowledgeable staff are always at the mercy of pond-life customers who waste time asking questions and requesting demos - only to go off and mail order from an internet site where the goods are a few per cent cheaper.
02 February 2010

Thanks to a sharp-eyed dealer for spotting a wonderful listing on eBay, from a literary genius called Brillo with 98.8% positive feedback. It read:
27 January 2010

A friend of mine has a job that takes him to the local recycling centre. Computers are handled separately, hopefully to avoid identity theft from data left on hard drives. But recently there has been a marked increase in the number of PDAs, phones and iPods being junked.
20 January 2010

So the Great Gordon is to give 270,000 free laptops and broadband connections to the poor.
13 January 2010

Well, the first day of CES is over and I’m well and truly shattered. I’ve been on my feet all day, walking from stand to stand, chatting to manufacturers about their new products.
08 January 2010

It's an old government trick - release unpopular news on the evening before a Bank Holiday so that newspapers don't print it.  
07 January 2010

Well, it may be freezing cold and snowing thick and fast in the UK, but here at CES in Las Vegas the weather is sunny and things are hotting up nicely.
06 January 2010

23 December 2009

Avatar is on the loose in 3D; Sky is running cinema ads for 3D TV; and the Blu Ray Disc Association has released the specification for 3D discs.
21 December 2009

After the bizarre “press launch” of Freeview HD by Freeview at the BBC Television Centre, to which very few press were invited and where those who did attend got short change on answers to key questions, Humax has pulled some fat from the fire.
15 December 2009

09 December 2009

Best Buy plans to open nine UK stores next year – which should concentrate minds at Currys/Dixons and Comet.
01 December 2009

In this ever-changing industry of ours, it is comforting to know that some things never change.
26 November 2009

I just spent an unhappy weekend trying to get a friend's PC clear of viruses.
17 November 2009

Remember the Y2K Millenium Bug? The UK government spent over £20 million on adverts and hoardings that scared everyone witless about computer crashes on New Year's Day 2000; and spent a lot more on expert teams of advisers.
12 November 2009

Some people, notably Mac and Linux users, cannot bear to say or hear anything nice about Microsoft and Windows – just as some people cannot find a good word for Sky.
03 November 2009

As Microsoft launched Windows 7 at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden, Which? and the Consumers Association were advising: "Don't buy Windows 7 for at least a year"
28 October 2009

I got an email the other day from IBM UK's head office. It came from the department which handles press and publicity for IBM's research and development centres, which have done ground-breaking work on a wide range of technologies, such as disc storage.
21 October 2009

When Microsoft launched Windows 95 in 1995, I was in a TV studio to comment on a telecast by Bill Gates. On and on he went, telling the world how Windows was now as easy to use and as reliable as a hi-fi or VCR or TV, and how it finally brought computing into the living room.
16 October 2009

In the current issue of ERT, I recommended visiting some of the excellent Euronics websites. Even long serving CIH members sometimes forget that the Euronics buying group has over 11,300 outlets in 29 countries.
08 October 2009

Repeating something does not make it true. So, however many times Freeview’s managing director Ilse Howling and her internal and external PR spokesmen may say the nationwide retune on September 30 was precision-planned and problem-free, it cannot change the facts of the matter.
07 October 2009

Rule of thumb: when conference speakers know their stuff and have confidence, they speak clearly. When they are out of their depth, they mumble.

30 September 2009

I wouldn't wish what I've been through over the last two weeks on my worst enemy. And it gives advance warning of what dealers may face when the new Windows 7 operating system launches in late October.
22 September 2009

15 September 2009