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Windows commercial gets wrong message across on 4:3 sets

by Darren Murph posted Nov 19th 2008 at 3:02PM


We can't say we spotted this one in person (sorry, Chuck lost its luster after about six episodes), but we'll still join in the chorus of laughter. The image spotted above was an advertisement for Microsoft's little 'ole operating system, known around the underground as Windows Vista. What you're supposed to see there is "Windows: Life Without Walls," but instead, you're missing the final "s." In fact, Michael Smith points out that most 4:3 set owners actually saw even less than that (think "Windows: Life Without"). The capture was taken from a locally broadcast 4:3 NTSC feed of the show, and amazingly enough, it wasn't the only commercial aired that night with some of the critical information hanging off in no man's land. Have any of you spotted this recently, or was this just a one-time screw up?

Audiovox exits the LCD TV business that no one knew it was in

by Darren Murph posted Oct 17th 2008 at 12:29PM


Okay, so we're kidding. Sort of. Believe it or not, Audiovox actually was a very minor player in the LCD flat-panel industry, but no more. In an effort to counter "what is shaping up to be the worst economy in decades," CEO Patrick Lavelle decided to pull the plug on the LCD business and show 8% of his employees the way out for the final time. It's all good for the company though, because every worked-to-the-bone parent in America will be snapping up one of its Homebase Digital Message Centers.

DISH Network's AMC-14 satellite may not be totally lost

by Darren Murph posted Mar 17th 2008 at 7:10PM Breaking News


Just in case you haven't had your fill of satellite launch news in the past 72 hours, here's yet another spoonful. In a release posted today on SES AMERICOM's website, it not only affirms that the recently launched AMC-14 satellite didn't reach its intended orbit, but that things may not be as bad as previously expected. 'Course, the company could just be trying to paint as rosy a picture as possible here, but Martin Halliwell, President of SES ENGINEERING, is quoted as saying that the satellite "is healthy and is operating nominally in a stable orbit under the control of Lockheed Martin." Furthermore, he notes that "[company] engineers are currently exploring various options for bringing AMC-14 into its proper geostationary orbit," but does concede that regardless of what option is exercised, excess fuel will have to be utilized in order to "propel the satellite to its correct orbital position, thereby reducing its service life." Nevertheless, the outfit's CEO closed by stating that it could not "speculate on the impact of the orbit raising activities on both the in-service date and the service life of AMC-14," but at least all hope isn't lost just yet.

[Thanks, Joe J.]

AMC-14 mishap apt to delay DISH Network's HD rollout

by Darren Murph posted Mar 17th 2008 at 3:39PM


Not like it comes as any real surprise or anything, but it seems as if the unfortunate failure experienced by DISH Network's AMC-14 satellite over the weekend will leave those waiting anxiously for more HD in a world of hurt. According to an 8-K filing with the SEC, the company has stated that the "launch anomaly will result in a delay of its rollout of some high-definition channels, including some local network channels." Of course, some analysts have already pointed out the obvious -- that DirecTV now has even more time to stretch its lead in HD quantity -- but given that the launch of its DirecTV 11 was delayed today for unspecified reasons, not all is well in that camp, either. The bottom line is that DISH subscribers (or would-be customers) will now be waiting even longer for another major boost in HD, and regardless of what carrier you use, that's awful news.

DISH Network's AMC-14 satellite fails to reach orbit

by Darren Murph posted Mar 15th 2008 at 9:39AM Breaking News


Tough news, DISH Network subscribers. The AMC-14 satellite that lifted off from Kazakhstan just hours ago failed to reach orbit. Reportedly, an "anomaly occurred during the second burn of the Breeze M upper stage," causing it to never reach its final destination. As it stands, a Russian State Commission has begun an investigation to understand what caused the mishap, but unfortunately, we've no idea when a replacement will be ready for liftoff. Here's to hoping the DirecTV 11 has much better luck when it blasts off in just a couple of days.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

5 reasons HDTV might NOT boom

by Matt Burns posted Sep 11th 2006 at 11:03AM

TVPredictions.com recently listed five reasons HDTV will succeed and now Mr. Philip Swann spouts out five reasons that it might boom. The first time around we agreed with his reasons just not in the way they were ordered, and the same thing goes for this time too. In truth we just have an issue with number one and two; flip-flop those and we are on board 100%. Price is important but there needs to be more programing. Retail salesmen can chime in when we say people are more frightened by the amount of, or lack of, programming than anything else. If a person is going to spend X amount of money on something, they expect to use it more often than not. Lack of high-def programming is more likely to signal a dip in HDTV sales than the price.

TVPredictions 5 reasons why HDTV Sales WILL NOT boom.
  1. Price
  2. Not Enough Programming
  3. Industry Confusion & Chaos
  4. The HDTV DVD Disaster
  5. People Still Have Their TV
[Via HDBlog.net]

[updated title]




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