My friend is a professional DJ at a local radio station ... and I think this will be perfect for him.
"This mixer sits at the very top of Pioneer's DJ line, so you can kind of take the basics for granted. The faders slide and resist just the way we like them to. All of the switches, knobs, buttons, and LED's look and feel professional. The enclosure itself feels like a tank -- while we wouldn't want to see what happened if we dropped it, somehow it gives off the impression that it could take a licking and still do its job admirably.
One of our favorite features is the set of eight channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio onboard. The DJM-2000 runs via USB to your computer, where you'd presumably tell your DJ software where to route the jams. Each of the four channels on the DJM-2000 has a traditional line / phono switch, but with a very cool "USB" position as well. So -- surprise surprise! -- you won't even need any actual decks to get rolling. Just a computer with some music on it. What you won't get are jog wheels of any type -- so you can't completely abandon whatever control method you're already using for this one box."
WTF!? ... 92-inch TV. I think my room is too small for this TV!
"Mitsubishi will be revealing what can only be described as a monstrous TV at CES. Mitsubishi announced a 92-inch rear projection 3D TV that will top its line up of "theatre sized 3D home cinema TVs" and replace the now mundane 82-inch unit that once sat on top of its list of conspicuously expensive home furnishings. Like all telly manufacturers, Mitsubishi was keen to point out the 3D capabilities of its behemoth, going so far as to claim that sales of 3D TV sets underlined the need for the firm to design and produce such a large screen for the well-heeled."
Want dual display action for your laptop on the road? DisplayLink has the answer, it's a compact 15" 1280x800 (hey, beats a netbook!) monitor that plugs in via usb. Even more interesting is that you can daisychain up to six of them for portable surround vision. Pretty cool!
"The Monitor2Go will be compatible with both Macs and PCs and is set to launch in Q1 at an estimated retail price of $279."
It sounded like such a good idea, a TV that could directly interface with the internet and skip the entire Home Theater PC/netflix box concept. Yet as it turns out, TV manufacturers seem to have skimped on security. I'll be waiting a generation or two for them to figure security out.
"According to the New York Times, security firm Mocana was able to hack an Internet-connected set “with unsettling ease.” The hack allowed them to obtain the owner’s credit card numbers and to monitor the data being sent from the TV to various Web sites."
For tech geek like me, this is great for extra lighting while taking close-up macro shots of integrated circuits and chips on a PCB.
"It looks like there is a lot of new Olympus stuff coming at CES. We just received that picture. It shows the new Olympus E-PL2 in “Medusa” version with the Close Up Spotlight attached on the hot-shoe. It’s a LED light witch adjustable light intensity! It doesn’t require any extra battery. I think it’s quite a nice accessory!!!"
"Samsung Electronics has developed a Blu-ray Disc player that's just 23 millimeters thick, and plans to unveil it at next week's International Consumer Electronics Show, it said Tuesday.
The slim player supports 3D Blu-ray content and includes a function to convert conventional 2D content into a quasi-3D image, Samsung said. The player can also connect to the Internet and display content from sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on a TV screen.
Samsung provided no other technical specifications of the player, but claimed it would be the world's thinnest 3D Blu-ray Disc player when launched."
No surprise there ... 3D HDTVs will take some time to take off. Besides, you get a better 3D experience at the cinema than at home.
"According to a Wall Street Journal article, manufacturers are already pulling the trigger on price cuts in order to prop up weak sales on 3D sets (40 percent to 50 percent since the first ones went on sale). Market research firm Display Search has already adjusted its projections that 5 percent of TVs sold this year would be 3D models, slashing that number to 2 percent."
Forget Google TV ... you want Apple TV! But you need an iTunes account though ... smart move Apple.
"Apple has a big expectation for this week. Sales for the second-generation Apple TV is predicted to cross the one million unit-mark in the next few days.
While many were skeptical (myself included) about the renting rather than buying model of the set-top box, Apple boasts that “iTunes users are now renting and purchasing over 400,000 TV episodes and over 150,000 movies per day.”
Seriously no 3D glasses needed. But these 3DTVs ain't cheap! Hit or miss? You decide ...
"The panacea of glasses-free 3D displays (or content) might not yet be upon us, but Toshiba's doing its best by putting the two models in its Regza GL1 family up for sale in Japan. Tomorrow marks the debut of the smaller 12GL1, spanning a 12-inch diagonal and offering the unconventional resolution of 466 x 350. That's expected to be priced at ¥120,000 ($1,431), exactly half of the ¥240,000 ($2,863) asking price of the 20GL1, which will follow it swiftly with retail availability on December 25th. The latter display has the decency to come equipped with a more civilized 720p resolution and 550:1 contrast ratio, although, as you can see above, neither panel can be accused of being unnecessarily thin or space-efficient."
