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HD All Over
Last year, TV makers were frantically showing off ways to beam DVD and digital-cable
programs wirelessly to their products. This year, the ante went up. Now that high-definition TV
is available to most US homes by cable and satellite providers, and HDTVs themselves have become
an under-$1,000 reality, the challenge is how to get high-definition content from one end of the
house to the other without cables running all over. One method, proposed by Panasonic and Sharp
among others, uses the PowerLine networking system, which can direct huge amounts of
data—including up to two simultaneous high-definition video streams—through the electrical
wiring in your home. Since TVs will always need to be plugged into the wall, it's really as
wire-free as you're gonna get. Another concept from Sharp uses Intel's Ultra-Wideband, a
wireless technology that, at very short ranges, leaves wi-fi in the dust. Pioneer teamed up with
Microsoft to build the Windows Media Connect networking card, which can be inserted
directly into the TV, using conventional wired or wireless networking technologies to pull
high-definition video, music and high-resolution still photos from a Windows PC.
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Traffic B Gone
GPS is great. GPS with real time traffic information from a satellite network is a
whole lot better. Pioneer has introduced an in-car DVD player with navigation that keep tabs on
the traffic as well: The Pioneer AVIC-N2 will ship this spring for $2,200 (plus
installation; pioneerelectronics.com). The built-in NavTraffic satellite service from XM helps you plot a course with
more than just dead reckoning, provided you live in one of the 20 or so metro areas currently
covered. As you drive, the system labels roads red, yellow or green depending on how smoothly
they're moving. And little warning signs appear on construction and accident sites. The service
costs $14 per month, including NavTraffic plus a full lineup of XM Radio stations.
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Morning Report
What ever happened to the talking clock radios of the 1980s, or the wall-projection clocks of the 1990s?
Every so often, that generally dull corner of the technology
playground buzzes with excitement. This April, the Philips PSS110 ($160; philips.com) will
launch. It's a little clock radio with stereo speakers that has 256MB of internal memory so it
can store and play MP3s as well as FM radio. Oregon Scientific has created a prototype clock
radio that could receive weather reports (and other news) from Microsoft's MSN Direct pager
network, for display on its color LCD screen. Since the two biggest complaints about MSN Direct
are that the service is only available in super-chunky watches and that its monthly fee is an
annoyance, this little traveling companion—expected to include service as part of its sticker price—could have legs.
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