HDTV's downward spiral

Good news for home-theater aficionados: Fancy new television sets are getting more affordable.

That's the word from Consumer Reports, which says some bargain-level plasma and liquid-crystal display monitors (those sleek-looking panels you've marveled over at your local electronics store) could drop to around $500 this year. Two years ago, prices of $1,500 and higher were common.

Tips for buyers: Consumer Reports says liquid-crystal displays (or LCDs) are a good choice for consumers who want a thin, light television set with a small or midsized screen (typically 23 to 45 inches). Typical LCD prices: $1,000 to $1,500 for a 26-inch widescreen HD-ready set, and $2,000 to $2,500 for a 37-inch model.

Plasma screens may appeal to buyers who want a big, thin TV set, the magazine says. Plasma sizes usually run from 42 to 60 inches, and typical prices range from $2,500 for a 42-inch integrated HDTV to $4,500 for a 50-inch model.

See a demo of Charter HDTV™ at charter.com

---

Radio gets a digital beat

For most of us, radio exists purely as a drive-time medium. Whether we're stuck in traffic or whizzing down the Interstate, odds are we're hearing somebody gabbing away on an AM station, or turning up the volume on a song we love from a favorite spot on the FM dial.

At least, that's the way things have worked for decades. But the boundaries of radio suddenly are changing faster than you can say "Paul Harvey." New technologies already are giving listeners a healthy range of options, and more are on the way. Here's a quick look at how a medium that began its commercial life in the 1920s is morphing into something new:

Satellite radio.
Just as cable television delivered an explosion of new choice in TV channels, satellite radio is wreaking havoc on the old-school world of radio broadcasting. Arch-rivals XM Radio and Sirius Radio together now have more than 9 million subscribers who are tuning out traditional radio and instead paying $12.95 or more a month for access to hundreds of finely focused music and talk-radio channels, plus the occasional celebrity talker (Howard Stern of Sirius Satellite Radio comes to mind). Receivers are available for in the car, at home, or pretty much anywhere in between.

HD radio.
Nope, it's not a misprint. It stands for "high-definition" radio. The same sorts of digital technologies that support new high-definition television channels (see article on page 8) are now being applied to the world of traditional over-the-air radio broadcasting. With special receivers that start at around $300, you can pick up new crystal-clear signals in most U.S. markets. Some are "simulcasts" of what's already on the air, but broadcasters also are inventing a whole new breed of niche-targeted stations that could help revive an old-school medium. Plus, receivers include textual displays that tell you what's playing.

Internet radio.
Here's where "radio" takes on a whole new meaning. Through Web portals like Charter.net, listeners can select from dozens of specialized genres that deliver the music or content they favor, without commercial interruptions. Selected "stations" play through your PC or Internet-connected device, opening up a world of personally tailored fare. If it feels like somebody has programmed your own personal radio station, well, they have. That's one reason why the medium is drawing large audiences: Arbitron Inc. and Edison Media Research estimate 30 million Americans now listen to Internet radio stations each week, up from 20 million a year ago.

---

If Cecil B. DeMille were alive today...

He'd probably be slapping mini-movies up on the Internet. Prompted by affordable video cameras and editing software, plus expanding Internet bandwidth, there's an explosion of "user-produced video" now appearing online.

The quality varies markedly — from the truly awful to the surprisingly artful — as thousands of aspiring filmmakers showcase their work on a growing range of Web sites devoted to cataloguing and displaying amateur video creativity. One example: YouTube.com, which has amassed millions of hours of video available for viewing online. Content ranges from original music-videos to travelogue features.

Challenges may loom as Web publishers grapple with copyright issues tied to displaying pirated copies of (professionally produced) TV shows. But for now, the onset of user-produced video is proof positive that high-speed, broadband Internet connections are allowing new forms of content to flourish online.

Selected Web sites that feature amateur video:

• Clip Shack Allows users to post videos for public viewing, or just for sharing with family and friends.
• VideoBomb Combines submitted videos with a user rating feature designed to bring the best stuff to the top of the charts.
• YouTube The reigning king of user-created video serves more than 10 million videos and receives thousands of new uploads a day.

---

What's next, earrings that can sing?

For the audio enthusiast who has everything else, we introduce wearable speakers. Masquerading as sunglasses, these miniature MP3 players let you groove to the tunes without parking an iPod in your pocket. Plus, they do double duty by protecting your retinas. The top-of-the-line, 1-gigabyte model from Oakley stores about 240 songs and costs about $450.

---

But will it fade after repeated washing?

Oh, those fashionable MIT guys. Engineering students at the venerable Massachusetts Institute of Technology are studying a variety of approaches for weaving — sorry, bad pun — technology into clothing. By blending small amounts of conductive metals into clothing that feels more like cotton than copper, researchers at MIT's famed Media Lab may set the stage for interesting applications of technology down the road. Among the ideas: producing clothing outfitted with sensors that monitor your physical condition — sort of like an astronaut's uniform (except without the whole rocket thing).

The category's possibilities can set your head spinning. So can the lingo. According to a "wearable computing" section of MIT's Media Lab Web site, "the wearable computer can act as an intelligent assistant, whether it be through a Remembrance Agent, augmented reality, or intellectual collectives."

Uhh, right.

Still, they may be onto something.

Already, some clothing makers are integrating high-tech into their goods. Snowboard maker Burton, for instance, sells the Clone Mini Disc Jacket, a coat with a built-in Sony mini disc player and a remote control stitched into a sleeve. Shoemaker Adidas has released what it calls "the world's first intelligent shoe" — a line of running shoes with embedded microchips that adjust shock absorption based on the character of the underlying terrain.