Forget PowerMats and wireless charging and the like, because the Airnergy Wi-Fi signal harvester is my new front runner for the future of gadget charging. More »
Last year, LCD TVs made up about 50 per cent of global TV sales. That’s a huge number. Not bad for a technology that’s only 40 years old or so… More »
Colour TV broadcasts began in Australia in March 1975, a mere 34 years ago. But the first demonstrated colour transmission in the world happened way back in July 1928, by a gentleman by the name of John Logie Baird. More »
While universal remotes can be hard to program, each being a bit of their own beast, theRCA Voice Control Remote will talk you through the process. And you can talk right back.
While RCA debuted their Small Wonder camcorders at CES 2008, the model they are showing off just a year later looks vastly improved.
It looks like RCA is trying to best their own high marks with the Small Wonder EZ300, an HD-capable pocket camcorder that’s seriously cheap. In addition to shooting 720p HD video (and along with Kodak’s Zi6 making HD the pocket cam standard), the EZ300′s 2GB internal memory is expandable by 16GB via SD slot, which gets you 10 hours of hi-def footage. RCA says it’s optimised for low-light, hopefully a major improvement over the EZ210, but I’ll have to see it to believe it. The EZ300 runs on a Li-ion battery and doesn’t shoot macro, but at $US160 it’s cheaper than the Zi6 so you’ve got a tough choice to make. [RCA] galleryPost("rcahdcam", 3, "");
I’ve had a lot of success with RCA’s A1500, a flat, living room friendly UHF/VHF antenna that’s capable of receiving OTA HD. But it’s not amplified, meaning it won’t be right for many viewers who want to pump their signal a bit. Now RCA is expanding their flat antenna line with amplified and “smart” antennas. The amplified antennas look identical to the A1500 of yore, but start at even smaller sizes and come bundled with removable low-noise amplifiers to boost signals (these start at a palatable $US45). The smart antenna ($US100) is designed for urban areas where buildings block/redirect signals, so it uses a set-top converter box to best tune the antenna to desired frequencies. All new models appear to be available now. [RCA]
Back in 1969 RCA made an attempt at a high-end TV that was a vision of the sets of the year 2000. The Two Thousand was even made in a limited run of 2,000 and cost US$2,000. That’s around US$12,000 in today’s money, but for that price you got a 23-inch Hi-Lite tube that had “such a vivid, detailed picture” you could “even watch it in a brightly-lit room.” There were even “computer-like “memory circuits” that stored your fave channels, and preserved settings for volume and picture control. That must’ve seemed like the future indeed in an era of dial-twiddle-tuning to find the right VHF channel. The full advert page makes fascinating reading.
Ever since the world caught wind of the Pure Digital Flip cam’s success, super-cheap digital pocket camcorders have sprouted up everywhere. With everyone and their mother trying to become the next Lil Show Stoppa or Soulja Girl, people need a cheap and easy way to capture those magic moments. I tested six of these cams—from Creative, RCA/Audiovox, DXG and Pure Digital—all US$180 or less. Here are samples of all of their videos in various conditions, and an overall look at how they stack up:
