The biggest complaint about this projector is that it does not support iPhones/iPods/iAnything. You can open it like a hard drive on your computer and drop and drag your MP4 video files, MP3 music, and PowerPoint presentations onto it. That being said, it does connect to PCs, DVD players, iPods(R) and iPhones(R), digital cameras, and cell phones–just maybe not as directly as one may hope. It supports Microsoft Office Suite(R) and Adobe PDF(R), as well as movie, music files, and file formats such as jpg, tif, mp3, mp4, and bit.

This powerful little projector comes with speakers so you can have sound and the bulbs are LED lights that should last over 20,000 hours. The battery is not great (1-2 hours), but it should still be enough for that on-the-go presentation or if you wanted to show your friends a slideshow of your latest photos. While you could have  a big group of people surrounding the screen, I think that the most comfortable number would be somewhere between 1 and 5 people.

This will not be able to “replace” your standard projector. The 15 lumens just is not going to do the trick for you. You have to be in an almost dark room in order to see anything. For something effective, you will need over 50 lumens; however, if you are looking for an “on-the-fly” type of gadget, it may be a fun toy to have.  Something else to consider is that this little guy will not really stand up by itself if it’s attached to cables.

Whether you have $250+ to spare on a pocket projector is a choice that you will have to make. I’ll hold off for now.

The streaming and DVD rental giant said that it will be expanding to the United Kingdom as well as to Ireland beginning some time in early 2012. This European Netflix will still offer the same unlimited streaming video services that the United States currently has access to for a ”low monthly subscription price.” The company has yet to reveal exactly what this low monthly price is.

The current Netflix services allow subscribers to watch thousands of movies and television shows instantly on computers or through a number of devices, including video game consoles, mobile phones, and tablets. There has been no official announcement on what devices will be compatible with the European service yet, and some speculate that it may be difficult for Netflix to find device manufacturers that will comply with them.

What will be interesting to see is whether or not this American company can out compete the once domestic Lovefilm company, which has been serving the United Kingdom for several years. This streaming video and DVD rental company was bought out by Amazon in January of this year, and currently it commands the marketplace for both streaming video and DVD rental.  Since Netflix let go of its DVD rental program recently, it will be lacking in that aspect compared to Lovefilm. Unless Netflix can step it up a notch by offering a wider selection of streaming movies and television shows or by offering a lower price, they may not have a chance.

Netflix had its start in the United States in 2007, but appears to want to take over streaming video throughout the world. In 2010, Netflix added Canada to its list of countries that it serves. In September of this year it was expanded to 43 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Although it’s best to limit media for kids overall, most children are going to watch television or listen to music sometimes. Also, there are times when you need to entertain your young ones away from home. Although books and games are a choice, no kid will turn away the chance to watch their favorite movie while sitting in a waiting room or on a long drive in the car. For these occasions, portable media players come to the rescue. 

One player that is suitable for kids is the TFDVD7052, 7-inch Portable Tablet DVD/CD/MP3 Player, made by Coby. With a sleek, light-weight design, it can be carried practically anywhere. Priced under $100, it’s an affordable option, even for parents with a budget to consider. 

Unlike many low-cost portable DVD players, this Coby tablet has vibrant picture that can be seen well at many angles.  It can provide subtitles, and it has a handy parental lock control.

This gadget works well in the car. DC power cords allow you to use it on the go, and the anti-skip circuitry allows it to keep playing movies even if you’re driving down bumpy roads.

Straps for easy installation on the back of a headrest are included, so kids don’t have to worry about holding it in their laps. Kids can wear the included headphones while they listen to their tunes, or while they watch movies. The good thing is that other passengers are spared all the extra noise. 

And when you’re back home, kids can still enjoy the functions of this device. AC cords allow it to be plugged into a household electrical outlet. Audio/video input jacks are built in so the player can be used for VCRs or video games. And the remote comes with batteries included, so you can use your new media player without a hassle.

Now Sony is bringing the ability to make 3D films to everyone with their new HD-3D video camera. Awesome, I know. The camera works by actually having two cameras in one. As you go around filming both of the cameras film and because they are slightly offset in the frame it creates the illusion of 3D when viewed.

So with the camera you can film 3D in Double Full HD. Within the camera’s housing there is 3D viewing on a 3.5″ LCD – so you do not need 3D glasses. If the user does not want to view in 3D then full HD 2D playback from 3D recordings can also be done. The remarkable thing is everything is 1920×1080 Full HD 60p/24p recording.

Quick note, these are pretty impressive specs for a camera. When a camera offers 60p/24p it means that the camera can take 60 or 24 frames per second (fps) in progressive mode, there are two modes progressive or interlaced. In interlaced mode the camera actually takes two pictures and stitches them together to create one frame. What all this means is that this 3D camera can actually take 60, very high resolutions, images per second… actually since there are two cameras in one it would be 120 fps, which from a technical perspective is quite impressive.

Back to the camera, the dimensions are approximately 2 1/4inch x 2 5/ 8inch x 5 1/8inch and 840g with built-in internal flash memory. Also, you do not have to worry about being able to share videos. For your friends and family who don’t yet own a 3D-compatible TV or PC you can use a 2D playback mode from the 3D recordings. So there are no problems with filming everything in 3D.

For the size, quality, and features of this camera it is one of, if not, the best available on the market. The only downside to this camera is its high cost, currently at $1499.99. To be honest, it is a pretty good price considering what can be done on this camera. But, sorry to Sony, it is pretty difficult to spend $1499 on this video camera. If you are one of the people who always have to be the first to have the latest technology then go for it, otherwise wait a couple years and the price will surely drop.

Netflix, a free download from the App store, allows users of iPod, iPhone, or iPad to tap into the immense volume of video available through the Netflix streaming server from anywhere (in the case of iPhone and iPad) or anywhere within WiFi range (iPod). Eventhough it was Apple and Netflix, I was still skeptical about the quality of streaming between the two.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the audio and video quality of the movies. The replay is absolutely flawless – nary a skip, drop, or rebuffering to be seen. The entire library of on-demand films is available for mobile users.

Searching for movies can be a little slow. There are a lot of thumbnails to be downloaded every time you flip the page. However, you can avoid this by managing your account from your computer and sticking to films in your Instant Queue when you browse through your iPod.

The only thing that I would change about the Netflix app for iPod is that you cannot manage your DVD Queue through this app. Of course, if you have access to the Netflix app, you can just as easily surf on over to www.Netflix.com and manage the DVD queue there, but it would be nice to have it all included within the app.

Other than that fairly picayune item, which to be fair is outside the scope of the app, it is all good. I’ve gotten considerable enjoyment out of the mobile version of Netflix. Now I can watch movies on the go without tying up the memory on the iPod. All in all, the app is every bit as good as you would expect from a pairing of Apple and Netflix, two companies who know how to do things right.

Believed to be set off by the Belgian authorities, the raids took place in countries like Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. In addition to taking down some of the top file-sharing sites, servers for the infamous whistle-blower website Wikileaks were also taken. Authorities say that WikiLeaks had nothing to do with the raid’s intentions; however, and maintain that they were simply after the piracy organizations.

Out of the torrent sites affected, The Pirate Bay was, as always, back up and running by the end of the day. In roughly twelve hours, the website was fully operational except for the secure server which encrypts data transmission to and from the site. The Pirate Bay is no stranger to these types of assaults on its service. In 2006 its servers were raided by Swedish authorities and the website was down for roughly three days. It is unknown what other websites, if any, were targeted. As of this writing, none have come forward about it.

Copyright law has become a hot-button issue throughout the western world in the last decade, with intellectual property organizations like the RIAA, MPAA, CRIAA and the IIPA all lobbying their respective (and neighboring) governments to do something about the sharing of copyrighted material. It’s interesting to note how much effort is put into this fight and how much money is spent combating piracy.

One has to wonder if it’s worth it; I mean, when Napster was shut down, along came Kazaa. When Kazaa was shut down, along came LimeWire (among others). Those newer file sharing networks have yet to be shut down, and that doesn’t even take into account BitTorrent, which is as free and clear as any because it’s decentralized.

All I’m saying is that instead of hunting down these pirates and wasting government resources, perhaps they should be putting their effort toward making it easier and cheaper to access their content (good content, mind you) than it is to pirate it. That should be their first priority. Just my opinion; I could be wrong be wrong. Perhaps we’ll never know.

I found two great places that you can buy episodes: iTunes and Amazon.com. I usually always use iTunes  or iO ditigal cable to rent movies, but I realize now that Amazon has a department that puts them both to shame with selection and pricing.

Watching an episode of House on iTunes costs approximately $2.99 and HD quality is the only one offered. On the other hand, to watch an episode of House from Amazon, I only have to pay $1.99 and I have the option to purchase HD quality for $1 more.

The advantage of Amazon is that they have the entire selection of House seasons 1-6 as well as many other old and new TV shows like The X-Files and LOST (which both happen to fall under the cateogory of $.99 episodes!) In addition, Amazon enables users to search by TV channel listing a wide variety of channels such as Bravo, TLC, and CBS.

Amazon says that you can watch episodes “without downloads, on a PC or Mac, and commercial free.” What is better than that? You can also play the movie or  TV show on your home TV, save it in your video library, or watch it on a an on-the-go video playing device. There are also some free TV shows, movies and bonus features from shows like the Jersey Shore, Rookie Blues, 30 Rock, The Event, and The Office. Additionally, there is a whole section of DC Comics “bonus content” for the kids or adults that watched it when they were kids.

Overall, the site is easy to navigate and makes purchases easy with the option of buying with 1-click. Amazon offers a wide variety at a reasonable price. Amazon even lets you watch 2 minutes of a free preview of an episode to make sure you have not seen it yet! Amazon has always been multi-dimensional but who knew it was on demand!

Time to look again.

Netflix is not inclined to rest on its laurels. Sure, they changed the paradigm for DVD distribution in America. Yeah, they’ve driven Blockbuster to the verge of ruin. But that was so last decade.

Although they don’t get a lot of credit for being progressive, Netflix seems to always be one step ahead. The company has seen the writing on the wall – DVDs, even BluRay, are not the future of entertainment rentals. Most cable and satellite customers have the option to rent movies on demand through their set top boxes. ITunes and a host of other outlets sell electronic copies online. Driving to the video store is out. Waiting for a DVD in the mail is out. Now is the time of now – instant delivery.

Because of the dent that Netflix’s mail delivery program has put into DVD sales, the company recently renegotiated its contracts with the major movie studios. The studios got the concession that Netflix would not rent DVDs through the mail delivery program for 30 days after the movies hit stores. Netflix got a significant upgrade in the financial arrangements. Both sides got what they wanted, but the winners are Netflix’s customers.

Netflix is pouring that extra money into the streaming side of the business. They have vastly increased the number of movies available for viewing instantly and also improved the delivery considerably. With thousands of choices available to watch instantly on your computer or TV (if you’ve got a Wii, Playstation 3, Roku, or other Wifi enable device attached to your TV), the DVDs that come in the mail are suddenly a side note to the Netflix service.
There just isn’t any better return on your entertainment dollar (without violating international copyright law) than the nine bucks a month for Netflix.

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