HDTV Prices Dropping This Holiday Season

As any technology rolls out, each successive year tends to bring lower and lower prices. HDTVs have certainly followed this trend, going from incredibly expensive to commonplace in just a decade. With this in mind, you'd expect HDTV prices to be a little lower this holiday season than they were last year.

However, due to a large oversupply of HDTV panels, prices are foretasted to plummet by the end of the year. According to CNN Money, prices are already roughly five percent lower than they were this time last year. With the glut of panels on the market beginning to take effect, they predict prices may get as low as 12 percent lower than they were just a year ago.

If you've been biding your time waiting to make a TV purchase, it looks like your time is coming. There are already some great buys to be found on the market, but I'd recommend watching the big box store ads and deal sites (like SlickDeals) in late November and December to find the absolute best possible deals.

Looking for more information about HDTVs and TV service? Check out these articles:

• Which HDTV is Right for You?
• What to Watch for When Choosing a TV Plan
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Satellite and Cable TV

Get Smart, Go Green For a Chance to Win a Smart Car

Anybody that commutes to work knows the pain of long drives and high gas prices. Making the trek each day is not only taxing on your wallet, it also does a number on the environment.

If you're looking to go green with the kind of vehicle you drive, you could do just that by joining the Get Smart, Go Green sweepstakes with Green Mountain Energy Company, the Texas electricity provider dedicated to clean and renewable energy. They are teaming up with smart center Sugar Land and smart center Houston North to bring you a 2010 smart fortwo passion coupe, which is being hailed as the most fuel efficient gasoline-powered car on the road today.

Here are some more details about this great car:

• One of the most economical cars on the road today
• Fuel efficient with 33 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway
• Meets or exceeds all federal government crash test standards
• Extremely safe with advanced crash avoidance and crash protection systems

In order to enter to win this sweepstakes, you must head on over to the Get Smart, Go Green page on Green Mountain Energy Company's Web site, and fill out the form required to put in your entry. Before you know it, you could be the proud owner of a brand new environmentally friendly car!

View the Sweepstakes Official Rules at www.greenmountain.com/smartcar. No purchase is necessary. One entry per household permitted from all methods combined. All entrants must be a minimum of 18 years of age. All entrants must be a resident of the State of Teas. Certain restrictions apply.

Hollywood Considering Fast-Tracking Movies to On Demand

Are you tired of waiting for months after a movie comes out to watch it at home? According to the Wall Street Journal, Time Warner Cable is working on a solution to just that problem. The cable giant has pitched the major studios the idea of "home theater on demand," which would make new release movies available to watch on demand after just 30 days.

If Time Warner Cable does sign a deal with the studios, expect other television providers to roll out a similar system. The catch? The price point for these movies would be between $20 and $30. But, tickets for a family of four along with snacks and drinks can easily run more than $30, so this could actually be a money saver for some families.

If it pans out, this would be a major shakeup in movie distribution and a real blow for movie theaters. However, with everything moving towards a more open model where consumers can enjoy content when and how they like, this just makes sense and seems almost inevitable.

Will movie theaters ever go away? Not likely, but it does look more likely than ever that you'll soon have the option of staying home to watch new releases.

Your Opinion Matters to the FCC

Have you ever been hit hard by your cell phone bill? Did it leave you thinking "how in the world did I rack up all those charges"? Well the FCC is trying to help stop the cell phone bill shock syndrome and they need your help.

The FCC says that most people get hit hard when they fail to realize they have gone over their minutes or are in an area that is considered roaming. This typically leads to a bill that can be over $300 easily.

Well wouldn't it be nice if you could get a text message that told you that you were close to going over the limit on your minutes? Well get this, the European Union already does this kind of thing and the FCC would like to implement that here in the US. Right now they are getting slack from mobile companies saying that customers can access their accounts online anytime to read up on their cell phone accounts.

So to get both sides of the issue, the FCC wants to hear what you have to say. If you're experiencing cell phone bill shock or you have an opinion on the matter, visit www.fcc.gov to learn more on the topic and how you can leave your comment.

Time Warner Cable Brings out the Wideband Internet

I remember that before I went to college, I had no idea that high-speed Internet was even a thing that existed. For me, dial-up was just fine (if kind of slow) and the Internet was where I went to check e-mail occasionally. However, once my friends and I ended up in college, downloading music and playing video games together online became a very regular thing. These days, I feel like I take for granted just how fast everything I want online can be at my fingertips.

The thing is, that doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon, especially given Time Warner Cable's recent announcement of Wideband Internet. Wideband Internet is their new high-speed plan which uses DOCSIS 3.0 technology to provide incredibly fast Internet. While it is currently only available in NYC, the 50 Mbps download speed and 5 Mbps upload speed are certainly something to keep in mind for the future of high-speed. It almost seems comically fast. What can one man do with so many megabytes? I'm now imagining the Enterprise, with Scotty shouting that he's giving the Internet connection "all she's got, Captain".

The thought of using speeds like that to do multiple bandwidth-hogging activities (playing games, streaming video, etc) makes a geek like me excited for the possibilities. It's hard to believe that something like that could be available at my home some day. And if you're in New York, then you're already in luck.

To read more about Time Warner Cable's Wideband Internet technology, visit Time Warner Cable.

Blast From the Past: How the Internet Was Supposed to Fail

The great thing about media is that you don't always need a DeLorean (or Christopher Lloyd) to take a quick jaunt across time and space to a simpler, less cluttered era in the online universe. With the advent of the tubes that make up these great and exciting Internets, we can instantly go back and look at things that were said in the past, and promptly laugh at the foolish less informed prophets of yesteryear.

Take this recent article from Newsweek that's been making its way around the blogosphere in the last couple of weeks. The article in question is titled The Internet? Bah!, and happens to be a writer's take on why the Internet will fail. Did I mention that this was written in 1995? It sure was.

It really is interesting to take a look at what folks believed the status of the Internet was going to be in the future, and how some people seemed to discount that thought. Some of the more memorable sections:

"Baloney. Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works."

"How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on disc. At best, it's an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can't tote that laptop to the beach. Yet Nicholas Negroponte, director of the MIT Media Lab, predicts that we'll soon buy books and newspapers straight over the Intenet. Uh, sure."

That second one makes me laugh. He goes on to talk about how social interaction online is limited, which is the biggest disconnect of the Internet. It's hard not to read that and think about the success of online social networks and how they are revolutionizing the way people communicate, spread information and even make purchases online.

So, how does this bit of time travel make you feel? Amused? Queasy? I honestly can't believe where the Internet has come in the last 5 or 6 years, let alone since 1995. What things can you do on the Web that still surprise you, even in 2010? What are some things you hope for in the future? Tell us in the comments!

Source - Three Word Chant and Newsweek

“Smart” Electric Meters on the Rise, Will They Curb Energy Use?

According to a new study from ABI Research, "Smart" electricity meters, which enable two-way communication between the meter and the utility, and may enable greater consumer control over consumption, are being deployed at an increasing pace, especially in North America and Europe. The number of smart electric meters deployed worldwide will rise from a 2009 level of 76 million to reach more than 210 million in 2014.

In the US, $3.4 billion in federal economic stimulus funding was directed to smart grid development in November 2009. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) also directly encourages smart grid technology adoption by the states, and funds NIST’s efforts to develop a standards-based technology framework to facilitate smart grid adoption.

However, ABI says the path to smart metering is not always smooth, siting PG&E in California, one of the early utilities to deploy smart meters. The company has faced claims by consumers that they have been overcharged. Still, there are many environmentalists who believe that smart meters will help consumers curb their energy use and save money, simply by being more educated about the amount of energy they use. And there are those that say people may use more energy if they see that electricity is cheaper than they expected.

For more, check out the NPR Morning Edition podcast Debate: Do Smart Meters Curb Energy Use? and ABI Research's study.

DIRECTV 2 Go 3D

DIRECTV recently announced it is entering in to a strategic relationship that will bring 3D TV nationwide. Beginning in June 2010, DIRECTV HD customers will receive a free software upgrade enabling them to have access to three dedicated 3D channels if they have 3D television sets.

Panasonic will be the exclusive presenting sponsor of DIRECTV's new high definition 3D channels, leveraging their current relationships with programming partners and movie studios to obtain new and existing 3D content. DIRECTV says that it is currently working with AEG/AEG Digital Media, CBS, Fox Sports/FSN, Golden Boy Promotions, HDNet, MTV, NBC Universal and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., to develop additional 3D programming that will debut in 2010-2011.

"We led the way with HD and we are excited to do the same with 3D," said Eric Shanks, executive vice president, DIRECTV Entertainment. "Adding the most HD channels to our lineup gave customers a viewing experience that was incredibly lifelike; adding 3D to the mix will take that one step further allowing them to become part of the cast as the picture comes to life in their living rooms."

Get DIRECTV satellite television service for your home today! And to learn more about Panasonic's new 3D televisions, visit www.panasonic.com/3D.

Google Wants to Offer Super Fast Broadband

Some day in the near future, you might be adding Google's name to the list of potential high-speed Internet providers. In addition to providing apps that allow for word processing, Voice, social media and whatever it is that Wave does, the search engine giant is looking to deliver ultra fast high speeds to up to 500,000 homes.

How fast are we talking? So far, the number bandied about has been 1Gbps (gigabit per second). In layman's terms? That's about 100 times faster than most people's high-speed connections. This is possible through Google's wide fiber network, which the company uses to connect its data centers to speed up its search processes and allow for faster YouTube streaming. They basically want to take that network and start connecting it to homes.

Right now, Google is putting some feelers out to find interested parties/city governments to take them up on the offer. Personally, I'd be curious to see just how fast this broadband really is. What do you guys think?

To read more about Google's broadband ambitions, visit BBC News.

Super Bowl Watchers In It For the Ads?

Do you tune into the Super Bowl for the action on the field or the ads between plays? According to the results of a survey recently released by The Nielsen Company, if you watch for the game, you are in the minority. The media company found that the majority of Super Bowl viewers enjoy the game’s ads more than the action on the field.

Fifty-one percent of those questioned said they most enjoy the commercials that air throughout the game when compared to the Super Bowl game itself. Forty-nine percent said that they enjoy the game more than the ads. Results were based on a sample of over 25,000 households in Nielsen’s Homescan panel.

The poll was just a small portion of what Nielsen released as part of their comprehensive study of the trends and effectiveness of paid Super Bowl advertising. Read about all their findings here.

If you do plan to actually watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, which team will you be rooting for? (Go SAINTS!)