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Want an enormous HDTV on your wall for less than a thousand bucks? Try my cheapskate large-screen HDTV setup, which I threw together last weekend between the Superbowl’s pre-game show and the end of the first quarter (shopping time included). Here’s what you’ll need:

• A digital projector, such as the Toshiba TDP-T45U. Most recent models (those released within the last few years) are capable of showing HD video signals at 720p or sometimes even 1080i. Price: $600-700
• An HDTV tuner, such as Samsung’s HD Terrestrial Tuner. Price: $180
• A projection screen, if you’re a stickler for quality, or a flat, white wall, if you’re not. Price: $0-$100 for an 84×84-inch screen.
• Some kind of audio output, such as a stereo, a boombox, or iPod dock. Price: $0-$120.

The tuner connects to your projector via S-video, RGB component video, or standard RCA composite video (the yellow cable). It gets the signal over the air, so you’ll want an antenna — I’m using the antenna that’s already on my roof, and it works great, but you can also buy HD antennas designed for interior use if you don’t already have one.

You’ll want sound, too, so connect the HD tuner’s RCA audio out ports to your existing stereo, computer, boombox or even an iPod dock.

I already had a projector, which my wife and I have been using for watching DVDs from Netflix, so when the brainstorm hit me last weekend, just before the Superbowl started, I knew it wouldn’t take long to get the setup together. We pre-ordered the tuner from Circuit City, I drove down to pick it up just as the game was starting, and sped back home. By the time the 2nd quarter started, we were watching the game in full HD glory on my wall. Effective screen size? 77 inches diagonally (yes, I measured it). Not bad for $200 and a half hour investment of time.

One nice surprise from this effort: digital TV signals include lots of information about shows, so the Samsung tuner has a built-in channel guide, just like a cable TV set-top box. Except I’m not paying for cable TV. Sweet!

Patick Collison coded an offline Wikipedia app for the iPhone over his Christmas break because he likes “the warm fuzzy feeling of having the sum of all human knowledge in his pocket”. For the same reason that we do not own an iPhone yet, he wanted to prevent online Wikipedia users to go nuts over the slow EDGE connection.

The app takes 2.2 GB and I am not sure if iPhone users would like to spare the storage space for it. If you do, watch Patrick’s tutorial video on YouTube about the installation.

Posted Feb 7th 2008 11:10AM by Joshua Topolsky
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Adding injury to insult, then pouring salt in the wound, and finally kicking mud in Microsoft’s eye, NEC has launched an official Vista downgrade product, FlexLoad. The company debuted a two-DVD package on Tuesday priced at an affordable £7, which is meant to help (mainly business) customers create an XP partition that they can use to boot from. Says David Newbould, NEC UK’s product marketing manager, “We do have some customers who are very happy with XP and see [no need] to move to Vista at the moment.” Of course, we’re pretty sure that when he said “some” he actually meant “lots.” Another nasty burn for the folks in Redmond — though those 100 million units sold can probably buy a lot of kleenex.

[Via FSJ]

The fact that such a large eBook store starts to feature non-DRM (unprotected) files, may signal a shift that is similar to what’s happening to the music industry now. There is a huge demand from consumers for unprotected files, mainly because it annoys the paying customers and doesn’t really protect the publishers from piracy anyways.

It is interesting to see that unprotected eBooks from unknown writers often sell more than protected titles from famous authors. That might lead one to think that DRM really hinders sales.

Related: Read our Amazon Kindle Review

Posted Feb 7th 2008 8:05AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Laptops
Dell’s Penryn update has finally made its way around the globe to Gee Dubya land. The XPS M1330 is at the front of the queue with $400, 2.5GHz T9300 or $675, 2.6GHz T9500 processor options above the wimpiest CPU config. Not exactly free but then we don’t have to deal with Big Red droppings on the lawn either. We should see the rest of Dell’s XPS and Inspiron laptops go Penryn before the day is done.

[Thanks, Chris W. and Matthias B.]

Until wireless electricity finally makes it out of Nikola Tesla’s notebooks and into our living rooms, we’re stuck with power strips. Socket Sense makes plugging in oversized adapters easier with this expanding strip, making sure even the biggest wall wart won’t block off another socket.

The company even guarantees it “to fit any power adapter on the market” and has added in a 2160 joule surge protector. $40 to kill my rats’ nest of cables? A bargain.

Product page [Ideative via Oh Gizmo!]

Posted Feb 7th 2008 6:40AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Wearables
var A great man (or was it Tim Gunn) once said that fashion had to be culturally relevant. To that end we bring you the CharmingBurka. The kit sends a “self-defined” picture of the woman beneath to every Bluetooth mobile phone in the vicinity. According to the project’s mastermind — Markus Kison — no laws of the Koran are broken. Video? You’d better believe it, after the break.

Gallery: The CharmingBurka breaks no laws of the Koran, only taste

Another day another leaked image, this time its the upcoming Motorola M990 Smart Rider. The info is courtesy of the FCC and it shows off a phone with a unique name and purpose. According to the details the Motorola M990 will be called the Smart Rider and will be a “GSM high tier fixed mobile car phone.”

The thought of a phone that is limited to a car sounds really funny these days, but the specs make it sound almost like a normal mobile phone. Based on the FCC’s “Electromagnetic Compatibility Test Report” the Smart Rider offers “not only voice but also high speed data services, entertainment, information, advanced network connection, BT connections, GPS navigation services, etc. Aside from that it is quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, with a “big” color screen, integrated GPS and Bluetooth.

I think the best part is when the document mentions that “it is targeted to a broad band of markets looking for exclusivity like business men, limousines and private cars looking for stylish communication and navigation solution.” Even the description of the intended market makes this phone sound like a device from the 1980’s.

Via [unwired view]

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Radio and TV network CBS will be running an experiment about cellphone advertising based on a person’s location or what it commonly known as location-based advertising. However, CBS did not specify the exact date and duration of this trial. The network giant hopes this will help arrest the aversion of many consumers to traditional ads seen on newspapers, TV and Websites.

Thanks to its tie-up with major mobile operators and social networking site Loopt, it can take advantage of the GPS-based technology to accurately serve geographically relevant ads the minute a customer steps in a particular establishment like restaurants or stores. These ads will appear on the company’s mobile sites, CBS Mobile and CBS Mobile Sports.

In this trial run, only Sprint and Boost Mobile has confirmed participation. CBS is in talks with other major wireless operators to join in this risky initiative. The downside in this trial is that only users with a GPS feature on their mobile phones can receive these ads. Also, these customers must have deals with Loopt. On top of that, privacy concerns are roadblocks of effective implementation. We’re living in a very paranoid world so it is natural for many people to feel threatened if some machine or system knows their exact location anytime, anywhere. That’s why this trial run will ask mobile users to opt in before any location-based ads are served to their handsets.

Read [NY Times]

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AT&T have announced their plans to do some expanding in 2008. They are looking to take their high-speed wireless service into 80 additional markets, which would bring their total to 350 “big U.S. markets.” Currently AT&T is the largest U.S. mobile provider, but sadly they have been slower than rivals in building and offering high-speed wireless access. No word on which areas would be covered in those 80 they have planned.

Read [Reuters]

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