Retro Tech Tuesday: Flatscreen TV Debut

Hard to believe, but those good folks at Philips brought the first flatscreen TV ads to the U.S. in 1998. More than ten years before than the digital TV transition finally occurred, this TV was "digital ready." Sadly Philips left the U.S. TV market in 2008. I had forgotten this ad, but the ad and tagline came flooding back after one viewing:

Retro Tech Tuesday: Philips CD-i

I don't know why, but as a kid, the Philips CD-i always intrigued me. I don't know if it was the concept of a CD player that also had movies and games, the fact that it was duplicating a lot of what computers did at the time in a fraction of the space, or was it perhaps, the strange Phil Hartman ads for the console?

From Wikipedia:

Early software releases in the CD-i format focused heavily on educational, music, and self-improvement titles, with only a handful of video games, many of them adaptations of board games such as "Connect Four". Later attempts to develop a foothold in the games market were rendered irrelevant by the arrival of cheaper and more powerful consoles, such as the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. CD-i is noted for the release of several spinoffs of popular Nintendo video games featuring characters typically seen only on Nintendo consoles, although those games were not developed by Nintendo. Hotel Mario was a puzzle game that featured Super Mario Bros. characters.

Yeah, I think it may have been the bizarre ads...

HomeDock HD Product Review

DLO's HomeDock HD promises to bring your iPod content to your HDTV in HD quality. Two small problems though: First, it only ships with an RCA component cable, and second the content on your iPod is well below HD quality to begin with.

The dock does offer a simple, intuitive interface, and great audio quality through both its optical and HDMI outputs. Also I'm always a sucker for a an iPod accessory with robust backwards capability. We tested the unit with an iPod Mini, iPhone, and 5th gen iPod. All three were able to be controlled remotely via the dock.

Still, the $199 price point is hard to swallow. After all, for just a bit more, you could buy an Apple TV and at least have an opportunity to rent "true" HD content. (In fairness, the Apple TV doesn't include an HDMI cable either)

For $40 or $50, it would be a steal, especially for those of us with multiple iPods sitting around the house.  At $199, though, and since Apple currently doesn't have HD content on any iPod, you might want to pass. Full video review below: (Click here to buy from Amazon.)