I note in the diagram text (tips) for the ‘ideal home theater’ that it is suggested:

If your HDTV has a VGA interconnect, then you might want to connect your HTPC straight to the VGA port instead of the receiver. This will help solve any video scaling issues that may arise.

Of course, most (if not all) LCDTVs have a VGA input on them.  In my new setup, I have the LCDTV hanging on the wall in the family room.  On the other side of the room is my PC (nothing special, but I suppose it could be rebuilt some day to be a real HTPC).  In any case, as a PC it has video out in the form of VGA.  Of course I do not want a bit VGA cable running through the room, so my hope is to put some sort of jack on the wall by the PC and another on the wall behind the LCDTV.  Connect from the respective devices to the respective jacks will be easy enough (i.e. by use of standard VGA cables).  What confuses me is how to connect these jacks such that I have the best quality video from the PC to the LCDTV.  I intend to run whatever cable is necessary between these jacks down the walls and under the floor which is exposed below.  Could you help me to understand what might be the best strategy in terms of cabling and jacks to get to such a solution?

The $600 price tag for the PS3 caused plenty of backlash towards Sony with critics saying Sony priced out many of its customers. Yet, Apple’s $600 price tag for its iPhone has not caused the same negative reaction. The focus has been on iPhone’s unique user interface and advanced technology. Does the PS3’s dual HDMI v1.3 ports and built-in Blu-ray drive not equal iPhone’s advanced touchscreen and user interface? Below is a hardware and feature comparison between the PS3 and iPhone.

The chart reveals that you get more bang for the buck out of a PS3. The chart also shows how bad Sony’s marketing is. Almost every article written during the PS3 launch mentioned the $600 price tag, and its high price tag caused a huge negative vibe with the internet community. Yet, Apple’s $600 price tag for a phone has not created that same negative vibe. No wonder why Apple wins marketing awards year after year.

OK, so comparing the PS3 to the iPhone is like comparing apples and oranges (no pun attended). One is a mobile device and one is a family room device. However, they are both $600, and they are both advanced for their respective category. The question is would you spend your hard earned $600 on an iPhone or a PS3?

More Information:

• 15 Ways to use a PDA phone
• Home Theater Network Connection Diagram
• PS3 info

Skype has a version of their VOIP software available for PDA phones. You might be asking why anybody would want to use VOIP on a cell phone. There are a few good reasons, and there were a few times I found Skype on my PDA phone useful. The first example I can think of is the time I ran out of minutes. Instead of paying the ridiculous 40 cents per minute Verizon charges, I used my Wi-Fi network and talked to my friends through Skype’s mobile software.

The second time I found Skype on my PDA phone useful is when I traveled overseas and couldn’t use Verizon’s cellular service. Verizon uses CDMA technology while the rest of the world uses the incompatible GSM technology. The only way I could use my Verizon PDA phone was to find a Wi-Fi hot spot and use Skype Mobile. Of course, this example works anytime you don’t have cellular service, but have Wi-Fi access.

The quality of Skype’s service has improved over Skype’s initial software release. I kept on getting connection and latency issues with the first version. The current version is more stable, but still has its hiccups. I wouldn’t recommend using Skype as a replacement for regular cell phone use. It’s more of a good backup for now.

More information:

• Skype Mobile
• VOIP info

It seems that almost every new home theater network device out there is including an Ethernet port. New HDTVs, receivers, home automation devices, DVRs, HD DVD/Blu-ray players, HTPC, game consoles and even appliances all can communicate with the internet and within your home theater network. The PDA phone is the perfect device to control all these devices since it’s always in your pocket, and has the ability to always be connected to the internet whether at home, work, or outside.

What if you are sitting at your porch and you wanted to turn the speakers on and listen to some MP3’s on your HTPC. Without getting up, you could use your PDA phone to tell your receiver to output audio to the porch’s speakers, and to switch its audio input to the HTPC. You could then remote admin into your HTPC and pick which songs you want to play, which will now be playing on your porch’s speakers; all without getting up. Another example I could think of is home automation. You could use the web browser in your PDA phone to turn on/off lights, lower the AC temperature, or view security cameras.

I realize this is more of a future-type example. HDTVs and receivers only recently started to have internet connections, and most people don’t have PDA phones, HTPCs or home automation devices right now. However, the potential is there for the PDA phone to become a remote control for your whole home theater network.

More Information:

• Receiver
• HTPC

The cell phone companies want to nickel and dime us for everything, and now they are hoping we’ll pay an extra $20/month for streaming TV video. Another choice would be to put the $20/month into a data plan, and purchase a slingbox. For those who don’t know, a slingbox lets a user stream video over the internet from a cable box, DVR, or any video source. Slingboxe’s Mobile software can be installed on a PDA phone, where the user can change channels and watch live TV.

There are other ways to watch streaming video on your PDA phone. One way is through youtube, which has launched a mobile version of there website at m.youtube.com. Another way is through a free program called ORB, that lets users stream audio, video, or data files over the internet to any computer or PDA phone.

More information:

• Slingbox
• ORB