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Sound & Video Contractor
A Penton Media Inc. publication
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Copyright 2008, Penton Media Inc. All rights reserved. This article is
protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property
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I recently helped a friend shop for a new flatpanel monitor for his
living room. We spent many hours online and at various
consumer-electronics stores, trying to determine which would better
serve him—LCD or plasma. We got all kinds of opinions and tested all
sorts of source material, and we ended up with a decision that we’re
both happy with, considering my friend’s needs. That decision was
plasma, and it turned out to be a surprisingly personal decision. 
It’s clear that the Grinch is poised to steal this year’s holiday
retail sales. Industry watchers are just waiting to see how bad it will
be. Citing “unprecedented negative sentiment” among consumers,
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) officials last week tried to
generate an upbeat mood toward the upcoming holiday sales season at a
New York press preview for the International Consumer Electronics Show.
According to Tim Herbert, senior director of market research for CEA,
the industry is experiencing “very serious times” not seen in the 15
years since the organization began doing consumer surveys. 
In early 2004, David Ronn, a bass-playing
lawyer in Houston, started the process of building a new house. He
wanted his family's new home to be environmentally friendly — a
forward-thinking proposition at a time before Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) had described green building standards for
houses. Designer Kathleen Reardon of Evergreen Design started on the
job, and Ronn's love of playing and recording music would soon pull
another professional into the planning. 
Xtreme Technology Corporation is proud to
announce the reinvention of the home phone system with the revolutionary
new XLink, the world’s first multiple cell phone Bluetooth gateway.
The new XLink BT & BTTN models seamlessly pass cell phone calls through
the regular telephones throughout your house and come equipped with a
new long distance solution, eliminating costly service charges and
saving consumers money. 
StarTech has launched four new products in
its Converge A/V line, designed to work as part of an overall system of
extending and splitting VGA video as well as the corresponding audio,
from a single source, using a single Cat-5 cable between the
transmitting and receiving units to each display. Intended to provide AV
and digital-signage specialists with a convenient way to narrowcast VGA
and audio content to remote locations, the VGA extension system also
eliminates cost and reduces cable clutter by using Cat-5 Cables.