Won an iPhone

Hey Kids,
Remember back last winter when we held that Win-an-iPhone Contest? Well it wasn't just some scam to increase our site traffic (though it did that quite nicely — thanks for coming by). Yes, we actually have a winner!

Her name is Janie Cooley, and she's from Midland, Texas (yes, of course iPhones work in Midland, Texas, you 10-gallon-hats-for-brains).

Anyway, Janie and her iPhone are doing just fine, thank you. And don't ask us for her iPhone number, 'cause we wouldn't give it to you even if we knew it. Nor will we tell you how old she is, though we actually do know that (unless she lied on her entry form).

Really, don't ask anything. Just wish Janie a polite congrats and vow that you'll beat her when we hold the next S&V contest. Whatever that will be.—Rob Medich

Pioneer Blu-ray Sneak Peek

Don't let it be said that we don't know important people here at S&V — people who will risk their very lives to get us early, semi-exclusive info.

That's why we didn't find ourselves the least bit surprised when we got a call from someone we call, "Blu-Throat." B.T., a source close to Pioneer, gave us the inside scoop on that company's next generation Blu-ray player, the BDP-05FD. Look at the photo now. Everybody say, Oooh.

DVR-owners Get Geeky

Would it surprise you to learn that DVR-owners seem to be slightly nerdier than the rest of the TV-watching population? Probably not. Data from Nielsen during the last week of March proves that while the most popular shows on TiVo are similar to the most popular shows on broadcast TV (American Idol, CSI: Miami, Dancing With The Stars), several shows with relatively low broadcast ratings seem to get a huge chunk of their meager audience from TiVo-wielding fans.

The geekiest clue has “geek” in the title.

Japan Waves Goodbye to JVC LCDs

This won't affect North American and European consumers, but Japanese shoppers may soon observe a noticeable lack of JVC LCD TVs for sale. That's because JVC is looking to exit the business in its home country, and will probably make its decision official later this month when it reports earnings.

Sony's Paper-Thin OLED

Sony just OLED the cat out of the bag. At a display expo in Japan this week — one that U.S. consumers and enthusiasts are hardly aware of — Sony showed that it can do a lot better than its 11-inch, 3mm thick XEL-1 OLED TV (which is already ahead of the rest of the industry).

$9 for True Video On Demand HD Movies?

Movie fans have a lot of choices when it comes to how they're going to access a film. Theaters, DVDs, Blu-ray, mail rentals, digital rentals, digital downloads and video on demand are all viable options depending on a consumer's patience level.

Apparently, though, video on demand services are suffering because of the immediacy of DVDs. Once a new DVD (or Blu-ray disc) goes on sale, video on demand fans typically wait a month to see it show up through their cable carrier.

Get Thee to a Shoppery!

What's a "record store"? If you've never been to one, it's time for you to paddle away from your computer keyboard's virtual Amazon and enter the real world of bricks and mortar. And if you're, ahem, an older buyer who hasn't been to one in a while, it's time for you to remember the future. (Band? Nationality? Year? Famous guy who joined them later? Answers below.)

Sharp's Newest Aquos Ready for the Web

You might remember Sharp's Aquos SE94 LCD HDTVs from CES reports back in January, but the Internet-faring TVs are finally real and shipping within North America. Let us refresh your memory: The Aquos SE94 sets — in 46, 52, and 65-inch models — have built in PC and ethernet ports in the back panel that allow the sets to access the Web.

iRecord Pro Buddies Up to Any A/V Ins and Outs

Gadget reviewers liked the original iRecord, from Streaming Networks and NXP Semiconductors, because it made transferring any audio or video from one source to another, such as protected DVDs playing on a DVD player to an iPod, or recorded TiVo shows to a laptop drive, a simple operation.

But the iRecord Pro, announced yesterday at a broadcasters conference in Las Vegas, is more than a solution to a logistical problem. Instead, the upgraded device competes with audiophile and videophile time-shifting gear like the Logitech Squeezebox and Echostar Slingbox.

A Future Filled with Unlimited Storage

Limitations in data storage are the only thing holding us back from iPods and personal video players that hold thousands of movies and hundreds of thousands of audio tracks. Hard drives break, and flash drives are slow.

Researchers at IBM's IBC research center in San Jose, Calif. have spent years developing a workaround they call “racetrack memory” that could change all that. Their data storage research was published last week in Science Magazine.