Pioneer Electronics is a big name in the home audio and home theater industry. The company has a full line of AV receivers and amps and makes some very nice speakers. Pioneer is also a well-known name is car audio and has produced some very nice and high-end HDTVs as well.

Pioneer has unveiled new in-ceiling and in-wall speakers in its Elite architectural speaker line that are available now from authorized dealers around the world. The speakers were developed specifically for custom installers and are matched to other Pioneer products to create a more integrated home theater system.

Vizio has upset the status quo in the HDTV market in America. The company came in, displaced some of the most established names in HDTVs in America and stole the top sales spot. The reason the company was able to do this was that its products are low cost and perform well.

Vizio has announced a new line of HDTVs that will be coming to market over the next several months. The line includes the XVT HDTV series with up to 240Hz refresh rates and TruLED with Smart Dimming technology.

Maingear’s Axess HD Gamer aims to park hardcore PC gaming in your living room with a Core i7 processor, up to 12GB of DDR3 memory, 2x NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT cards in SLI, a Phantom Lapboard and robust media center capabilities.

The Axess HD can include a Blu-ray drive, 8-channel HD audio, WIndows Vista Home Premium and up to 4TB of hard drive storage or…dual 160GB SSDs. Connections include: DVI-D, VGA, HDMI and component out, dual gigabit ethernet, eight USB 2.0 ports, two 6-pin FireWire ports and eSATA.

It seems like the big thing in the technology world today is to make everything stream Internet programming to your TV. The Xbox can do it, some TVs can do it, and there are tons of settop boxes that can stream media from the Internet to your TV. I do like the idea of watching Hulu on my big screen, but everything else I can do without.

Syabas has announced a new settop box called the C-200 that supports Blu-ray and just about every video file format under the sun. The device supports 30 formats including MPEG 1, 2, 4, AVI, H.264, Xvid, MKV, Windows Media and many more.

Some of you want something more in your HTPC keyboard than just a multitouch trackpad. Lucky for you, Cideko has your back. Their Air Keyboard has a built-in 3D mouse that will have you waving it around and hitting people in the head. But that;s not all.

It also features two gamepad-style buttons in place of standard mouse buttons. Other than that it has all of the usual media control buttons, and a range of 50 meters. The battery life is 50 hours.

This Akai AISS010 All-in-oneHome theater system has it all. We’re not sure, but there may even be a place that spits out movie tickets, in case you miss the theater.

Some features include: Docks and charges iPod, Compatible with CD/ DVD/CD-R/CD-RW/MP3/WMA/VCD/JPEG/DIVX/MPEG4, AM/FM radio with digital readout, HDMI 1080P, Supports USB and card audio playing, Built-in DVD player, LCD clock display, Composite video, S-video, Y, Cb, Cr video output, Supports all iPods, Digital coaxial & optical audio output, VFD Multi-function display, Automatic age lock and screen protection function, Remote control unit, 2.1 + 1 track power output (double sub-woofer), 4″ x 4 + 5″ x2 bass speaker 40w + 20w*2 (RMS 10% THD).

I remember summers back when I was in school. It was great for a few weeks and then I was bored out of my mind. I ended up watching lots of movies and playing video games until my parents cut me off for spending too much.

Blockbuster has announced a new summer escape pass that is good for a full week and allows customers to rent all the video games and movies they want for only $10. The catch is that you can only have one movie or video game out at once.

I haven’t really worried about the digital transition; I have a newer TV and use satellite rather than watching over-the-air broadcasts. Many people are like me, but there are lots who will be affected by the digital transition. The big switch happens tomorrow.

According to Nielsen Company despite the fact that today is the last full day of analog TV broadcasts, 2.8 million homes across America are not ready for the digital transition. That number represents 2.5% of the entire TV viewing population around the country.

I am getting tired of hearing about the digital transition. I thought we should have just switched in February as we had planned for over a year to digital broadcasts. So many people weren’t ready for the transition that it was delayed until June 12.

While more people are ready now according to some reports, there are still millions of people that have not prepared. Even Obama says there will be no more delays this time around. Those of you who are ready with your converters already may still have problems come June 12.

We can all thank HDMI for releasing us form the need for running a second cable for audio from our components to the TV or A/V receiver. I still have nightmares of having to switch the optical cable from source to source manually each time I wanted to play a game or watch TV.

HDMI Licensing LLC has announced some of the major features coming in the new HDMI v1.4 spec. The full specification list is set for availability no later than June 30, 2009. Among the new features is an HDMI Ethernet channel that allows HDMI devices to connect to each other with 100Mbps speed without the need for additional cables.

There was so much to see at CES 2009 back in January that I missed a lot of it. Each year at the show, there are some very interesting products that define new categories and let people do things that many haven’t even thought of.

One of the products I missed at the show was the Yoostar system that uses a green screen and a high-resolution webcam to make some movie magic. The system includes a webcam, mic, remote control, stand, and green screen and allows users to insert themselves into popular movies.

I have seen several of the new breed of 3D films at the theater over the last year. The most recent was the Aliens vs. Monsters flick that used RealD technology for all the 3D goodness the film offered. I will be happy when 3D finally comes affordably to the living room so I can watch my favorite shows in 3D.

RealD has announced today a new accessory for 3D ready projectors that is design for use in the home or office on screens up to 17-feet across. The accessory is called the RealD LP and promises to bring the 3D quality from the local cinema to small venues like conference rooms and other places.

Solar-powered gadgets are nothing new. But a solar powered home theater system? It’s appropriately named the “Guiltless Green Home Theater” and was manufactured from scratch by Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA). It’s the first of its kind and has some surprising specs.

For one thing it will give you up to 19 hours of video and audio playback even if the sun isn’t shining that day. They didn’t sacrifice quality either, with a Sharp projector, a 100″ Stewart Filmscreen, six SpeakerCraft in-wall speakers, an Integra AV receiver, Monster Cable wiring, Lutron lighting, and Universal Remote Control.

This tiny LEGO movie theater is awesome. It actually features a working, very tiny movie projector. The projector works at 24 fps, so it may not be good picture quality, but Lego minifigs have a different eyesight than you have. It’s nicely detailed. Even the seats are numbered. Make sure you check out the video below.

The builder, Ricardo M. Oliv, did an awesome job. Now all he needs is full length movies and he can sell tickets to other geeks who can sit their minifigs in the seats with a miniature popcorn and soda.

We all know the economy is bad, businesses are closing, people are out of work and technology and many other industries are seeing very slow sales. The housing market in many areas is virtually dead. The recession has significantly impacted TV sales.

According to DisplaySearch, Q4 2008 was the first quarter in history that saw a decline in TV revenues. At the same time revenues declined shipments were up 33% year over year. The reason for shipments increasing and revenues falling is lower prices forced by poor sales.