It was bound to happen; the shift from CRT to flat panel took a while, and came hand in hand with the jump from SD (how on Earth did we ever watch that?) to HDTV. Folks across Canada moved from 27″ tubes to massive, spacious, and almost impossibly thin 40″/42″ panels – sizes that have dominated retail sales for the past three years.
So it comes as no surprise that the Jones’ have moved upwards and onwards – and it’s time to catch up with them. The 40-ish inch panels that found homes across the nation are starting to get along in age, and with falling flat panel prices it means that an upgrade every few years isn’t out of the question. We’ve broken the 10-year TV cycle – shattered it, really -as Canadians prepare to move the 40″ into the bedroom and find themselves hankering for a new display for gaming, TV, and movies.
What can you look forward to when buying a new flat panel? If you bought a 40-incher over the past few years you either picked a CCFL-backlit LCD or a plasma. Your new display will give you the option of more efficient LCDs, new plasmas that suck a fraction of the power, or the ultra energy efficient LED-backlit LCDs. Newer displays are built with greener power consumption in mind, and most new models are built to more strict environmental standards in the hopes of reducing e-waste.
You might notice that newer displays offer colours that really pop; older displays didn’t offer the wide colour gamut that you’ll find on newer ones. The colour gamut is the amount of spectrum that our eyes can see – by producing a display that can show more of the colour gamut you get a TV that offers images that are closer to what we see in real life.
Depending on the model you’re looking at you’ll probably see and hear a lot about Internet Widgets and DLNA. There’s an effort afoot to integrate the web into just about everything in consumer electronics; you may not ever have the urge to check the weather at a click of a button, but you can. YouTube access looks more interesting as it shifts to a place where 1080p streaming is a reality.
Finally: Size. Across electronics stores the 40″ range has taken the place of smaller 32s and 37s as 50″ models move into the limelight. We’re going to see some killer deals on the remaining 40s as the larger 50-inch displays become the focus. If you’re feeling the itch for a new display, be aware that you’re going to be directed upwards in relation to screen size; in the end that’s not a bad thing.
Thus it ends: not with a bang but with a lawsuit. All I can say is *sigh*. In an effort to desperately convince consumers that there’s some sort of competition in Canada, TELUS has filed a lawsuit against Rogers alleging that ads claiming that Rogers has the country’s fastest network are misleading. Instead of spending the time and effort to reduce fees for Canadians, or to provide better service, the telecom giants have decided to focus on who can lie to us better.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see ads like “lowest cost per minute” or “best rates for data”? How about “best unlimited plan” or “we’ve thrown in all the packaged extras that we used to charge you for”? While ultra high-speed data sounds great on paper I don’t know many people that get the speeds advertised, so in essence we’re being sold a bill of goods for something few of us actually use frequently (possibly because the service doesn’t deliver as promised). I don’t know about anyone else, but I get really tired of seeing “Loading 23/24kb” on my BlackBerry – to the point where I’ll occasionally just give up.
Can fault be found elsewhere in Canadian telecom advertising?
The Future is Friendly – TELUS
This line was retired this year; possibly because TELUS was acknowledging (with its charges for incoming text messages, the increase in roaming charges in the US, and jacking their rates on add-on bundles) that the Future is downright mean.
Canada’s Most Reliable Network – Rogers
Rogers claims their network is up to two times faster than anyone else – not exactly true now that everyone’s on HSPA (assuming, of course, that you upgrade your hardware and sign into a 3 year contract again). I’m still not entirely sure who gets to do the judging on reliability. Do we borrow the Verizon guy for that?
Surf the net on Canada’s fastest network – Bell
Wait… didn’t Rogers just say they had the fastest network? Has Bell really done anything worth noticing over the last year other than paying millions to get their logo changed from “Bell” to “Bell”? How about that “er” campaign that made everyone say “er… what the hell are you doing?”
This is all just a distraction – the hoopla about mobile speed is a shiny bauble to keep your eyes over there while all three (who, between them, control 90% of the mobile space) spend time picking our pockets. It’s a waste of time, energy, and money for everyone involved – but it makes a great news story.
This Saturday I’m going to be heading back to the EA campus in Burnaby to cover and participate in TEDx Vancouver – an independently organized TED event. The list of speakers hasn’t been released to the public yet, but I can confirm that it’s a group I’m excited to see.
The theme this year is Forever Young. Here’s what TEDxVan has to say about it:
“TEDxVancouver 2009: “Forever Young”
Remember what it was like to be a kid? Wide-eyed and fascinated by the world around you, never afraid to dream big, and always eager to learn? TedxVancouver wants to unleash a youthful, contagious energy; one that breeds creativity, and fosters the exploration and synthesis of new ideas.
Our city is internationally recognized for its contributions to sustainable development, medical research and interactive entertainment. These three diverse example frames of reference will provide the backdrop for some extraordinary new perspectives that will help us celebrate what it truly means to be Forever Young.”
In addition to the TED talks given by the speakers there are also going to be breakout sessions throughout the day, offering an opportunity to engage the speakers in a more personal way. I’m looking forward to chatting with more than a few of them.
Got questions about TEDxVan? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you.
It’s curious to see that Australia became nervous about Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the hit zombie-annihilating title of 2008 Left 4 Dead – because there aren’t any people to kill in the game.
No, Left 4 Dead 2, like it’s predecessor, focuses on delivering hours of gameplay wherein players work together to eradicate the scores of infected mutations. The zombie-apocalypse simulator gives those 18 and older (the game is rated M or 18+ just about everywhere – and we all know that the conscientious parents of the world wouldn’t buy gory games for their wee tykes… that’d be bad parenting!) the opportunity to assault unending hordes of zombies in an effort to get themselves to safety. Truly, no human beings (other than the heroes) can be harmed through the course of events.
The censored version that’s been foisted on our Aussie bretheren features much of the same levels of splatitude, but with some carefully selected ommissions – holes, for example, can not be shot through the infected, nor can limbs or heads be separated – and that, my friends, is a travesty.
Violence against humans is a questionable subject; studies have shown that participation in digital violence against kinetically animated digital marionettes doesn’t not influence the behaviour of players. That point, however, is moot when you consider the Holy Trinity of Videogame Violence.
The Trinity comprises of three groups upon which untold scores of violence can be visited without fear of reprisal from parents groups, government agents, or bored busybodies. Those three groups are (in no particular order) Zombies, Nazis, and Aliens. There isn’t anyone on the planet (other than the guv’mint of Oz) that can reasonably get behind defending these groups as moving targets. You’ve really got to hand it to Valve when you consider their mastery of this art in Half-Life 2; killing jackbooted alien zombies nails them a pretty sweet trifecta.
Left 4 Dead 2 is more than just a game; it’s a cathartic release against a foe we can all rally around whuppin’: the hordes of the undead hungry for our brains. If you’ve got something against man defending himself and his fellow man from soulless mutations hungry for gray matter… well, let’s just say we won’t open the door to the safe room for you when the tide of the undead sweeps towards you. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
