Crave

If you listen to music over your iPod or computer, it's safe to say you're listening in stereo.

Cars are a different story; they can have speakers in all sorts of places, so I'll grant that music in the car may not be in stereo.

But the music itself at least started out as stereo; MP3s and CDs are strictly stereo, so unless you listen to a lot of 5.1 channel SACDs or DVD-Audio discs, stereo is where it's at.

For around the same money, which sounds better?

Most, but not all post-1980 films are available in 5.1. So if you have a 5.1-channel home theater, surround is where it's at. But there's a catch; most people, I'm guessing at least 75 percent, listen to movies with the speakers built into their TVs. Which are, after all, stereo speakers.

So again, stereo wins the popularity contest. And if you're watching movies on a portable device or computer, yup, you're listening to stereo.

The movie companies are certainly aware that once their film leaves theaters most folks will be listening to the stereo mix. They make sure it sounds great.

My personal home theater is a 2.0 (no subwoofer) system. I'm no fan of special-effects-driven films; I go for dramas and concert films. What can I say? Stereo fits my lifestyle/aesthetic perfectly.

I'm not claiming 5.1-, 6.1-, or 7.1-multichannel sound is "bad"; not at all. In fact, I think the quality of movie surround mixes has steadily improved over the years. I listen to them when I'm reviewing gear all the time, but I don't need to hear surround at home. For me film is about the quality of the story, acting, and cinematography. The sound? Sure, it's extremely important, but it's there to support the picture.

How about you? Do you listen to movies in stereo?

The best of today's home theater in a box systems are excellent, but how do you find the one that's right for you?

First, read my CNET reviews; they're loaded with information about how easy the HTIB is to use and how well it performs. It may be a dubious honor, but I probably hold the record for testing more HTIBs for magazines and Web sites than any other reviewer.

Most HTIBs come with Blu-ray or DVD players, receivers, and five or more speakers and a subwoofer. Right, HTIBs also come with lots of wires and setup chores, so they're almost as complex to install as separate receiver, player, and speaker-based home theater systems.

Onkyo's HT-S9100THX is the best-sounding HTIB on the planet.

(Credit: Onkyo)

If that's more than you bargained for, maybe you should be looking for something simpler: a single-speaker surround system? That would eliminate most of the wiring and setup hassles. Check my CNET reviews to see if one is right for you.

For small bedrooms or dorm rooms, a budget HTIB or single-speaker surround system may be ideal. Family-size home theaters may require larger systems with larger speakers and powered subwoofers.

Connectivity varies a lot in this category, so don't assume all HTIBs have what you need. If you don't want to switch inputs on your TV every time you select a different video source, say from a game system to a Blu-ray player, make sure the HTIB has enough HDMI and other video inputs. Some HTIBs don't switch video at all. Some have USB inputs and iPod-docking capabilities.

HTIBs tend to sound best with movies; music comes in a distant second place. I always refer to HTIBs' performance with movies and music, so if you plan on listening to a lot of music over your new system, definitely look for that in the reviews. Don't assume the sound will be equally good for music and movies; it rarely is.

A couple of days ago we gave away a Sony Bravia 32-inch LCD TV. For all of you who didn't win, don't despair. Now we're serving up an LG 32-inch LCD TV, which is just as good. It may be an entry-level model, but our video guru David Katzmaier had some nice things to say about it in his review.

"While its light shade of black won't win over bargain home theater sticklers, the LG H20 series' features and adjustability stand out among the entry-level crowd," he said.

Normally, the LG 32LH20 would cost you about $499, but you have the chance to get it gratis.

So, how do you try to win this 32-inch LCD TV? Let me enumerate the basic rules. Please read them carefully; there will be a test.

• Register as a CNET user. Go to the top of this page and hit the "Join CNET" link to start the registration process. If you're already registered, there's no need to register again.
• Leave a comment below. You can leave whatever comment you want. If it's funny or insightful it won't help you win, but we're trying to have fun here, so anything entertaining is appreciated.
• Leave only one comment. You may enter this specific giveaway only once. If you enter more than one comment, you will be automatically disqualified.
• The winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive (1) LG 32LH20 32-inch LCD TV. Approximate retail value is $499.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified via e-mail. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Monday, November 30, at 7 a.m. EST.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENT OF ONE OF THE 50 UNITED STATES OR D.C., 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER AT DATE OF ENTRY INTO SWEEPSTAKES. VOID IN PUERTO RICO, ALL U.S. TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS AND WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sweepstakes ends at 7 AM ET on November 30, 2009. See official rules for details.

Good luck.

Come back Monday for our next holiday giveaway. Monday's prize will be a Vizio 32-inch LCD TV.

If you've wished you could connect your external hard drive to your computer without having to use the USB cable, now you can.

Imation announced Thursday the availability of the first wireless USB external hard drive, the Pro WX. The hard drive works just like any other USB hard drive, with one exception: it doesn't require a USB cable.

The Pro WX wireless USB external hard drive.

(Credit: Imation)

Wireless USB has been under development for about five years, and some of the first products were demoed at CES 2009. This technology allows you to connect USB 2.0 devices to a computer wirelessly from up to 30 feet away with a throughput speed of up to 480Mbps.

According to Imation, the Pro WX wireless USB external hard drive offers less than that, with speeds of up to only 120Mbps or 15MBps; this is about three times slower than regular USB 2.0 hard drives. At this speed it can finish copying the entire content of a CD-ROM (roughly 800MB) in about 50 seconds. Other than that, this drive is based on the 3.5-inch desktop hard drive and offers 1.5TB of storage.

The Imation Pro WX features a sleep-mode feature to conserve energy and a one-touch, backup sync button for you to manually start a backup when needed. The device is compatible with both PC and Mac operating systems

In order to take advantage of the wireless USB, your computer needs to support this. As most computers don't have built-in wireless USB, there are adapters that you can add to the machine. It's unclear if an adapter is included with the Pro WX.

What's clear, however, is the fact that this is going to be one of the most expensive external hard drives you can find. At the estimated price of $500, about three times the price of regular external USB hard drives of the same storage capacity, I am not sure if it's worth it when the only benefit is losing the USB cable.

The Vega tablet: killer Android device?

(Credit: ICD)

As if Apple and Microsoft didn't already make it clear (editor's note: by Apple, we mean the ever-pervasive rumors of their upcoming "slate"), 2010 looks like the Year of the Tablet. First viewed sitting on a table of an Nvidia executive, the Vega tablet will try to beat Apple's tablet (if the rumors are true), Microsoft's in-process Courier concept, and the semievaporated Crunchpad to the punch.

ICD, the manufacturer of the Vega, has confirmed the existence of the tablet as a real product, whose details will be more fully revealed at CES. Vega...Vegas...it seems appropriate.

The sleek black pad will come in sizes of 7, 11, and 15 inches, and will run Android OS 2.0. Its internal processor will be a Nvidia Tegra, which means that HD and even gaming-level graphics should indeed be possible.

The Vega tablet from the back.

(Credit: ICD)

Other specs, according to ICD:

• Resistive touch-screen display
• 1,366x768 screen (for the 15.6-inch model)
• 512 DDR/512 NAND storage
• 1.3-megapixel Webcam
• MicroSD card slot
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
• USB 2.0 port/s
• 2g/3g data accessible
• Magnetic docking
• Accelerometer
• Dual microphones

We like that dock.

(Credit: ICD)

The fact that it has magnetic docking and an accelerometer sounds promising, and ICD also claims video chat, gaming, and "on-demand Web TV" as features.

The dock, in the photos, seems to allow the Vega to be stood up like a photo frame, which is a nice touch. The most disappointing aspect: ICD's fact sheet claims 4 hours of battery life. We also would have preferred a capacitive touch display, like the iPhone's, as opposed to a resistive.

What's the cost? Well, we'll find out that soon enough.

(Credit: CNET / Josh Lowensohn)

Ever wondered what some of the graphical differences are in games that make use of the newer hardware in the latest versions of Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch? So were we. That's why we put together a screenshot comparison gallery of 13 games, all of which are either packing extra OpenGL ES 2.0 goodies, or that more complicated graphics modes that run a whole lot better on the beefier hardware spec.

As for our testing, we ran each title on an iPhone 3G and a third-generation iPod Touch, the latter of which packs the faster innards required for some of the advanced OpenGL effects.

To our surprise, there were very few apps on the App Store that made use the new graphical spec, and even fewer that required a standalone version of that application to do so. However, many of the developers we talked with said that they were cooking up new titles that would be pushing these new devices a little further than what they had already created. That's good news for those with a newer iPhone or iPod Touch, but a definite thorn in the side of those who might not be able to play some of near-future App Store releases on their original iPhone or iPhone 3G.

Click on our slideshow link below to get started. We've also included links to each version of each app (in case there are variations), all of which open up in iTunes. Also, in case we missed any, feel free to leave them in the comments and we'll try to add them later.

Update: We've added bonus screenshots of Ravensword, the upcoming 3D RPG, as well as top-down pinball game Wild West Pinball.

Images: iPhone games graphics showdown

See also:
The future of iPhone games
For games, no big rush to speedy iPhone 3GS
iPhone developer: 3G S graphics will be sooo much better than PSP's

The Droid doesn't do everything.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

One of the latest misconception to make its way around the blogspehere was that the Motorola Milestone features multitouch functionality whereas its Droid counterpart does not. As it turns out, Verizon's first Google Android smartphone does offer multitouch, just not in the same capacity. What's the difference and, more importantly, who made the decision to water down this feature for the Droid?

Made popular by the iPhone, pinching and pulling has become the preferred method for zooming in on a smart phone. While Verizon's Droid handset is built using the same Android 2.0 OS as the Milestone, users are left using a less-accurate double-tap.

The Milestone has multitouch built directly into the Android framework while the Droid relies on APIs that come with the 2.0 SDK. That means that it's up to app developers to implement the features.

For reasons unknown, however, Google hasn't integrated the capability into apps such as Google Maps. Though it could be added into future updates of select titles, the question remains: Who decided to leave basic multitouch off of Droid?

... Read more

Motorola Milestone

(Credit: Crave UK)

On Monday Motorola announced the first GSM Google Android 2.0 handset. Dubbed the Milestone, it's quite similar to Verizon's Motorola Droid save for a few changes.

The biggest difference is that the Milestone goes far beyond the Droid with its multitouch support. While the Droid allows you to zoom in and out on the home screen by double tapping, the Milestone also includes iPhone-like pinch capability. Squeeze your fingers together to zoom in on Web pages, maps and photos and spread them apart to zoom out. Android users have long hungered after this feature, which is why we got excited when we first heard that Android 2.0 would offer it. Hopefully, the Droid will get it since there's really no reason that it doesn't.

Another big chnage lies in the navigational software. Whereas the Droid comes loaded with the new Google Maps Navigator, Milestone offers MOTONAV, which is the company's own spoken turn-by-turn guidance and mapping system. Milestone also offers trial versions of their Easy Search, Lane Guidance, and Maps.

Meanwhile, the hardware remains nearly identical to Droid. Both have 3.7-inch 480x854-pixel resolution screens, 5-megapixel cameras with dual-LED flash, and 3.5mm headset jacks. But in a small change, the Droid comes with a 16GB microSD card and Milestone comes with an 8GB card. Internally, the only hardware difference is found in the radios; Droid is CDMA-based while Milestone is a quad-band GSM handset.

Italy and Germany will be among the first markets to carry Milestone with more countries coming later.

Initial response to the new Motorola Droid smartphone on the Verizon Wireless network have been very good, thanks in large part to the updated Android 2.0 operating system.

A look at how multiple accounts are handled in the contact list of an Android 2.0 phone.

(Credit: Google)

The new updated version of the open-source operating system offers new Android phones a series of enhancements as well as improved performance. The updated software is being credited with enabling many of the cool new features, such as the updated version of the Google Maps service, which allows for voice command turn-by-turn directions.

The Motorola Droid for Verizon will be the first device that will use the new software. Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA will also be selling Android devices this holiday season, but neither carrier has announced a device that will use the updated version of the operating system.

But that doesn't mean that the Droid will be the only device running the 2.0 software this year. A Google representative said it's very likely at least one other phone will be introduced that uses the new version of the open source operating system.

One of the features that the updated software has added allows for the integration of multiple social-networking and e-mail accounts into the phone's contact list. This means that contact and calendar information can be synced with Microsoft Exchange e-mail services and also other Web e-mail accounts, as well as, social-networking sites like Facebook.

The new version of the software has support for Microsoft Exchange, which is a huge deal because it means that corporate users can sync their work e-mail with their phones. A search function was added to the SMS and MMS messaging feature. The software has also been updated to support a camera that includes a built-in flash, digital zoom, scene mode, white balance, color effect, and macro focus.

A look at a user's combined email on the updated Android 2.0 operating system.

(Credit: Google)

The new software has also improved the virtual keyboard layout to make it easier to hit the right keys as well as improved the typing speed. The 2.0 version of software supports an enhanced browser that allows users to directly tap the address bar for instant searches and navigation. It allows bookmarks with Web page thumbnails. It offers double-tap zoom. And there is full HTML5 support, which among other things allows for geolocation applications to be developed to provide location information about the device.

Overall the new improvements to the software should make the Android devices operate much faster than the previous generation of software. A Google representative said the software is backwards compatible with older versions of Google Android hardware. But it is up the carriers whether or not they allow users to upgrade their devices to the new operating system. And the carriers will be controlling the timing of these upgrades.

As for the new Android devices coming from Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, they won't likely immediately have the Android 2.0 operating system, but it's likely these devices, along with new Android phones will come with the new version of the OS.

A Sprint representative said that traditionally the company pushes out or allows users to upgrade software when it's made available.

T-Mobile, which was the first carrier to offer an Android phone, will have four Google Android phones available for the holidays. Two are available today: the original T-Mobile G1, which launched in October of last year, and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, which went on sale this summer and is available now for $149.99. T-Mobile is adding two more devices to line-up in time for the holidays: the Motorola Cliq which goes on sale November 2, and the Samsung Behold II, which does not yet have a launch date but will be available before Christmas.

As of November 1, Sprint will have two Android-powered devices as part of its lineup: the HTC Hero and the Samsung Moment, which costs $180 with a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year Sprint contract.