Geoffrey Morrison

CES 2013: Velodyne LIDAR

Not a subwoofer

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted January 12, 2013

We know Velodyne for their subwoofers, and lately, headphones. This isn’t all they do, though.

They also love robots.

Self-guided, thinking, driving, car-sized robots.

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DTS Headphone X

CES 2013: DTS Headphone X - Surround sound in your headphones

One of the coolest demos at CES

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted January 12, 2013

Never underestimate the power of a good demo. There’s some sort of magic mix of twisting expectations and cleverly revealed reality that sticks with the audience for years. Bose gets this, with their “but it’s just these small speakers!” reveal. Pioneer nailed it with the “this TV is also on” KURO demo.

DTS might have done it with their Headphone X demo at CES.

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Why I hate Aerosmith

And/or: Classic Rock Radio Blows

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted January 18, 2013
5

I really hate Aerosmith. No band causes me to change the radio faster than when I hear the first few notes of any Aerosmith song.

Unfortunately, of the many genres of music I enjoy, “classic rock” is one of the few you can find on the radio dial. And no matter where you go, it’s universal: classic rock radio is horrible.

Why?

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2013 Ford Fusion

Review: MyFord Touch in the 2013 Ford Fusion

A road trip plagued by the plague, a car surprising in its class

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted January 21, 2013

The town of Baker sits like a wart on the side of the I-15, somewhere in the desolation between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. A bizarre bastion of fast-food consumerism and price-gouged gasoline, it exists only as a way station for those optimistically heading to the City of Sin, or disillusioned, returning to the City of Angles.

Most years, it's my one and only stop, a quick tank top-off before the final push. This year, it's my third. One of the stops was a nap. I am not well.

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Of Lightsabers and Lens Flare: J.J. Abrams Does Star Wars

No, seriously

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted January 25, 2013

The nerdworld exploded yesterday when news leaked that Disney had selected J.J. Abrams to direct the next Star Wars movie. J.J. Abrams is best known for the under-watched Alias, the over-watched Lost, and of course for resurrecting and rebooting the other great sci-fi franchise: Star Trek.

As one would expect from the most rabid fanbase in the world, hatred spewed forth.

But not from me. I say let him at it.

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(Do not) Objectify a Male Tech Writer Day (Or Don’t)

A tech-industry commemoration gets canceled—but it’s still worth discussing.

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted February 1, 2013

Today was supposed to be “Objectify a Male Tech Writer Day.” A clever and amusing way to point out how differently our culture treats female tech writers compared to their male peers.

Earlier this week, though, the creator of the idea called it off, fearing a misunderstanding of the intent.

Her idea, though, is worth discussing, for many, many reasons.

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Review: M-Go Internet Video-on-Demand Service

A new “competitor” of Amazon and iTunes

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted February 4, 2013

M-Go is a streaming video service aimed at TVs and tablets, as a competitor to iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and VUDU.

My question, as it has been with other services, is what kind of selection this service has. Is it a worthwhile alternative? Does it have the depth of content Amazon and iTunes have? Will non-Apple and Amazon tablets finally have a worthwhile place to buy/rent movies and TV shows?

There’s only one way to find out: with a fancy chart.

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We Three Projectors

Putting a trio of 3D contenders from Sony, Epson and JVC to the screen test.

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted February 6, 2013
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Winter is my favorite season, when all the past year’s new flat-panel TVs have been reviewed and I can switch my attention to projectors. This season was particularly bountiful, as I was able to score three of the best projectors on the market for review. Sony’s VPL-HW50ES, plus an Epson and a JVC, all arrived on my doorstep within a few days of one another. Not too shabby, that. Time for a roundup.

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Test Report: Darbee Darblet Video Enhancer

Make your Blu-rays shine.

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted February 13, 2013

I think you can file most video enthusiasts into two broad categories: Purists and Bestists.The Purists want accurate color, bit-for-bit accuracy from Blu-ray, original aspect ratios, and so on. Bestists want the image to fill their screen, and to see a picture with hyper-detail (and maybe hypercolor). Which brings us to Darbee’s Darblet video enhancer. While a Purist might dismiss the Darblet as something a Bestist would want, I couldn’t say for sure that both camps won’t be curious. It is … interesting.

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Dead Space 3 Review

Dead Space 3 Review

Space zombie horror shooter version 3.0

By Geoffrey Morrison
Posted February 15, 2013

I played the first Dead Space because I had to. It was one of my first game reviews for S+V. It was inconsistent, regularly annoying, but fairly enjoyable. The sequel was a better game overall, but lacking some of the first game’s raw scariness.

The universe, story, and concept were sound enough that I was actually looking forward to DS3.

Here’s what I found.

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