One day in the not too distant future having a TV that you control with you mind will no longer be science fiction but science fact.  A big Japanese manufacturer has developed brand new technology that measure changes of blood flow within the brain and thus allowing the user to take control away from their fingers.  The technology behind this wizardry is called “Optical Topography”.  Wearing a non-invasive headband that bathes the brain in small amounts of infrared light it then connects to a mapping device via optical cables.  Company “H” say that to control objects by thought power users need to “turn the key and unlock their frontal cortex”. This can be achieved by solving mathematical problems or by singing for example.  Their scientists have already demonstrated the technology using a small train set which test subjects took control of whilst wearing the headband.  Other more advanced uses are being developed including TV remote control emulation.  Whilst this might sound like a great idea cost may be the prohibitive side and the old traditional zapper will be both cheaper and easier.  I can just see some people wearing one of these headbands and struggling to “use the power of their mind” (that’s if they have a mind to use).  Also will the system get confused when you are trying to watch and understand “Eastenders” for instance and change channel or turn the volume up.  I know a few people who struggle with a hand zapper let alone their mind!  What about the best of both worlds – a remote shaped like the old grey matter??

Just when you thought it might have been safe to dip your toes in the 3DTV water and go and buy one of the ranges of flat screens from any of the big names there is an alternative to a TV that works with Active Shutter glasses.  It’s called “Passive Polarization” and will be supported by LG and JVC.  Instead of Active Shutters, they use polarised lenses instead.  Polarizing TV’s have a micro-polarizer that is bonded directly onto the front of a display and then uses an onboard 3D encoder, which takes a 3D source and filters it.  Viewers then wear polarized glasses (even those RealD spec’s pocketed from their local multiplex) to experience the 3D effect.  The upside of this is that the glasses are cheaper than frame sequential glasses so therefore some makers may offer more than just one pair with their new TV’s. However the downside is that the TV can’t display a full HD image to each eye plus also viewing angles are limited and the picture is generally darker too.   These two competing approaches to 3DTV are certain to prove problematic with potential users as trying to watch 3D with Active Shutter spec on a polarized just won’t work and vice versa.  Are the two manufacturers mentioned above going to release TV’s that use both technologies so that they don’t get left behind in the sales war – who knows?  This has the makings of the first battle fought with 3D glasses and who will come out on top is anyone’s guess.

This year’s revolution is 3D, which promises both excitement and fun for TV addicts worldwide.  However it may not be a level playing field and buying into this dream is fraught with potential peril.  The plus points of 3D are being pushed onto the consumer but there will be a downside to all this new technology.  If you own a Blu-ray player it still will be compatible with 3D movie discs (they just see the 2D part and not the extension) so it will mean an investment in a 3D Blu-ray player (only Sony’s PS3 can be upgraded for 3D).  Then there are the discs themselves.  Studios are going to be pushed for space when trying to use a single 50gb disc for a 3D movie release.  This may mean fewer special features on single-disc releases or a second disc to hold the behind-the-scenes, picture galleries, documentaries etc.  Then there’s the cautious approach from film studios about releasing titles in 3D.  3 big names are pushing the technology quite heavily and will sell screens designed to work with Active Shutter (frame sequential) glasses.  Extra glasses could cost as much as £50 each so if you want the whole family to have the 3D experience you are talking serious money.  With most if not all flat screen manufacturers investing in processes to churn out 3D TV’s unfortunately this will come with a increased price tag for the consumer but at the moment it will be just a case of waiting and watching developments in this new and exciting field.

Being a very keen photographer I have always kept a keen eye on some of the latest developments with regards to cameras.  Having owned and used film cameras from most makers, a few years ago I took the plunge and got a digital Minolta (3MP) and was hooked by the new format.  At the time the cost really prohibited me from getting a DSLR but last year I treated myself to a second-hand Canon 10D.  Again I was hooked with this camera!  Even though its only 6MP (low compared to some of the current spec’s of DSLR – just look at Sony’s flagship 24.6MP!!) its quite capable to putting in a good performance.  With a 2 Meg card and set on a “reasonable high setting” it can record over 750 images – not bad when the 35mm equivalent would need near 21 rolls of film!  Also most manufacturers of DSLR’s have stuck with the same lens mounts as their previous film models so I am able to use my existing lenses (handy and cost effective) – the only downside is that it times the focal length of the lens (roughly by 1.5) due to the sensor being a different size.  However I am still taking pic’s as though I am using film – one at a time instead of taking a few of the same subject and then deleting the rubbish ones (another advantage of digital).  Then there is the storage question – no more dusty photo albums and boxes of negatives, it’s all there at the touch of a button (that’s after you have manipulated the image to give that perfect picture).  I still shoot film, as I need my fix of “yesterday” and enjoy the wait to get my photos back from being processed.  Now I just need to let go and let my finger do the work!!

In the past few weeks A2000 Systems has updated its website due to a change in some of the products it stocks.  As a company striving to increase sales we are on the lookout to maximize our share of the market and we need to flexible in what products we offer to the public.   When we first started we had our own range of wall mounted brackets and cable management systems.  These proved really popular but people where still buying the classic TV table/stand and we decided that there was still a market for these items so stocked a wide range of them.  Sales of these was good as people still seem to like having their flatscreens mounted in this way.  Gradually sales of the tables did fall off and also some of the styles became no longer available so we decide to trim the range we stocked down.  We don’t want to discontinue the tables as we feel that there will always be a market for them so have decided to stock some new styles and sizes etc.  Also as our SPX range of both cable managements and hi-fi units continue to account for a large part of our sales we are looking at further styles/designs and hopefully these will prove to be very good sellers for us.  Some of the ideas we have may not make it past the original concept stage and some of them will.  All in all we want to build on the success of the SPX range and be able to offer the public a product that not only meets their technical requirements but also grabs their attention with style and value for money.  If you have brought one of our products in the past, keep up to date with what we are up to at www.a2000systems.co.uk

In the past year things have been tough not only nationally but also globally.  A2000 Systems like a lot of other companies are trying our hardest and best to weather this turbulent economic storm.  It hasn’t been easy at times but we hope that as time goes by things will improve.  One of the reasons that we are able to do this is our strong product range.  We feel that all our products are now representing real value for money in these cash strapped times.  Not only that we also feel that the public do deserve a product that is both stylish and practical even in these times.  Of course we have seen sales slightly dip but that’s to be expected and we are hoping that sales will pick up in time.  We have to be on the ball all the time because technology is also changing with both LED flat screens and also we are on the verge of home 3D viewing.  This will see an explosion of new TV’s being released and we at www.a2000systems.co.uk hopefully will have a product that compliments these new releases.  As we always say our 3 key strategies is “value for money, practicality and style” which we feel is what everyone who is not only a potential buyer but also an existing customer.  Our 2 ranges of cable managements are our best sellers and hopefully we will be able to continue and develop this concept and again in time sales will prove us right as it has done in the past!

With me I like things to look good – and again this all boils down to personal preference.  For some reason only known to the deepest parts of my soul I have an interest in cameras, trainers and rucksacks.  Some of you out there will think “weird” but in the big wide world there are others like me who share my same loves.  I’ve known people who have hundreds of film cameras in their collection – me I have just gone through and used a wide range from various makers.  I am now down to just one – a well used Nikon F4s, which is heavy and noisy but I wouldn’t get rid of it for “all the tea in china”.  Then there are the trainers.  I own only 5 pairs (all skate shoes) but again there are people who have hundreds and hundreds of pairs.  I’ve owned trainers which when I first clapped my eyes on them have instantly wanted to own but on wearing them have been some of the most uncomfortable pairs of footwear I have worn.  I do like skate shoes and there are 2 pairs in the bottom of my wardrobe I haven’t worn yet – saw them and just had to buy them!  With rucksacks its mainly the practical side for me – I always seem to need more storage space for some reason.  Now with the explosion of Internet shopping I could spend “big bucks” on various items not because I needed them but because something catches my eye and I just cant resist the temptation.  I will probably browse Ebay later (Mmmm)

We are on the verge of the 3D TV revolution.  “The world is about to go on a 3DTV shopping frenzy” say experts.  With the release on 3D screens this year, market experts are predicting a scramble and some analysts are guestimating that there will be 41,000,000 3D screens in use by the year 2014.  With the success of 3D movie release “Avatar” this is expected to fuel home interest.  More and more exposure to 3D films is important to the debut of 3DTV as the more consumers that have seen 3D films then the more interested there are than say the general population in being able to view 3D content in their home.  Some researchers are predicting that 3D will be long lasting with figures like “64 million screens being shipped by 2018” being touted about. With this new format and growth the buying public want reassurance that such things as 3D glasses will interoperate between brands.  Blu-ray was the first hurdle in the quest for 3D specification and the continual development of the format hopefully will tempt the public into embracing 3DTV.  As with most things it’s just a question of time but if the experts are to be prepared “just wait for the 3D avalanche to begin”.  We at www.a2000systems.co.uk wait with baited breath!

When you have an idea for a product be it new or an existing concept (say a car or TV for instance) you next likely step will be to design it.  This may be a straight forward or difficult process but fingers crossed the finished design will be both “spot on” not only for yourself but also for the public (at the end of the day these are the people who pay the bills!)  Now its that time for you to think up a name for your product - this has to be both something that grabs peoples attention but also capture the spirit of the product.  Our first range of A2000 cable management systems were called the Ebony (black) Onyx (white) and Stainless (plain brushed metal finish) - hopefully these names were spot-on in both aspects.  Now we have replaced these with the “SPX” range and just used this name with the colour of the product (its simplier than trying to remember name for the differnet colour combinations!) - its simple but at the end of the day we think it works.  Its the same with our “XPC” range - just using the colour name (Black XPC for example)  Some manufacturers who use 3 letters has them standing for something - the tricky part is do you think of the 3 names or the the 3 letters then think of the names (case of chicken or the egg maybe?)  With us “SPX” and “XPC” dont stand for anything (apart from “Style”, “Practicality”, “Value for Money”)  The “name game” is very much like the aspect of design which I touched on in earlier blogs and I may come back to this??

After a time a products design can begin to look outdated.  However it may be tempting to redesign there is always the risk that the public will not like the new look product.  The main issue I imagine is that any change may result in lower sales even though the actual concept may not have altered.  When we at A2000 Systems redesigned our original line of cable management systems it was because that on odd occasions buyers were finding it difficult to assemble (not that there was a design fault) and the “new + improved” SPX range is even more popular with the buying public.  There are instances where well established products from days gone by are re-released many years later only for them to prove slightly less popular than the original.  I can think of one that springs to mind - without mentioning its name a bike was re-released a few years back, but whilst keeping the original concept it lost many of its features that make it such a classic (its novel gear shift being one of them).  This is the fine line that has to be drawn these days - keeping that original genius design but whilst updates it for the 21st century.  This is very true for us here - do we go for a radical change in look whilst keeping the very essence that the public wants.  Car design is a classic example of using “shock tactics” for want of a better phrase - however if a product has been of the market for many years the buying public get used to the overall package and and maybe scared off with any radical changes etc.  You can never tell what the public likes!!