New LG Blu-ray player will stream movies from Netflix

Viewers seeking easy access to prerecorded movies and TV shows will soon have a new option: LG says its next high-def DVD player, the BD300 Network Blu-ray Player, can stream content from the Netflix website directly to their TVs.

The BD300, which will be available this fall, requires a broadband connection to access the Netflix website. Using the player's remote control, users can browse movies and TV shows, and access ratings and a synopsis of a program. Desired selections are then added to a personalized queue, which is displayed on the TV screen. According to LG, once a movie is selected from the queue, it will start playing within 30 seconds, and viewers will be able to fast-forward and rewind the program as they do on a DVR.

There are several questions that hopefully will be answered at a press conference this evening. For example, the companies didn't say if the programs would be available as high-def video streams, and if so, what the resolution would be.  Based on other deals, we presume it will be sent as standard-definition video. And so far, there's no word on the expected price for the player. And while the companies said there would be "no additional charge" for content streamed from Netflix, they didn't say what level of membership, if any, would be required to access the Netflix library.

The BD300, a Profile 2.0 player with Blu-ray's BonusView (picture-in-picture) and BD Live (Internet access) features, is the second joint product announcement from LG and Netflix this year. At the CES trade show in January, the two companies said that in the second half of the year LG would offer a settop box with a similar ability to stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to TVs. Netflix also has a deal with Microsoft that allows Xbox 360 owners to access standard-def content from the Netflix website.

We'll be attending the LG summer line show this evening, so stay tuned for more details about the BD300 and other LG products. LG has emerged as a strong brand in multiple consumer electronics categories, including TVs, Blu-ray and DVD players and recorders, and cell phones. Several LG models are listed in our LCD and plasma TV recommendations. For other fine choices see our Ratings of LCD and plasma TVs. (Ratings and recommendations are available to subscribers.)

—James K. Willcox

Tip of the day: Protecting your gadgets

Summer vacations can be tough on cell phones, digital cameras, iPods, GPS, and other mobile electronics. How do you keep your portables safe from sand, surf, and other summertime hazards when you head to the beach or pool or hit the showers after a swim?

Some of us here at Consumer Reports have stumbled on a really inexpensive solution: the reseal-able plastic bag, more commonly used to keep food fresh.

Sure, stashing your stuff in a clear sandwich bag may not seem chic—especially given the myriad choices in protective cases for portable electronics. But it is a smart (and extremely simple) way to keep things safe. After all, if that bag can keep your ham on rye dry, it'll also keep your mobile phone moisture-free, too!

What's more, you don't even have to take your gadget out of its clear cocoon to use it in most cases. In one informal trial, a staffer had no trouble answering and talking on her bagged phone. That's a neat trick—literally—if you have to take a call while applying suntan lotion or eating ice cream. Another colleague was able to listen to tunes on his zipped-up MP3 player via Bluetooth headphones.

Scoff, if you want. But some protection is better than none. Right after we talked about this idea in our offices, a friend inadvertently went into a beach shower with her phone in her pocket. When last seen, she was still trying to bring it back to life.

Of course, a plastic bag provides no crash protection if you drop your gear onto a hard surface. But it is a low-cost, easy-to-find, and easy-to-fit-in-your-pocket-or-purse solution for common summer hazards—especially for kids with sticky hands.

For other helpful summertime tips, see our free "Guide to summer health & safety" on ConsumerReports.org.

The Kindle, the Reader, and e-ink: The buzz continues

Electronic-book (or e-book) readers, including the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader, use an electronic "ink" (or e-Ink) display to reproduce text. (The image at right shows a sample of the e-Ink technology. You can click on it for a closer look.) You move through a book by pressing a button to pull the next page from the device's electronic memory. Current versions are imperfect, but in recent weeks a leading print magazine; you, our readers; and several design and media experts have convinced me to follow this fascinating technology more closely.

The print magazine is Esquire, which announced that its September issue will appear on newsstands with a battery-powered e-ink cover. Meanwhile, our test observations on the Kindle continue to draw readers and comments some eight months after we posted them. Our tests and your comments reflect a mixed verdict, highlighting many disadvantages as well as some pluses. Our take on the second-generation Sony Reader was similarly ambivalent.

But several lectures I've attended in the past week or so argue that flaws are inevitable when products break significant new ground—as these devices clearly do, being more legible and more portable than past e-books. Last week, while attending Stanford University's Stanford Professional Publishing Course, I heard professor Paul Saffo urge magazine editors to embrace the Kindle and its ilk, in spite of their flaws. Another instructor, renowned product designer Bill Moggridge, told me the Kindle has streamlined his research process by allowing him to electronically highlight passages in books and download those excerpts to his computer, saving him hours of transcription time.

Here at Consumer Reports, we recently enjoyed a lecture from Bo Sacks, an expert on so-called Electronically Coordinated Information Distribution, who predicts that e-books will command a growing share of the print market. That will happen, he says, as the devices improve and as the downsides of printed paper continue—notably its escalating cost and its long-term environmental issues.

—Paul Reynolds

Protect your Bluetooth

For you, a Bluetooth headset offers a safe way to use your cell phone hands-free in the car. For cyberthieves, it's just another security gap waiting to be exploited.

The U.S. CERT (that’s the government's Computer Emergency Readiness Team) just issued a list of tips to help you use Bluetooth devices more securely. Nothing too difficult, and in fact it's mostly common-sense advice.

Two practices stand out. First, disable your Bluetooth device when you're not using it. And when you do enable it, use it only in hidden, or "not discoverable", mode .

You can get other Bluetooth security tips and learn more about setting up a good password for your Bluetooth and other devices at the U. S. CERT site:

http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST05-015.html

—Donna Tapellini

Essential gadgets for emergencies

With Texans along the Gulf Coast recovering from Hurricane Dolly, we thought it would be a good time to mention electronics gear that can be invaluable to have before, during and after a natural disaster or other emergency. Of course, there are other items you'll need, such as flashlights, water, and more. For a complete checklist and other tips on preparing for—and dealing with the aftermath of—devastating storms and disasters, see our free Storm and Emergency guide on ConsumerReports.org.

On the electronics front, here's what we recommend:

• Make sure you have an emergency radio—powered by either batteries or a hand-crank—which will work even if the lights go out. A radio can pull in vital news, weather, and evacuation information from AM radio stations, which have further "reach" than TV broadcasters.
• Have at least one corded phone that doesn't require electricity. A cordless phone's base station won't run without juice.
• Keep your cell phone charged and have alternative power options—a car adapter or a portable cell phone charger that uses common AA batteries or features a hand crank or other "green" energy source.
• Consider having family members use different cell phone service providers in case one carrier goes down.
• Know how to text message. If cell towers are still up but available bandwidth is limited, a text message may be able to get through when voice calls won't.
• Learn how to browse the Web on an Internet-enabled phone. You'll have news bulletins, maps, and more at your fingertips.
• Have a portable GPS navigation system, which can be handy if you have to evacuate through unfamiliar routes and areas.

Samsung adds new LCD, plasma HDTVs, plus Blu-ray HTIB

This week, Samsung offered a sneak preview of some of its flat-panel TV offerings that will hit stores shelves starting next month, including models with color accents (Touch of Color) on their frames, super-slim designs, and LED backlights. The company also showed a new home-theater-in-a-box system that incorporates a Blu-ray disc player.

A new high-end LCD line, the 950 series, features 1080p resolution, 120Hz technology (called Auto Motion Plus), and LED backlighting with local dimming. These sets have the ability to dim certain segments of the screen while others remain bright, which improves color, contrast, and black-level performance, and reduces power consumption, Samsung claims. The 46-inch LN46A950 ($3,200) and 55-inch LN55A950 ($4,200) will be available next month, and replace the LED-based 81-series models. The TVs come with a flash drive preloaded with HD-quality artwork, recipes, children's shows and games, and other digital content.

Other new LCD TVs include the 850 and 860 series, the slimmest LCDs yet in the Samsung line, with a depth of just 1.9 inches. They also have narrower frames than previous models, so they take up less room in your media center. These 1080p sets have 120Hz technology and two USB 2.0 inputs. The main difference between the lines will be that 860-series models, which have blue rather than rose accents, will be sold exclusively through A/V specialty dealers, and are priced $100 higher. The 46-inch LN46A850 ($2,700) and 52-inch LN52A850 ($3,400), and comparable 860 sets will be available in September.

Sky-High Wi-Fi

If you're planning any air travel in the near future, you might find yourself surfing while you fly. American Airlines is one of several carriers planning to offer Wi-Fi in the sky with a broadband Internet service called Gogo.  The service will be implemented on some of its transcontinental Boeing planes. Other airlines are also implementing or planning to launch their own services.

American's Wi-Fi will be available for $12.95 on flights longer than three hours. Passengers with their own Wi-Fi-enabled devices will be able to access the Internet using Aircell's Gogo technology, which communicates with cellular towers on the ground via three antennae on the plane's exterior. Your laptop or other mobile device connects via several wireless access points within the cabin. American says Gogo is also compatible with most corporate VPNs and e-mail.

JetBlue is offering a test of limited Wi-Fi capabilities on what it calls the BetaBlue plane, a Wi-Fi-equipped Airbus 320. The service is free, but limited. You can access e-mail from services like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, and AOL; use your Blackberry; send instant messages; and, in case you've just got to buy the latest bestseller from 30,000 feet up, shop at Amazon.com.

Later this year, Virgin America will begin testing Wi-Fi as well, with the goal of offering it across its fleet by 2009. In addition to using your own carry-on devices, Virgin will let you access the Internet using seatback video touchscreens. Lufthansa says it will also roll out a program next year.

The spate of new on-high Wi-Fi comes a couple of years after Boeing pulled the plug on Connexions, its in-flight wireless broadband service. That program reportedly failed after the company was unable to get enough paying customers.

If you've been on a flight that offers Wi-Fi, share your experience with us. Was it worth the price (if you had to pay)? Would you be satisfied with a free service that offered limited access? Or do you think the wild blue yonder should remain Internet-free?

—Donna Tapellini

HDTV: Adjust the picture for best quality

When you turn on your new high-definition TV, it probably won't look as stunning as it did in the showroom. The default, out-of-the-box settings on most HDTVs are designed to create a super-bright, vividly colored image, but they're almost always a bad choice for use at home. Here in our labs, our engineers fine-tune each set before evaluating the picture. It's likely the TVs in our Ratings would have much lower scores if we didn't.

You don't need an engineering degree to get the most from your HDTV. The easiest way to adjust picture quality is to use one of the preset picture modes. (Press menu on the remote and find picture or video controls.) Most TVs are set to Vivid or Dynamic (names vary by brand), but we've found that modes like Natural, Cinema, or Pro generally provide the most pleasing, natural-looking picture. Play around with the choices and see which looks best. Finding the right mode might be all you need to do.

You can also adjust picture settings individually rather than using a preset mode. One simple method is to set the brightness, contrast, color, and tint controls to a middle or neutral position, then move them up and down until the image pleases you. Also, turn off sharpness, noise reduction, and image-enhancement. This approach generally results in a decent picture.

If you're more adventurous, try these seven steps to better picture quality. You'll find more detail in our article on tuning your TV.

Recovering lost photos: A quick how-to

It's not very hard to lose hundreds of photos from your digital camera's memory card in the blink of an eye. Just ask my colleague, Eileen McCooey, who asked for my help after accidentally erasing pictures of her recent summer vacation when she unintentionally reformatted the memory card.

Fortunately, if you know what you're doing, it's nearly as easy to recover deleted images as it is to erase them.

Here's how I rescued Eileen's photos:

1. I told Eileen to immediately remove the memory card from the camera. This is critical, because right after photos are deleted (or a card is formatted), they're usually still intact and recoverable. But once you use that card to store additional shots, you put your deleted photos at risk.


2. I knew there was software that could recover deleted files, because I had bought and used programs at home to help family members with similar problems. (Card makers Sandisk and Lexar both sell such software.)
   
   But I wanted to recover these photos in the office, without buying more software. So I Googled "freeware to recover memory card." Several hits seemed to fit the bill. But I wasn't sure if those downloads were both spyware- and virus-free, so I checked Download.com, which has a reputation for safe downloads.


3. At Download.com, I searched for "recover memory card" which turned up 82 hits. I tried a couple that appeared to be free (there was no "Buy now" displayed). One of them actually found the lost photos, but wouldn't recover them unless I paid up.


4. So, I used "Narrow Your Search" on the results page to find the few that actually were free. That turned up just four hits.


5. I downloaded and ran VaioSoft Recovery Manager 1.5 (click on image at left), which recovered nearly 500 photos in just a minute or two. There they were, on my hard drive. I copied them to a CD for Eileen. VaioSoft encourages users of its software to make a contribution to support its work.
   
   (Note to Mac users: Recovery Manager 1.5 runs only under Windows. You may need to hunt for alternatives through reputable freeware sites that cater to Mac users.)

Finding cheap gas on the Web

Given still-stratospheric gas prices, I decided to test drive a few Web sites that promise to help you find the lowest gas prices in your area. Our colleagues in the Cars franchise listed several such sites a few months ago when regular unleaded cost "only" $3 per gallon.

Comparison shopping online is faster than cruising the neighborhood for a bargain, and you won't be burning any gas. But it's useful only if online prices are accurate and there are significant variations among local stations.

As a reality check, I drove around my north New Jersey neighborhood recently, jotting down credit card prices for regular unleaded at 15 stations. (Disclaimer: Approximately one gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was consumed in the production of this blog post.) The highest price I saw for regular was $4.06 and the lowest was $3.89 (for credit cards; cash prices were a bit lower at a few stations). If that seems like a bargain compared to your neck of the woods, it's because New Jersey has some of the lowest gas prices on either coast.

If you drive 12,000 miles a year (the national average) and get 24.3 mpg (the average we found in a random nationwide survey last month), buying the cheapest gas would save you about $84 a year—nothing to get excited about, though it's a psychological boost to pay even a little less for gas these days. And if you drive more than average or have a less fuel-efficient vehicle, your savings could be greater.

After my station tour, I went to four free Web sites to see whether their price listings were accurate: GasPriceWatch.com, MapQuest, MSN Autos, and NewJerseyGasPrices; (associated with the national site, GasBuddy). These sites display interactive maps that show the price at each station's geographical location, and they usually tell you how recently each price was updated. MapQuest and MSN get their price information from Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), which tracks more than 90,000 retail gasoline prices daily. GasPriceWatch and GasBuddy get them from volunteer “spotters.”