Its hard enough getting digital TV from an antenna in your house. Forget about in a car. But Samsung and LG aim to change that. In a scary reminiscence of Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, the two companies had been developing similar but incompatible standards (called AVS-B and MPH) for digital TV that can be delivered on the road.

Hmmm...What's this? Looks like a Web-based remote control for your TV. We happened upon this randomly today, and it raises lots of interesting questions. The URL sonyathome.com brings up a Web page that sure looks like it belongs to Pioneer Electronics -- what with the big "Pioneer" badge in the corner and an email function that sends a message from "elite@pioneer.com" ("Elite" is Pioneer's premium brand of A/V gear).

Is Pioneer developing software for Sony? Is Pioneer merging with Sony? Seems unlikely, since Pioneer just formally announced a joint venture to get plasma panels from Panasonic, and already have a deal to get LCDs from Sharp. But then again, Sony also gets LCDs from Sharp. Hmmm.

In the fifty-some years since Sir David Attenborough began producing shows about Earth's wildlife, our planet has changed considerably. Population has skyrocketed. Cities have grown and spread to accommodate massive influx from the countryside. Species have become endangered; extinct. And amidst it all, Attenborough—the famed British TV naturalist and by some accounts the world's most-traveled human—has borne witness.

As far as TV history goes, public service announcements will go down as a small but memorable slice of the great broadcast pie. The weeping Native American, brought to tears by the garbage strewn across his great country's highways. "Knowing is half the battle." "This is drugs; this is your brain on drugs." And so on.

Now, Al Gore and his Alliance for Climate Protection group have begun a privately funded PSA of their own with hopes of rallying the general public to the cause of preventing a global climate crisis.

Sean Captains extensive guide last week to next year's nationwide digital TV conversion featured some interesting comments from the vice president of Centris, a company that recently published a study suggesting the upcoming switchover to digital-only television broadcasts may leave millions of people across the country without a TV signal. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is offering people who have an analog TV a $40 coupon to put toward a converter box. Unfortunately, Centris VP Barry E. Goodstadt says, in certain pockets of the country, using a converter box still wont give you a signal if you dont have a powerful-enough antenna.

For more photos from the set of Numb3rs, click 'View Photos' at left

First there were big screens. Then big flat screens. Now there are big flat screens packed with tricks, like the ability to record TV or access your home network. It’s all part of the push to minimize the number of decor-busting black boxes while maximizing entertainment choices—movies, slideshows, your music collection. Here are five reasons to chuck your TV in favor of a multitalented model.

1. The Laptop Impersonator
This 2.7-inch-thin flat screen takes its cue from the computer world, with two PC-card slots to handle its latest features.

A few months ago I got a voicemail from my seven-year-old nephew informing me that he needed help building a satellite communication device. He had most of the necessary parts, he assured me, including aluminum foil, some wires and cables, and AA batteries. All we needed to get started was a radio or remote control.

Nothing came of our project, but the imaginative reach of his idea made me wonder: Where did this itch for invention come from? Was my sister sprinkling something in his cereal? Reading him Arthur C. Clarke at bedtime?