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Issue: #39
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September 2011
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Greetings!
As we begin our 10th year, Sell-Through Solutions would like to thank our valued clients and associate companies for your continued partnership, and for making 2011 our best year ever. (We hope we returned the favor as well!)
We also wish you a happy Holiday season, filled with fun, family, and friends. And may your 2012 be a successful and prosperous one!
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Heading for CES? Let's Get Together!
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Sell-Through Solutions will attend the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show on January 10-13. If you'll be there as well, let's have a visit. Whether you're one of our prized clients, or looking to elevate your company's training program, we'd be delighted to see you at the Show. Feel free to schedule a time for a quick chat or coffee (our treat). Perhaps we could craft a plan for world dominance while on the interminable Starbuck's Coffee line in the South Exhibit Hall--who knows?
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New Product Spotlight: TiVo DVR Returns to DIRECTV
|  After years of fits and starts, the TiVo DVR has finally returned to DIRECTV. Was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no...
If you missed the friendly TiVo graphical user interface (GUI),
it's back, virtually identical to TiVo's own products. That interface,
both groundbreaking and legendary, now seems long in the tooth, especially when compared with DIRECTV's own upcoming HD GUI, now in beta. You get the TiVo look, but here's what you give up: - One-touch record
- Whole-home DVR ability
- 3D programming: DIRECTV TiVo is 2D only
- Dual Favorite Channel lists (you get one)
- Channels I Receive list
- Front-panel dimming: It's bright, and it stays on
- Standby button on remote
- HD GUI: You get only 720 x 480 Standard Def, regardless of your display
- DIRECTV's 90-minute recording buffers (TiVo gives you 30 minutes)
- The speed and responsiveness of the upcoming DIRECTV HD GUI
- DIRECTV iPad app for remote control and portable viewing
- The ability to watch TV on PIP while in Settings (TiVo Central)
For that lack of functionality, subscribers get to pay an extra $199 for the box, as well as $5 more per month for, well, I'm not sure. You do get a capacious 500GB hard drive, slow motion, and TiVo's powerful Swivel Search. For a 16-page illustrated intro to the DIRECTV TiVo, courtesy of Stuart Sweet of DBSTalk.com, please click here. To see DIRECTV's sneak preview video and feature list of their own upcoming HD GUI (for non-TiVo DIRECTV boxes), please click here. |
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Audiophile Demo Classic from the Vault
|  Two-channel audio is big again, thanks to Apple (!), along with folks like Peachtree Audio and their magical black boxes that bring the audiophile mojo to i-Devices, computers, and multi-room audio. If you make it to the high-end audio exhibits at the Venetian, you'll hear some killer two-channel demos.
But will you like those demos? Sure, the systems will sound great, but will you be loving the music? I remember hearing an awesome demo featuring the O-Zone Percussion Group last year. Couldn't wait to buy the album. I played it once.
Turns out that all-percussion groups don't make for great dinner parties. So, before this CES, I scoured the vaults for an album that for years has stood up to heavy rotation, yet also has the audiophile bona fides. That album is Kevin Mahogany's "My Romance."
While it may seem odd to go back to a 1998 album for a demo at a 2012 show, one could argue that they made music with more care back then. Either way, "My Romance" is a pristine recording. It's big when it needs to be, intimate when it needs to be. Reach-out-and-touch vocals hang palpably in three-dimensional space. Instruments are true and accurate, and the disc is gimmick-free--no eight-foot cymbals or truck-sized pianos.
Even better than the recording is the music. Kevin Mahogany's voice should be a National Treasure; Newsweek describes him as "the standout jazz vocalist of his generation." The name "Mahogany" is apt, as his honey-toned baritone evokes burnished, dark, rich wood. Mahogany's all-star group on the disc includes the always-welcome Bob James, restrained and tasteful, along with Michael Brecker and Kirk Whalum on saxes, Billy Kilson on drums, and Charles Fambrough on bass. The songs themselves are a soulful take on the Vocal Standard style, like Diana Krall with an extra dose of bloom.
All songs on the album are demo-worthy. I usually go with "Teach Me Tonight" and "Wild Honey." Whether you're demoing at CES this year, or just want a listen that'll make you smile every time, "My Romance" is highly recommended. Big shout out to Noel Lee for turning me on to the album a decade ago, and apologies to the rest of you for keeping it to myself this long. |
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Sell-Through Solutions is the leading provider of training content development and retail sales training support for the world's preeminent Consumer Electronics and computer vendors.
Sincerely,
Charles Thompson
Sell-Through Solutions, Inc. |
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