October, 2010: I have been in the consumer technology business so long that sometimes I get jaded the umpteenth time someone introduces the next easiest way to network your home entertainment content or shows off a security camera that lets you watch your Golden Retriever eat the couch or your new baby bibble.

The leading security companies, including Schlage, Panasonic and ADT, don’t produce a mass market security product that you can easily install yourself. In reality, they usually require a third party installer or two solid days on the phone with tech support. In my experience, their products are difficult to install and operate no matter how adept you are at whole house network sharing or wireless home computing.

Despite the fact that many TV manufacturers offer Internet-enabled TVs, and despite the fact that Intel and Google and others will, in a few weeks, offer versions of a Smart TV that includes home security accessories, no one has mastered easy home security in a networked home or condo or apartment.

Until now. I’m pleased to say that recently, when I really needed a security system, I found a Logitech model that I could easily install myself that does the job.

A new neighbor moved in next door to us that has some serious issues. Not only does this person storm up and down our quiet street threatening real and imagined people, she also has a huge dog that she cannot control and the dog doesn’t like small dogs like ours. An unnerving situation to say the least.

So I unpacked my still not reviewed Logitech Alert 750i Master Security System and, remarkably, in less than 15 minutes, we had visual and audio proof of the dangerous and uncomfortable situation living next door.

We mounted the high resolution portable Logitech camera via suction cup on the downstairs front window, while a indoor outdoor camera (extra) was mounted on a window upstairs so that its wide angle lens covered nearly anywhere outside this person or her dog decided to roam.

Both cameras are plugged into a wall AC outlet to connect to a router instead of wi-fi. (A home power-line is much more reliable than wi-fi and in most cases will not interfere with any wireless PCs, phones, video game systems or handheld devices.) The Logitech software, running on any PC in the house, records any movement and saves it to the home computer. The cameras also have mini SD cards built in so you have backups of all your video even if the PC is turned off. The fee based online service allows you to watch the action or inaction on any pc anywhere anytime and on your Smart Phone whether it is an Android or Blackberry or iPhone.

The Logitech Security System has eliminated any “he said, she said” confrontation; we can show a video to the powers that be. So, from now on I pledge to review, in a timely manner, any product sent to Digital Family Advisor, even those that appear difficult to install and run. All will get a prompt and thorough tryout.

Bytes and Pieces: There must have been 15 product introductions in the last month alone. At the recent CEDIA trade show in Atlanta (full coverage from Jan Jaben in a few days) the most prevalent thing the TV makers and Blue Ray Player makers are touting is their 3D technology. The success of Avatar in theaters, plus some unusually good animated mostly for kids movies has succeeded in convincing us that we must all wear a pair of glasses and spend upwards of $5,000 to $8,000 on a new TV.

There have been repeated press events to hammer into us the value proposition to 3D TV in the home, but the response from industry analysts and experts to the many 3D introductions has been so underwhelming that even the truly phenomenal 3d Plasma set from Panasonic and the ultra bright Sharp have been eliciting more yawns than yells. But the biggest damper to the next generation and sometimes visually stunning (for sports and spectacles content) is the indifference consumers are showing in this pre holiday shopping season. “I swear I could charge more for a non 3D set than for a 3D set,” claimed a regional executive with Best Buy. “The industry wags are predicting four million 3D sets sold by late next year, but we are having trouble selling top of the line plasmas, and four star rated LCDs since we are still in a recession.” A content director at a major service provider claims that while adding the expensive glasses to the bundle might help sales (some TV makers are including two sets of glasses), “this won’t be a ubiquitous all encompassing market until manufacturers can make 3D products without glasses…”

Wow the FCC got it right for once. A while back they allowed Sirius and XM satellite radio to merge despite the protest from many groups calling the merger a monopoly that could endanger free radio. But the recent upsurge in subscribers to Sirius-XM is actually coexisting with the phenomenal growth of Internet radio and increase in listenership to traditional terrestrial radio. The naysayers, who claimed that the merger would result in a monopoly that would hamper the growth of other radio platforms like Internet Radio and networked music services, were totally wrong. The hugely successful Pandora music channel, Slacker, the ever expanding international and regional North American based Internet radio stations are growing in this unlimited arena. Even the still hard to use, overpriced and consumer unfriendly Verizon’s VCast music system which uses the Rhapsody music service is gaining subscribers. These consumers, in many cases have XM-Sirius in their cars or in their stereo systems. And the TV makers are so caught up in Internet radio that nearly every major and minor TV maker, has added some form of Internet radio to their web-enabled TVs. So it looks like all forms of radio can co-exist profitably and content wise. So where are those naysayers now that XM-Sirius might even make a profit soon, too.

While Apple’s iPad reached a jillion in sales, and even I was impressed by some of the Apps, I’ve been asking myself why Dell and HP, which actually invented tablet computing nearly five year ago and were planning to sell these devices for about $200 less than the vaunted iPad, would at least show something that might have tweaked the Koolaide Apple geeks a bit. I recently got an answer. “We blew this segment because we thought, and our research showed, it would be a business product,” Both Dell and HP chimed.

So what’s next? Verizon’s Samsung tablet has come out of nowhere to (I think) eventually challenge the iPad because its Google Android operating systems is so much faster and easier and Verizon’s 3G network is so much better than AT&Ts. Also, a top competitor to all of Apple’s products in Europe has reportedly adopted the Android operating system and is planning tablet-pad type devices in multiple sizes with more built in accessories than Apple. The new Pad, which only uses Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet, but more importantly is using a new chip set and hardware design that will result in a device that the average consumer can afford. So once again the two biggest PC makers leave their loyal customers in the lurch.