Winston-Salem Journal, N.C., Tim Clodfelter Column: Tech Bytes: Brothers Need Help to Be Shoe-In
By Tim Clodfelter, Winston-Salem Journal, N.C.
May 22–Would you believe that two local guys need your vote so they can go to Hollywood?
Brothers Gregg and Ben Hiller are among the finalists for the YouTube “Shoe Phones Across America” contest, which is tied in to the forthcoming theatrical remake of Get Smart. Steve Carell from the sitcom The Office plays the bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart.
Ben, who lives in Clemmons, is a sixth-grader at Hanes Middle School. Gregg, 22, lives in Winston-Salem. They have always been interested in movies and in making short films.
“We’ve always taken great pride in our work, whether it is viewed by a large group or only our close friends,” Gregg Hiller said. “A few months ago, we wanted to share our films with a wider audience so we looked into some contests YouTube was hosting.”
They saw the Get Smart contest and, though they weren’t that familiar with the original TV series, they are both big fans of The Office, so they decided to enter. The films had to be 15 seconds long and center on the idea of Maxwell Smart’s secret phone hidden in his shoe, a running joke from the original 1960s series (though one that, in the era of the cell phone, doesn’t make that much sense).
They filmed a skit in which Gregg plays a golfer whose putt is interrupted by Ben’s ringing shoe.
Their film, Get Smart Golf Entry, was one of more than 200 submissions to the contest, and it was selected as one of the 10 finalists. Between now and next Thursday, YouTube users are voting for their favorite. The winners fly to Hollywood for the premiere of Get Smart.
The grand prize of a trip to a Hollywood premiere appealed to the Hillers more than the cash prizes offered by some other contests, Gregg Hiller said.
They have set up a Web site, www.hillertohollywood.com, to encourage people to vote for their video.
To see their video, go to www.youtube.com/getsmartcontest.com. Only registered YouTube members can vote, but anyone can watch the clips.
Samsung unveiled an impressive new HDTV set this week at the Society for Information Display’s International Symposium in Los Angeles.
The prototype display has an 82-inch screen and a resolution of 3820 by 2160 pixels, with a total screen resolution of 8.3 megapixels. By comparison, current 1080p HDTV TV sets have a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, for a total of 2.1 megapixels.
“What makes this screen especially interesting,” according to a report at technology news site www.TGDaily.com, “is the fact that Sang Soo Kim, executive vice president of the LCD Technology Center at Samsung Electronics, called it the ‘optimal display for future TVs.’”
Smaller sets with 2160p resolution were on display earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The sets are not currently sold on the open market, but the 52-inch model also by Samsung goes for about $40,000 — so there’s no telling yet what the price for the 82-inch model might be when it does become available.
Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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