Just in case you were living in fear of another last minute switch on the digital TV transition date, be at ease, President Obama issued a statement urging those who aren't ready yet to prepare as there will be no further delays, and for those of us in the know to make sure that people around the way are getting the message. With a week to go (again) is there anyone still reading this that hasn't gotten their digital TV future straightened out yet?

We needn't tell you that things haven't been going awesome for Toshiba ever since HD DVD hit the skids and slid right into its coffin, but the company has yet to lose hope in its future. As a sign of impending change, Tosh's board of directors has just selected Mr. Norio Sasaki -- who is currently a senior executive VP in the company -- to become the next CEO and President this June. Sasaki will replace Atsutoshi Nishida following an ordinary general meeting of the shareholders, and he'll also succeed Tadashi Okamura in becoming the next chairman of the board at Toshiba Corporation. If you're curious as to whether or not this chap has what it takes, check this: the man is into mountain biking, smooth jazz and golf, and his personal motto is "perseverance will open the way." How dare you doubt that?

At this point, we wouldn't even bother with trying to slip into the Metro DC area on January 20th, but we would recommend getting all buddy-buddy with a DirecTV subscriber. The satcaster is implementing its Mix Channel technology once again by offering up a 2009 Inauguration mosaic, which will bring together eight live broadcasts and enable viewers to go full-screen with the one they like best at any given moment. Of course, all eight blocks will be provided in high-definition, and it can be seen replacing the News Mix on viewer channel 102 and 352. The action gets going at 10:00AM ET on Inauguration Day.

For the first time in history, a US presidential inauguration will be broadcast in Europe in high-definition. Thanks to Eurovision, European broadcasters will have access to "full HDTV coverage of the ceremony, Obama's speech and motorcade produced from a battery of cameras on location in Washington." According to Eurovision Americas president Bill Dunlop: "All over Europe, networks are planning special programming to bring this historic day to their viewers live." Now, about keeping the snow at bay...

As the flagging economy wreaks havoc on just about every mega-corp out there, the latest to publicly admit to being affected is Pioneer. After posting a rather significant loss earlier this year, the company is now guiding to a wider-than-forecast net loss of ¥78 billion ($789.9 million) for the year to March 31, blaming the surging yen and the slowing economy. The company is scheduled to nix its unprofitable plasma-panel operations by February and slash 2,000 jobs this fiscal year in order to counter the bleeding, and it looks as if former president Tamihiko Sudo is one of the first bigwigs to fall. As of November 16th, Susumu Kotani (pictured right) will take over that role, though we can't imagine he's looking forward to grabbing the captain's chair in such a turbulent environment.

[Via PC World, image courtesy of DayLife]

Now here's an interesting one. Verizon, the carrier who offers up FiOS TV, is actually getting set to launch its very own channel. Granted, it'll only be available to FiOS TV users -- and for now, users in the Washington, DC Metro area -- but still, it's a touch peculiar (albeit useful). For FiOS subscribers in Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland, you'll now be able to tune into Channel 1 (FiOS1, predictably), which will reportedly act as a "one-stop shop for local weather, traffic, news, sports and community features." From now until November 4th, however, it will be airing "rebroadcasts of the three presidential debates and the vice-presidential debate, as well as key speeches from the Democratic and Republican conventions." There's no mention of FiOS1 making a debut in other areas (nor of it going HD), but we'd keep an eye out on Channel 1 just in case.

Update: Seems FiOS1 has been available for a tick, but it's the political coverage that's changing things up. Thanks, urfloormatt!

DirecTV has a thing for offering up exclusives such as this in order to help fencesitters make the leap, so it's no shock to see the satcaster taking the multi-pane approach used primarily for sporting events to cover election night. As the US presidential election unfolds on November 4th, DirecTV customers will be able to catch eight feeds of coverage on a single channel alongside a real-time election blog that will "track the announcements and analysis on each channel as votes are counted, exit polling data is evaluated and electoral count projections roll in." The Election Mix Channel will be seen on slots 102 and 352 (for SD and HD, respectively) and will feature feeds from the four broadcast networks, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC and alternating feeds of Comedy Central (when it's doing live election coverage) and BBC America. Users will be able to hover over any of the eight blocks to select audio from each, and you can catch the mayhem beginning at 7:00PM ET on that fateful Tuesday.

[Thanks, Bryan]

Though certainly not the first station to use its X.x channels for something other than pixelated weather and re-runs, Dayton, Ohio's WHIO-TV recently showcased what digital TV was all about with simultaneous widescreen broadcasts of local political speeches. Both major party presidential nominees were in the Miami Valley area and speaking at the same time, and rather than being, you know, biased, it choose to provide live uninterrupted coverage of both speeches on DTV channels 7.1 and 7.2. Of note, the speeches weren't used as a DTV test (good choice), but news director David Bennallack did assert that this was a "great opportunity to show viewers how DTV can work for them." On that note, have you applied for your voucher yet?

Thanks, Dayton Guy]

C'mon, deep down in your soul, you knew even the White House had a home theater, right? Granted, we've all ideas (or, at least we hope) that it's used more often to impress foreign visitors than to sneak a peek at the latest Blu-ray release, but we digress. Truth be told, we're still entirely more enamored with the $6 million Kipnis Studio Standard, but then again, the president's own isn't half bad for what used to be a cloakroom. Check out another look after the break.

[Via AudioJunkies, thanks Lukas G.]

If we had to surmise, we'd say that the primary in Florida will be one of the most closely watched for whatever reason, but hey, call it a hunch. As expected, Dan Rather Reports on Politics will also be headed down to Miller Auditorium at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida to provide a two-hour live broadcast to analyze the outcome of the primary. Notably, Rather will be joined by "veteran campaign strategists" Republican Mike Murphy and Democrat Donald Fowler, and if insanity breaks out again over hanging chads and the like, we're sure it'll be quite the time. Tune in next Tuesday at 8:00PM EST on HDNet, and cross your fingers for controversy.

These are the times that we here at HD Beat could use all of your collective HDTV experience as the President for our company has turned to us for help. Brian Alvey, the President of Weblogs, Inc, needs a new HDTV and is looking for recommendations. He is moving his current Mitsubishi big-screen (around 52-inches) to the basement because of glare and needs a replacement. This is your chance guys. You get to be the salesman here but keep in mind that we are trying to sell to the needs of the customer.

Brian is looking for the biggest and baddest HDTV he can fit in the same spot that is going to have little-to-no glare. He doesn't plan on using HD DVDs or Blu-ray ether - but that could change. The HDTV needs to be currently available and as he put it to us, "What I don't want is a recommendation to wait 6 months for 'technology X' that is going to change the market."

What you would recommend to Brian?