Our recent effort to compile a list of the most popular home theater components owned by Ars staffers and OpenForum users was more popular than we initially thought it would be, and it turned out that most of our audience wanted a chance to nominate their own gear. So today, we're opening up the nominations process to the general audience: welcome to the Ars Home Theater Guide: Audience Edition.

Go here and add your favorite home theater components, but keep the following basics in mind:

• Check the list before adding something. I've retained the previous nominations list from the earlier Staff and OpenForum Edition of the poll. (There's no need to have everyone re-enter all of that.) The list has multiple pages and is arranged alphabetically, so if you don't see your component on the first page, check the later ones. I've also added a search box at the top that you can use to query the list in order to determine if your item is already in there.
• Add only components that you own. We're more interested in learning what Ars readers are actually using than in what they might one day like to buy.
• Add only components that you're happy with. If something is complete junk, why add it?
• Add any gear that you consider to be part of your home theater. Previously, we had asked people not to add DVRs, displays, receivers, and the like, but people showed up in the comments ask where those components were. Indeed, those same people have probably not read this far in this post, so I'm only putting this in to let those of you do read know that it's ok to nominate such things. It's also ok to nominate your smartphone, your netbook, or any other device that you consider to be core. (Please restrict the entries to "gadgets" and consumer electronics, though; if you nominate your kegerator, I'll delete it. And if you gripe in the comments that I deleted your kegerator, I'll ignore it.)
• Be specific. Knowing that lots of Ars readers have a universal remote isn't very interesting. But knowing just how popular the different universal remote models are with our audience is definitely interesting.

Nominations will remain open all week, and I'll collect them and put up a poll one week from today.

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The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) is moving forward with a brand name and a beta test for its cloud-based "digital locker" system. The name for the technology will be UltraViolet and the beta test will begin this fall, while the specs and licensing details are expected to be ready by the end of 2010.

DECE has been in the works since 2008, but had its coming out earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show. At CES, the group laid out its plans to set a standard for video encryption that would allow users to take content from device to device without sacrificing DRM. The idea would be to allow people to use their content on a number of devices while authenticating to a cloud-based Digital Rights Locker whenever the user wants to watch video on a new device. This would free the user from being locked down to a single device or type of hardware, but still allow the content providers a strong measure of control over how and when the content is consumed.

The DECE group is huge—Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Sony, Fox, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Netflix, Adobe, DivX, and numerous others. Notably missing, however, are Apple and Disney: key players in the rapidly growing world of digital distribution. Disney is working on its own portable authentication format called KeyChest, and Apple is fiercely loyal to its own DRM scheme (FairPlay). Apple joining DECE is about as likely as Steve Jobs dressing in a three-piece suit and noshing on a 16oz New York strip.

The alliance has now expanded to nearly 60 companies and the group is moving ahead, Apple or no. Hopefully the participating companies will be able to create an elegant, easy-to-use system to achieve their ambitious goal. After all, a platform-agnostic video format that doesn't rely on streaming does sound attractive. But without the participation of the most popular portable media player on the market, UltraViolet is going to fall short of its ambitious goal of becoming the media industry's "universal DRM."

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Wireless data hotspots are quickly becoming all the rage among travelers and geeks who don't like to be tied down to their homes and coffee shops. Though 3G USB sticks have been growing in popularity for years, the new WiFi hotspot-type units are picking up steam because they allow users to share their wireless data connections among multiple devices or a group of friends, so long as everyone has WiFi.

Two of the most popular ones in the US right now are the Novatel MiFi from Verizon and the Overdrive 4G from Sprint. We managed to get our hands on both to give them a test run, and it turns out that deciding which is better wasn't quite as easy as we expected.

Perhaps this e-book thing is taking off after all: Kindle books are now outselling Amazon's hardcover books in the US. The company announced Monday that it has sold 143 Kindle books per 100 hardcover books over the last three months (it has sold 180 Kindle books per 100 hardcovers over the last month), and that's including the sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition.

Amazon also said that Kindle hardware sales had tripled since the company lowered the price from $259 to $189 just one month ago. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that lowering the price was the tipping point to accelerate sales and eventually eclipse hardcovers, even though sales of hardcovers continue to grow. He added that this news is "astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months."

Amazon also recently lowered the price and gave a makeover to its Kindle DX, which now sports a higher-contrast e-ink screen and a graphite bezel for $379. This is nice and all for those who value the larger screen, but it's clear that the majority of potential e-book customers prefer the smaller and cheaper version of the Kindle.

What else is clear is the fact that users apparently aren't as attached to dead tree books as some e-book critics thought. Paperbacks are surely still selling at sky-high rates, but the appeal of having a "stack" of books crammed into one, slim device is certainly winning over customers.

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The analysts are already weighing in on how many Macs Apple sold in the past quarter. What better time to remind everyone that Ars will be providing live coverage of Apple's FY2010 Q3 earnings call at 5pm EDT/2pm PDT on July 20, 2010 (see it in your own timezone).

Sign up for an e-mail reminder below or simply bookmark this page and come back at the time above.

Are antenna grip problems universal among smartphones? Even if they are, handset makers RIM, Nokia, and HTC are not happy with Apple for insinuating that the iPhone 4 isn't alone in suffering from signal loss when gripped in a certain way.

During a press conference on Friday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs called media coverage of the iPhone 4's antenna problems overblown. Jobs said that reception issues were something common to all smartphones, playing a video that showed smartphones from HTC, Samsung, and other manufacturers dropping signal when held in various ways.

Droid X first impressions: nice hardware, Motorola: With the Droid X launching on Verizon, we wanted to share our first impressions of the device ahead of our full review.

Can you sell your imported gadgets? Court guts "First Sale": It's no secret: book publishers, music labels, and video game developers don't like used sales, since they get no cut of the money. Now, a federal court has handed producers a terrific new weapon to control traditional "First Sale" rights that consumers have enjoyed for years: if you sold the stuff overseas, you can control all sales of US imports.

After days of being pilloried for the iPhone 4's antenna problems, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took to the stage in Cupertino, California to respond. Jobs announced during the iPhone 4 press conference Friday that every iPhone 4 user will get a free Apple Bumper to help mitigate antenna problems. This will apply to every user worldwide who buys an iPhone through September 30. iPhone 4 owners who have already purchased one of the $30 bumpers will get a full refund. Users who don't like the bumper solution and are still unhappy with the iPhone can bring it back for a full refund instead.

The antenna issue first popped up as the iPhone 4 began to ship in the US. Users began narrowing down the problem to how the phone is held, with the problem occurring when users bridged the gap between the antenna sections on the bezel. Although Apple issued a software update on Thursday to help adjust user expectations when it comes to signal strength, the signal drop still occurs.