The word "lifestyle" in this industry usually refers to speaker systems, designed to be as small and unobtrusive as possible. This often leads to poor sound quality - after all, physics are involved when pushing air, and its harder to do with less volume for the pushing. You can beat physics with unique designs like the tiny subs with huge excursion (from Definitive Technology and Sunfire, among others), or simply tune products to what consumers are looking for (bright and punchy) and forget absolute musical accuracy. Bose saw tremendous success getting way ahead of the lifestyle trend, but with general audio sales down and the flat panel TV market booming, it seems that every manufacturer now has at least one "thin and flat" speaker system.
Proving you can't stop a good trend, Newpoint, a maker of surge protectors, cables, and other A/V accessories, has introduced the argo XP lifestyle antenna. Yes, an OTA HD antenna, with a flat panel main antenna, all in plasma-approved silver. Newpoint makes a big deal out of its HDTV-readiness on the box, and literally calls it the "lifestyle antenna." You can't get more decorator friendly than that. Newpoint was kind enough to send over a review sample.
In my last go around of (completely unscientific) testing, I found that Zenith's futuristic looking thing beat a standard loop antenna for pulling in HDTV for three reasons: the signal stregnth meter generally reads higher on the Zenith than the Jensen, it's easier to adjust the Zenith because it basically can't be adjusted, and the Zenith looks cool (I've included a picture). I have two of the Zeniths - one came with the HDTV tuner card I use in my Media Center XP box upstairs. Since I 
wrote that review, I've become somewhat disenchanted with the product, because its odd design makes it easy to adjust but difficult to stay put in exactly that spot. It also has a habit of breaking loose from its base and stabbing me in the foot. I hate it when that happens.
Surprisingly, for a "lifestyle" product, the Newpoint got just as good reception as the Zenith. It isn't better than the Zenith. For example, it still won't pull in certain stations like PBS - I suspect I'll need a roof antenna for that. However, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and the WB all come in fine, weather permitting. The key difference is that there are a limited number of adjustments you can make to the argo XL, but the hinge mechanism is fairly tight - once you get it right, it stays put. The base is reasonably well weighted, so a jolt from the subwoofer won't change its position, and it doesn't stick out into the room and launch itself at your feet when you walk by. Finally, it too, looks like it belongs in a modern home theater, despite the rabbit ears on each side of the panel.
I admit to being biased against lifestyle products, but Newpoint's argo XL lifestyle antenna is inexpensive (under $30), looks good, and performs as well as its peers. I can easily recommend it as a first step before spending more on an amplified antenna or something for your roof.
-avi
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