Using LG Cinema 3D TVs, the shorts show how future filmmakers can make an impact using 3D technology.
Archive for April, 2011
LG and Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy Show Student 3D Shorts at Tribeca
Saturday, April 30th, 2011Disney’s Dumbo 70th Anniversary Blu-ray Gets Release Date
Saturday, April 30th, 2011ESPN X Games 17 returns with more than double the 3D coverage, takes rally racing to the streets
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
ESPN has released some of the broadcast details for Summer X Games 17, scheduled to occur between July 28th – 31st, and it’s increasing from eight hours of 3D coverage last year to a planned 18 hours this time around. Interestingly, the HD schedule has been shortened slightly from 31 hours to 25, but there’s still plenty of sports action to catch, including a new Enduro X motocross competition and a move to the streets of downtown Los Angeles for the Rally racing competitions. Check all the details currently available in the press release after the break, we’re going to go find and wash our Travis Pastrana jersey.
ESPN X Games 17 returns with more than double the 3D coverage, takes rally racing to the streets originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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HDTV Listings for April 29, 2011
Saturday, April 30th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- Fox (720p) has Fringe at 9 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) presents The Royal Wedding: Modern Majesty at 8 p.m., CSI: NY at 9 p.m. and Blue Bloods at 10 p.m.
- ABC (720p) has 20/20 A Modern Fairy Tale at 9 p.m.
- CW (1080i) has Smallville at 8 p.m. and Supernatural at 9 p.m.
- Syfy (1080i) has WWE Smackdown at 8 p.m. and Urban Legends at 10 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has Dual Survival at 9 p.m. and American Loggers at 10 p.m.
- Starz (1080i) has Camelot at 10 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) has the season premiere of Say Yes to the Dress at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- History (720p) has American Restoration at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Lightning/Capitals at 7 p.m. and Red Wings/Sharks at 10 p.m.
- ESPN (720p) has NBA Playoffs action with Grizzlies/Spurs at 9 p.m.
- NFL Network, ESPN, ESPN2 has the NFL Draft through 11 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 29, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Pioneer AppRadio brings apps, iPhone connectivity to your dash
Friday, April 29th, 2011
If Pioneer’s AppRadio (SPH-DA01) ever sees the light of day, it’ll join a long list of integrated and aftermarket products trying to play off of the iPhone’s success. According to CrunchGear (and its anonymous tipster), the FCC-leaked device boasts a 6.1-inch touchscreen and built-in apps, along with a USB port for accessing content (and presumably, the data connection) on your iOS 4.1 devices. We imagine the hardware to be similar to the 6.1-inch AVIC-X930BT that Pioneer announced at CES, including Bluetooth connectivity, a microSD card slot, and GPS functionality, in addition to an AM/FM radio and single-disc CD player. iPhone connectivity really sets this receiver apart, along with the inclusion of additional apps, such as Pandora and iHeartRadio, with the possibility of adding more apps in the future as well. We’re incredibly skeptical about the device’s GUI having any basis on the mockup image above, but if graphics are anything like those on the models we saw at CES, we don’t expect to be disappointed either.
Pioneer AppRadio brings apps, iPhone connectivity to your dash originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wanna Buy a Cable Business?
Friday, April 29th, 2011An article in Multichannel News reports that Charter is looking to sell its cable business in Los Angeles. It appears that the normal way these deals go down is to swap subscribers with a competitor, but Time-Warner Cable apparently turned down a deal to trade for its business in parts of Wisconsin where Charter already has more than half a million subscribers.
So now it appears that the Los Angeles subscribers may go on the auction block. If you’ve got a spare billion or so, you may be able to acquire your own cable company in southern California. Was this just a shrewd move by TWC, figuring it would be able to buy the business for less at auction than the value of its Wisconsin subscribers? I guess we’ll find out when the gavel drops to end the bidding. But it’s clear that a lot of cable subscribers in L.A. will be dealing with a different company before long.
Something Wild Blu-ray Review
Thursday, April 28th, 2011Hulu Plus on Xbox 360 launches tomorrow, all members get a free week thanks to beef jerky
Thursday, April 28th, 2011
It’s true, per Major Nelson Hulu Plus will launch on Xbox 360 tomorrow amid a slew of promotions, the first of which will provide free access to the service for all US-based Xbox Live members (free or paid) through May 6th courtesy of Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. We should be able to get some hands on time with the app in a few. Until then you can imagine what it will be like to watch 24 The Confession in HD or every episode of Spaced through your console in between rounds of messin’ with Sasquatch (explanation after the break).
Update: Now with screens plus details on the giveaways and a demo of Hulu Plus w/ Kinect after the break!
Hulu Plus on Xbox 360 launches tomorrow, all members get a free week thanks to beef jerky originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Coming to You Live on YouTube!
Thursday, April 28th, 2011First, YouTube extended the limits on uploaded content; some partners are now able to post feature-film-length videos. But it seems that Google has even bigger plans for YouTube to become not just the video network of the future, but the whole broadcast system as well. Last week, the company announced that YouTube Live is now active. YouTube again is starting with selected partners, but eventually they hope to have thousands of members providing live streaming content. You can see what’s available right now as well as a schedule of upcoming programs by going to www.youtube.com/live.
This is a bit of a stunning development. On the one hand, you have Netflix opening its wallet and shelling out million for “Mad Men”. (Note that this is not just for the past seasons, but for seasons to come, and in Hulu-like fashion, episodes will be available right after they air on AMC.) But here is YouTube making a bid to become the go-to service for live programming, not some catch-up content that you could probably get using your DVR.
It will be interesting to see how this works out, as we’re in uncharted territory here. Will this be a full-on assault for the traditional broadcast television networks, or will this just become another way to see cute kittens and teens pulling dubious pranks? I think it has enormous potential to be the source for very narrowly focused content, much like the existing YouTube hosted content. If that happens, I can see this becoming the source for “micro-broadcasting” of sports and entertainment events that can’t muster an audience that is large enough for major network coverage. If my favorite local music venue started broadcasting some or all of their concerts, I’m pretty sure that I’d watch. And I expect that it would make me more likely to want to attend more of the shows in person.
This is definitely a development to watch closely.
Netflix is #1
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! It’s just little ol’ Netflix, doing it’s little streaming video thing. Nothing to see here, move along, move along. At least, that seemed to be the message on Monday when CEO Reed Hastings announced the company’s first quarter financials. All they did was about double worldwide revenues and about double U.S. subscribers over the previous year’s number’s. Oh, and overall revenues were up nearly 50%. But Hastings stressed that Netflix “is a supplemental channel to MVPD.” (MPVD is tech speak for Multichannel Video Programming Distributor, which you and I might call subscription television services, like cable and satellite.) So do not fear little ol’ Netflix, you establishment enterprises; it’s not the agent of some cord-cutting nightmare.
Oh, and by the way, Netflix has passed Comcast in number of subscribers, which makes it the number one television subsctription service in the country.
Should Comcast and the other cable companies be concerned? Netflix has only landed a deal for its own original content, with Kevin Spacey starring in the new series House of Cards. It made a deal for past and future episodes of the hit Mad Men. It spent billion to license films from Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate, and MGM. Sure, it’s just a little movie rental company. (Isn’t this how HBO got started?)
Lots of analysts are saying that the new Netflix business model is not sustainable. They’re probably right. But for now, the company is building up its bank accounts, and when it’s ready to establish a new strategy, it’s going to have its own deep pockets, an enormous brand, and significant momentum that can carry it through to its goal. Just remember, there was a time when Amazon was just an online bookstore.
Sennheiser HD 595 Headphones: $139.99 Shipped (Save 58 percent)
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011Toshiba to Reward eco-Friendly Schools with Green Laptops, LED TVs and Lightbulbs
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011Dark Friday
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011If you’re planning on relying on the Internet to get work done on Friday – especially if you’re on the East Coast — you may want to think about working unplugged. William and Kate may spoil your day.
Not even the HDTV Almanac is a Royal-Wedding-Free zone. But rather than focus on bridal trains and the like, I’m going in a different direction. Liz Shannon Miller wrote a terrific piece for GigaOM about the potential impact of the wedding on the Internet. She points out that YouTube will host a BBC live feed without commentary. And the Associated Press will also be providing a feed that will be hosted on multiple sites (and for a surprisingly small fee, your site can be one of them).
The question is whether or not the Internet is up to the task of worldwide Royals mania. Broadcast television is one thing for live events with a massive audience; it is by definition a single channel of content that is delivered to multiple points – possibly millions in some markets — all at the same time and with the same bandwidth. In contast, the Internet is a point-to-point system, and even if you’re watching the same thing at the same time as the person in the next cubicle, the packets are still individually targeted to your separate computers. And streaming video requires lots of data packets.
Many of us have seen the effect that an early school dismissal for snow on a local cable broadband service; performance can tank for the rest of the afternoon. If everyone else on your cable system decides to stream the royal wedding, it is likely to impact your ability to access data on the Internet. And that’s any data, not just the wedding ceremony video stream. Email, browsing, and other typical activities could be affected. The same holds for small networks that share access to the Internet, such as your company’s network. And even if your network is up to the task, it is not for certain that your broadband service provider or other upstream systems will be able to handle the load without buckling.
If you want to help ease the strain on Friday, eliminate as many video streams on Friday as you can. Set up a large HDTV in a central location and receive a broadcast television signal for all who want to watch, in return for a pledge that they won’t stream the video when they return to their desks.
Friday will be a stress test for the Internet and a lot of other systems. Nobody knows what the impact will be, but I won’t be planning on doing a lot of critical online work on Friday. That doesn’t mean that I’ll be watching the William and Kate show; I’ll just have plenty of offline work prepared.
CALM Act: Your Tax Dollars at Work
Monday, April 25th, 2011If you watch television programming that has commercials, I’m sure you’ve experienced it more than once. Your program winds down to a sensitive, thoughtful stopping point, and then there’s a commercial break. And the very first commercial BLOWS YOUR EARS OUT!!! You lunge for the remote and mash the Mute button, wondering “why doesn’t someone do something about this?”
Well, you can now rest easy because your government has heard your pain and done something about them. Last December, in an uncharacteristic fit of bi-partisan cooperation, Congress passed the “Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act” and President Obama signed it into law. Known better by its initials, the CALM Act gives the FCC one year to come up with a solution to commercials that are too much louder than the programming that surrounds them. And what is the solution? To follow the “A/85 Recommended Practice” of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).
Huh? The FCC is now charged with enforcing a standard that was published in November 2009. It is designed to set a “uniform loudness” which results in a “comfortable volume between disparate TV programs, commercials, and channel changing transitions.” If this is based on an ATSC “best practice”, then why haven’t the major networks already adopted them? (NBC Universal and FOX apparently were demonstrating compliant systems at the NAB conference this spring.)
The fact remains that advertisers are going to want their ads to be louder than anything else around it. And they’re not going to want the ad to play more quietly during a break on “Grey’s Anatomy” than after a timeout on “Monday Night Football”. The ATSC approach does help normalize levels some, but I’ve got no doubt that there’s plenty of room to “game the system“. Given the dynamic range of television and movie soundtrack content, I expect that there will always be room to make commercials louder than some people would like. And note that the CALM Act only applies to those “stations” that the FCC can control. Online streaming services such as Hulu aren’t bound by FCC rules, so don’t expect them to solve the problem soon.
Sonos adds AirPlay support as Android Controller app hits the Market
Monday, April 25th, 2011Engadget: For months we’ve been wondering aloud how Sonos would respond to Apple’s September AirPlay announcement. After all, Apple’s promise to “stream music throughout…
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Water for Elephants Movie Review
Monday, April 25th, 2011Tribeca 2011: Gnarr Movie Review
Monday, April 25th, 2011Bang & Olufsen’s BeoVision 4-85 TV combines 3D and Full HD with superfluous sleekness
Sunday, April 24th, 2011Engadget: Bang & Olufsen’s new BeoVision 4-85 isn’t just another run-of-the-mill 3D TV for the unwashed masses. It’s a really pretty 3D TV, for the refined and the opulent….
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3DTV Prediction Coming True, Part II
Sunday, April 24th, 2011Earlier this week, I pointed out that the price of active glasses for 3DTV has plummeted, now that Samsung has announced that it will sell them for less than . Now it appears that another point has been proven. I have contended for a long time that adding 3D support to a typical HDTV from a major brand has a marginal cost that approaches zero. It is just a matter of time before companies roll out 3D support to models other than their top-of-the-line premium sets (where they presumably have slightly better margins).
Well, I was right but I didn’t expect it to come so soon. According to a story in CE Pro, Sony will have 3D support in nearly two thirds of their 2011 HDTV lineup. 23 of the 37 models will be able to show stereoscopic 3D content. The smallest with 3D support is the 32″ KDL-EX720 series, which carries a suggested retail price of 9. That still is a hefty premium for 3D; the comparably equipped KDL-EX523 series 32″ model has a 9 price tag, or 25% less than the 3D model.
I’ll score this as a win anyway, because the prices are dropping and the feature is clearly migrating across the model lines. It won’t be long until a competitor comes along and slashes the price premium even further, and I expect that we’ll see 3D more or less across the board by the time the holiday shopping season rolls around.
Final Audio Design’s Piano Forte earphones promise concert hall sound at bank-breaking prices
Sunday, April 24th, 2011Engadget: Behold Final Audio Design’s latest high-end earphones: the Piano Forte X-VII Series. Each of the four models that comprise the series features a large neodymium magnet driver,…
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HDTV Listings for Apil 23, 2011
Sunday, April 24th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- NBC (1080i) airs Chase at 8 p.m.
- Fox (720p) has Cops at 8 p.m.
- BBC America (1080i) has the season premiere of Doctor Who at 9 p.m.
- HBO (1080i) presents Cinema Verite at 9 p.m.
- Syfy (1080i) presents Roadkill at 9 p.m.
- Showtime (1080i) has Jon Lovitz Presents at 9 p.m.
- A&E (720p) has Parking Wars at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- ESPN (720p) has NBA Playoffs action with Spurs/Grizzlies at 7:30 p.m. and Thunder/Nuggets at 10 p.m.
- Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Canadiens/Bruins at 7 p.m. and Kings/Sharks at 10:30 p.m.
HDTV Listings for Apil 23, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 23 Apr 2011 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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New Hybrid Portable TVs from RCA
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011At the NAB show last week, RCA demonstrated three new portable LCD TVs. All run on battery or AC power, and both can pick up standard ATSC digital television broadcast signals. What makes these two models particularly interesting is that they also can receive the new Mobile DTV signals (that I discussed last week).
Two models have 3.5″ LCD screens: DMT335R and DMT336R. The 335R model runs on AA batteries and has a list price of 9. The 336R model has built-in rechargeable batteries and also receives FM radio, with a list of 9. The DMT270R has a 7″ widescreen WVGA LCD display and rechargeable batteries, and a list price of 9.
I have not seen these products in person, but at these prices, I don’t expect that you’ll get top-of-the-line LCD panels in them; they clearly are not high definition displays. Still, they should fill the need for a battery powered television for your emergency storm kit, and can give you a relatively low cost way to explore the new Mobile DTV services if they are available in your market. For entertainment on the go or information updates when the power goes out, these could be very handy.
More on Bigger OLED Displays
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011This is totally propeller-headed, but a company named Cymer, Inc. made an interesting announcement in a press release last week that said, in part:
Cymer, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYMI), announced today that TCZ, its display equipment product division, has received a volume order for the TCZ-1500B, TCZ’s new Gen 5.5 crystallization system, from a leading Asian flat panel display (FPD) manufacturer. This represents TCZ’s second volume order in 2011 and fourth tool customer. The TCZ-1500B system is used for the production of advanced liquid crystal display (LCD) and next-generation organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that are targeted for applications such as high-end smart phones and tablet computers.
Enabled by Cymer industry-leading light source technology, the TCZ-1500B incorporates a high-power laser for increased throughput, and the Gen 5.5 system allows for a three-time increase in substrate size compared to Gen 4 systems, reducing manufacturing costs for display makers.
That doesn’t seem to say much, but it says a lot. The typical amorphous silicon backplane used for LCD panels is not efficient enough for OLED displays. Panel makers have relied on “laser annealing” to turn the layer into polysilicon, which is a sheet of tiny crystals. The problem is that the laser process could not be used on large substrates, which is why most of the OLED displays available today are small ones intended for use in mobile devices.
So here comes Cymer stating that it has a laser annealing system that handles substrates three times larger than the Gen 4 systems that are currently in use. That could be big news.
There’s still a lot that isn’t said in the release. Does the annealing process cover the entire Gen 5.5 substrate in a single pass? If so, that should make production much more efficient (and opens the door to the possibilty of multi-pass treatment of even larger substrates). The release also does not name the “Asian flat panel display manufacturer”, but it is almost certain to be Samsung; the company has been very public about its plans to start OLED production on a Gen 5.5 line this summer.
These hints and signs lead me to believe that I’ve been wrong about the prospect for larger OLED HDTVs. I now expect that we may well see some larger models become commercially available before the end of the year, though I still expect them to be priced at many multiples of an equivalent LCD model. It still will take time for the manufacturing process to catch up to the efficiencies of LCD production, so don’t count on a big OLED HDTV under your tree this year.
Benny & Joon Blu-ray Review
Saturday, April 23rd, 2011Buick, GMC getting IntelliLink smartphone connectivity
Friday, April 22nd, 2011Engadget: Back in February, General Motors debuted its MyLink smartphone integration for the Chevy Volt and Equinox on the Engadget Show, letting drivers control their iOS, Android, and BlackBerry…
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DisplaySearch: TV Replacement Cycle Shortens
Friday, April 22nd, 2011According to a press release from DisplaySearch, the company’s new study reports that consumers worldwide continue to replace their televisions more frequently than in the past. Traditionally, consumers replaced a CRT TV with another CRT TV every 10 to 15 years. That cycle is much shorter now, and not just in the U.S. but worldwide.
Clearly, the advent of high definition programming and the ever-decreasing prices for flat panel sets has played a major role in this trend. DisplaySearch cites some interesting results from their research, however. An outdated or broken TV was a factor in the decision to get a new set, but it was not one of the top factors, according to the study. Even more interesting is the finding that advanced features such as streaming content from the Internet or stereoscopic 3D support have not been a major factor either.
One of the big drivers for new purchases was price. The 20% annual price drops that we’ve seen in recent years keeps bringing the new sets within reach of more buyers.
DisplaySearch does not share the report’s forecasts for future replacement rates, but some markets including the U.S. must be approaching saturation. If the industry can’t keep lowering prices, I expect that U.S. TV sales will have to level off sooner or later. Fortunately, it looks as though the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) are poised for increased consumer demand for flat screen televisions, so the industry will probably enjoy unit sales growth for quite a while.
DISH Network Starts Streaming HBO and Cinemax Online
Friday, April 22nd, 2011HDTV Antenna Maker Antennas Direct Enjoys Triple Digit Growth as Americans Cut the Cord
Thursday, April 21st, 2011Philips Quits the TV Business
Thursday, April 21st, 2011Once a worldwide leader in the television industry, Philips has thrown in the towel and is exiting the business. The company has been headed in that direction for some time. In 2008, they licensed their brand name to Funai for sales in North America. (Funai also makes televisions under some other familiar brands, including Emerson, Sylvania, and Symphonic.) Philips already has similar licensing agreements in effect for China and India.
The company has announced that the rest of its television business will be taken over by TPV, which already licenses the brand name for television sales in China. TPV is better known for its other brands, including AOC and Emerson.
Will this change have a big impact on the flat panel television market? Probably not. TPV is likely to continue to get many of its panels from the same suppliers, so it probably won’t change their sales in the short term. It is possible that TPV may transition to lower cost panels from other sources, but that will likely take some time and the current market share of the Philips brand is not so large that this would cause a sea change in the supply chain in any case.
Still, it’s another data point marking just how difficult the flat panel HDTV market has become. I won’t be surprised to read news of other well-known names getting out of the business before this year is over.
Walmart Shrinks CE Store Space
Thursday, April 21st, 2011Walmart recently announced that it was expanding the number of HDTV models that it will offer, but that apparently will be primarily for online sales. The company has announced plans to actually shrink the display space allocated to consumer electronics products in their brick and mortar stores.
Part of the move is due to their perception that the flat panel TV market has stabilized a bit, and sales growth will taper off now that most U.S. consumers have dealt with the analog-to-digital transition. As a result, the in-store mix will shift toward smaller devices including tablets and smart phones, including Apple products.
While I’m not sure how much the digital transition had to do with it — most U.S. viewers rely on cable or satellite service and don’t use tuners on their TVs in most cases — it does make sense that the feeding frenzy may be subsiding and consumers won’t feel a compelling need to replace the sets they’ve purchased in the recent years. And it also seems that online marketing is going to play an increasing role in consumer electronics going forward.
On the other hand, televisions are one of the few products that I want to see in person before I make a buying decision. I recognize that it is an expensive proposition to outfit all the Walmart stores with a complete inventory of sample HDTVs, but I have to wonder whether or not customers will just decide to go elsewhere when they want to kick the tires on a new TV.
HDTV Listings for April 20, 2011
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- TNT (1080i) has NBA Playoffs action with Nuggets/Thunder at 8 p.m. and Hornets/Lakers at 10:30 p.m.
- NBA TV (1080i) has Grizzlies/Spurs at 8:30 p.m.
- Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Capitals/Rangers at 7 p.m. and Red Wings/Coyotes at 10 p.m.
- ABC (720p) has The Middle at 8 p.m., Better With You at 8:30 p.m., Modern Family at 9 p.m., Cougar Town at 9:30 p.m. and Happy Endings at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- Fox (720p) has American Idol at 8 p.m. and Breaking In at 9:30 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) has Survivor at 8 p.m., Criminal Minds at 9 p.m. and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior at 10 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has Minute to Win It at 8 p.m.
- FX (720p) has Justified at 10 p.m.
- Syfy (1080i) has the spring finale of Ghost Hunters at 9 p.m. and Fact or Faked at 10 p.m.
- History (720p) presents Jesus, The Lost 40 Days at 9 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has Mythbusters at 9 p.m.
- Spike TV (1080i) has The Ultimate Fighter at 9 p.m. and Coal at 10 p.m.
- Showtime (1080i) has Inside NASCAR at 9 p.m.
- Comedy Central (1080i) has Workaholics at 10:30 p.m.
- TBS (1080i) has Are We There Yet? at 9 & 9:30 p.m. and House of Payne at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- A&E (720p) has the season finale of Storage Wars at 10:30 p.m.
- ESPN (720p) has Twins/Orioles baseball at 7 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 20, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What Can We Learn from Internet Radio?
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011A news release from Futuresource indicates that the number of people listening to streaming music over the Internet has remained about the same over the past year and a half — about 38% in the U.S. — but those people are listening more. The study reports that U.S. listeners increased the number of hours by 27% over the same period. Pandora is cited as one of the reasons, with its personalization options and social sharing features.
Another reason, however, is the growth of mobile broadband. Smart phones can access the Internet just about anywhere these days, and can maintain a connection even while moving (which is generally not the case with WiFi connections). As a result, more people are leaving their downloaded music at home in favor of an endless supply of free music from the Internet.
So the question is this: is this Internet radio behavior the bellwether for streaming video as well? As mobile broadband bandwidths increase, will we see the same rapid growth of streaming Internet video on mobile devices as we’re seeing on home entertainment systems? What are the implications for the traditional subscription-based television and movie delivery systems — satellite and cable television — if consumers can get (most if not all of) what they want in terms of video entertainment over the Internet? Watch your favorite television episodes on Netflix on your television, then continue watching on your smart phone as you ride in a car or bus or train, and then finish up on your computer at work. Wouldn’t that make the morning commute breeze by? And what if streaming video offered more of the features that make services like Pandora appealing, such as the playlists and social sharing features?
The problem remains that many of these services are still trying to figure out how to make enough money in their businesses, or how to get access to the content that their customers want the most, but I don’t think that’s much of a problem. I remember a little company that would pay list price plus shipping for a book that I self-published, so that they could turn around and sell it to their customer at the same list price. Amazon lost a little money on those transactions, but they rode that concept to become a dominant force in retailing. I think that the old models of broadcasting and distributing programming — either audio or video — to customers are broken and will be replaced sooner or later. The way things are going, it will probably sooner.
De-Lovely Blu-ray Review
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011PBS Loses Major Affiliate Station
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Another dot got connected in the broadcast television picture. Earlier this week, WMFE-TV in Orlando, Florida, announced that it was to be purchased by a Christian broadcaster based in Dallas, Texas, and would be leaving the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). The viewer-supported station was unable to raise enough in donations to meet the annual PBS membership fee. This is the second major market station to leave PBS this year. In January, KCET-TV in Los Angeles, California, left the network because it could not afford the dues.
Certainly, the PBS network relies on a different business model than the major commercial networks, but these stations could well be the canary in the coal mine for local television broadcasting of all stripes. If they can’t raise revenues, then they’ll have to cut costs. And that will mean paying less for programming. And that means less money for the content providers — including the major Hollywood studios. If the viewer-supported stations can’t make their budgets, how long will it be until the commercial stations follow?
Maybe you can’t imagine a major market without national broadcast networks on the air, but then again, it wasn’t so long ago that we couldn’t imagine a major market without a major daily newspaper, either. How’s that working out?
Maxell introduces the VBRABONE HP-VBC40 headphones
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Akihabaranews: Here you are a new kind of headphones, the VIBRABONES type. Based on two existing technology including vibration and bones conduction, these in-ear headphones provide according to…
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Kenwood introduces 1Din iPhone/iPod car audio system with the I-K900
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Akihabaranews: Kenwood’s new I-K900 is not your average 1Din Car audio System, indeed, instead of offering the usual FM/AM and CD Player Combo; Kenwood dedicated entirely its new player to both the…
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Fluendo Moves Moovida to Version 2.1.0
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Mystic Pizza Blu-ray Review
Monday, April 18th, 2011Samsung bring the HT-D6750W its new premium Full HD 3D Smart Home Theater in Korea
Monday, April 18th, 2011Akihabaranews: Introduced at CES 2011, the HT-D6750W is Samsung new premium Full HD 3D 7.1Ch Home Theater. Launched today in Korea and set to be available later this Week in Europe and soon in…
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Moshi Moonrock earbuds
Monday, April 18th, 2011Übergizmo: Could this be a case of sounding better than it looks, or otherwise? Perhaps, but you will need to make the call for yourself after you bring one of these puppies home with you. The…
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TomTom VIA 1435, 1535, 1405 and 1505 navigators start shipping in North America
Sunday, April 17th, 2011Engadget: Remember that line of VIA navigators we peeked back at CES? Looks like today’s your lucky day if you were holding off to procure one. TomTom just announced retail availability of the…
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HDTV Listings for April 16, 2011
Sunday, April 17th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- ESPN (720p) has NBA Playoffs action with Hawks/Magic at 7 p.m. and Trail Blazers/Mavericks at 9:30 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) presents The Real King’s Speech at 7 p.m., Filthy Cities at 8 & 9 p.m. and Pompeii at 10 p.m.
- Fox (720p) presents Truth Be Told at 8 p.m.
- Showtime (1080i) presents Aries Spears: Hollywood, Look I’m Smiling at 9 p.m.
- A&E (720p) has the season premiere of Parking Wars at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- ESPN2 (720p) has the 2011 Jordan Brand Classic at 8 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 16, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nokia launches new Symbian X7 entertainment phone, but research shows Android smartphone activations soaring
Saturday, April 16th, 2011What Hi-fi: Nokia may have announced a future commitment to the Windows Phone 7 operating system, but that hasn’t stopped the company launching two new models running the latest version of…
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McTiVia networked streamer slinging PC content to TV screens this May
Saturday, April 16th, 2011
It’s not exactly a minty fresh concept, but if you’re bored with networked media streamers slinging content and content alone, Awind’s McTiVia might just be the nugget of unconventional that you’ve been after. For all intents and purposes, this is a souped-up wireless router that pipes all content from your Mac or PC onto your HDMI-equipped HDTV. The goal? To create cord-free HDTVs, in a sense. It’s capable of controlling up to eight computers via mouse or keyboard, and it also doubles as a WiFi access point for those needing to usher themselves into the modern century. She’s expected to hit retail in late May for 9, and we’ll be doing our darnedest to test one out as soon as shipments begin.
Continue reading McTiVia networked streamer slinging PC content to TV screens this May
McTiVia networked streamer slinging PC content to TV screens this May originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 06:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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eReader Deal: Amazon Kindle DX 9.7-inch 3G Wireless Reading Device: $299 Shipped (Save $80)
Saturday, April 16th, 2011Ceton InfiniTV 4 tuners now available on Amazon
Friday, April 15th, 2011
Ceton’s supply of InfiniTV 4 CableCARD tuners must be running strong now, as it’s finally available through another retailer — some tiny outfit called Amazon. The MSRP is still 9 just like everywhere else but as usual Prime customers can score cheap/free shipping. Let’s see how waiting on that HDHomeRun Prime feels now that the buy button is this close.
Ceton InfiniTV 4 tuners now available on Amazon originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hulu Plus, Kinect updates for Xbox 360 caught on camera (update: video!)
Friday, April 15th, 2011
Our friends at Joystiq have obtained screenshots showing off Hulu Plus in action on the console, as well as a shot of the Kinect Hub with Hulu and Netflix apps included. According to their tipster the Hulu (which looks similar to Zune Video as predicted) and Avatar Kinect apps are “fully functional,” with good tracking of their movements similar to existing uses for the peripheral. there’s no word on whether or not members of the larger public preview will get an early peek at these features, but you can still hit the source link below for a better look.
Update: The folks over at OmniTechNews have a hands-on video of Hulu Plus. Check it out after the break.
Continue reading Hulu Plus, Kinect updates for Xbox 360 caught on camera (update: video!)
Hulu Plus, Kinect updates for Xbox 360 caught on camera (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sharp Says Go Big AND Stay Home with 70-inch AQUOS LED HDTV (LC-70LE732U)
Thursday, April 14th, 2011Onkyo announces second Spotify-enabled AV receiver, plus 3D Blu-ray player
Thursday, April 14th, 2011What Hi-fi: Onkyo is introducing a second Spotify-enabled AV receiver, the £800 TX-NR709, which joins the £500 TX-NR609 model launched last month.
The TX-NR709 is a 7.2-channel, THX Select2 Plus…
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Pioneer launches Carrozzeria GPS Smart Cradle for Android in Japan
Thursday, April 14th, 2011Akihabara news: First announced at CEATEC 2010 in Japan and then in the USA at CES 2011, Pioneer’s Carrozzeria GPS Smart Cradle has now been made official in Japan! So far only compatible with …
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Kyle Buckner Designs’ fully handcrafted, motorized iTable
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011Bornrich: Forget the iPhone coffee table made by iLounge readers and the Table Connect for iPhone; here we have the amazing iTable from the house of Kyle Buckner Designs. Designed by Kyle Buckner,…
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Pioneer introduces their new 2011 AV receivers
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011Pioneer: The 2011 line up of receivers will bring more excitement into the home with the introduction of six new Pioneer 5.1 and 7.1-channel audio video receivers: the VSX-1021, VSX-921, VSX-826,…
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Denon Unveils AVR-3312CI Flagship In-Command Home Theater Receiver
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011Denon’s 2112 (AVR-2112CI): Rush Fans, Your Home Theater Receiver Has Arrived
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011HDTV Listings for April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- ABC (720p) has the season premiere of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution at 8 p.m., Dancing with the Stars at 9 p.m. and Body of Proof at 10 p.m.
- CBS (1080i) has NCIS at 8 p.m., NCIS: LA at 9 p.m. and The Good Wife at 10 p.m.
- Fox (720p) has Traffic Light at 9:30 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has The Biggest Loser at 8 p.m. and Parenthood at 10 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has the season premiere of Deadliest Catch at 9 p.m.
- History (720p) has Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy at 9 p.m. and Top Shot at 10 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) has the season finale of What Not to Wear at 9 p.m., and What The Sell? at 10 & 10: 30 p.m.
- Syfy (1080i) has Destination Truth at 9 p.m. and Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen at 10 p.m.
- Spike (1080i) has Auction Hunters at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- Comedy Central (1080i) has the series premiere of Sports Show with Norm Macdonald at 10:30 p.m.
- TNT (1080i) has an NBA doubleheader with Bulls/Knicks at 8 p.m. and Spurs/Lakers at 10:30 p.m.
- ESPN (720p) has The Brady 6 at 8 p.m. and On The Clock at 9 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 12, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Onkyo expands premium home theater system lineup with HT-S9400THX
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011Ubergizmo: Onkyo has just announced the addition of the HS-S9400THX to their lineup of home theater systems. The top-of-the-line model, the HT-S9400THX is THX Certified and packs THX approved …
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Vudu starts streaming movies to the browser, but only in SD
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
Vudu’s movie service is already available on 300-odd set top boxes and HDTVs including the PS3 and Boxee Box, but now it can add your personal computer to the list since it will start streaming its entire catalog right on the company’s website. The Flash-based player will let customers watch movies they’ve rented or purchased like any other device, but due to licensing issues it’s limited to a maximum 480p resolution with stereo sound for now. That’s disappointing for a company that pioneered high quality 1080p streaming with its HDX format but it could help attract customers who find a rental packed in with one of their DVDs or Blu-ray discs from Walmart. There’s no word yet on plans for mobile devices, but general manager Edward Lichty confirmed to us it plans to make content accessible in “as many places as possible” so we’d expect to hear something on that front soon (but probably after the launch of premium VOD.) Until then, there’s a few more screens in the gallery and a press release after the break or you can just check out the 2.0 interface for yourself on Vudu.com once everything goes live.
Continue reading Vudu starts streaming movies to the browser, but only in SD
Vudu starts streaming movies to the browser, but only in SD originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony’s XDR-S16DBP wakes up from the DAB+ doldrums
Monday, April 11th, 2011Engadget: Try as we might, we’ve never been able to get too worked up over DAB radio — dab, just saying it rids the body of consciousness. But then we perked up after seeing the image…
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Samsung Galaxy Tab Review
Monday, April 11th, 2011Novation Twitch touchstrip DJ controller makes the scene at Musik Messe 2011 (video)
Monday, April 11th, 2011Engadget: We’re not professional musicians by a long shot, but when we do get a chance to break away from the relentless torrent of cellphones and tablets, nothing quite hits the spot like a…
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Onkyo announces HT-RC370 and HT-RC360
Sunday, April 10th, 2011Übergizmo: Onkyo has just announced that they will be replacing their two current home theater receivers – the HT-RC270 and HT-RC260 with two new models: the HT-RC370 and HT-RC360. The new home…
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Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde Blu-ray Review
Sunday, April 10th, 2011Harman Kardon intros BDS home theaters in a box
Sunday, April 10th, 2011Harman Kardon just began offering two home theater in a box systems. The BDS-400 and BDS-800 combine a Blu-ray, DVD and CD player along with an FM tuner along with a speaker system. The former uses…
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Picture This Blu-ray Review
Saturday, April 9th, 2011HDTV Listings for April 8, 2011
Saturday, April 9th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- CBS (1080i) has Chaos at 8 p.m., CSI: NY at 9 p.m. and Blue Bloods at 10 p.m.
- Reelzchannel (1080i) has The Kennedys at 8 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has the season finale of Who Do You Think You Are? at 8 p.m. and Dateline NBC at 9 p.m.
- Starz (1080i) has Camelot at 10 p.m.
- ABC (720p) has the season premiere of Shark Tank at 8 p.m., Primetime at 9 p.m. and 20/20 at 9 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) has the season finale of Say Yes To The Dress at 9 p.m., Say Yes To The Dress: Randy Knows Best at 9:30 p.m. and the season finale of DC Cupcakes at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- Syfy (1080i) has WWE Smackdown at 8 p.m. and the season finale of Merlin at 10 p.m.
- Discovery (1080i) has American Loggers at 10 p.m.
- BBC America (1080i) has the season finale of Law & Order: UK at 9 p.m.
- HBO (1080i) has The Ricky Gervais Show at 9 p.m. and Real Time with Bill Maher at 10 p.m.
- NBA TV (1080i) has Suns/Hornets at 8 p.m.
- ESPN2 (720p) has NASCAR Nationwide Series @ Texas at 8:30 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 8, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Star Trek series coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in July and October
Friday, April 8th, 2011
Just because Netflix has licensed new content we’re not always sure when it will be available for Watch Instantly streaming, but TrekMovie.com reports it has the dates for Star Trek content covered by a recent deal with CBS. TrekMovie has confirmed it will have every episode of all five live action series — US only, sorry Canada, enjoy that Iron Man 2 — with the original Star Trek (in HD), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise (in HD) available July 1st, followed by Star Trek: Deep Space 9 on October 1st. There’s still no word on when Family Ties is arriving, but the two year deal (with an option for two more) should give viewers who haven’t already shelled out for the boxed sets (we know you got the HD DVDs) a chance to get all the Trek they can bear.
Star Trek series coming to Netflix Watch Instantly in July and October originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony introduces three new iPhone/iPod ready headphones in Japan
Friday, April 8th, 2011Akihabara News: With the overhead headphone MDR-ZX300IP and two in-ear ones the MDR-XB41I and MDR-XB21IP, Sony want to bring a full set of compatible headphones to every single iPod and iPhones built…
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TomTom announces new professional GPS navigation systems
Friday, April 8th, 2011NaviGadget: TomTom last week announced three new GPS navigation systems for professional use – each with 5″ display.
They all offer mileage logging, time logging, status reports, and more which are…
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HDTV Listings for April 7, 2011
Friday, April 8th, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- CBS (1080i) has The Big Bang Theory at 8 p.m., Rules of Engagement at 8:30 p.m., CSI at 9 p.m. and The Mentalist at 10 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has Perfect Couples at 8:30 p.m. and Outsourced at 10:30 p.m.
- Fox (720p) has American Idol at 8 p.m. and Bones at 9 p.m.
- CW (1080i) has The Vampire Diaries at 8 p.m. and Nikita at 9 p.m.
- Reelzchannel (1080i) has The Kennedys at 8 p.m.
- FX (720p) has Archer at 10 p.m.
- History (720p) has Swamp People at 9 p.m. and the series premiere of Mounted in Alaska at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- Spike (1080i) has TNA: Impact at 9 p.m.
- Showtime (1080i) has the season premiere of The Secret Diary of A Call Girl at 10:30 p.m. and the series premiere of Gigolos at 11 p.m.
- TLC (1080i) has the season premiere of Police Women at 9 p.m. and series premiere of Unleashed: K-9 Broward County at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
- TNT (1080i) has an NBA doubleheader with Celtics/Bulls at 8 p.m. and Trail Blazers/Jazz at 10:30 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 7, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tron: Legacy Blu-ray 3D review and Second Screen hands-on
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Befitting its storyline, the home release of Tron: Legacy this week checks all the tech related boxes: 7.1 surround sound support, iPad / PC Second Screen app, 3D. Even the making of the movie featured new technology, from the 3D cameras to the self-illuminating outfits worn by the actors. Of course, there’s more to a good home movie experience than just specs, so we gave Tron: Legacy (and the original Tron, included as a part of this five-disc special edition) a viewing or two to see if all of that effort in the presentation — not to mention in the movie itself — added up to a must-have disc.
Continue reading Tron: Legacy Blu-ray 3D review and Second Screen hands-on
Tron: Legacy Blu-ray 3D review and Second Screen hands-on originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Altec Lansing’s Octiv 650 iPhone / iPod speaker dock does video out, brings new meaning to Mood lighting
Thursday, April 7th, 2011Engadget: It ain’t drastically different than Altec’s iDevice speaker docks from earlier in the year, but if you’re looking for a living room peripheral that’ll output video…
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Toshiba shows off 2011 HDTVs with the most local dimming LEDs, facial recognition, 3D and more
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011Engadget: Toshiba’s focus at CES was glasses free 3D displays, but it highlighted more conventional HDTVs today at an event in Rome. Its new TVs and laptops all tie in to Toshiba Places, which…
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Samsung Drops Price of Active 3D TV Glasses, Bundles 2 Free with TV
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011Blow Out Blu-ray Review
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011Panasonic Execs on VIERA HDTV: Picture Quality Matters Most (But Apps are Nice Too)
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011How Much Would You Pay?
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011The major studios are scrambling, trying to figure out how to make money from their movies now that DVD sales are dropping. Blockbuster is on the verge of disappearing, and Netflix is trying to transition to streaming services. One possible replacement is to boost the video on demand (VOD) part of the business. It has the convenience of a streaming service but produces fees similar to the DVD rental business.
Now some studios are looking at the premium VOD market as a way to get more money for movies before they are distributed on DVD. The reasoning appears to be that watching a currrent release on VOD in the comfort of your own home is benefit enough; you should still end up paying cinema prices for the experience.
A new report from The Diffusion Group (TDG) is a glass of ice water to the face for this strategy. They surveyed consumers to see what they would actually pay to watch a new movie on the same day as the theatrical release. (The studios are considering a 60-day delay from the theatrical release for their premium VOD, which presumably would be less desirable as same-day, and thus worth less.)
The results? Fewer than one in ten would pay an extra to watch the new release. In contrast, more than 2 out of ten would be willing to pay an extra . TDG draws the conclusion that a premium for a 60-day delay is not going to fly with consumers.
Now, I’ll admit that we’re not going to really know what will happen until these offerings get out of the lab and into the real world, but I suspect that the studios will make more money with an earlier VOD release at a smaller premium than a later release with a higher premium. Whether or not one of the studios will have the nerve to test this remains to be seen.
Sony reveals flagship BDP-S780 3D blu-ray player – plus a pair of 2.1 systems
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011What Hi-fi:Sony’s long-awaited BDP-S780 3D Blu-ray player makes its UK debut today, along with a pair of new 2.1 Blu-ray home cinema systems.
The BDP-S780 slots into the 2011 Sony range above…
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Sony Closes 11 U.S. Stores
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011The “Sony Style” is changing. According to a report from TWICE, the company closed 11 of its retail stores last month. Perhaps more interesting is that the remaining stores will be renamed from “Sony Style” to “Sony Factory Outlet.”
The closings seem perfectly reasonable. The last few years have been difficult ones for retail stores, and it makes sense that a few of the locations that seemed like a good choice initially have turned out to be less than optimal. Other store closings — consumer electronics and otherwise — have drastically altered the landscape of many malls and shopping centers around the country.
The surprise for me is the shift to “Factory Outlet.” I know Americans love a good bargain, but is this the image that Sony wants? I have seen the high-end Bose stores in some outlet complexes, but those have puzzled me too. Sony used to have the reputation of a top-end brand. You could get a Sony, or you could settle for something less. (The Sony Trinitron CRT televisions and computer monitors were prime examples of this top shelf status.)
Now you find Sony HDTVs in Walmart. I understand the need to go where the shoppers are, but I always felt that this deal raised Walmart’s status at the expense of Sony’s. So the decision to create “Factory Outlet” stores sends the wrong signal. It puts Sony in the same bargain basement boat as the clothing retailers who set up outlets to move their overstocked and discontinued products. It seems to me that Sony is headed in the wrong direction with their new retail strategy.
Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:15 pm
Monday, April 4th, 2011
It’s Monday, and we’re still here to help by letting you peek into the recording booth when the Engadget HD podcast goes to mp3 at 8:15 pm. Hopefully a late show will let those who always wanted to join in, but couldn’t because of the time, get a chance. Embedded Ustream tools and a list of topics after the break.
Continue reading Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:15 pm
Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:15 pm originally appeared on Engadget HD on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Fiddler on the Roof Blu-ray Review
Monday, April 4th, 2011More Retransmission Woes
Monday, April 4th, 2011LIN Media blacked out programming on 27 stations in 17 markets for a total of eight days during a fee dispute with DISH Network. According to a release by the American Cable Association (ACA), the Univision affiliate WUNI in Providence RI has been blacked out on the local Full Channel TV cable system for 30 days, due to a dispute over retransmission fees. The same release points to a situation in Topeka KS where two broadcasters – who reportedly coordinate on retransmission negotiations — will own stations that provide three of the top four networks in that market: ABC, NBC, and FOX. This raises the specter of them pulling all three at once in the event of a fee dispute with a cable or satellite service provider.
Reading the tea leaves, I don’t think that the federal government can ignore the problem of retransmission fee negotiations much longer. A content provider should not be expected to provide their programming for a price lower than what they want, but the subscribers of the cable and satellite service should have a reasonable expectation of receiving the programming that they have paid for. I don’t pretend to have a fair way to resolve the problem, but these service interruptions are just going to get more heated as time goes on. The FCC has proposed rules for this problem, but something needs to be put in place soon.
TDK Boomboxes to bring you back to the 80s
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011Ubergizmo: If you were a kid growing up in the late 70s and 80s, you would have been part of the boombox generation, and probably owned one or two yourself. Well boomboxes aren’t too common…
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Mitsubishi Abandons LCD HDTVs
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011When you’ve got an also-ran share of an enormous market and there are no signs that you can make a substantial dent in the leaders’ share, what can you do? Mitsubishi has decided that if you can’t beat them, quit. In a press release last week, the company announced that it was leaving the LCD HDTV business. Instead, it will focus on its DLP rear projection HDTVs as well as front projectors and business display products. According to the release from Senior VP Cayce Blanchard, Mitsubishi will manufacture and sell microdisplay rear projection HDTVs in sizes 73″ and larger. (The company showed a 92″ model at CES 2011 in January.)
This is a daring maneuver, but I’m not sure what other choices the company has. Sales of rear projection HDTVs have dropped to the point of invisibility on most sales charts. At a time when consumers are dazzled by wafer-thin flat panels, the bulky rear projection models just don’t hold the same appeal no matter what advantages they may have. It remains true that rear projection remains an incredible bargain; Amazon has a 73″ Mitsubishi set for just ,200 which is only 60% of Amazon’s lowest price for a much smaller 65″ plasma HDTV. Consumers want flat, however, and that’s where their money goes. Consumers are slowly realizing that their first HDTV was too small for the viewing distance, so there’s hope that Mitsubishi’s big screens will come into favor in time.
In the meantime, the company is “evaluating its dealer network,” according to its release. I suspect that this will mean greater focus on retail outlets where the price advantages can be highlighted, but that remains to be seen.
3D Imaging in a Fog
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011When we talk about “3DTV” we generally mean “stereoscopic” images. This approach presents different views to the left and right eyes. The brain then deciphers information from the small differences between the two images, and constructs a three-dimensional image from the combination. This can deliver the illusion of depth, where some objects appear to be closer and others farther away.
This does not successfully mimic all aspects of real-world vision, however. The most glaring omission is that it does not provide “motion parallax” effects. This is the effect that you see when you move your head from side to side; closer objects will “move” relative to the background, and elements of the background will either be covered up or revealed by this motion. It turns out that this is a very strong effect; it allows you to “see around” objects so that you can see their sides.
You can’t do this with stereoscopic imagery because there are only two images available. If you have more images from additional angles, you could create a hologram that would appear to have volume, but this is expensive and difficult and generally requires lasers. But now a group from Osaka University has demonstrated a system that uses simple front projectors to show multiple images. Instead of projecting onto a flat surface, the images are projected into a cloud of water droplets. Depending on your viewing angle, you will see a different image. As you walk around the cloud of mist, the image changes and it appears as though you are looking at a three-dimensional object.
Unlike stereoscopic imagery, you can capture this effect in a simple video. Here’s a recording of the demonstration:
This approach certainly could be applied to larger, full color displays. A stable “cloud screen” would be required, and it would probably have to rely on interpolation to create enough different images to give it a natural look, but it would definitely solve the multiple-viewer problems inherent in auto-stereoscopic displays.
HDTV Listings for April 2, 2011
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
What we’re watching tonight:
- CBS (1080i) has NCAA Tournament Final four action with VCU/Butler at 6 p.m. and Kentucky/UCONN at 8:45 p.m.
- Nickelodeon (1080i) has the 2011 Kids’ Choice Awards at 8 p.m.
- A&E (720p) presents Purgatory at 11 p.m.
- NBC (1080i) has Saturday Night Live with Elton John and Elton John with John Russell at 11:29 p.m.
HDTV Listings for April 2, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Samsung Becomes the World’s First in Mass Production of Transparent LCD Panel
Saturday, April 2nd, 2011
Samsung has announced that it began mass production of a 22-inch transparent LCD panel in March this year. The panels come in two types, the black-and-white type and the color type, and they have a contrast ratio of 500:1 with WSXGA+ (1680*1050) resolution.
Continue reading Samsung Becomes the World’s First in Mass Production of Transparent LCD Panel
Originally appeared on HDTV.biz-news.com :: Latest HDTV Business News on 31/03/2011
HDTV.biz-news.com :: Latest HDTV Business News :: Hardware & Technology
Netflix Opens the Kimono
Saturday, April 2nd, 2011At the IP&TV World Forum in London last week, the VP of Business Development for Netflix, Bill Holmes, revealed some inside information about his company and its plans. You can watch his entire keynote speech at this link — which I recommend — but here are some highlights.
Perhaps the most intriguing fact of his presentation is that he gave numbers. So many executive keynote addresses don’t dip much below the surface of mission statements and platitudes. One of the hard numbers he provided is that the average Netflix subscriber to the streaming service watches about 27 hours of online content a month. This means that in homes that watch streaming content from Netflix, it probably accounts for more viewing time than any of the major broadcast networks. And when you figure that a lot of people have ESPN Sports Center on whenever they are home, that’s a pretty impressive statement.
Another interesting point is that 70% of Netflix streaming subscribers came from word-of-mouth recommendations. (Maybe this will encourage Netflix to cut down on all their obnoxious pop-up ads on so many Web sites.) I’m not at all surprised by this. I have had dozens of conversations with friends and family who are either curious or misinformed about Netflix streaming. They are often amazed to learn that all it takes is a network media player that costs less than 0 to get your HDTV hooked up to the Internet and Netflix. And with 90% of subscribers happy with the service, it is no surprise that word of mouth is so successful for Netflix.
Major Studios to Launch $30 Home Premiere VOD in April – Why?
Friday, April 1st, 2011SMPTE Develops New HDTV Format
Friday, April 1st, 2011It seems that as soon as we get settled with our 720p and 1080p HDTV displays, talk started up about even higher resolution images. Demonstrations of 2K and 4K display technologies have knocked viewers’ virtual socks off. Is there a limit to how high “high definition” can become?
One problem that doesn’t get discussed much, however, is how to move all that high resolution data to the television screen. A 3,840 by 2,160 pixel image (sometimes called “Double Full HD”) requires four times as much data as a 1080p frame. How can you squeeze that through a broadband pipe, let alone broadcast it over the airwaves? The problem is that bit-mapped images can only be compressed so much before you start to get noticeable artifacts when the image is decompressed back to its original size. You may have noticed this problem with JPEG photos that have been compressed too aggressively.
Now there is hope from an unexpected direction. The Society for Motion Picture and Televison Engineers (SMPTE) has been quietly working on the problem, and have come up with a solution. In a back-to-the-future move, the organization’s latest standard abandons the rasterized approach that has been with us since the first days of broadcast television, and instead adopts a vector-based design.
A rasterize image is scanned dot by dot, row by row. On a 1080p display, this means 1,080 rows of 1,920 dots each. That’s a lot of data. A vector image takes a different route. Instead of scanning the image, it defines the image as a series of lines that can be described by mathematical formulas. It can be as simple as drawing a straight line that starts here and ends there, or it can take on complex curves. These lines can form the boundaries of areas that are then filled with a texture that is mapped from the original image. Thus these vectors can be assigned a variety of characteristics such as color and thickness, and can be used to recreate the original image.
Now here’s where it gets interesting. Because each element of the image is actually a geometrical definition, it can be infinitely scaled to match the resolution of the display on which it is shown. Each display will show as much detail as it can, based on its actual resolution. And because all the information exists as formulas, it can be condensed into a much smaller data stream than raster-graphics can. Some estimates say that a typical movie image can be defined as a vector image that takes up less than 10% of the space required for a compressed raster image, but with no loss of the original image content.
It gets even better. Because these vector definitions can be defined as objects, their behavior can be tracked from frame to frame. Instead of sending all the vector information for each frame, the object definition can be sent just once along with instructions about how it moves in subsequent frames. This makes it possible to reduce the data stream by another order of magnitude, so that it is just 1% the size of the equivalent compressed raster image.
The beauty of this new approach is that no changes need to be made in the display panels already in use. The controllers simply need to be modified to interpret this vector data and convert it into a rasterized image in the native resolution for the display. Existing HDTVs will be able to use a small external box with an HDMI connection to take advantage of this new technology, while new displays with even higher resolutions will be able to take full advantage of the same data stream.
The Brooklyn Bridge Video Lab is one of the first companies to develop the code for video processing chips required to support this new standard. The company has also announced that it will go public shortly, so you can buy a piece of this technology when the IPO happens.
Samsung and Visa join forces to enable NFC mobile payment at 2012 Olympics
Friday, April 1st, 2011Engadget: From a gadgeteer’s point of view, one of the best things about the Olympics is its tendency to bring in new technologies to the hosting city. Take the 2012 games, for example: not…
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Insidious Movie Review
Friday, April 1st, 2011Roku Scores Free Movies with Crackle
Friday, April 1st, 2011I love Hulu. About half of the programming that we watch at home comes from Hulu (and the other half from Netflix). This is because I have a computer right beside my HDTV, because my television doesn’t have digital tuners and I wanted to be able to record broadcast shows for time-shifting. A computer was the most practical DVR option at the time. But when we buy our next HDTV (which will have digital tuners so we can watch live sports programming), I may ditch the computer. Why? Because I will probably get most of what I want from a simple network media player, like a Roku box.
On Tuesday, Roku made that possibility a lot more likely. They announced a partnership with Crackle that will bring free streaming movies over the Internet. The Crackle channel will be ad-supported, and will also include full-length episodes of TV shows as well.
From the sounds of things, this will be a whole lot more like Hulu than Joost in terms of quality of the content. According to the release, the Crackle channel will get programming from Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics. Not all the movies will be moldy oldies, either. The press release listed the following examples: “The Da Vinci Code”, “21”, “Ghostbusters”, “Eight Millimeter”, “Ultraviolet”, and “A Few Good Men”. The TV show coverage is not nearly so broad as Hulu, but it has recent series including “Beast” and “Nurse Jackie”. You can check out Crackle online for yourself from your computer.
For me, I’d probably be tempted to pay the extra for a Hulu Plus subscription (also available on Roku) to get the wider selection, but if the Crackle channel catches fire, it could command enough revenue to beef up the offerings. It appears that it has hit the ground running on the Roku platform. From the press release:
“The updated Crackle channel was launched on Roku just over a week ago and has quickly become a top five installed and watched channel,” said Jim Funk, vice president of business development for Roku, Inc.
It’s probably worth a look.