Posted 01/06/09 at 02:15:00 PM by Paul Lilly

Let's hope there's no insidious plot to take over the world brewing behind the scenes of Netflix, because if there is, we're all screwed. Netflix's streaming service is already being streamed to everything from Tivo boxes to the Xbox 360 console, and starting this spring, LG will integrate Netflix streaming capability into some of its plasma and LCD HDTVs.

The move has the potential to significantly boost Netflix's subscriber base, as consumers in the market for a new television would no longer need to add a separate set-top box, be it a Roku player or one of the compatible Blu-ray players, to take advantage of the more than 12,000 streaming movies and TV shows. It also puts the pressure on the competition to catch up if they have any hopes of contending in the living room.

No word yet on price or availability, though we imagine more information will be made available this week at CES.

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tv, television, streaming video, NetFlix, consumer electronics, LG, CES2009

Posted 11/17/08 at 05:51:46 PM by Andy Salisbury

Got a MySpace page? Like watching TV? Want others to know what you like to watch on TV? Then you’re in luck!

MySpace recently launched a widget that you can place directly on your profile page, aptly named, Primetime. Placing this on your page will allow you to provide all of the content from both MySpace and Hulu to the viewers of your glitter inspired profile.

While the widget does provide a snazzy built-in search, it is only available to users in the US. This likely due to licensing, but has a good chance of changing once the paperwork gets filled out (and who knows when that will be). Even still, most of the members of the social networking site won’t have any issues with that, given that 76 million of the 122 million MySpace users worldwide are within the United States.

So go! Enjoy full episodes of Family Guy and The Office! Just make sure that you let all your “friends” join in on the laughs as well.

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tv, myspace, widget

Posted 10/17/08 at 05:02:14 PM by Andy Salisbury

While there’s no doubt that Apple’s insanely popular iTunes store would hit this milestone, they felt it necessary to announce that they’ve finally hit 200 million sales of TV episodes, with more than one million of those being HD episodes sold just last month.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services, said in a statement this past Thursday, “We've got an incredible Fall 2008 TV lineup with over 70 primetime comedies and dramas, including many of the most popular shows on TV in stunning HD. With over 200 million episodes sold, iTunes customers have proven they love watching television on their computer, iPod, iPhone and TV with Apple TV.”

Thanks to the partnership of major television networks such as Bravo, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, ESPN, FX, HBO, MTV, Nickelodeon, Sci Fi, Showtime and USA, these sales don’t look they’re going to slow down anytime in the near future.

For those keeping track, the iTunes store now offers over eight million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films. Almost makes a man never want to leave his house.

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Software, apple, tv, itunes, sales, tv shows, iTunes Store

Posted 10/07/08 at 07:14:06 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Cnet's Crave blog reports that Logitech has rolled out yet another member of its low-end 500 series of Harmony universal remotes, the 510. According to Cnet, the 510, which retails for $99.99 but is widely available for less, is similar in its control design to the 550 ($129.99 MSRP), but only controls five devices, versus 15 for the 550.

Commenters at the Engadget blog have already spotted the 510 "in the wild" and have noted that the older 550 is less expensive at some stores and has a blue backlight (preferred by some to the 510's green backlight). Many users are noting that the Xbox 360-compatible Logitech Harmony remote is also a better deal than the 510, as it supports up to 12 devices (and you don't need to have an Xbox 360 to use it).

Logitech's official web page for the Harmony 510 is here, and you can find all of the US-market models listed here.

Fans of under $100 universal remotes, time to speak up. Is newer better, or are you hunting for the 550 while you can still get it? Join us after the jump for your chance to chime in.

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tv, dvd, logitech, Home Theater, consumer electronics, Harmony, universal remote control

Posted 09/30/08 at 10:03:35 AM by Paul Lilly

There's been a bit of hype as of late concerning OLED technology, leading to a cautious optimism in the consumer electronics industry. Back in June, Plexitronics, with funding provided by the U.S. Display Consortium, announced a breakthrough in OLED manufacturing that could lead to low cost OLED displays, and just one month later Matsushita cranked the hype machine by saying it had set a goal of selling 40-inch OLED displays by 2011. Could we be on the verge of an OLED revolution?

Not everyone is as optimisitc, including Panasonic, who casted a ray of reality on the situation during the opening day of Ceatec 2008. Panasonic AVC Networks president Toshihiro Sakamoto squashed that idea that we might see OLED televisions in sizes of 30 inches or more anytime soon, saying th technology is not suitable for mass manufacturing. Earlier this year at CES, Sakamoto said that because "you won't be able to beat the cost and price performance of LCD and plasma for a long time," we likely won't see OLED start to grow as a market until 2015, but now feels even that estimate might be overly optimistic. The biggest irony here is that Panasonic is a brand name of Matsushita's!

Is Sakamoto's pessimism warranted, or will we see affordable 30-inch+ OLED displays before 2015?

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tv, television, oled, consumer electronics, panasonic

Posted 09/20/08 at 03:02:32 PM by Justin Kerr

The marketing drum at Microsoft beats on and new advertisements have finally surfaced for your viewing pleasure. The new direction in the campaign features a noticeable lack of Seinfeld and churros, but it finally takes on the damaging Mac vs PC ads which Apple first debuted several years ago. For many PC enthusiasts this is the real kick start of the Vista ad campaign, and in many ways is long overdue. For years Apple has stereotyped Windows user’s as pie chart obsessed corporate stooges who resist the very notion that computing can be fun. The Microsoft ads hope to demonstrate the diversity of the over one billion users across the world who use Windows everyday and are proud proponents of the platform. The campaign also features a new face to represent the PC, which ironically turns out to be an internal Microsoft employee named Sean Siler. Sean claims he was one of many who auditioned for the role of the PC and his duties at Microsoft otherwise involve work on IPv6. His email address (provided at the bottom of the ad) sends back an automated out of office response directed toward curious observers. Try it yourself by sending an email to sean@windows.com or hit the jump to read the transcript and see the ads for yourself.

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vista, microsoft, Software, tv, OS, ad, Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld, mac vs pc

Posted 09/18/08 at 02:33:33 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Amazon has armed its subsidiary Internet Movie Database (IMDB) with 6,000 full-length movies and TV episodes. Users can watch the video content without spending even a single penny. Video on IMDB had been long overdue and its absence was perplexing.

Sadly enough, though, only a glimpse of the video feature is enough to tell you that it will take quite a long time for video to be the site’s USP. The list of featured videos is too short to be any good. 

Therefore, to make the most of the wide gamut of video content provided by the likes of Sony Pictures Television, HULU, CBS and roughly 500 indie filmmakers, you will have to mainly depend on the website’s search capabilities.

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video, tv, movies, amazon, web, content, imdb

Posted 09/10/08 at 02:05:26 PM by Paul Lilly

Is there no end to the laser's usefulness? From being mounted to frickin' sharks to popping a house full of corn in the 80s, the answer appears to be no. Fast-forward to today and lasers are now going to be found in television sets.

First announced earlier this year at CES, Mitsubishi's LaserVue series is being billed by the company as the world's first laser-power TV. It's also one of the more expensive sets for its size. Set to initially make its debut this month as a 65" HDTV, the LaserVue will carry an MSRP of $7,000, or roughly comparable to that of higher end LCD TVs of the same size. If you can wait a little longer and have an extra $3,000 to drop, a 73" model will be available in the fourth quarter priced at $10,000.

According to Mitsubishi, LaserVue TVs are capable of about twice the color range of non-laser powered LCD TVs, while providing a brightness of 500 nits, 3D viewing capability, and will consume less than 200W of power.

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tv, DLP, HDTV, consumer electronics, displays, laser