If your one of the many that have been induced into a package that offers one low price for broadband, phone and television, the Comcast Mobile App is a fantastic tool to control many of the broad features of these products.  Comcast recently upgraded it’s already decent mobile app for the iPhone to version 2.0.1.  The new version features enhancements for DVR owners while continuing to improve on delivering quality digital voice controls in a very intuitive program.  I’ve been using the app now since it came out and Comcast really has done an outstanding job with this app.

The biggest news in 2.0.1 is (in some markets, rolling out now) the ability to remotely control your DVR.  The new service, called rDVR, lets customers decide to record programs while on the go.  It looks pretty slick and although I do have Comcast service, my TiVo with CableCard prevents access to Comcast’s On-Demand services, so I was unable to test this new feature out.

The other features the app services continue to improve.  The 2.0 app update brought push notifications to the app along with sounds to alert users to missed calls.  The guide to TV listings is surprisingly fast and localized.  Comcast email, address book and a really handy phone log are all done extremely well.  To me, the Digital Voice part of the app is where this app really shines.

In the Digital Voice section of the app, users can see all calls, both incoming and outgoing.  Tabs provide filters of the bulk data, one for just Outgoing calls, one for missed calls and one just for voice mail.  Voice messages can be played through the speaker.  From a simple button in the lower right corner, I can forward my Comcast Digital Voice number to any number I plug in, right from this app.  Absolutely fantastic.

I am a big fan of this app as it makes the services I already use so much more friendly and honestly has changed how I view Comcast.  Other phone service providers should be taking their cues from Comcast and this app.  The app is free and available in the Apple App store now.

Product page: [Comcast]  iTunes link: [iTunes]

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TiVo introduced the next generation TiVo devices but also improved on their iconic peanut-shaped remote.  The new remote not only maintains the classic TiVo look but features a slide out keyboard, just like a smartphone.  The remote looks amazing and will be offered as an upgrade to the new TiVo DVRs.

TiVo won awards for their original peanut remote control and looks to be on track for more with this QWERTY slider remote.  The new remotes uses Bluetooth to communicate with the set top box for extended range and line-of-sight issues that drive us all crazy.  The slide out QWERTY will make searching far faster than clicking and moving around an on-screen keyboard.  The remote will be an add-on accessory and will ship later this year at an undisclosed price.

The new DVRs from TiVo are built on Flash, which should make the menus snappy and fresh.  The boxes aim to bring all entertainment to your TV, from cable to web to local network. Two models, capable of output up to 1080p, were introduced, the Premiere ($299) and Premiere XL ($499).  The units still rely on the CableCARD slot. The Premiere can hold 45 hours of HD and the XL can hold 150 hours with THX.

“It has never been this easy to get all your entertainment in one place, on the big screen, in HD, right at your fingertips. And the beauty of TiVo Premiere is that finding what to watch is just as fun as the watching the TV shows themselves. We accomplished it by using pictures and graphics to make the whole television guide experience come alive in a way that it never has before,” said TiVo’s President and CEO Tom Rogers. “TiVo Premiere is your new cable box, it’s your movie box, it’s your web box, and music box; it’s the one box that can give you access to almost anything you want, whenever you want it. We’ve taken millions of pieces of content and organized it for you in a way that makes so much sense you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.”

Wondering how I ever lived without it is exactly how I feel about my first TiVo (I am on my second).  It is impressive that TiVo has delivered a new device that looks capable of making users feel that way all over again.

Company site: [TiVo] via [Engadget]

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Before I begin…a point of clarification—I do see a difference in ripping and burning a DVD you purchased as opposed to downloading and burning an illegal copy of a DVD.

That said, the above image represents why I choose to make pirate (rip and burn) copies of my DVD’s. Simply put, it becomes a much nicer viewing experience. I can put the movie in and it just plays. Of course, ripping and burning also prevents me from having to buy multiple copies of DVD because one of my kids scratches it.

Bottom line, I do not download illegal copies, but still choose to rip and burn just so I can put a movie in and have it start before I grow old or get bored.

Read [The Next Web]

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We often hear about how bad the economy is lately, and with that we also often hear about budget cuts. And as much as I hate to say it, the talk of budget cuts almost seems normal now. Except in the case of the Lake County Jail cutting back the inmates Netflix subscription. Yes, it seems that the Lake County Jail was ordering up Netflix for the inmates as a weekend perk. Of course, it was pointed out in that they “weren’t perks for the inmates so much as an activity that helped guards maintain order.”

Either way, they were getting Netflix.

“But the curtain has been dropped on the perk now that the jail’s $35 monthly Netflix subscription has been canceled—a tiny portion of the $2 million in budget cuts that Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran disclosed Thursday.”

Now keep in mind, with the jail or any place that would be showing the movies to large groups there is more to this than just a low-monthly subscription fee. In this case it turns out that hey were paying a $35 monthly subscription fee as well as a $5,000 to $6,000 annual licensing fee.

Read [Chicago BreakingNews] Via [Hacking Netflix]

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On March 2, 2010, TiVo will be holding an event in New York City presumably regarding some new innovating technology.  The flyer they have sent around includes the phrase “Inventing The DVR Was Just A Warmup.”  For TiVO DVR enthusiasts, this is definitely exciting news. 

So far rumors of an impending product release includes the TiVo Premiere, whose product manual had surfaced a few months ago.  Whatever product they release, the flyer above sure does make it sound interesting, and Gadgetell will make sure to bring you the latest news from the event.

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

It is no secret that Netflix is pushing their Watch Instantly movie streaming, and according to the December comScore numbers that push seems to be working. It seems that Netflix has broken into the top 20, albeit just barely at position 19 falling in between Break Media at 20 and Justin.tv at 18.

comScore Video Metrix (U.S.) Videos (000)
Total Internet : Total Audience 33,242,835

1. Google Sites 13,242,487
2. Hulu 1,013,494
3. Microsoft Sites 561,052
4. Fox Interactive Media 550,505
5. Yahoo! Sites 539,416
6. Viacom Digital 372,641
7. Turner Network 366,987
8. CBS Interactive 297,298
9. MEGAVIDEO.COM 210,294
10. AOL LLC 209,957
11. Vevo 174,911
12. Disney Online 171,946
13. ESPN 165,743
14. FACEBOOK.COM 164,581
15. Blinkx 164,287
16. NBC Universal 160,205
17. DAILYMOTION.COM 133,436
18. JUSTIN.TV 128,102
19. NETFLIX.COM 127,016
20. Break Media 120,104

Read [TechCrunch]

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Netflix is continuing to make forward progress in the streaming market, and this latest move will have Indie movie fans rejoicing.

According to the latest announcement, Netfix has partnered with “a number of leading distributors of independent” films which will result in them adding about 300 Indie films to the on-demand lineup.

The movies will come from distributors to include The Criterion Collection, Gravitas Ventures, Kino Lorber, Music Box Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Regent Releasing.

As for availability, this will vary with some being available immediately to as long as “early next year.”

Read [PR Newswire]

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A little bit of good news has come by way of Netflix, well good news for Netflix anyway—it seems they have added 1 million new subscribers in Q4 2009.

And in addition they are now touting a total of 12.3 million subscribers with revenue up and the churn rate down. In short it seems that Netflix is seeing a fair amount of success at the moment.

The revenue was noted as being $444.5 million which was up from the previous quarter. The churn rate was 3.9% for Q4, which was down from 4.2% in the same quarter of the previous year.

Other details that were announced include that more than 48% of their subscribers watched a streaming movie in 2009, which is up from 28% in 2008.

Moving forward into 2010 Netflix expects subscribers to be at 13.5 to 13.8 million by the end of the first quarter and revenue up to somewhere between $490 and $496 million.

A few interesting tidbits in regards to Netflix growth include that it took them 4 years to reach 1 million subscribers and now they have added that in just one quarter. Also, they expect to pay $600 million in postage fees this year alone.

Read [Netflix] Via [Hacking Netflix]

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The BDP-80 is a Blu-ray disc player which supports BD-Live (BD Profile 2.0). What this means is that it comes with an ethernet port, allowing you to access internet-based content. A built-in 1GB internal storage allows you to do just that, along with access to Bonus View features. The player supports a vast array of formats including DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, Super Audio CD (SACD), HDCD, CD, AVCHD, MKV video files, digital photos and music. You can watch videos directly from your USB drives as it comes with not one, but two USB ports, one on the front panel and one on the back. Video output options include HDMI 1.3, and analog outputs such as S-Video and Composite video, ensuring compatibility with legacy displays. It can upscale standard definition videos up to 1080p to maximize its display quality. For audio, it supports 7.1ch, 5.1ch, coaxial, and optical connections. It also features the high quality Dolby TrueHD audio, via the HDMI 1.3 output. The OPPO BDP-80 is priced at $289.

Product Page [OPPO]

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Just like we heard earlier this month, Netflix has begun delaying the release of Warner Bros DVD titles. First up, or should I say first affected is The Invention of Lying and Whiteout. These titles are both scheduled to be available with Netflix as of February 16, 2010. Now for the part that is going to make Blockbuster Online seem like a good deal (at least for now). Both of these titles will be available with Blockbuster Online as of tomorrow. Its a sad day for Netflix, and now we can only hope that this 28 day delay cycle stays with Warner Bros and does not spread to other major studios. Honestly, if they really had a clue it would seem that they would want to speed these releases up, not slow them down.

Via [Hacking Netflix]

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Sony’s CES 2010 press conference dealt primarily with 3D technology. Sony said it wants to be the leader in bringing 3D imagery into homes. 3D blu-ray players and 3D Bravia televisions are being developed in addition to plans to make the PS3 3D capable through a firmware update.

Sony announced it will also be presenting concerts in 3D with Kenny Chesney being one of the first artists to be featured. I got a small taste of what to expect from these concerts at Sony’s press conference as Taylor Swift performed live on stage.

Sony’s 3D glasses are solid black with a glossy finish. The lenses are also slightly tinted. They are as big as a typical pair of designer sunglasses. 3D glasses have always been a problem for people like me who require prescription glasses in order to see anything. Sony’s 3D glasses are large enough to fit over my glasses, but it will always look and feel slightly awkward. I didn’t experience any eye strain in the few minutes I wore them.

During Taylor Swift’s performance Sony’s 3D technology was being showcased on the screen behind her. The glasses brought the image closer to the eyes and accentuated background and foreground images. For instance, Taylor Swift looked as though she was popping out of the screen while the concerts audience was pushed further back. Everything looked very clean and was in high definition.  The difference between watching in 2D and 3D is definitely noticeable.

I’m concerned that Sony did not mention a price for either the 3D Bravia televisions or the 3D blu-ray players.  It’s also going to take some time to convince consumers to embrace 3D when so many still don’t have 1080p HDTV’s in their homes.

Read [Gadgetell at CES]

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Running around CES I have heard about Netflix and different products that will allow you to stream movies, but in a little change we have a news story that gives us a little Netflix news that actually comes from Netflix.

It seems that Netflix has finally signed a deal with Warner Bros. and that deal will allow Netflix to begin offering new release movies after only 28 days. According to the terms of the agreement, Netflix will get a discount on Warner DVD’s, but also have access to movies and TV shows for streaming.

It seems now the only questions that remain is how long it will take before Netflix signs deals with other studios and whether or not Blockbuster will follow in their footsteps.

Read [Yahoo! Finance] Via [Hacking Netflix]

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At CES 2010, DivX announced a partnership with LG Electronics in which DivX will install their DivX TV technology within LG’s new Blu-Ray players and home theater setups running NetCast Entertainment Access.  This new Internet TV platform hopes to become popular in the newly formed department of Internet TV.

DivX TV will provide many sources of entertainment such as Hollywood movies, online videos, digital music services, social networking sites and more.  In addition, it is possible to stream videos from your computer over your home network.  The nice thing here is that the service can play any video format, which includes their native DivX format.  In order to upgrade your current system, whether it is an LG Blu-Ray player or a system with NetCast Entertainment, all you have to do is update to a new firmware version from DivX.  The firmware update will not be available until later this year.

As of now, DivX TV boasts nearly 70 channels and a lot of content free from the Internet.  The Internet content includes full length movies and TV shows, not just skimpy video clips.  You can expect to see content from entertainment sources such as the Associated Press, CNET, DailyMotion, Revision 3, Twitter, TED, and Picasa.  I imagine that many other companies will sign on as this service becomes more popular. 

Read [DivX TV]

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Powerline is a group of devices that plug into your wall to eliminate the clutter brought on by Ethernet cables. It connects HDTV’s game consoles, DVR’s and PC’s with very little effort. Powerline also disables itself when not in use to save electricity. NETGEAR is branding this product to be very environmentally friendly.

Powerline comes in three different units depending on what your connection needs are. The differences between the 85Mbps Powerline Ethernet Adapter,  Powerline AV 200 Adapter and the Powerline AV+ 200 Adapter lie in how many mega bits per second you need transferred from your internet connection. The AV+ also comes with an extra outlet for noise filtering.

Powerline will work effectively in homes up to 5000 square feet and comes with a one year warranty from NETGEAR.

Read [NETGEAR]

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Sony has recently revealed that you may be able to squeeze in as much as 33.4GB of data onto your blu-ray disc via a technology called i-MLSE (Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation). What’s good about this technology is that it is entirely software-based. This means that all your current hardware and settings remain unchanged. i-MLSE is a technology that estimates and compensates for the read error rate of a disc on the fly. i-MLSE involves complex calculations in order to determine error rates. With recent hardware advancements, Sony comments “It should be possible to process in real time, just like jitter.” From that statement, it looks like you need a pretty decent processor and other hardware that is capable of processing whatever information this technology involves.

Sony is currently proposing the i-MLSE technology to the Blu-ray Disc Association.

Read [Tech-On!] Via [Ubergizmo] Via [Engadget]

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Have you ever purchased a DVD or Blu-Ray on Amazon.com and felt anxious as you waited several days for the item to ship to your house? Well, Amazon has a solution: Disc+ On Demand.

Amazon is offering shoppers a chance to double dip their movie-watching needs through a “Gift with purchase” on certain items. When customers purchase select DVD and Blu-ray titles, they can receive a free digital download of the film. The On Demand download is only standard definition, but it can play on a PC, Mac, or stream to compatible television units.

Disc+ On Demand is a happy medium for people who want the immediacy of digital downloads and those who want to purchase a high-definition physical copy of the film to watch at a later date. The library of Disc+ On Demand titles is just a small portion of Amazon’s store, but customers can browse through a list of available titles. Most of the selections are from Mystery & Suspense or Sci-Fi & Fantasy categories, but other categories are also represented in the more than 300 available films.

Disc+ On Demand is available only to U.S.-based Amazon customers.

Read [Amazon]

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We have seen a few good deals coming from Walmart including the $30 Pixi and the BlackBerry offers. Not to mention the sales on video games. But after digging through the leaked sales flyer for Black Friday, we now have a complete list of nice prices—including a Blu-ray player for $78. Of course this is a lower end model, its the Magnavox NB500 and it normally retails for $129, but still $78.

Anyway, in addition to the low-priced Blu-ray player, Walmart also has a good selection of HDTV’s, computers, digital cameras, GPS units. Here is a quick rundown of some of the deals that can be found, but the full list can be found by hitting the ‘read’ link below.

DVD Players

• Magnavox NB500 Blu-ray Disc Player - $78.00
• Samsung BD-P1590 Blu Ray Player (Saturday) - $148.00
• Sony BDP-S369 Blu Ray Player - $148.00

Televisions

• Emerson 32” LC320EMFX LCD 720P HDTV - $248.00
• Emerson 42” PL-P42W-10A Plasma 720P HDTV - $448.00
• Flat-Panel TV Stand - $89.00
• Philips Large Fixed TV Mount - $69.00
• RCA 46” LCD 1080p HDTV (Online Only) - $688.00
• Samsung 32” LN32B360 LCD 720P HDTV (Saturday) - $398.00
• Samsung 42” LN40B500 LCD 1080P HDTV (Saturday) - $598.00
• Samsung 42” PN42B400 Plasma 720P HDTV (Saturday) - $548.00
• Samsung 46” LN46B500 LCD 1080P HDTV (Saturday) - $848.00
• Samsung 50” PN50B400 Plasma 720P HDTV (Saturday) - $698.00
• Sansui 19” HDLCD1909 LCD HDTV - $128.00
• Sayno 50” DP50719 Plasma HDTV - $598.00
• Sony Bravia 32” KDL32L504 LCD 720P HDTV - $378.00
• Sony Bravia 40” KDL40S504 LCD 1080P HDTV - $598.00
• Sony Bravia 46” KDL465504 LCD 1080P HDTV - $798.00

Computers

• Acer 17.3” Blue Laptop w/4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive and Windows 7 Premium (Online Only) - $498.00
• eMachines 15.6” Notebook w/AMD Processor, 2GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive (Model # EME627) - $198.00
• HP 15.6” Notebook w/Intel Processor, 3GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive (Model # G60-519WM) - $298.00
• HP 17” Notebook w/4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive (Model # G71-329WM) - $398.00
• HP Pavilion All-In-One 19” Desktop w/4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive, MS213 AMD - $598.00
• HP Pavilion Desktop w/AMD Processor, 3GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, w/20” Monitor (Model # P6243w-b) - $398.00

Digital Cameras

• Kodak C182 12.0 Megapixel Digital Camera - $69.00
• Nikon CoolPix S230 10MP Digital Camera - $139.00
• Sony Cyber-Shot DSC S930 10.0 Megapixel Digital Camera - $79.00

GPS

• TomTom One 125-SE GPS - $59.00
• TomTom XL325-SE GPS - $89.00

Read [BlackFriday.info]  Via [Gizmodo]

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While there is no scan of the ad posted yet, bfads.net believes these prices will be the real deal on Black Friday.  This year, it looks like the bulk store took a beating as these deals look pretty good.  The site is confident the prices are correct.

Black Friday deals:
JVC 1080 Blu-ray player: $129
Garmin Nuvi 255w GPS: $119
Acer Aspire One 10.5” netbook: $197
Hitachi 1080p 42” LCD HDTV: $598
Vizio 1080p 47” 240Hz LCD HDTV: $997
Olympus FE-4000 12mp camera: $98

Surely the product on hand will be limited.  We’ll update if the site gets hold of the ad.

Read: [BFAds.net]

Image credit: Device Mag

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What’s better than a Black Friday sale?  A desperate Pre-Black Friday sale in hopes to get all the dollars you would have spent on the actual Black Friday.  Wal-Mart delivers with a sale this Saturday, Novermber 7.  The deals look worthy of making a special trip.

From the Xbox 360 reduced to $199 and includes a $100 gift card,  to a 46” Panasonic Plasma HDTV (I love mine) at just $788, $149 for a Sony Blu-ray player and $298 HP 15.6 laptop.  Both the Xbox and the HP laptop are guaranteed to have 10 units per store, according to our friends at bfads.com.

The Panasonic’s lowest price on Google Checkout is $830 and it looks to be a full 1080p, nice. 

Walmart says the sale starts at 8:00am on the 7th.

Read: [BFads]

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Physical media is slowly dying, or so it seems, and we all know it.  The retailers know it, too, and some have been striving to find a way to survive if/when the transition finally happens.  One of those retailers, Best Buy, has just inked an interesting deal with CinemaNow that it hopes will help.

The partnership between Best Buy and CinemaNow includes both physical and digital media.  More particularly, the deal will allow consumers to buy DVDs from Best Buy, then watch the same movie through CinemaNow on their computers, smartphones or Blu-Ray players.  It’s almost like buying a DVD and getting a digital copy on the second disc, but now you require just an Internet connection rather than the digital file.  The exact details of the partnership have yet to be revealed, but it’s expected the service will launch in early 2010, just as soon as some studios jump on board.

Getting studios to jump on, historically, has been difficult, but this might be different.  Best Buy’s plan will require a DVD to be bought, but there’s no guarantee that the DVD will stay with the buyer, or that the stream will.  If it does work, however, it will add yet another streaming service to our media boxes.  As it stands with Netflix, Amazon Video, Blockbuster OnDemand, Hulu among others, we already have quite a few.  When it all settles down, hopefully we’ll be down to just one or two major companies doing movie streaming/downloads.  That will make it much simpler to decide who to pay every month.  In the meantime, its a good idea from Best Buy, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if it doesn’t work out all that well.

Read [Electronista]

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I am still happily sporting a regular old DVD player, not to mention I am not sure I even want to go the Blu-ray route at all, personally I think the future is heading towards devices like the Roku set-top box. Granted we still have a ways before we get there and maybe before that happens we will see some bigger adoption of Blu-ray. With that, lower prices will certainly help, and JVC has recently entered that lower price market. Of course lower price comes with a catch.

To begin with, the player is the XV-BP11 and it is currently available and selling for $199.95.

In terms of that catch, this model is running the (now older) Profile 1.1, which by itself is not all that bad, however this model also does not have any Ethernet port which means it will not be upgradeable. That said, it still is a nice sub-$200 player that should be nice for most users. In other words, it should be nice for the non-geeky who would never even think to upgrade their Blu-ray player anyway.

Additionally, other features of the XV-BP11 includes a wide range of support in terms of playable discs and formats (see the complete list below). The JVC player also has HDMI v1.3 and composite in terms of video connections and analog L/R, coaxial and HDMI v1.3 for audio connections.

One little perk with the XV-BP11 comes in the form of the front USB port which will allow users to directly hook up other electronics such as a camcorder for video playback.

Keep reading to check out the press release:

JVC Announces Popularly-Priced Blu-ray Player

New XV-BP11 player offers AVCHD file playback.

WAYNE, NJ, October 28, 2009 – JVC today announced the availability of a new entry-level Blu-ray player. The new JVC XV-BP11 is a truly versatile high definition player, offering playback of high definition Blu-ray discs, plus playback of the AVCHD format, the high definition format widely used for HD camcorders, including the JVC HD Everio line.

JVC XV-BP11 Features

• Playable Discs: BD-Rom, BD-R/RE, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Audio CD, CD-R/RW
• Playable Formats: AVCHD, WMV, JPEG, MP3, WMA, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus, Dolby True HD, DTS, DTS HD Master Audio/Essential

Connections:

• Video: HDMI V1.3, composite
• Audio: Analog L/R, coaxial, HDMI V1.3
• USB Host (front panel)

Convenience Features: Quick loading, cinema zoom (x16), parental lock, slim design

The new JVC XV-BP11 Blu-ray player is available immediately for $199.95.

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This week’s Recession-O-Rama deals features a portable USB drive, an iPhone app, buy 2 get 1 game free deal, a Blu-Ray player, and a digital camera.

Patriot Xporter XT 8GB USB Portable Flash Drive

Our first deal this weekend is an 8GB portable USB drive from Newegg.  Priced at $19 and $3 for shipping, it operates at 200x read speed, features ReadyBoost, and comes in a rugged case to protect it against falls.  It is normally priced at $24, which is before the $5 MIR. 

Air Mouse Pro iPhone App

The Air Mouse Pro iPhone app is designed to turn your iPhone into a wireless remote and mouse for your computer.  It used to be available for $10, but now sells for $0.99.  This special deal may not always be available for such a cheap price, so better act fast.  The app can be purchased in iTunes. 

Buy 2 games get 1 free

Best Buy is allowing customers to purchase any 2 Xbox 360, Wii, or PS3 games priced under $60 and pick another one for free.  Not sure how long this deal will be around for, but don’t expect to take advantage of it by next weekend.  All three games would be eligible for free shipping. 

Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player

Amazon has the Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-Ray player for $123, which is pretty cheap considering it originally sold for $199.  The player has support for Viera Cast allowing it to display YouTube videos, Picasa images, and weather information, has support for SD card and USB ports, and it features DVD upconversion to 1080p.  No word on how long this deal will be available for on Amazon.  Free shipping is available for this product. 

Kodak EASYSHARE Z1485 IS

Our last deal for today is the Kodak EasyShare Z1485 IS digital camera sold from Abes of Maine.  It is on sale for $132 and it originally sold for $179.  There is an $17 instant discount available, $20 instant rebate, and you can take $10 off by using the LOYALTY10 coupon code.  Shipping is free.  The digital camera features 14MP, 5x optical zoom, face detection technology, ability to take HD pictures and HD video, and a 2.5 inch LCD screen. 

That’s all the deals we have for this weekend.  Please visit us again next week for even more deals in technology. 

Full Story » | Written by Natesh Sood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

It seems that Netflix is determined to be everywhere, we have seen dedicated players such as the Roku set top box, we have seen it integrated into television sets and even Blu-ray players.  That said, the Blu-ray players, despite being a nice option have not yet offered the most cost effective route.  That is, until now, well in all fairness it may not be the most cost effective yet, but the prices are getting better thanks to the recent deal from Netflix, Insignia and Best Buy.

Anyway, the official announcement has come and Best Buy is adding Netflix streaming to its Insignia line of Blu-ray players.  What we have is two available options which include the NS-BRDVD3 for $179.99 and the NS-WBRDVD for $249.99.  The main difference between the two players is the addition of Wi-Fi in the model for $249.99.

With that, current or future owners of either player will be able to begin streaming Netflix movies—that is right after they perform the necessary firmware update that offers the ability.

Read [Netflix]  Via [Engadget]

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What if you could make sure your movie purchases would work tomorrow, on any device, and you could lose worries of scratching a disc?  That is the idea behind Disney’s Keychest, a new way to future-proof your media purchases and instantly access your media on any device that is supported.  Could the DVD finally go the way of the Dodo?

According to a Wall Street Journal article this morning, media rights could be redefined as no physical possession will be involved.  The media would live in the cloud and be available on-demand in a way similar to the way Google Docs are accessed.  Users would simply enter their unique key and begin streaming their media.

Disney hopes to charge a little bit more for the convenience and security of keeping your media in the cloud and accessing it in a myriad of places.  As DVD sales have fallen, industry players seek new ways to make the register ring.  Disney says other players in the market have signed on to their service, but are not naming names.

Sony, as Sony tends to do, is backing a competing plan, the DECE or Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (catchy, right?).  Predictably, DECE wants to initiate new formats and new standards while Keychest relies on current formats that are already supported by many devices.  With Steve Jobs involvement with both Apple and Disney, we can safely bet the iPhone will be one of these devices.

One cool aspect of Keychest is no matter what service you bought the media from, the information is shared with Keychest members (say the cable company, movie studio, or ISP) so you only purchase it once.  No word when either service, DECE or Keychest will be launched.

Are we headed for yet another battle similar to VHS versus Beta or DVD-HD versus Blu-ray?  In short, “yup.”

Read [Wall Street Journal]

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It seems like no set top box is safe from getting Internet video options lately.  Amazon, Blockbuster and Netflix have been hard at work to get their respective video stores on as many boxes as possible.  We’ve seen a number of companies add the functionality through new hardware and firmware updates, and now we can add Samsung to that list of companies.

Samsung is now rolling out firmware updates to Blu-Ray players and Internet@TV displays that will feature two of the three major video services.  Blockbuster On Demand and Amazon will now be available through the updates, allowing users two more ways to get movies and TV shows instantly.  However, only Amazon video actually supports HD content, so it will probably be more preferable.  To bring Blockbuster back in, however, Samsung Blu-ray players will now be available at Blockbuster stores, which, assuming people still use the store, should hopefully bring in a few sales.

With all these companies adding all these services, eventually it seems we’ll all have a large number of boxes that support Internet video.  Not even just the boxes, but also HDTVs.  Soon there will be no excuse to not at least know of movie streaming services, if you don’t already use them.  Having a wide range of products that have the features is nice, but it can also become confusing and annoying.  Different services could have different stream qualities for specific content, and some devices could produce better video or audio assuming the user has no home theater surround sound setup.  Surely consumers will be able to figure it out, but for now, do we really need to have Netflix, Blockbuster and Amazon on every box that connects to a TV?

Read [Engadget]

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With the economy still on a downturn, tech retailers are preparing for the upcoming holiday season by offering a variety of cheap gadgets.  With no hot new must have gadget this year and consumers not as willing to snap up pricey gadgets, retailers are hoping that cheap gadgets will have enough appeal to keep their sales up.

Netbooks, digital cameras, digital picture frames and speakers are some of the items retailers are hoping will be big sellers for the frugal set.  Best Buy is also hoping to cash in on the growing popularity of e-books by setting up sections in stores dedicated to several varieties of e-readers all going for less than Amazon’s Kindle.  RadioShack is offering a 7 inch portable TV for $199, and Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have all slashed prices on their video game consoles. Walmart meanwhile has dropped the price of some Blu-ray players to $99.

Some retailers, such as Sears and Kmart, are hoping their layaway programs will help encourage consumers to make some big ticket purchases.  Electronics are already the most popular items placed on layaway.  Sears also plans to follow Best Buy’s lead and offer e-readers this holiday season.

While experts agree that most consumers will be budget conscious this holiday season, and predict sales will be the second worst in 42 years, manufacturers still plan to push some high ticket items such as the new LED ultra thin TVs that go for upwards of $2000.  Vizo is hopeful its latest model, which connects to the internet and comes with a roll out keyboard, will be a hot seller but the $1700 price tag may turn off many.  Most consumers will be looking for deals on small ticket items rather than splurging.  Retailers plan to appeal to this mindset by offering BOGO deals and promoting add-ons and accessories.

What are your plans for this holiday season? Do you plan cut back on gift buying? Let us know what your holiday shopping plans are!

Read [Wall Street Journal]

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A few of us adventurous types have hooked up a computer to our living room television set up.  However navigating with a keyboard and mouse in a living room is less than ideal.  There are other ways to access your home video library and web content on your TV.  QNAP has its new NMP-1000 network multimedia player and it aims to bring HD content to your TV. 

The QNAP has Gigabit Ethernet and can connect to your computers on your network.  Gigabit is plenty fast enough for HD content. The NMP-1000 can support lots of file formats including MPEG2, H.264, MKV, M2TS (Blu-ray), FLAC, MP3, AAC, and plenty more.  If you want local storage, you can add in an internal 3.5” SATA hard drive.  The device has USB and eSATA connections so you can just copy data over locally.  The NMP-1000 also can handle bit torrent (without a computer) and DNS.  There is also access to YouTube and Flickr. 

The video interface looks pretty nice (you can see it in the video below), although not as polished as Windows Media Center or Apple TV.  The only price information I could find was on QNAP’s forums—the retail price should be $399.  Street price will probably be closer to $300-$350.  That price may be a little steep when compared to a full-fledged computer, but it depends on how involved you want to be with this home theater component. 

Back of the QNAP NMP-1000

Product Page: [QNAP NMP-1000]

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Sony is running some deals at their outlet store.  There are all kinds of deals available.  A Sony sound bar virtual surround sound system for under $150 (down from $240), the Webbie HD pocket cam for $99.99 (down from $169.99), televisions, computers, and even the old version of the 40GB PS3 for $219.99.  What’s the catch?  All these products are refurbished.  If you don’t mind your product being used by someone else, fixed by Sony, and then sent to you, this could be a good time to pick up some nice stuff on the cheap.  The PS3 is on backorder, but you can still order it at the $219 price and Sony will e-mail you when it ships.  This is a weekly deal so it will run out soon.

Store: [Sony Outlet]

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Yamaha has announced a new range of devices, including a line of Blu-ray disc players, channel network AV receiver and five disc CD changer.  You can find these products currently on sale at major electronics retailers.

First up is the RX-V2065, a 7.1 channel AV receiver with five 1080p-upscaling HDMI inputs and two HDMI outputs.  It also has the following HD audio decoding formats: Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD.  Features installed with the AV receiver include Rhapsody online music service compatibility, Internet streaming radio and music file playback.  The receiver has a current MSRP of $1399.95.

The new Blu-ray players include the BD-S1900 (MSRP $699.95) and the BD-S1065 (MSRP $599.95).  These players will have compatibility with the new AV receiver in order to provide a dynamic entertainment experience.  Both players include BD-Live and BonusView, an enhanced Blu-ray disc commentary feature.

Lastly, the CD-C600 is the new five disc CD changer available from Yamaha.  This changer is the first from Yamaha that was designed specifically for compatibility with iPods.  You can connect your mp3 player or iPod to the CD-C600 via USB cable. Additional features are 3-Mode CD text display, MP3 and WMA file compatibility, IR in/out terminals and remote. MSRP for the Yamaha changer is $379.95.

Site: [Yamaha]

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Grabbing a hard drive for video can be somewhat confusing.  Do you go with a 5400RPM or 7200RPM drive?  Will that hard drive spin be so loud that I’ll have to turn up the volume to 11?  Hitachi is trying to reach that consumer who wants to get hard drives for video with its CinemaStar line.  There are two new hard drives in the line, the 1TB CinemaStar 7K100.C (at 7200RPM) and the 1TB CinemaStar 5K1000 CoolSpin.  These drives are supposed to be quiet, require low power, and handle HD video.  Hitachi claims that the 5K1000 is “nearly silent . . . during operation.”  These drives seem like a good way to expand your TiVo or home theater PC.  They will be available in Q4 of 2009. 

Product Site: [Hitachi CinemaStar]

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TiVo has won a suit it filed against Dish Network and now the satellite TV giant must pay up to the tune of $200 million.  The original suit was filed back in 2004 when TiVo sued EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, for a patent violation involving DVR technology.  A jury found in favor of TiVo in 2006 and ordered Dish to pay nearly $74 million.  Dish appealed twice and lost and then was ordered to pay an additional $103 million plus interest after being found in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction on selling the infringing DVRs.

Frustrated over Dish’s refusal to comply, TiVo sued for close to $1 billion saying it was entitled to all of the company’s DVR profits over the past 5 years while the suit has been going on.  A judge found in favor of TiVo, but awarded the sum of $200 million saying Dish had made a good faith effort to design around the patent.

TiVo said in a statement, “We are pleased by the court’s ruling to impose contempt sanctions of approximately $200 million against EchoStar for its continued violation of a court-ordered permanent injunction…We are confident that this ruling brings us closer to final resolution.”

Dish Network said they plan to appeal with full confidence that they will win.

Read [CNet]

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Toshiba, once know for fighting the on the HD DVD side has officially unveiled the BDX2000—a Blu-ray player.  Of course, we did recently see Toshiba apply to join the Blu-ray Disc Association, so this news should not really come as all that surprising.

In terms of features, the BDX2000 is pretty standard as far as Blu-ray players go.  We can expect it to feature BD-Live (profile 2.0) and Bonus View, have 1080p output, AVCHD playback, an SD card slot as well as support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio playback.

While not yet available, it looks like we are not going to have to wait all that long, Toshiba has stated that the BDX2000 will be in stores this November with a retail price of $249.99.

Product [Toshiba]  Read [PR Newswire]

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3D TV is coming.  At IFA in Germany, Sony’s Sir Howard Stringer will throw down the gauntlet and announce next year we’ll see 3D TVs from the company.  Sony could use a big hit and bringing the hardware is an important step as content and distribution look to figured out.

Sony is expected to make the announcement today, according to Financial Times, who almost never get it wrong.  Not only that, the cheeky bunch at FT are quoting the future Stringer, as if they’ve found some time/space portal, sweet.  Not only will the Bravia TVs adopt 3D but so will Vaio laptops and PS3.  A whole wave of Sony products will feature 3D technology.

But, but, but

Two big obstacles stand in 3Ds way: standards and customers.  Are we headed for another battle of format standards?  Perhaps, as there is currently no standard for 3D.  Hynduai, LG, Samsung, Phillips, Mitsubishi, and Panasonic all have 3D TVs in their sights as well.  Sony is using electronic glasses that shutter to create the effect. 

As for customers, blind faith that TV makers can force a new technology to make up for flat-lining big screen HDTVs with 3D is hopeful at best.  You thought searching for the remote control was frustrating, wait until you have to search for four pairs of glasses, too.

While sports nuts are probably an easy sell, it isn’t clear that 3D in the home is going to be a winner.  24/7 Wall Street says, “Sony may find out the hard way that ‘2D’ video is just fine.”  Will the market take to 3D?

Read: [Financial Times]

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S1Digital introduced what it calls the “Digital Entertainment Platform.”  This system uses three parts: “an Entertainment Server, Media Center clients and a control solution.”  You load all your content on the Entertainment Server which can support up to 32TB of hard drive space.  The server also has a Blu-ray player that can also play CDs and DVDs and supports CableCards.  Next up a Media Center client can play content from the server.  Their third part of their solution is a touch screen controller.  If you’re up for their system, you can buy only one version of the clients yourself for $1799.  For the rest, you’ll need to contact a dealer that does home theater installations.  Judging the price based on that media center client, you can expect to pay quite the hefty amount to get this system in your home.  If you are a geek, you could probably build yourself a pretty great solution using a Drobo, a server, some wired Ethernet, and small PCs hooked up to your televisions for less.

Company Site: [S1Digital]

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i.TV is an app in the App Store that deals with all television media.  The app has tons of features as it can tell you which programs are on when, rate programs and obtain reviews.  i.TV lets you check out local movies, purchase tickets, has YouTube support and even has the ability manage your Netflix queque.  All of these functions right from your iPhone or iPod touch is pretty enticing, especially considering that it is all for free.  Today, i.TV is looking to take that one step further with the 2.0 version of the app which features a Remote Control Framework. 

Using this framework, i.TV is looking to develop partnerships with various TV and DVR companies in order to create a universal remote control.  For example, they have already partnered up with TiVo hoping to allow users to control their TiVo HD or TiVo HD XL via iPhone.  Basically, you can change the channel, fast forward the show, record whatever you are watching or what you want to watch, and have the ability to play the content you have stored. 

I don’t know about you, but I lose my remote control a lot more than I lose my cell phone, so having the ability to use my cell phone to change the channel and perform all these other functions could definitely be pretty useful.  Connectivity between the iPhone and the TiVo is made possible by Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or a dock. 

Possibly to appease Apple to approve their 2.0 app, i.TV has added the ability to purchase content from iTunes that is related to the show(s) you want to watch.  In addition, using the 3.0 software’s push notifications, the i.TV app can let you know when a new show is about to air even when the app is closed, ensuring you will never miss your favorite show again. 

The app is supposed to be approved by Apple sometime this month and then it will become available to download for free.  The concept of the iPhone acting as a remote control is definitely an interesting one.  Why waste money to buy a universal remote control such as a Logitech Harmony remote control when you can simply download an app on your already-paid-for iPhone?  It will be interesting to see in the future if i.TV partners up with any other company to create the necessary codes for compatibility with TVs and DVRs other than TiVo.  i.TV has the Remote Control Framework already laid out, they are just looking for additional partners. 

Read [i.TV]

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It looks like Toshiba is ready to fully move on from HD-DVD products and enter in the more popular field of Blu-ray products and goods.  Toshiba applied to join the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), in order to market Blu-ray capable devices.

The reason they decided to look into Blu-ray is because “of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike.”  This makes perfect sense for Toshiba.  So what types of products can we expect from Toshiba?  For starters, they list Blu-ray players and notebooks equipped with Blu-ray drives will be the first products announced and up for sale.  Unfortunately, they don’t release any model numbers, pictures, or timeframes for any product releases.

Via [Toshiba Press Release]

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It’s no big news that Blu-ray adoption, at least in the US, is far from ubiquitous.  Not everyone has an HDTV and the players can be expensive.  While DVD adoption was partially attributed to the PS2, the PS3 hasn’t sold nearly as well as its predecessor with the HD standard.  However, as DVDs grew more commonplace TVs with DVD players built in became common as well, putting DVD players into the rooms of even more people.  Perhaps Sharp’s new HDTVs can do the same for Blu-ray.

Sharp Japan has introduced five new HDTVs in its AQUOS DX2 line, each equipped with a Blu-ray recorder.  While the recorders can obviously play Blu-ray discs, they’re even more impressive with their ability to record up to 30 hours of HD video onto one dual-layer Blu-ray disc.  It does this by recording the video in the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 format.  The recorder can be set to automatically record anything from the program guide for each of the two digital tuners and single terrestrial one.

In terms of other features, the HDTVs support Internet via the ethernet port, and can connect to BD-Live, Yahoo Japan, and IPTV.  There’s also an included ambient light sensor which will adjust brightness according to the brightness of the surrounding light, which is a pretty cool idea.

At the moment there’s no word on when, or even if these particular HDTVs will make it to the US market.  With the cheapest model, the 26-inch, costing the equivalent of $1,787 whether they would sell well in the US is debatable.  However, considering that price includes an HDTV and Blu-ray player, it might be a great idea for those many who still haven’t adopted either standard.  We’ll have to wait and see what happens, and just hope they came here fairly soon.

Read [Electronista]

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Thought having Season Pass recording, direct Amazon movie downloads, and Netflix Watch Instantly was enough for TiVo?  Think again.  Starting August 5, 2009, TiVo will be offering over 100 free podcast channels, including content from networks such as G4, FOX, and CBS.  Beyond these channels, independent video podcast providers can add their content to TiVo via RSS and H.264 video.

Users of TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HDXL can watch the videos instantly or sign up for a Season Pass just like you would for a television show.  You can search for TiVo podcast channels and individual podcast episodes via TiVo Search.  If you can’t find the podcast you want to watch, you can enter its URL in TiVo’s “Video on Demand” menu.

TiVo’s move into video podcasts shows that not only is the podcast medium gaining in popularity, bu TiVo’s role in the home entertainment lineup is changing.  TiVo has become much more than a DVR - it is starting to behave like the computer it is, all the while easing the average consumer deeper into the world of online video content.

Company Site: [TiVo]

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The ‘net is currently all abuzz with speculation as to who might be the proud new papa to internet movie rental giant, Netflix.  We’re hearing Amazon being tossed about left and right as a suitor and a couple of people are even throwing Microsoft’s name into the ring.  There are obviously some pluses and minuses to either of those deals, should they occur.

Regardless, Amazon had to be happy with the fact that people are thinking they may be the winner, considering their stock prices took a nice jump yesterday after the rumor started going around about them possibly buying Netflix.  However, in this case, all that glitters isn’t exactly gold in regards to this potential buy-out.

What an Amazon-owned Netflix really means

If Amazon were to buy Netflix, more than likely, it would be costly—I don’t mean for Amazon, I mean for the consumer.  While a deal would bring a bigger selection due to Amazon’s vast library of over 40,000 movies in their on demand catalog, that selection would probably come with a not-so-nifty higher price tag.  Right now, Netflix tends to offer older movies and those more obscure titles.  Amazon, on the other hand, streams many new releases as soon as they are released.  I don’t really see Amazon offering its selection for the less than $10 Netflix charges; expect to shell out more for that monthly subscription.

Another thing to consider is while initially there would probably be a boom when it comes to getting your physical discs even more quickly since Amazon seems to have warehouses everywhere, what might eventually occur is that physical discs would eventually simply disappear altogether.  That is not good for those folks who actually enjoy getting actual DVDs to pop in a player, and not just stream them.

With all that Amazon already has on its plate, they could end up acquiring Netflix without doing all the cool things they could with it.  Netflix could get lost in the Kindle/mass marketplace shuffle. 

Microflix?

Then we have uber-giant Microsoft.  Are they also a contender in the battle to buy Netflix as some rumors suggest?  And if they did purchase Netflix, what then?  Well, let’s look at the fact that we already have a very nice partnership between Netflix and XBox Live, which lets users watch TV shows and movies on the 360.  And according to sources close to Microsoft, this partnership is “en fuego” (which very loosely translated means “on fire”).

And it is apparently so on fire, that the president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division (which includes the XBox division) has been in pow-wows with the CEO and co-founder of Netflix to try to see what else they can do to “expand their current partnership.”  Hmm.  Obviously, an acquisition would be a much bigger move. 

The deal would definitely give a more strongly defined video strategy that many seem to think Microsoft lacks and Microsoft has been trying to build better ties in the entertainment arena for a while now.

Is Netflix doomed?

Many experts feel that the current business model of Netflix, regardless of who they are acquired by, is doomed.  They argue that streaming is the wave of the future.  Perhaps going with Microsoft would give them a leg up if this is the case.

Because of this fact, even though I can see Amazon being the one to purchase Netflix, I actually think they would have a better shot at a really strong, innovative, successful future if Microsoft did step up to the auction block and buy them.  I can see it now….Microflix.  It’s got a certain ring.

Full Story » | Written by Jodie Andrefski for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Electronic superstore, Best Buy, and the well-known DVR company, TiVo, have become allies to promote a better home entertainment experience.  You may be wondering, what exactly can these two companies offer each other?  For the benefit of TiVo, Best Buy will be increasing its promotion and stocking of TiVo products in its stores.  It will also be looking to integrate TiVo’s interface into its exclusive brands like Insignia.

What about Best Buy - what does it get out of this arrangment?  TiVo will be working with Best Buy to develop a special TiVo user interface for units sold at the store that will allow Best Buy to provide digital services and updated information about consumer electronics.  Best Buy will also get a spot in the TiVo Showcase in order to reach more consumers.  In other words, TiVo is a huge promotional vehicle for Best Buy.

I think this will be a good partnership that will benefit the consumer who likes the Best Buy shopping experience - now you can get your HDTV, home theater, movies, and TiVo DVR (or HDTV with built-in TiVo) all in one stop.

Read: [Press Release]

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