Creative launched their 3rd generation Vado video camera yesterday, selling at $179.  The new version is glossy, better looking and addresses a list of issues that plagued the first two designs.  Is it ready to be added to your holiday wish list?

Creative touts their ease of use for the Vado and previous Vado’s featured a HDMI out port along with a wide angle lens.  The third generation updates the device with a microphone jack (as complaints about the original audio recording were common), improved video in low/high light recordings, headphone output, motion detection to activate recording based on movement, PC and Mac compatibility and still image capture.

The only thing keeping me from recommending this video camera is memory.  The 3rd gen Vado comes with 4GB and no expansion slots.  In this day of relatively inexpensive SD cards featuring up to 32GB of space, I am uneasy about being locked into just 4.  Even a 4GB SD card gives me the freedom to swap out cards and keep going without stopping to download and clear memory on the device.  I see myself on a Caribbean island, wedged between some giant rocks filming whales in the setting sun when a out-of-memory message pops up.  Is it just me that worries about these things?

If you can live with 4GB, check out the new Vado, it is a fine looking device.

Press release: [Creative] Product page: [Creative]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

It has been a few weeks since Roku officially announced the Channel Store, but it looks like that wait has come to an end. Well, almost to an end. The official availability is that the Channel Store will come as a free update and be rolled out to “all existing Roku customers over the course of the next two weeks.”

That aside, the new channels include Blip.tv, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel, Mediafly, MobileTribe, Motionbox, Pandora, Revision3 and TWiT, however there was also a promise of more to come in the future.

Additionally, this update will come for all Roku users regardless of the model (Roku SD, Roku HD or Roku HD-XR) they are using. Of course, these new channels are joining the existing lineup which included Amazon video-on-demand, MLB.tv and of course Netflix.

Unfortunately, as everyone seems to be pointing out, Hulu was not in this lineup of available channels, which honestly is not all that surprising to me. That said, I am happy to see Pandora, but the geek in me is happy to see Revision 3 and TWiT. Of course, Flickr should be good for a little fun also.

Keep reading to check out the full press release:

Roku Launches Open Platform for Delivery of Content to the TV; Announces First 10 New Channels

Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe all now available on the Roku player

Silicon Valley, Calif. – November 23, 2009 – Roku, Inc., maker of the popular and award-winning family of Roku players, announced today the Roku Channel Store and the first 10 free channels for Roku customers to enjoy on their TVs. From internet radio to video podcasts, professional web content to photo sharing and personal videos, the Roku Channel Store provides an open platform for delivering quality content to the TV. New channels now available for customers to add today to their Roku experience via the Roku Channel Store include: Pandora, Facebook Photos, Revision3, Mediafly, TWiT, blip.tv, Flickr, FrameChannel, Motionbox and MobileTribe. For the complete list of channels, specific channel descriptions and features please go to http://www.roku.com/roku-channel-store.

These first 10 channels are just the beginning for Roku. Many other developers are working on Roku Channels now, and Roku expects additional developers to adopt the Roku platform over time. New channels will appear in the Roku Channel Store automatically as they become available.

The Roku Channel Store represents an opportunity for content owners and publishers to reach an already large and growing audience of Roku customers. By creating an open platform for delivery to the television over the Internet, Roku has leveled the playing field for content owners.

“The Roku Channel Store turns the Roku player into the world’s first open platform designed specifically for the TV,” Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc said. “Now content producers and distributors – from single person shops to billion dollar corporations – can deliver their content directly to consumers without having to go exclusively through cable operators, satellite networks or TV affiliates.”

To create a channel for the Roku Channel Store, a developer creates an application using Roku’s free software developer kit. This SDK is available free upon request by emailing partners@roku.com.

All Roku players, including the Roku SD, Roku HD and Roku HD-XR models, are compatible with the Roku Channel Store. The new channels are in addition to the existing Roku channels already available: Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Video On Demand and MLB.TV.

Pricing and availability

The Roku Channel Store will be delivered as an automatic and free upgrade to all existing Roku customers over the course of the next two weeks. New customers will automatically be upgraded when they first install their Roku player. To browse and use the Roku Channel Store, customers will be prompted to create a Roku account. Existing customers who do not want to wait for their Roku player to update automatically can manually update their Roku player immediately. Detailed instructions can be found under the Roku Channel Store tab at http://www.roku.com/support/faqs.

First introduced in May 2008, and updated regularly with free software updates, the Roku player family provides the easiest, most affordable and reliable way for hundreds of thousands of Roku customers to watch their favorite movies, TV shows and sporting events instantly on their TV. All three Roku players are available immediately at http://www.roku.com starting at $79.99 and include free shipping for a limited time.

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

This has got to stop. Holidays have got to stop creeping further and further toward summer.  The nutjobs that scheme, “well, if we get our sale out first we’ll be the richest in the tri-state area” are morons.  Seriously, the ABC Family channel is doing a countdown to the 25 days of Christmas.  A frickin’ countdown to a countdown?  Could it get more ridiculous?  Here are 4 entries that attempt it:

Ah crap, the rumors been delayed.
Prepare for Black Friday
FLO TV for straight to TV movies and straight to sale bin hardware
Palm eats its young

An unannounced product gets an set back from an unannounced launch window.

This is just getting crazy.  I blame everyone in media for this: from the big hitters like CNN Money to countless magazines who are reporting on Apple’s coming tablet.  Apple hasn’t announced anything yet we are chomping at the bit to talk about.  Even if launched yesterday, there is no way this tablet could ever live up to the hype.  Not that we as consumer are even sure we want such a thing.  I propose a month moratorium on not mentioning Apple’s iTablet.  Who is with me? 

Yeah, I didn’t think it would work.

Black Friday sales in the toilet

Anyone want to bet on something with me?  The economic data that will come from Black Friday will be dark and gloomy.  They’ll report consumer spending will skip this Christmas much like Kris Kringle wanted to do in the old TV movie.  It is an all but sure bet.  Why?

The monkeys are messing with the date.  These Pre-Black Friday sales are very tempting and are going to lower how much we spend on that one day we use as an indicator.  By stretching the buying season out, we’ll be so frickin fed up with the holidays we’ll throw in the towel before the season even starts.  My inbox won’t stop the deluge of sale announcements, each one, killing a little bit of Santa.

FLO TV for the masses

Qualcomm’s little TV player sure is cute.  The device plays TV, costs $250 and has a $9 monthly fee with 3-year commitment. That’s a total cost of $574 to watch, you know, free TV.  The device is roughly the size of a cell phone, a cell phone that you can probably play some TV on for a fee.  The cell phone in your pocket is free (at this point) and you know, in your pocket.  So watch TV on that.

Even our ever positive editor, Robert Nelson can’t hold back, ” but thinking positive, 9 bucks a month could be worth it for the simple reason that this little device could serve as a nice entertainment device for the child in your back seat. As long as you do not mind handing them a $250 gadget to play with.”  Nice try Robert.

This brings me right back the awesome gadget that just delivers RSS feeds.  I love gadgets as much as the next idiot but come on, quit repeating stuff that is already out there in a better form factor.  Now get to work on flying cars.

Palm eats its young

How are customers supposed to respect a phone that tumbles in price more than $70 its first 5 days on the market???  The 2nd entry in the webOS world from Palm, the Pixi, is so cute and cuddly, we thought it a smash at $79.  But then anarchy reigned and Wal-Mart upset the apple cart at $29.99, then Amazon one-upped even Wal-Mart with $24.99. 

Why devalue the phone so quickly?  Too much Pre inventory seems to be the root cause. The Pre’s price has fallen down like a drunk senior citizen in the early morning.  The Pre began at a reasonable $149 but now lives at the $79 price on Amazon.  The welcome the sibling Pixi got is move over in the sale bin.  Odd reception, even for a sibling.

At the very least, Palm commercials for the Pixi didn’t give anyone the willies as did the Pre versions.  Bonus points to Palm.

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

TiVo has reduced prices on their HD and HD XL units by up to $100 for the holidays.  TiVo revolutionized DVR functionality and continues to drive services forward with integration with companies like Netflix, Amazon and BLOCKBUSTER allowing users to stream movies, even in HD, to their home TVs.  It is unknown if the sale is a move to clear stock for a new intro or a reaction to recessionary consumer spending or lack thereof.

The HD and HD XL offer TiVo’s world class navigation and time-shifting recording.  As a TiVo user, I am continually impressed with how easy the unit makes it for my family to watch videos and movies from an increasing number of sources.  Even my 7 year old can navigate to Netflix and begin watching a movie.

While HD menu’s still continue to be absent from TiVo’s line up and access to your content providers On Demand content is still not possible (in most cases) TiVo is the gold standard of DVRs.  Add to it streaming from popular services and it keeps getting better.

TiVo’s sale takes $50 off the HD to $299 and $100 off the HD XL to $499.  It might be interesting to note shoppers can pick up the a refurbished HD for just $200.

Source: [TiVo Blog]

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Flip Video fans will soon have another reason to get excited, and that reason will also make it even quicker and easier to upload and share your video. That reason—built-in Wi-Fi. According to recent reports, Cisco has confirmed plans to include Wi-Fi in the next version of the Flip Video camera. Additional details about that future model include that it will have “a large screen that slides to reveal the record and menu buttons underneath.” Unfortunately that large screen will not be touchscreen though. Otherwise details are pretty light, but this Wi-Fi equipped Flip is expected to be available sometime in the “early half of 2010.”

Read [Pocket-lint] Via [CrunchGear]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Although we were unsure of an exact release date, we did expect it to happen soon, that said, the FLO TV has officially gone on sale. And yes, the retail price is still set at $249.99, and with that comes the monthly subscription which will be as low as $8.99 a month. Of course, in order to see that $8.99 monthly price you will need to agree to a three-year commitment. But thinking positive, 9 bucks a month could be worth it for the simple reason that this little device could serve as a nice entertainment device for the child in your back seat. As long as you do not mind handing them a $250 gadget to play with. Anyway, in terms of availability, the FLO TV can be purchased at Amazon, Best Buy and Radio Shack. Also as an added bonus, for an unspecified “limited time” those that make a purchase will get the first 6-months of service for free.

Read [PR Newswire]

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Shining a light on moves in the tech world so insane, Who’s on Crack is here to throw around accusation.  Accusations about who we suspect narcotics inspired their latest to-market ideas.  As companies vie for your attention and more importantly your dollars, it helps to back up a few steps to ask, “what the?”.  Here are the biggest blunders this week:

Microsoft admits to copying off Apple’s paper
Did Palm hire “Crazy Eddy”?
Blockbuster shows desperation
Web TV finally here?

Mac rules, so we copied it.

This week, Microsoft apparently copped to being inspired by Apple’s OS design.  From Bill Stiteler’s post quoting Microsoft’s Partner Group Manager Simon Aldus : “What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7—whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format—is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics. [Emphasis added]”

Aldus went on to mention they built this on top of Vista.  At this point you’ve got to wonder why he stops there?  Why not take the cab all the way to Crazytown and spout off how Microsoft purposely crippled Vista or how every time someone buys Windows 7, Microsoft shoots a puppy.  Or perhaps that Redmond HQ is built on top of a secret underground lair where Ballmer has taken to dressing up as Darth Vader and babbles about dominating the galaxy.

Can you imagine sitting in MS PR department when this bit of news comes in?  Here is the play by play:
MS PR guy 1: “He said what???”
MS PR gal 1: “No f’n way?”
MS PR guy 2: “Somebody check the gosh-darn calendar, it isn’t April, right?”
MS PR gal 2: “We are so TP’ing this guys house tonight.”

Palm prices are so low, they are practically paying you to take it

Fact: I am smitten with webOS.  But $29 bucks to get your hands on a super-slim Palm Pixi model with the hot OS that is actually fun to use?  Come on, there is a catch right?  According to Robert Nelson, there isn’t:
“Now I am going to go out on a ledge here, but maybe the Pixi or future similar models will end up being the savior of Palm. Maybe Palm is going to take up the role of the low priced smartphone company. And if that is that case, I guess being available for a bargain price through Walmart makes sense.”

Crazy Eddy was a guy in the New York area that did lame commercials in the 80s and was eventually thrown in the pokey for tax evasion.  This price thanks to Wal-Mart and Palm is amazingly low.  Yes, a $99 is tempting.  A $49 refurbed iPhone is even more tempting but $29 for a great smartphone?  Either they are reading Gadgetell or come up with schemes in a smoke-filled room where “munchies” are served 15 minutes after the meeting starts.  Impressive or insane?

Blockbuster says SlotMusic was genius

Oh boy.  Remember when SlotMusic was pushed on us?  Back at CES we giggled for what seemed like hours about it.  Apparently, Blockbuster thought it was the bees knees and is looking to rent movies the same way.  Ugh.

Our Robert Nelson says, “Blockbuster has decided to begin testing a new pilot program that will allow in-store visitors to rent a movie on an SD card. The plan is simple, those entering a Blockbuster store will be able to bring in an SD card and rent a movie by way of a self-service kiosk. The movies will of course be filled with DRM and will expire after a pre-selected amount of time.”

There is some logic here fore netbooks that lack a DVD drives or those dying to watch something on a device that is actually too small to watch it on (judgment call).  But for everyone else, this is a go-nowhere idea.  Robert adds customer service isn’t the strong suit of Blockbuster and there just isn’t enough people that care.  Dead on arrival, back to the drawing board guys and gals.

Web TV could be here.

Did you hear the wall come down?  Not the Berlin Wall, I refer here to the wall around your TV.  It was just shattered.  Thanks to TVs with web widgets and home theater pcs, that wall is no more.

A big culprit may be the Dell Zino HD.  This cute little device is primed to sit in your a/v shelf and bring the goodness of the web to your HDTV.  Our Shawn Ingram explains, “The Zino HD looks like it could be the computer of choice for any home theater setup for easy access to all those videos on your computer.  Pair it with Boxee, Hulu, Netflix and iTunes, and you have almost everything you could want viewable on your HDTV.”

The key here to go mainstream is ease of use.  Here we may still have some issues as consumers switch between a remote and a keyboard but this unit looks good enough to get geeks and their kinda-geeky counterparts on board.  Starting at just $229 and so cute, what is not to love?  Dell must hate the cable companies.

So now it’s wait for Boxee, buy a new TV with web widgets or spring for this cute box.  My money is on this box.

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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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Blockbuster has decided to begin testing a new pilot program that will allow in-store visitors to rent a movie on an SD card. The plan is simple, those entering a Blockbuster store will be able to bring in an SD card and rent a movie by way of a self-service kiosk. The movies will of course be filled with DRM and will expire after a pre-selected amount of time.

As far as pricing, $1.99 per movie.

That said though, my first reaction is that these kiosks will be entirely harder to use for most of the Blockbuster visitors making them an incredible support nightmare for those employees who already do not care enough.

That and, how many people have an SD card that will be larger enough to make this worthwhile, not to mention where are they going to play this. I am not sure of this following statement, but to me it seems most people want to watch movies using their DVD player, and lets face it there are little to none of those with an SD card slot. One can also make the television argument, but again not many of them have an SD card slot just yet.

I can think of one good place or person that this will work well for—travelers. Of course, this would just add one more thing for them to add to their pre-travel to-do list. All things considered, I would not say this is a terrible idea, but I cannot say its a good idea either.

Read [Fast Company]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

Google is once again looking to expand the features of Google Talk, and the latest will make it more of a conferencing tool as opposed to something simply used to chat with a friend. In other words, it looks like Google Talk will be getting more professional features.

According to a recent report in the SFGate;

“This [current Gmail capability] is the first step in a much broader set of features we hope to roll out over the next six to 12 months around video [and voice] chat capabilities,” said Rishi Chandra, a Google Apps product manager. “It’s a great opportunity for us to push that space along.”

All things considered, this sort of makes sense. After all Google is just about everywhere, and this will add one more reason for a business to take advantage of Google Apps for your domain. Of course, I am also cringing at the same time because assuming this roles out to regular Gmail users as well as Google Apps users it could be a nightmare for some. Personally, it would seem as if I can now look forward to having multiple screaming children (as opposed to one) coming from my daughters room even when she is home alone. Thanks Google, I think.

Read [SFGate]  Via [Google Operating System]

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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]

Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

We’ve heard it all before, that the DVD is dying, and that the Blu-Ray might not even matter for movies, that the industry is going towards digital download.  While that may be true, there is a chance that we might be seeing another physical way of distributing movies before we move to all download and streaming.  The good news is that’s it won’t be yet another optical disc to worry about.

The “new” method comes from a deal between Kingston and Paramount that would see movies distributed via flash memory.  More specifically, movies will be available on USB flash drives and SD cards.  The new method would see movies sold not only individually, but as part of bundles possibly on the same drives/cards or as part of a series, it’s not particularly clear.  The deal itself isn’t too clear at the moment, with no release date scheduled, but the partnership and plans seem to be there.

Distributing movies on flash memory seems like a smart idea.  Assuming the files are in some sort of standard format without DRM, they should be able to work on just about any computer or netbook.  These would work especially well on netbooks or laptops, where users don’t want to carry around DVDs, but may not have the storage to fit a large collection of movies, or no Internet connection that can stream movies.  It would be nice if the drives/cards contained both HD and SD versions for a netbook and laptop version.  What’s more likely, however, is just SD films so they can be put on the cheapest cards available with a small amount of storage space.  Either way, when the partnership does see some real product emerge, it will be interesting to see how well it takes off/fails miserably.

Read [Electronista]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

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.

Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

ZAGG is perhaps best known for their gadget skin protection that used to be on edges of helicopter blades.  Today, the company through us a bit of curve ball: they started talking about a product the company will unveil at CES in January, the ZAGG box.  As catchy as that name is, we still ask, “what’s a ZAGG box?”

Described by the company as “major technology”, the ZAGG box is the culmination of 6 years and $35 million.  At this point, it seems tough to classify exactly what this thing does: it is a media aggregator, will record, store and stream your media in multiple formats so you can watch on TV or on your iPhone (or other mobile device), and don’t forget home automation: it can hook into your HVAC, lighting or even door locks and control them.  Good luck figuring out what aisle to put this thing in at Best Buy.

“We are introducing a game-changing technology with the ZAGGbox which will appeal to everyone from geeks to grandmas,” said Brian Packer, VP of Marketing of ZAGG. “It is a very powerful system, and very simple to use.”

The ZAGG dream machine is said to cost “under $999” and should be formally launched in January 2010 shipping late Q1.  The unit was announced a finalist in the I-Stage event put on by the CEA, (Producers of Consumer Electronics Show -CES).

Press release [ZAGG]

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With the new demand for 3D movies, RealD has decided to offer a line of premium of 3D glasses for retail sale. Instead of using the goofy version offered by a movie theater, you can use a pair of your own that reflects your personal style.  The glasses are available as part of a licensing agreement between RealD and Look3D.

The glasses will be fitted as well as styled in a design that you like.  The eyewear collection will be completely RealD compatible and be available for men, women and children.  Look3D glasses feature interchangeable lenses to work with all 3D formats.  The glasses will also be available in movie themes in expectation of some major 3D movie releases, such as Avatar, Toy Story 3 and A Christmas Carol.  The glasses will be available for sale at movie theaters as well as online stores. 

Retail pricing has yet to be released on the glasses and they are expected to be ready for purchase in December.

Site: [Look3D]
Image Source: Inside SoCal

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Roku has officially added to their lineup of set-top boxes, which means they are now offering the Roku SD, Roku HD and the Roku HD-XR.

To begin with, all three models still stream Netflix like we have to come to expect in the past. Additionally, they all still offer both wired and wireless connectivity.

Basically, the previous model, which also used to be the only model has been given a price cut and is now $79.99. Of course if you are looking for a little more then you can step up to the Roku HD. The additional features on the HD include an optical audio output, an HDMI connector and as you can see from the name—the ability to play HD content. The Roku HD is selling for $99.99.

Moving on, we also have the Roku HD-XR, which similar to the HD model offers the optical audio output, HDMI and ability to play HD content. However the HD-XR also offers a little bump in Wi-Fi connectivity which includes Wireless-N. The other models (the HD and SD) do offer Wi-Fi but not the Wireless-N speed. In terms of price the Roku HD-XR is $129.99.

One other yet unused feature worth mentioning on the Roku HD-XR is the USB port, which is currently located on the back of the box, but simply noted as being “for future use” in the press release.

Finally, Roku has also announced the Roku Channel Store, which will allow customers to pick and enable new content channels on their device. So far the Channel Store is not yet active though, instead it will be available “later this fall.”

Product [Roku]

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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. 

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Coby Electronics has announced a recall of nearly 20,000 rechargeable batteries sold with its portable DVD players between January 2007 and September 2009.  The electronics manufacturer says they may overheat, creating a fire hazard.  So far they have had 10 reports of such an incident and 8 of them resulted in fires.  Fortunately no one has been injured.

The players involved in this recall have an 8.5-inch screen and the product number TF-DVD-8501.  The recalled batteries all have serial numbers starting with “HY.”  If you have one of the affected batteries remove it from the player immediately and call Coby at 877-305-2629 for a free replacement.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is asking anyone who has suffered injury or property damage as a result of an overheating battery to contact them here.  You can also call their hotline at 800-638-2772.

Read[PRNewsWire] 

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I see stuff in the tech world that drives me crazy.  From products that should never have left the bar napkin to marketing schemes that should have stayed in the men’s room, here is what caught my eye this week:

• Video Eyewear- more than just a geek look
• Roku leaves off special sauce again
• Publishers hate ebooks; stunt growth?
• What the heck is Apple so nervous about?

Video eyewear to bring 3D to our homes

This is the response I got when I told my Editor, Iyaz, about my 3D revelation: “Oh, so you’re on crack this week.  Good.”  I don’t deny this thinking is pretty far out there. 

Look at it this way: if we are no closer today to generating 3D image without glasses then we’ll have to accept glasses in the house.  If we are committing to wearing ridiculous glasses in the house, then why not put high quality screens in them and forget about viewing angle and the like.  The two concepts just seem to mesh together.  Yes, you’ll have to buy glasses for everyone but how much different in cost will that be vs. a $3,000 LCD TV plus 3D player?

Roku to get upgrade but no Hulu?

Question: how do you make Roku box the hottest little black box again?  Answer: Make it do Hulu.  Done and done.

However, as Robert Nelson relates, Roku isn’t doing that. “Feature wise the Roku XR will see some improvements though, according to the rumors it will see the addition of a USB port as well as Wi-Fi 802.11n.  Additionally, the power input was also upped from 1.5A to 2.5A.”  No Flash?

With all the talk about Hulu going the paid route, this would is the missing link.  Hulu needs to buy Roku or get them to build a Hulu player, which probably has enough of a brand name now to sell them.  The missing link would bring Hulu paid subscriptions not just OK, but would sell like gangbusters enabling customers to ditch cable and satellite service and watch what they want, when they want without time shifting (TiVo) technology.

Ebooks everywhere; publishers -“we hate ebooks”

Seems almost everyday we are teased with another ebook reader, this week saw the Barnes and Noble Nook which manages to bring some sexy to readers int he form of a second color screen.  Awesome right?  Well not so fast because it the content you really want, not the gadget and publishers are totally messing with ebook versions.

It is like getting your iPod only to find out you’ve got to wait 2 months before you can get the latest Kate Perry album (OMG!!!).  The Independent reported Steven King’s latest book would be release over a month after release in hardcover.  A big “up yours” to ebook readers hoping to get a fair shake by publishers.

This leaves us consumers two choices: buy the hardcover or buy an ereader and wait.  Gadget lovers hate waiting.  This is a huge snub aimed to make bookstores money that might end up lowering book sales as publishers will have a more difficult time getting excitement up for the ebook release after the big hardcover release.  It would be like advertising a movie but stopping one month before it opens.  We just don’t have the attention span.

Apple acting all paranoid again

So this week, big MS finally got around to launching Windows 7, their biggest product in a decade.  Yeah for them!  Apple was all over them like ice cream stains on a hot, sweaty summer day

The Windows 7 threat was deemed large enough that Apple used the good ol’  three pronged response:
1. Release financials a day earlier than normal and brags about it’s most profitable quarter ever and a gajillion iPhone sales kicking everyone’s butts.  Recession?  What recession?
2. Release a shiny new Mac line the day before.  These quite possibly could be the shiniest computers ever built.
3. Release a slew of witty, pithy “I am a Mac” ads that really make us giggle about John Hodgeman’s Miami Vice look.

Does Apple feel bad about Ballmer’s whole “we are on 9 out of 10 PCs” or is Apple telling us that Windows 7 is that good as the blogosphere seems to agree with?  I am not sure what it is but I suspect if you got on the PA system at Apple and shouted, “cops” the building would be empty in 15 seconds flat.  Just saying.

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Another day, another video eyewear announcement, right?  Wrong.  Down at the very bottom of the release announcing the shipping of the Vuzix Wrap 310 is something about 3D compatibility; this gadget is compatible with the major 3D formats.  That got me thinking: with all the push from studios and home entertainment to 3D, maybe this revolution will skip the TV.

My biggest problem with 3D is getting around the glasses:  to get 3D today, you’ve got to wear glasses.  So, why not have glasses with screens inside them; turn a requirement into something better by adding super big, super clear images (Vuzix says their Wrap 310 has the equivalent of a 55 inch screen at 10 feet)?  If the wave of the future is 3D, then Vuzix might just have their timing down.

The Vuzix Wrap is available starting today for $245.95 and they do look very similar to a pair of sunglasses (scoring much lower on the dork factor, thankfully).  These shades offer regular video viewing like other video eyewear.  Besides being upgradeable, input accessories are coming:

“The Wrap 310 also brings advanced features to the video eyewear category that no product has. With capabilities to add tracking and cameras that enable augmented reality and incredible gaming experiences; there is nothing like it on the market” added Vuzix CEO, Paul Travers.

So now we are talking about augmented reality and potentially live video input along with 3D capabilities.  So many issues just became solved that video eyewear could become the LCD Flat panel of the next decade.  Imagine sharing #D-immersive content with family, each in their own video eyewear in what used to be called your TV room.

This is going to be a pair of video eyewear to watch and the pair to grab if you are in the market.

Product page: [Vuzix]
.

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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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Going back to my confession of missing my recently sold Roku set top box, I have found a few more reasons why I will most likely purchase the updated Roku XR when it becomes available.

It is expected that an announcement, or possibly multiple announcements are coming from Roku before the end of the year in regards to adding more channels and more available content options.

The channels that are expected to come may be good or bad depending on your preference, but for me and the geek inside they will all work very nicely.  Anyway, it looks like we will be seeing a dedicated channel for online content providers Revision3 and TWiT as well as Pandora for music and Flickr for photos.

So far, I have seen an announcement by way of Leo Laporte and also Revision3 as confirmation, but nothing yet for Pandora or Flickr.  That said, even with the announcements that I have seen, so far nothing was mentioned in terms of an actual date when they will be available.

In other words, those with a Roku set top box, be prepared for a software update.  All others, be on the lookout for the Roku XR.

Via [Hacking Netflix]

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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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Although so many people get movies streamed right to them a host of different ways, occasionally, some do still venture forth into that old brick and mortar building called a video store.  So, there you are, it’s a Friday night and you go to your local Blockbuster, grab a movie, dreams of relaxing with some popcorn and the latest “must see” dancing in your head.  Run home, pop it in your laptop to watch, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.

“The Proposal” by Sony starts it all off

Well, at least it did for me this past weekend after renting the new release “The Proposal”, distributed by Buena Vista, a division of Sony.  When I first popped the DVD into my drive, it sounded like it was having a bit of a hard time reading the disk.  I initially thought that the disk might have been dirty or scratched, but after removing and checking it, I could see it was fine. 

After several more attempts to play the DVD, I was about to give up when all of a sudden, I got a pop-up from one of my anti-virus programs (Kaspersky) telling me that the disk was attempting to play as a document file.  What the heck?  Then, the video did start playing, sort of.  I could hear it, although the sound was going in slow motion, and there was no video playing.  I once again ejected the DVD, and that’s when I saw we’ve got problems.

The Rootkit begins to do its thing on my system

First, my computer locked up.  I did a hard boot, and when it logged back in, I didn’t hear that familiar little “Windows chime.”  Uh-oh.  I went to my desktop and immediately boxes were popping up like mad telling me all kinds of programs are failing to respond.  Everything from Firefox to Yahoo Messenger to explorer.exe.  It looked like some kind of “you’re really screwed” video game going off, where you had to figure out in seconds what to do with all the things flying at you before you see what happens next.

The system mess continues

What happened next wasn’t any prettier.  I could not access my control panel, my start button, and any of my anti-virus programs on the desktop just wouldn’t launch.  The only thing vaguely reassuring at that point, was that somehow, Kaspersky was still running, and I was able to click on it in my toolbar, and have it perform a scan. 

Although nothing came up in the system scan, when I had it check for vulnerabilities, it named everything and its brother that is on my system.  Then, it showed me where it all began.  Which drive, what time.  Yep,  the Buena Vista movie I attempted to play “The Proposal.”  It showed as containing several keyloggers and a rootkit.  Just great.  Now what?

Now, to add to the fun, my computer would not do anything in regular mode, so I went into safe mode to see what I could do.  Pretty much the same nothing.  I had never before come across any virus or malware that so thoroughly disabled and messed up my system.  Right then, I was good and ticked at both Blockbuster and Sony.  Heck, I was even mad at Sandra Bullock for starring in the stupid movie. 

Rootkit removal tools

After downloading a number of rootkit removal tools, I tried to access the files on my laptop.  Through a weird quirk, I was able to get into Microsoft Word and drag a copy of the removal tools to my desktop.  From the desktop, I was able to run the programs.  Even after running the rootkit removal tools, my system was still affected.  After a system restore and malware scans, it looked like smooth sailing except for the lack of internet connection. 

After a while, I realized that somehow, the stupid thing simply managed to turn off the wireless connection on my laptop.  This was probably the easiest fix I dealt with through the whole fiasco.  I just had to hit the reset button on my laptop for wireless internet connection.

Sidenote for Acer Aspire owners

I just had to hit the reset button on my laptop for wireless internet connection.  For anyone who runs into this problem and you don’t know where that is, it is usually a small button on the front of the laptop.  In my case, using an Acer Aspire, the reset button for wireless connection is at the top of your keyboard, under the on/off button.  You will see a row of keys.  The internet connection key is the one on the far left.

The Bottom Line

Be very, very careful what movies you are putting into your computer.  If it’s distributed by Sony/Buena Vista, I would strongly urge you to think twice before doing so.  Unless you consider hours of trying to bring your computer back to life more fun than the relaxing with a movie you were initially looking forward to that is.

Image Source: sevensheavens

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I have long had a love hate relationship with my Roku set-top box.  I love the device and how simple it was to set up and how simple it is to use.  But on the other hand, I have often complained about the lack of available content that it offered.  Of course, it was not until I decided to sell my Roku that I truly missed having it.

That said, in hind site it may not have been all that bad that I sold my current Roku because it looks like an updated version is in the works.  According to a recent spy shot (pictured here) the updated set-top box has been dubbed the Roku XR (model number N1101) and is going to retain the same look as the original.

Feature wise the Roku XR will see some improvements though, according to the rumors it will see the addition of a USB port as well as Wi-Fi 802.11n.  Additionally, the power input was also upped from 1.5A to 2.5A.

As of now there has not been anything mentioned in terms of a release date or price, but it would be nice to see this hit before Christmas, that way I could buy myself a present.

Via [Engadget]

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As we approach the holiday season, expect deals to become more frequent and enticing.  This weekend, we have deals on a portable LCD HDTV screen, Garmin GPS, a computer monitor, Garmin Forerunner watch, and a LG HDTV. 

Viore Portable LCD HDTV

Our first deal for the weekend is the Viore Portable LCD HDTV on sale from Walmart.com.  The 7-inch HDTV device features a built-in ATSC digital tuner, closed captioning, integrated speakers, audio/video output, rechargeable battery, USB port, and mini SD memory expansion.  It aims to play TV shows on-the-go as well as any videos you may have on micro SD cards.  The LCD HDTV device is on sale for $98 + $6 for shipping.
 

Garmin Nuvi 275T GPS

Our next deal is the Garmin Nuvi 275T GPS which comes bundled with a Dash Mat that normally costs $40, but is available for free.  The deal is available from Yugster, but it will be only offered at the special price of $184 + $6 shipping today.  It normally sells for $270 and don’t forget the Dash Mat, which makes the offer even better.  The GPS sports a 3.5-inch touch screen, turn-by-turn directions, 2D or 3D map rendering, Bluetooth connectivity, integrated FM tuner,  6 million POIs, and City Navigator NT maps of North America preloaded.

AOC 2236Vw 21.5 inch Widescreen LCD Monitor

Staples has the AOC 2236Vw 21.5 inch LCD monitor on sale for $140, after a $40 instant discount, shipping is free to sweeten the deal.  The 21.5-inch monitor comes with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 5ms response time, 300cd/m2 brightness, and a three year warranty.  No word on how long this deal will be around for, but probably not too long.

Garmin Forerunner 305 Personal Trainer GPS / Heart Rate Monitor

Our fourth deal for today is the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch, on sale at BuyDig.com for $144 with free shipping.  The device allows you to view all your vital stats on three different data screens while exercising.  It allows you to switch between running, biking, and any other sport without actually resetting the device.  An interesting feature is that it allows you to train against a digital person by specifying a set pace and rate for them.  The heart rate monitor is designed to keep track of your vital stats as well. 

LG 42LH55 42 inch LCD HDTV

Our last deal for this weekend is the LG 42LH55 42 inch LCD HDTV, sold from BuyDig.com as well.  It is on sale for $899 with free shipping, The suggested retail price is $1,399 so you are saving quite a bit of money if you are looking for a new HDTV.  The 1080p HDTV sports a 2.4ms response time, 500 cd/m2 brightness, 4 HDMI outputs, and it automatically adjusts to certain lighting conditions to provide the best view of the picture. 

That’s all the deals we have for this weekend, please visit again next week for more deals on all things electronics. 

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

Rumors of the coming Wi-Fi Direct are out and I’m sure it’s got the Bluetooth makers shaking in their boots.  With Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth may no longer be top dog.

Just announced at a consortium, some of the biggest players in the tech field are coming together to form an alliance to bring Wi-Fi connectivity to the public without all the hassle so often encountered now.  Intel, Apple, Cisco Systems and over 300 other tech companies are all joining up to develop and distribute technology that will turn just about any gadget into an access point that can connect with any other Wi-Fi enabled gadget within around 300 feet. 

Just think—phones, computers, gaming systems, TVs - all able to communicate together.  If you happen to own an existing Wi-Fi enabled device, you will still be able to make use of the new Direct technology by simply downloading some software.

This is what is probably going to make the Bluetooth folks a little nervous.  Now they finally have some competition and while Wi-Fi can go through your battery life more quickly than Bluetooth tends to, it has its upside in speed and a richer multimedia content.

Beyond the obvious use on cellphones, TVs implementing it are probably going to become commonplace.  Chipmaker Marvell is already in pow-wows with TV makers.  Although not many offer this technology currently, several are now thinking about adding the feature so that users can do things like transferring video and photos right onto their TV screens from cameras, camcorders and laptops.

What is also cool when you think about this technology is the fact there are so many ways it is going to be able to be used.  We hear that the technology is supposed to be able to connect both one-on-one and in a group and will come with built in WPA2 technology to keep those nasties at bay. 

Set to launch sometime mid-2010, this is something I’m definitely looking forward to seeing come to play.

Read: [businessweek]

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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]

Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »

You’d have to be blind not to see Microsoft trying to shove Windows 7 into the living rooms of America through TV commercials.  The most recent—the gaggy sweet little girl making rainbow and flower pages though, is in my opinion, not their best effort.  But, that effort is now veering in a new direction with their latest venture.  Microsoft has just signed a deal with Fox to sponsor a show produced by “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane.

And get this, the show isn’t even going to have any commercials!  That’s because it is kind of one big long commercial in itself.  It is going to be a plethora of Windows programming throughout the show.  The title is “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show,” and will be a mix-up mashup of animated shorts, live-action “Family Guy” musical performances, as well as celebrity guest appearances.

No one would talk about the specifics of how they are gonna slip Windows 7 in throughout the show, but we are told it is going to be well integrated into the content.  According to general manager of consumer engagement and advertising at Microsoft, Gayle Troberman, “You’ll see us deeply integrated into the content ... you’ll hear a lot about how Windows 7 can help you simplify your PC—it’s simple, fast and easy to use,”  She continued by saying, “Think about metaphors and examples we might use, talking about how simple things are. We’ll be evoking the cast of ‘Family Guy’ in some interesting ways that integrate the product messages.”  Hmmm….maybe stressing it is so easy to use, even a bright bulb like the family guy can use it.

Troberman maintains that branded entertainment with content integration and programming offered up “phenomenal results” when they used it for launching the search engine Bing.  She says that is why they are going that route for Windows 7 as well.  “Consumers exposed to both branded entertainment and advertising have more positive reactions,” she said.  But, working in to use an OS isn’t quite as simple as promoting a candy bar, or even a search engine.  I’m curious to see just how they manage to do it.  The show is scheduled to air on November 8 at 8:30 PM Eastern.

Read: adage

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It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new video format, maybe a few months or so.  It looks like today we’re seeing yet another new video format, the iFrame.  Developed by Apple, the iFrame is first included in today’s iMovie update for Mac OS X, though it is compatible with both Macs and PCs.  Of course, what use is a format with nothing that actually uses it?  To answer that, Sanyo comes in.

Sanyo today debuted two new Dual Cameras that record in the new iFrame.  The new format is supposed to allow for easier importing to a computer, easy editing and sharing.  The cameras themselves are pretty standard.  Both can shoot 8-megapixel photos and full 1080p HD video at 60fps.  The iFrame video comes in at 960x540, which isn’t a bad resolution at all.  Other features of the cameras include slow motion playback, high speed recording, and “face chaser” for identifying up to 12 faces in photo/video.  For $500 and $600 they are decent cameras overall.

New video formats are always bit iffy, with so many other ones already being used.  However, with the iFrame being developed Apple, and now with Sanyo onboard with it, there might be something there.  The resolution should provide for good quality video.  With small files sizes, and much easier importing, it could prove to be popular over time.  The quiet release seems a bit strange and something that would usually be made at an Apple event of some sort.  Either way, once more applications adapt the new format, if they do, we can see just how well it will do in the long term.

Read [PR Newswire]
Read [CNet News]

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Monsoon Multimedia has just given iPhone and iPod touch users a new way to watch live television while on the go.  The recently released app is simply called the HAVA Player and will work in conjunction with your existing HAVA setup.  In terms of iPhone and iPod touch compatibility, you will need OS 2.2.1 or later.

Assuming you already have a HAVA set-top box in your home, the iPhone app will run you an additional $9.99 and in turn allow you to watch and control your television from anywhere.  The app will give you full control over your home set-top box which includes the ability to watch live television as well as schedule or watch previously recorded DVR content.

Additionally, the app also features a “Favs” section which will allow you to set your favorite channels to make navigation easier on the smaller screen.

For those interested in watching television from your iPhone that do not have a HAVA set-top box at home, currently there are four units to choose from ranging in price from $149.99 up to $249.99.

Read [MyHAVA.com] Download [HAVA Player (App Store link)]

Keep reading to check out the full press release…

Monsoon Multimedia Announces Availability of HAVA Mobile Player for iPhone

Watch and Control Your Live TV From Anywhere on the iPhone and iPod Touch

SAN MATEO, CALIF. - October 14, 2009 - Monsoon Multimedia today announced the availability of the HAVA Mobile Player application for iPhone and iPod Touch users. The HAVA Mobile Player app allows HAVA customers to view and control their home television service, including cable, satellite and TiVo, from anywhere in the world on their iPhone.

The HAVA Mobile Player for iPhone was designed for seamless integration with Apple’s unique smartphone allowing viewers to control their home television service (whether it’s cable or satellite, receiver or DVR, standard or high definition) via the touch screen interface.

“Monsoon’s HAVA line of video streaming, place- and time-shifting devices give consumers more options when choosing how, when and where they view their home video and TV content,” said Colin Stiles, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Monsoon Multimedia. “Our support for iPhone and iPod Touch gives HAVA customers the ability to watch any of their 300+ TV channels, their favorite football team on game day or their local news in very high quality, regardless of their location, wherever WiFi is available.”

The iPhone version of the HAVA Mobile Player is optimized software for the video-streaming application that Monsoon also provides for PCs, Netbooks and other mobile devices. HAVA is a standalone device that does not require a dedicated or connected PC/Mac in the home to enable the iPhone or other portable devices when watching your TV over the Internet. In addition to place shifting video to PC or smartphones, Monsoon’s HAVA features unique DVR capability that allow users to initiate a recording to their PC or attached storage, or pause, rewind or fast forward their live TV.

HAVA for iPhone:
High quality video playback
Remote access to HAVA device
Enables full remote control and channel changing capabilities of any TV source such as Cable, Satellite, DVD or TiVo
Browse program guides for schedules, series and episode descriptions (based on availability from service provider)
“Favorites” feature allows users to label favorite channels
Supports iPhone and iPod Touch with OS 2.2.1 or higher

Pricing and Availability
The Monsoon HAVA Player for the iPhone and iPod Touch is now available as a direct download at iPhone App Store for $9.99. The HAVA product line is available from Monsoon at www.myhava.com and through select retailers and retailers nationwide.

About Monsoon Multimedia
Monsoon Multimedia provides advanced, standards-based multimedia products and technologies for the PC, Smartphone and Consumer Electronics industries. Monsoon licenses highly optimized multimedia solutions comprised of applications, drivers, frameworks, middleware and reference designs. Our customers and partners are semiconductor companies, PC manufacturers, MSO’s, software suppliers and consumer electronics companies. Founded by the founders of Dazzle and Emuzed, the company has offices in California, India and Russia.  For more information, please visit www.monsoonmultimedia.com.

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HP just announced its new LD4200tm, a 42-inch LCD that can handle multi-touch inputs.  HP has positioned this device for businesses, so you may see this in a hotel near you soon.  This display has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and uses “an array of infrared (IR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), along with photo sensors, to determine touch by pairing to create a grid of light beams across the display. When an object (such as a finger, pen or any other pointing device) touches the screen, the light beam within the grid is interrupted and thus, touch is recognized.”  In other words, this display won’t be using your usual capacitive or resistive technologies for its touch screen.  There’s no information as to the pricing of this thing, but since it’s for businesses, don’t expect to be adding this to your home any time soon.  The LD4200tm is also designed to run 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

Company Site: [HP.com]

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Much like when the original Western Digital WD TV Media Player was released last November, the new and updated version has also quietly slipped into Best Buy.  The updated model has been dubbed the WD TV Live Media Player and is now priced 10 bucks less than the original at $119.99.

In terms of features, the WD TV Live Media Player will allow you to hook it up to a computer or external hard drive and view stored videos or images as well as play music files on your HDTV.  Additionally you can also connect to online sites such as YouTube, Flickr and Pandora.

The WD TV Live Media Player ships with a compact remote and the necessary cables to include a composite AV cable, component AV cable and AC adapter.

In terms of support, the WD TV Live Media Player offers Dolby Digital and DTS decoders, supports 1080p displays, has USB 2.0, HDMI and a standard Ethernet jack for connectivity.

All things considered this looks like a nice option for those looking to be able to get content from a PC to a big screen.  Of course, the critics will likely point out the lack of wireless connectivity and Netflix, that said you can always check out the Roku set-top box if that is what you are looking for.

Product [Best Buy]

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Eye-Fi has already launched their Eye-Fi SD cards in America, and on October 19, 2009, they will start selling their unique SD cards in the United Kingdom.  They main difference between generic SD cards and the Eye-Fi units is the fact that the latter has the ability to wirelessly upload images and videos to your computer.  Some models can even upload directly to photo sharing websites, such as Facebook and Flickr. 

There are three different models that will begin selling on October 19: the Eye-Fi Home Video, the Eye-Fi Share Video and the Eye-Fi Pro.  As soon as the camera is within a Wi-Fi network, it can begin uploading pictures to either your computer’s hard drive, or the Internet.  Take a look at the comparison chart below for a quick outline of differences and similarities. 

Basically, the Eye-Fi Home Video can upload photos and videos directly to your computer without the need of a USB connection, however, it cannot upload directly to the Internet.  It will be on sale for 49.99 Euros.  The Eye-Fi Share Video allows for direct upload to your hard drive, but it also allows for direct upload to photo/video sharing websites including Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, Picasa and MobileMe.  Since this model has more capabilities, it will be a little bit more expensive at 69.99 Euros. 

The last model is the Eye-Fi Pro which can do everything already listed for the other SD cards and features lifetime geotagging services, plus the ability to upload RAW images.  It will sell for 119.99 Euros.  All SD cards feature 4GB of storage and are Mac and PC compatible. 

Having the ability to upload images right away (or as soon as a Wi-Fi connection is available) will definitely increase productivity time since you will not have to waste time for images to upload.  I’m sure many British will take advantage of these unique products. 

Read [Eye-Fi]

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It is beneficial to purchase electronics whenever good deals are available, therefore it is important to search the web for the best possible deal on that new laptop, or HDTV.  But don’t worry, we did the search for you.  Today, Gadgetell has a few deals ranging from laptops, video games, HDTVs, to an Electricity Usage Monitor. 

Acer Laptop

The first deal for this weekend is the Acer AS1410 11.6-inch notebook PC on sale for $429 with free shipping.  The notebook can be purchased from BuyDig and ships within 1-2 business days.  In terms of RAM, it sports 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, features a 250GB 5400RPM hard drive, 11.6 inch LED screen, Intel Core 2 Solo Processor, and operates on Windows Vista Home Premium.  It is available in a Sapphire Blue color. 

HP Laptop

The second laptop deal for today is the HP HDX 18t laptop series, which sells from HP.com.  It normally sells for $1450, but comes with a $550 off coupon code which brings the price down to $899.  The laptop features 4GB SDRAM, 500GB hard drive, webcam, microphone, fingerprint reader, an 18.4 inch HD screen, Blu-ray player, and a one year warranty.  In order to receive the $550 off, enter in NBT548571 at the checkout.  Be warned that the promotion may end at any time.

Fallout 3: Game of The Year Edition

Our video game deal for today is Fallout 3: Game of The Year Edition, which is available for pre-order on Amazon.  The Xbox 360 game has a list price of $59.99, but it is on sale for $43.  It will officially be available on October 13. 

Panasonic HDTV

Our HDTV deal comes from TigerDirect and it is the Panasonic TCP46U1 Viera 46” Plasma HDTV.  It normally sells for $1,199.99, but it is on sale for $799 after $400 instant savings, however, shipping and handling costs $99.  The 46 inch HDTV features full 1080p resolution.  It will continue to be available for this price until supplies run out. 

Electricity Usage Monitor

Our last deal for today is the P3 International Kill A Watt, from SuperMediaStore.  As the name implies, it helps reduce your electricity bills because it identifies electronics that use a lot of energy even when the device is powered off.  Knowing which outlets are still being used even when the device is powered off will reduce your bill, since you will be able to unplug it.  Normally $30, it is on sale for $19.  Supermediastore offers free shipping if you purchase $25 worth of goods. 

Please visit again next week for more deals in technology!

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The once rumored Qualcomm FLO TV device has recently been officially announced and with that we now have some details in terms of pricing and features.

First things first though, still unannounced was a release date, or even a rough time frame for that matter.  Instead we now know that the FLO TV device will set you back $249.99 and then run $8.99 a month for service.

My first reaction was that this is a little pricey, but given the ease of use and portability, this could be a nice gadget to have when in the car or out running errands with a 2-year old in tow.  Not that I recommend sitting your kids in front of a television, but at times it can be a handy tool, especially when they love Spongebob.

Anyway, feature wise the FLO TV will have a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen display, built-in stereo speakers and be able to offer users up to 5 hours of television viewing time from a single battery charge.  Overall the unit will measure in at 4.4 x 3 x 0.5 inches and weigh a little over 5 ounces.

In terms of that content that you will be able to choose from for you $8.99 monthly subscription fee, well the service offers a mix of full length episodes as well as clips from networks such as CNBC, Comedy Central, MSNBC, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News, NBC Sports and the one I would like the most—Nickelodeon.

Of course, the one point that would possibly turn me away is going back to the monthly service fee, while I would say the $9 is pretty fair, it is important to point out that this is a subscription.  In other words you will have to agree to a 3-year commitment.

Read [FLO TV News]

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Anyone looking for a low-cost set-top box that will allow for HD playback on a big screen may want to check out the recently released O!Play from Asus.  To begin with the Asus O!Play is selling for $99. 

Now, here is what we can expect feature wise:

• Plays up content up to 1080p
• eSATA, Ethernet, and USB inputs
• Composite and HDMI outputs
• Bitstream or Dolby Digital and DTS Surround audio

Additionally, it seems to have a wide variety of supported file types including MPEG1/2/4, RM/RMVB, VC-1 and H.264 for video as well as MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC and AIFF for audio.  The O!Play is also able to stream and view JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF image files.

Otherwise, the unit ships with a remote control and a set of composite cables.  The one drawback here, aside from not having a HDMI cable included, is that the O!Play does not have built-in Wi-Fi.  Of course, getting back to that price, $99, that is not all that surprising.  It seems to be a nice option for those looking to not spend a ton of money.

Product [Amazon]  Via [Liliputing]

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Crack.  Snort it, lick it, heat it and smoke it; whatever their doing, the following companies seem to have had too much.  Local hospitals are on alert.  The police force is notified.  Let’s take a look at who looks to be on the rock this week:

Table the Tablets

Every blogger that says 2010 is the year of the tablet, take one step closer to rehab.  Yes, Brian Chen, I am looking at you.  2010 may be the year some of these dream machines finally get stateside but it will be far from everyone’s favorite.  The answer is as easy as q-w-e-r-t-y.

Typing on your touchscreen smartphone is pretty easy, right?  Sure it is, you tap away with your thumbs at blazing speeds.  Now imagine your shiny new lust-worthy tablet is between your hands; now start typing.  Whoa!  Hold up there cowboy.  OK fine you say, I’ll just put the tablet down on my table and type.  But then you can’t see the screen anymore, and lap typing?  The only thing going on my lap is dancing, thank you very much.

Microsoft is ready to hit the buzzer at this point with their Courier videos.  “Stylus, stylus” they shout.  BZZZP.  No, sorry thank you for playing.  I don’t see us all going back in time to learn PDA Graffiti, do you? 

So were are stuck without a decent way to input text and without it, these dream machines will be more of a punch line at a party in six months.

The revenge of Windows Mobile

Proving that the geniuses in Redmond have more lives than a cat, their new preview of Windows 6.5 dropping soon looks pretty darn good.  I’d written them off but just like Motorola, they seem to have something going.  Our Editor-about-town got a hands on with the new OS and came away surprised.

Love the new look of Windows Mobile?  Thank Apple.  Competition rules, look it up.

Walmart hates Zune HD - wants you to too

This is my favorite story of the week.  I found working units of Apple iPods alongside bricked Zune HDs in my local Walmart.  WTF?  Who’s idea of a fair fight is this?  And that is just it: it isn’t a fair fight but I still am unsure who is rigging it.  Walmart?  Apple?  MS?  Who’s the culprit here?  Who is complicit?

I don’t like the smell of this and plan on finding out.

iPhone exclusivity ends

Hot dog!  Wait, oh what’s that?  Not in the US?  Bummer.

Seems Apple didn’t renew or didn’t chain themselves to a carrier long term overseas and are opening up the field.  Sweet, for them.

Meanwhile, back in the US, where the iPhone is still the rock star, bloggers question whether the iPhone is hurting AT&Ts image.  How much longer will iPhone fans have to endure the antics of AT&T instead of their prefered carrier?  Only Apple, AT&T and I guess the FCC know for sure.  Yep, the FCC is still considering doing something about exclusive phones on carriers.  And you can bet that fight is all about the iPhone, now the Verizon Razzle.

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