Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Remember HD DVD, the now-dead next-gen format?  Well it turns out that Netflix is getting ready to bring those rentals to an end.  The news comes as little surprise as Netlfix announced way back in February that they decided to support the Blu-ray format. 

The original announcement was that they would phase out HD DVD rentals “by the end of 2008” and well, that time is just about here and the rentals will officially come to an end on December 15.  Which means that at that time, if you have any HD DVD titles in your queue, they will be replaced with a standard DVD.

Via [EngadgetHD]

• RadioShack’s Black Friday ad now available
• HD-capable Flip Mino Camcorder arrives just in time for the holidays
• Want an alternative to TiVo? Watch for the DTVPal DVR coming next month

RadioShack’s Black Friday ad is now out and here’s what they are offering to those brave folks willing to wait in line for the 6AM opening:

• Canon PIXMA MX300 Office All-in-One Printer (Requires Purchase of EX-Z9 Camera) - Free after $50.00 MIR.
• Memorex MCC228 HD Digital Camcorder- $79.99 (regularly $119.99)
• TDK DVD+R Discs (50-Pack) - $7.99 (regularly $27.99)
• TDK DVD-R (50-Pack) - $7.99 (regularly $27.99)
• Casio EX-Z9 8.1MP Digital Camera Bundle- $99.99 (regularly $139.99)

Keep reading to see the entire list.

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Sections: Audio, Video, Computers, Gadgets / Other, Imaging, Web

After a bit of a delay, Dish Network has confirmed that they will be releasing the DTVPal DVR mid-December.  However, you can pre-order it starting next week.  Originally introduced as the EchoStar TR-50 when it was shown at the Consumer Electronics Show the beginning of the year, the slightly modified HD personal video recorder now has a spiffy new name to match its new look.  Continued after the break.

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If the just released Flip Mino HD would be available in any of the local stores in the country where I’m currently residing, I would certainly not hesitate in getting this as a gift to myself.  In fact, I might even get another one for my son.  The Flip Mino may be so cool and attractive enough to get you to buy it even before you take a look at its specs.  In fac,t you don’t have to worry about the specs, as you would certainly not be short changed in this department.

The Flip Mino HD is Pure Digital’s take on HD-capable camcorder market.  And instead of clashing with the other HD-capable camcorders in coming out with their own units touting support for large-capacity storage SD cards, Pure Digital opted to use built-in 4GB flash memory only.  For some camcorder users this would be enough for a one-hour video which they can easily upload to YouTube or other video sharing sites.  Find out more after the break.

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The pre-Black Friday deals keep pouring in.  Not satisfied with actually making all their money on the day after Thanksgiving, some companies have been cutting prices early. 

If you’re in the market for an HDTV, 6th Avenue has the Panasonice Viera TH-42PZ80U 42” 1080P Plasma HDTV for just $807 and free shipping.  If you’re a NY or NJ resident, your price will be higher since you have to pay sales tax up front.  That’s a pretty good deal on this TV since it usually runs for about $900-$1300 at various stores. 

To get the TV at that price, go to 6ave.com and make sure you use the coupon code AFL5 at checkout for 5% off. 

Go get the TV at [6thAve]
via [BFads.net]

• Some GPS deals to consider on Black Friday
• Deal of the Day: Buy 2 select games at Amazon and get $25, buy 3 and get $50
• Get Half-Life for 98 cents

The quality of cameras in phones has risen exponentially in the last few years from poor VGA to the fairly good 3 megapixel and beyond.  But there is always progress to be made, and Sony Ericsson have outlined some fairly ambitious aims in the release of their four year plan for smart phones; not only with cameras but other aspects of the phones as well.

However I will begin with cameras, and Ericsson’s vision is that by 2012 the cameras on phones will be capable of 20 megapixels and even the ability to shoot full HD video.  This is incredibly ambitious in four years, especially considering the current economic climate, but there is nothing to suggest that it cannot be done.  This will certainly have far reaching effects regarding home videos allowing near professional home films to be made via phone cameras, which would be pretty cool! 

Keep reading for more info on where Sony Ericsson plans to take phones.

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We all know, love, hate and possibly do our best to ignore Black Friday.  For deals on gadgets and tech, you’d expect the main electronic stores to participate: Best Buy, Circuit City, maybe even Wal-Mart and Target.  You can add one more to that list that you probably wouldn’t expect: Walgreens.  Yeah, I wasn’t expecting it either.

Of course, a store like Walgreens doesn’t have a whole ton of electronic deals, but there are a few.  Some of its not too surprising, like a 10” LCD TV for $99, a 9 megapixel Kodak camera for $79 and a 2 GB MicroSD card for $9.  While they are good deals, their what you’d usually expect from a store like Walgreens.  However, there are two surprising additions.  One is an 8MP HD camcorder from Aiptek for $79.  The other being an $89 Nextar GPS.  Sure, they aren’t really big brand names, but what do you expect from Walgreens?

With the economy the way it is, and tech becoming more popular, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these types of deals from other retailers for Black Friday.  Last year the big push was for HDTVs, which it could be this year as well.  One thing is definite, though, people like finding good deals on tech.

Read [BFads.net]

• Some GPS deals to consider on Black Friday
• Sharp TV Christmas Tree in Grand Central
• LG’s hot new touchscreen at AT&T

In the wake of the Xbox 360 receiving Netflix streaming High Definition, Roku has announced, on their own forums, that they will have HD streaming on Roku boxes before the end of the year.  Roku boxes were, in fact, the first devices to offer the Netflix “Watch Now” functionality, straight to your TV. 

On the Roku Labs Forums, “RokuTim” (Tim Twerdahl, VP of Consumer Products at Roku) told the masses that “Roku will be delivering Netflix in HD by the end of the year.“  This is great news for everybody who hopped on the Roku bandwagon early, however he also mentioned that “Roku will be using Advanced Profile encodes which will deliver HD at substantially lower bit-rates than what Xbox is offering.“  Uh oh.  Looks like the Xbox 360 has the upper hand here, and that your Roku HD movies may be a tad on the choppy side. 

More after the break.

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Sections: Video, Content, HDTV, Web, Websites

Unlike most product releases today, Western Digital has released their TV HD media player with no extravagant advertising.  The tiny device allows you to plug in external USB hard drives, up to two simultaneously, and play any video content stored on them, on your TV. 

It outputs video to your TV in either plain old 480i format via the composite interface (and included cables) or in 1080p HD via HDMI.  The TV HD Media Player ships with “media converter software” leaving it suspect as to what formats the device actually supports.

For $129.99, you can get an easy way to watch your movies on your gorgeous HD TV.

Buy [Best Buy]

• Sharp TV Christmas Tree in Grand Central
• Optoma Pico Projector PK-101: Project wherever you are
• Bill O’Reilly complains about video games, Heidi Klum

Whoa, Netflix!  First came the Watch Instantly on the PC, then dedicated boxes, then Mac, then yesterday’s announcement of Xbox and now this one: TiVo will stream Netflix content on series 3, HD and HD XL receivers and up (sorry DirecTV users, no soup for you).  Hot dang, what is next for Netflix, streaming on my toaster?

For TiVo, this is huge news.  TiVo’s loyal army surely has been considering their options as aged equipment, user interface and attractive alternative offers have been rolling in from providers.  TiVo begins testing the service in select markets today and plans to offer it nationwide by early December so you’ll have plenty of time to go back and forth on deciding for a holiday gift.

No news yet on if the HD recievers TiVo offers will get Netflix HD content.

Read [NewTeeVee]

• A hot keyboard always needs a partner…
• How to get your Mac to talk to your Wii
• Pizza gets TiVo’d