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Happy 3rd birthday Engadget HD!
Yes we can't believe it either, but as of today Engadget HD is officially done with the terrible twos. The EHD crew's made us proud ever since their first post 36 months ago by bringing all of you the best HD news coverage they can, and in that time they've written over 11,672 posts and recorded 125 podcasts, which is pretty crazy. We're looking forward to many more years of HD goodness, but of course none of this would be possible without all of you Engdaget HD readers, so go ahead and give yourselves a pat on the back -- and then get back to reading.
Engadget HD reader meetup at CEDIA tomorrow
We figured enough was enough and that it was finally time for the HD crew to get in on some of this meetup fun, so with some help from our new friends at the Georgia Tech chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery, we're having the very first Engadget HD reader meetup. The event will take place on the Georgia Tech campus -- so no University of Georgia apparel is permitted -- at the Klaus building in room 1116W at 6:00pm on Friday the 11th and will go for about two hours -- we're told the easiest way to find the room is to walk through the main stairs to the courtyard and look for the signs. There is a place to park a few buildings over, but it isn't free. So come by and geek out over some CEDIA news with Ben and Richard of Engadget HD, and the members of the local chapter of the ACM. Map shot is after the break.
Join our Netflix Movie Party this Friday night
Yes that's right, we're nerds, real shocker right? So just admit it and join us for Engadget HD Movie night. We're going to take advantage of the new Netflix Movie Party feature on Xbox Live this Friday night at 9pm EST. So if you have an Xbox, a Gold membership and a Netflix subscription, you're out of excuses as we know you don't already have plans. Here's how it'll work; sign into our Ustream IRC channel when it's time and the first six people (8 person limit to Movie Parties) to post their gamer tags will get invited to the official Movie Party. Everyone else can join their own party and try to sync up the movie manually and we'll all chat it up in IRC. Now about the movie, here's a poll to decide what we'll be watching -- and yes they're all in HD. %Poll-33160%
Video: Engadget HD editors talk On Demand Online on Tech Vi
Turns out that even after multiple posts and a podcast, we had even more to say about Comcast's On Demand Online announcements, this time captured on video as a couple of our editors joined our friend Randall Bennett on his show TechVi. In case you missed it, this has been a busy week for the yet-to-launch streaming platform, and we chimed in with a bit of our feelings on what this means for cable, streaming video and where it could go in the future. We're glad you take time out to follow us on twitter (@EngadgetHD, @bjdraw, @stevekim & @Rjcc just in case you didn't know) and hopefully participate in the live podcast sessions on UStream each week, so if you've got eight minutes to spare, check out the video streaming from the TechVi site or embedded after the break.
The plan for legit Blu-ray copies explained at Engadget HD
For those with a disc rack full of Blu-ray packages and who'd like to shove all those optical discs to the attic for a streamlined media server solution -- without resorting to other routes like downloading or cracking open AACS -- Managed Copy is finally on the way, thanks to the just finalized AACS specification, to offer an authorized option for making a copy of your Blu-ray disc. We had a nice long talk with gatekeepers AACS-LA about what to expect when compatible Blu-ray hardware arrives in 2010 and Managed Copy-enabled discs begin shipping later this year; for more details like how many copies can be made, how the DRM works and how much this might cost head over to Engadget HD and see what it all means, and hopefully when we can put away our discs for the last time in favor of a Blu-ray Jukebox.
LCD vs Plasma in 2009
Engadget HD has an easily-digestible look at the current status of LCD and plasma displays in the industry, what with market share falling fast for the latter, sizes rising for the former, and many manufacturers dropping support for plasma altogether. The verdict? Well, you'll have to click on over to find out! Don't you just hate that?
Let Engadget trick out your home theater contest deadline extended, ends midnight tonight
Just a quick announcement about our home theater contest: we're extending the deadline until a minute before midnight tonight. Turns out the overwhelming response happened to overwhelm our email server, and maxed out our storage limit. Don't worry, we've sorted the problem -- just make sure to resubmit before 11:59PM EDT tonight if your email bounced. We're sorry for the inconvenience. If you haven't entered yet, check out the details here, first making sure to read the rules here. Good luck!
HD DVD and Blu-ray released on September 26th 2006
If you have been waiting for more titles to make the plunged into either HD DVD or Blu-ray, this might just be your week. This is by far the most number of titles released in one day. Warner is the resounding star with 12 titles between the two formats. Blu-ray still can't seem to catch up to HD DVD, when they add 11, HD DVD adds 12. When looking at the totals keep in mind that two of the titles from BCI last week never made it to the shelves, but Blu-ray is going to need more than 2 movies to catch up if they want to pass HD DVD by the end of the year. Love them or not, the Fast and the Furious trio are the big ones this week, but our personal favorite is Dazed and Confused, "You know what I like about high school girls?This brings the total to HD DVD 81 vs Blu-ray 56.Blu-ray Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Warner) Four Brothers (Paramount) The Fugitive (Warner) House of Wax (2005) (Warner) The Lake House (Warner) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Paramount) Lethal Weapon 2 (Warner) Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Paramount) Sleepy Hollow (Paramount) Space Cowboys (Warner) Swordfish (Warner) HD DVD The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) (Warner) Dazed & Confused (Universal) The Dirty Dozen (Warner) End of Days (Universal) Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal) The Fast and the Furious (Universal) 2 Fast 2 Furious (Universal) The Fast and the Furious: Toyko Drift (Universal) Grand Prix (Warner) The Lake House (Warner) Land of the Dead (Universal) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Warner) You can also check out our Google Calendars for all the dates.HD DVD release scheduleBlu-ray release schedule
My theory on why Apple isn't including Blu-ray drives in Macs
Engadget HD linked a theory from Robert X. Cringely as to why Apple hasn't included Blu-ray drives in any of their Macs yet (it isn't even an option in the Mac Pro), despite being on the board of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Mr. Cringely more or less links the lack of Blu-ray in Macs to movies and Apple's strategy with downloadable iTS content and the upcoming iTV. The thinking goes: if Apple can sell you a downloadable movie through the iTS and an iTV on which to watch it - why undercut that model with a Blu-ray drive built right into the machine?I disagree. There's plenty of other uses and potential (heck, they can hold up to 50GB) in these warring next generation optical formats (Blu-ray and their mortal enemy, HD-DVD), and that's exactly the point: these formats are in the middle of an industry polarizing war, and I think Apple hasn't committed to including either in their machines because they don't want risk leaving their customers high and dry once the dust settles and (dear lord, finally) one format wins out. The iTS/movie downloads/iTV theory doesn't hold water in my book also because that would mean they should eliminate CD and DVD drives from their machines - after all, those drives can undercut their iTunes Store music and movie purchases, right? These discs can hold a lot more than simple movies.This ridiculous Blu-ray/HD-DVD situation is Betamax vs. VHS all over again, and while Apple is known for pushing the envelope on which technologies they adopt, I believe they're simply waiting for an actual standard to emerge. The only question is when these camps are going to get over themselves and stop forcing consumers to stock up on Advil for every trip to the electronics store.
Engadget HD giveaways: win a Philips 42PF9631D 42-inch plasma!
If your TV sucks -- hell, even if it's a pretty nice TV -- you'll want to pay attention. Our latest site, Engadget HD, is giving away some HDTVs, and the first one going down right now is a Philips 42PF9631D 42-inch plasma. Want to get your HD on? You know where to go. Now hurry up and enter for that humongous television before someone else swoops in and snags it. You heard us, shoo! Good luck!Oh, by the way, check out our other contests going on right now! Be the first to win a Zune! We got two Slingboxes for ya, too!
Introducing Engadget HD!
Well, the new Engadget isn't the only thing we're unveiling this week. We're very proud to announce the birth of our latest spin-off, Engadget HD, where we'll have obsessive coverage of everything related to high-definition. For Engadget HD we're teaming up with the amazingly talented bloggers of HD Beat. We've been working closely with them since last year, and it just made sense to go all the way and not only relaunch HD Beat under the Engadget brand, but to fully integrate the editorial teams (like we've done with Engadget Mobile). The result should be fuller and more comprehensive coverage of all things HD, with Engadget continuing to hit all the major announcements and Engadget HD going in-depth in a way that isn't possible on the main site. They'll also be writing about stuff like home theater and high-end audio gear that we've always wanted to have better coverage of on Engadget.To kick off the site we're giving away a bunch of HDTVs over at Engadget HD. Details in a short few, stick close!
