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This ad is how Twitter is introducing itself to the world
You read Engadget, so you're probably familiar with Twitter even if you're not a regular user. For most other people -- who apparently aren't joining fast enough to please investors -- it's just something occasionally mentioned on the news or Sportscenter. Those people are the ones who the social network's first TV ad is aimed towards. Predictably, the (baseball-focused, since it premiered a few minutes ago during tonight's World Series game) advertisement is all about the new Moments feature intended to organize and slow the flow of information for new users. I felt more confused than ever about Twitter's purpose after watching the 30-second spot, but maybe the intended audience will have a different reaction -- you can check it out after the break.
Must See HDTV (October 21st - 27th)
This week the MLB's fall classic kicks off as the Red Sox face the Cardinals. If you're not a baseball fan there's still other things to look forward to, with plenty of horror-related Blu-ray releases and the requisite cheesy Syfy movie arriving in time for Halloween. The Nerdist himself Chris Hardwick is also a highlight, as he adds a new late night show on Comedy Central called @midnight to his usual Talking AMC duties. Look after the break for our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Must See HDTV (October 17th - 23rd)
The baseball season is almost over, but we've got one more playoff series to enjoy before giving things over completely to the fall and winter sports. We've also got a new new shows premiering this week, alongside notable Blu-ray releases including The Crow and Cape Fear. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. Boss Kelsey Grammer comes back to TV this week on Starz playing the mayor of Chicago, who has just been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease that he's trying to hide from both his friends and his enemies. Focused more on political intrigue it probably won't have the action of The Chicago Code, but the intricacies of the corrupt political machine at work should remain. Check out a trailer after the break, apparently this first season was already impressive enough that it's been renewed for a season two before the premiere episode airs Friday. (October 21st, Starz, 10PM) World Series The long baseball season has finally come down to the last two teams standing. the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals both feature impressive offensive and defensive lineups, which should make for an exciting round of baseball, as long as the series goes. The first four games are all scheduled to take place over the next week, so check the schedule below and clear out a little time for the inevitable Pujols/Hamilton/Cruz show. (All week, Fox) Once Upon A Time Game of Thrones this ain't. This new drama premieres on ABC Sunday and attempts to update fairy tales for the modern age. The plot centers around a woman who is contacted by the son she gave up for adoption who believes that she is actually from an alternate universe where she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Now he lives in a normal-looking neighborhood that is actually populated by the characters of the most famous classic children's stories. The subject matter is a bit out there, but coming from writer's whose biggest credit to date is their work on Lost, who would expect anything different? There's a trailer for this one after the break as well. (October 23rd, ABC, 8PM)
Fox blackout on Cablevision ends after 14 day standoff, glaring contest continues on
Evidently missing the first two games of the World Series was about all Cablevision thought it subscribers could take, as news just hit the wire: the fourteen-day standoff is over and both tonight's game three of the World Series and tomorrow's Jets vs Packers game are available to subscribers. While these carriage disputes are pretty common, it is very rare for channels to be pulled and downright unheard of for a channel as popular as Fox. It came to this because Cablevision was very unhappy about News Corp's new terms and after many pleas to the FCC and politicians to intervene, an advertising campaign, and eventually an unaccepted offer to match the price that Time Warner Cable pays, a deal has finally been done. Not exactly all's well that ends well, though, as Cablevision released the following statement: "In the absence of any meaningful action from the FCC, Cablevision has agreed to pay Fox an unfair price for multiple channels of its programming including many in which our customers have little or no interest." Talk about sour grapes. Well at least we can hope that Cablevision's efforts paid off a little bit and your cable bill won't go up as much as it would've if the outage never occurred to begin with. We can hope.
GigaPan wins the World Series with 1,539 megapixel zoomable image
Apparently, the US is in throes of another major sporting event. The one where male humans chase balls with sticks and gloves made from wood and cow. How do we know this? Easy, a new 79,828 X 19,290 pixel GigaPan image has just been released for you to get pervy with as the MLB invites you to scour all 1,539 megapixels for friends and family or people whom you wish were your friends or family. The image was taken over a 17-minute span and consists of 280 photos stitched together into an ultra hi-res image. You can even link the site to your Facebook account and start tagging everyone you know. Now hit the source below and let the voyeuristic zoomfest begin! [Thanks, Danny W.]
TWC Wisconsin offers World Series to LIN TV-area customers
My, my -- now isn't this nifty. Time Warner Cable in Northeast Wisconsin is just one of the many areas still fighting with LIN TV in an attempt to get LIN TV-owned stations back in the EPG. As you can likely guess, the World Series is being played right now on one such station (WLUK), which obviously is no longer available via TWC to NE Wisconsin subscribers. In a workaround that can only be described as brilliant, it is bringing the Fall Classic to viewers via FOX Sports Espanol (slot 70; SD only) and encouraging them to catch the English play calling through the radio. We've no clue if other TWC regions are dabbling in the same black magic, but we can't help but chuckle and offer up a round of golf claps -- this, friends, is determination at work. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Via FoxCitiesTV]
Guitar Hero benches big leaguer
When Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya was benched during October's American League Championship series with inflammation in his right arm, Tigers Athletic Director Kevin Rand theorized it was because the pitcher was "playing in different times now, different weather." Turns out the actual problem was not different weather but a different game -- specifically, Guitar Hero.The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Tigers manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM yesterday that Zumaya's injury recurrence came from excessive virtual guitar shredding, not from excessive baseball throwing. Once the Tigers training staff realized the injuries were "more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher," Zumaya stopped playing the game and recovered in time to pitch in three World Series games.We can't help but question Zumaya's priorities here. While pitching in the World Series is important, think of the damage done to Zumaya's Guitar Hero career during this hiatus. We can only hope practice and hard work during the off-season will bring him back to top shredding form.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
HDTV Listings for October 25, 2006
What we're watching: The World Series continues on Fox, as the St. Louis Cardinals try to take a 3-1 lead over the Detroit Tigers. The theme for tonight's Lost is "every man for himself", which hopefully means "the HDTV boxed set doesn't cost $200", but that's just wishful thinking. NBA preseason action is on TNT as the Rockets face the Heat, but we'll probably check out Just Friends on HBO.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for October 24, 2006
What we're watching: World Series Game 3 is at hand, and luckily we've got our HDTVs tuned in to see any "foreign substances" that may-or-may-not be intentionally placed on a pitcher's hand. Otherwise, not much tonight, new episodes of Dancing with the Stars, Help Me Help You and Friday Night Lights plus the return of HBO's Emmy-award winning Elizabeth I.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for October 21, 2006
What we're watching: The World Series is on, and most other regularly scheduled network programming is taking the night off as a result. While Fox features the Tigers vs. Cardinals, ABC is airing Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets while CBS has The Bourne Identity. Georgia Tech vs. Clemson should be a good matchup on ESPN-HD, or you can just chill out and catch Sunrise Earth: Total Eclipse on Discovery HD Theater.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
World Series of Poker: First Impressions
For some reason, Activision's $40 poker title, World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions has yet to garner a single review on MetaCritic, despite being the first game to showcase the Vision Camera's Digimask facial mapping technology. That's a shame because right now it's the best reason to pick up a Vision. I'm not an expert when it comes to poker (either the real or video game variety) but this game is a worthy upgrade from the bare bones XBLA version that most people downloaded for free, if only for the chance to...um... play with yourself. Point blank, the Digimask tech just works. You snap a pic from the front and side profile and the game takes a couple minutes to map your face over a 3D frame. I tried it under mediocre lighting conditions and it worked on the first try. Speaking as a geek who spent hours painstakingly building my virtual doppelganger in the last Tiger Woods (long the Cadillac of create-a-character modes), poor, forgotten WSoP presented me with most accurate representation of my own handsome face I've ever seen in a game, It does warp your lower face a bit, but the eyes, ears and nose were spot on. I've only slept about 6 hours over the past couple days and it was awesome to see the same black under eye circles I saw in the mirror on my newly created me. The 3D modeling is a vast improvement over previous attempts at this sort of thing. In fact, the detail was so good that my wife refused to give it a shot without doing her make-up. I tried it again sporting a Mr. T "Pity the fool" scowl to see if it could handle a little emotion and the results were equally impressive.
