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CNET reviews MovieBeam MB2160
MovieBeam is an amazing concept. It lets you view programs on-demand via an Internet connection antenna and best of all, it has high-def content in its library. But it is a bit ahead of its time. Ben had a chance to review the service early on and was not impressed. CNET now has their take on the MovieBeam and comes away with the same conclusion. The price is too high and they had problems with the hardware. For us high-def fans, the picture quality was very bad. i.e. think bit-starved cable signal with tons of digital artifacts.Check out their full review here.
Intel stumbles while stepping to Apple's 6 button remote
Honestly: I'm always down for some competition; it keeps (some) companies innovating and (hopefully) on their toes. But wow... if you're going to openly take on a device like Apple's beautiful and simple 6-button Remote, it might be a good idea to make sure you're firing on all cylinders.Check out this video at CNET of Don McDonald, Intel's VP and general manager of their digital home group, demoing a voice-activated remote for Windows Media Center. Mr. McDonald brags that the remote has absolutely no buttons, but forgets to mention it has almost no functionality either. Watch, as he tries not once, not twice, not thrice - but a whopping four times (with some serious lag on his last attempt) to ask the remote "what time is Family Guy on TV." Also, note how much they trust the abilities of their 'zero button remote'... with all the buttons it actually contains.I'd say you and your team earned an A for effort Don, but you might have to whip out those tablet PCs and get back to the drawing board on the voice-activation bit. Just be careful the next time you try using it to dictate your product design notes.[via digg]
More info about GameSpot and Gameplay HD
Voom recently launched their newest HD station, Gameplay HD, and it was aimed at gamers. The inital announcement indicated that CNet and Gamespot will be providing content for the channel but the dets' we sketchy at best. More info has surfaced and we thought you would like to know.Gamespot will be producing two shows for the gaming stations. One is called GameSpotting that will cover gaming news, previews and reviews. The second will tell the story of games through the cut-scenes and selected game play will be called CinemAddicts. They both sound cool and Gamespotting seems like something we would like to watch. As for CinemAddicts, it really does not interest me personally but I am sure some of you will love it.
HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray continues, no compromise in sight / flip discs will decide the winner?
Ok, so now, we've seen the huge hulking 1980's VHS-style players for both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, but which one are we going to buy? Well, if you were hoping to buy a Samsung player that was compatible with both standards, don't hold your breath reports CNet. Apparently both groups have regulations making it impossible for any member to create a drive capable of playing both formats, so there goes that idea for now.Also today, the "HDTV Professor" noted that of all the things he heard at Insight Media's HDTV Conference, the possibility for flip disc HD-DVD's with regular DVD content on one side is much more promising than similar Blu-ray applications, and could lead to quicker adoption by consumers and retailers.As usual, we'll continue to keep an eye on it.