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Sony adds PSP access to PlayStation Network video store, 16 new content partners
Tucked in between the "worst kept secret" PSP Go and motion control demos at its E3 press conference, Sony also revealed new content for the PlayStation Network video service, and the ability to download video directly to the PSP, no PS3 or PC intermediary needed. No word on when to expect the new content exactly, but it will include video from Showtime Networks, Starz, G4 & E!, Summit Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, HDNet & Magnolia Pictures, Anime Network, Media Blasters, Right Stuf's Nozomi Entertainment, Starz Media's Manga Entertainment, Toei Animation, Viz Media, WEP, UFC, TNA and Video Action Sports. Looks like Sony will have easy on the go access to video store content up and running before Microsoft gets its Zune integration act together, but whether that compares to 1080p instant streaming promises remains to be seen (Hint: first one with direct Hulu access wins, we're just saying, guys.) Check out Sony's trailer embedded after the break.
Samsung unveils 55-inch HD LCD, low power 10.1-inch display, and more at SID 2009
If you're a display aficionado (which you probably are, unless that subscription of Display Aficionado we saw at your apartment was a holiday gift from a misguided aunt) the Samsung booth at SID 2009 is proving to be a non-stop thrill ride, from the company's OLED displays to this next item, the "world's first" true 240Hz full HD 55-inch LCD display. The company is also showing off a new 10.1-inch LCD for netbooks with 50% less power consumption and a none-too-shabby 1366 x 768 resolution. Also on tap is a new 4-inch qVGA TFT-LCD made using a printable semiconductor process, but no details are forthcoming there. Happy Display Week, everybody!
Hulu coming to Roku video player?
Hef's not exactly known for his tech punditry, but the latest issue of Playboy says Hulu is eventually coming to the Roku video player. We don't have to tell you how big a deal that would be -- we're sure half of you would drop cable immediately in favor of the charming $99 box -- but we've got our doubts about this particular rumor, since the networks and cable companies seem intent on keeping Hulu far, far away from the living room at the moment. Here's the thing, though: although Roku PR just told us they're "not sure" where this info came from, they wouldn't give us an outright denial, so something very well could be up -- only time will tell if there's truth here or if we're all just dealing with another of the bunny's airbrushed fantasies.
DISH / EchoStar ordered to pay TiVo $190 million in patent infringement case
We're a bit hesitant to call this one done given the history involved, but a federal judge in Texas has dealt DISH / EchoStar yet another serious blow in its long-standing dispute with TiVo, and this time he's taken a number of other measures that could cause EchoStar to finally rethink its workaround-litigate strategy. The big setback for EchoStar, however, is the one-two punch of $190 million in damages it's been ordered to pay TiVo and an order to disable the "infringing function" on all but 193,000 DVRs now in the hands of subscribers. The judge also found that EchoStar's recently-implemented workaround technology still violated the patent in question and, as a result, he's ordered EchoStar to inform the court before it decides to try its hand at another "design-around" of the infringing patent. For its part, TiVo says that it is "extremely gratified by the Court's well reasoned and thorough decision," while DISH / EchoStar would only say that it plans to appeal the court's decision and file a motion to stay the order with a federal appeals court.Read - The New York Times, "Court Awards TiVo $190 Million in EchoStar Patent Case"Read - TiVo Statement on U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Decision
Bang & Olufsen's BeoVision 7 goes Blu
As a brand that pairs high fashion with prices to match, the addition of Blu-ray to Bang & Olufsen's lineup seems like it should have happened a long time ago, but only now is B&O making play dates between its BeoVision 7 LCD and the format. Getting the B&O marketing fluff and buff on the latest iteration of the BeoVision 7-40 are the built-in Profile 2.0 Blu-ray deck, DVB-HD tuner, 40-inch LCD with 120Hz refresh rate, and your choice either the BeoLab 7-2 stereo soundbar (for those who haven't heard good surround sound) or the minimalistic BeoLab 7-4 soundbar with the Acoustic Lens (for those who don't care). If you're flat broke after laying out the $13,500 for this HTIB, no problem -- with its motorized stand, the BeoVision 7-40 is all set for placement right on your floor, so be sure to factor that savings in.
AT&T CruiseCast in-car TV finally launches nationwide
Look, we know all about desperate -- those youngsters are cute and all, but any self-respecting parent starts having some seriously evil thoughts about three hours in to any road trip. In a presumed effort to keep you off of the evening news and in good standing with your relatives, AT&T is launching its CruiseCast in-car TV service today. If you'll recall, we knew the in-car satellite TV solution was being tested in various spots, but today marks the first day that the proverbial beta badge has been ripped off. Of course, such a unique offering ain't running anyone cheap, with the initial hardware package totaling $1,299 and the monthly fee ringing up at $28. If those numbers have yet to faze you, hop on past the break for a look at the channel lineup.
HDTV Listings for June 2, 2009
What we're watching tonight: ABC (720p) has the season finale of According to Jim at 8 & 8:30 p.m. and Earth 2100 at 9 p.m. NBC (1080i) airs I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here at 8 p.m., Inside the Obama White House at 9 p.m. and the season finale of Law & Order: SVU at 10 p.m. TLC (1080i) brings 18 Kids & Counting at 9 p.m. and The Little Couple at 10 & 10:30 p.m. Fox (720p) has Mental at 9 p.m. Discovery (1080i) has Deadliest Catch at 9 p.m. and Man vs. Wild at 10 p.m. Sci Fi (1080i) has ECW at 10 p.m. FX (720p) drops in Rescue Me at 10 p.m. History (720p) has Life After People at 10 p.m. Versus (1080i) has Red Wings/Penguins NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game 3 at 8 p.m. ESPN2 (720p) has Women's College World Series action at 8 p.m.
Comcast extending VOD window to two days on Warner, Lionsgate & Disney flicks
Looks like the studios are finally beginning to loosen their digital distribution grip, now that Warner Bros. and Lionsgate are allowing Comcast to offer extended two day viewing windows this month, with Disney and Summit productions following next month. That coincides with a slew od day and date with the DVD HD VOD postings including He's Just Not That Into You, Gran Torino, Friday the 13th and more. Check the PR for the full list, any ideas how long it is before we see 48 hour replay windows on other cable providers and movie delivery services?
New Orleans' Prytania rises up to 3D
Outside of the frozen food section at the supermarket, nothing beats the summer heat quite like a cool (or downright cold) movie theater, and the recently Sony/RealD 4k-equipped Prytania theater in New Orleans just added 3D capabilities to entice viewers some more. No surprise -- Disney's summer blockbuster, Up, was the first talkie to make the leap off the silver screen at the newly outfitted venue, and we suspect that The Prytania -- the only theater in N'awlins to have Up in 3D -- raked in a healthy crowd for its investment. We love to see storied theaters keep up with the times, and this almost 95-year old movie house is no exception.[Thanks, gamedude360!]
Analyst: 50 million connected HDTVs by 2013
Ready for another analyst report picking networked devices as the next big thing in U.S. households? Enter the Yankee Group, going out on a limb predicting 30 million connected Blu-ray players, 50 million connected HDTVs and 11 million digital media adapters by 2013. Hopefully that means marketers like Samsung can move you from the waiting for the next version / never got the hype side of the fence by then, we're sure grabbing the full report will provide some ideas how it can be done.
Sony & Samsung begin LCD production at a second 8G facility
The S-LCD joint venture between Sony and Samsung now has a second 8th-generation production line to its credit, as the companies announced the $1.5 billion dollar expansion is now in operation and will be capable of producing up to 70,000 glass sheets per month for 32, 46- and 52-inch HDTV screens by the end of the year. We've seen prices at that size fall sharply since the first line was introduced two years ago, and we can't help but think this bodes well for Black Friday bargain hunters in 2009 and beyond.[Via AV Watch]
KEF's Concept Blade speakers -- no, you can't buy them
KEF has taken the wraps off its engineering-only Concept Blade speakers, and while the company has no intent on making these beauties available for sale (or at least none it's talking about), they are promising to roll the technology down the rest of their lineup. Working from KEF's calling-card Uni-Q tweeter/midrange, the design goal of Concept Blade is to make a full range, point source. The 10th generation of its Uni-Q driver can cover seven octaves without breakup before handing things over to the four 10-inch woofers arranged in "force cancelling" transverse pairs (one above the Uni-Q and one below). Throw in a carbon fiber/balsa wood composite enclosure, and you've got the makings of an exotic that surely has a market beyond one-off engineering showpieces. Trickle-down aside, we'd hate to see these go the way of other project concepts we've seen.
BBC Worldwide content coming to U.S. Xbox Live, Zune Marketplace
Apparently having worked out its issues over control, we've got even more BBC news for you with word that some of its programming is coming to Xbox Live and Zune Marketplace in the U.S. No word whether they'll be available in HD, but Torchwood, Dr. Who, Primeval, Top Gear and more are going to be online. Of course, the PS3 and Wii both have iPlayer access (and in the UK users can download videos and play through their consoles) but to get playback here without subscribing to BBC America HD, the Xbox 360 could be a good choice.Update: It looks like the videos are already up with the BBC America branding, with Torchwood and Robin Hood both 720p HDTV ready.
DirecTV CEO rumored heading back to News Corp
According to an Associated Press source, DirecTV CEO Chase Carey is in talks to return to News Corp. as Rupert Murdoch's second in command, which at least one analyst believes could be an indication the company will be sold outright soon, possibly to AT&T. Check out the read links for the business details, we're just wondering how a more permanent marriage of the satellite company and U-verse would work. Read - AP source: DirecTV CEO in talks to join News Corp Read - Analyst: Carey Departure = DirecTV Sale
HDTV Listings for June 1, 2009
What we're watching tonight: ABC Family (720p) has Greek at 8 p.m. NBC (1080i) presents the series premiere of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here at 8 p.m., the season finale of Medium at 10 p.m. and the premiere of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien at 11:34 p.m. TLC (1080i) has Jon & Kate Plus 8 at 9 & 9:30 p.m. and Cake Boss at 10 p.m. USA (1080i) brings WWE: Raw at 9 p.m. A&E (720p) airs Intervention at 9 p.m. and Obsessed at 10 p.m. ESPN (720p) has Yankees/Indians baseball at 7 p.m. ESPN2 (720p) has Women's College World Series action at 8 p.m.
Up director discusses Blu-ray extras with Cinematical
If you hit the theaters for Disney / Pixar's Up this weekend, you're probably more than ready to watch at home, and our friends at Cinematical recently talked to director Pete Docter about what to expect on the Blu-ray release. Beyond just commentary, there's also a documentary on their South American mountain research trip and Cine Explore powered look at all the artwork and animation tests behind the making of the flick. Considering how many of you consider other Pixar Blu-ray discs reference quality, there's little doubt this will be another great to add to the collection, check out the rest of the interview at the read link.
Xbox Live gets 1080p Zune video store, Netflix browsing, Twitter and Facebook integration
digg_url ='http://digg.com/xbox/Xbox_Live_gets_TV_streaming_Netflix_browsing_HD_vid_store'; Microsoft is busy announcing a slew of upgrades to Xbox Live, and the biggest news so far is relaunch of the video service, now Zune-branded with 1080p instant-on streaming content in 18 countries. XBL is also now integrated with Facebook -- your Facebook account can be linked to your Gamertag, and games will support Facebook Connect for sharing content online. That's pretty huge -- but if that wasn't enough, you're also getting Twitter and Last.fm in the deal. Want more? Netflix users will now be able to browse the entire catalog instead of simply loading their queue, and Microsoft has also gotten its Party Watch system in order, so you'll be able to heckle videos with your online friends. Last but not least, there's now live TV streaming for UK and Ireland gamers, who'll get Premier League soccer live from Sky. All in all, a solid set of updates for XBL -- but we'll wait and see how that "1080p" video looks before we pronounce Blu-ray dead. PR blurb after the break.
Blu-ray releases on June 2nd 2009
What an improvement from last week's unimpressive slate. Not only do we have a few day-and-dates like Defiance and He's Just Not that into You, but we also have the greatest Blu-ray demo disc since Planet Earth from the BBC in the way of Nature's Most Amazing Events -- yes they are very amazing, but we still prefer the original name Nature's Great Events. But that's not all, as we are also getting the fourth season of Weeds as well as a number of classic catalogs worth checking out like The Gradute and Fletch. Defiance (Paramount) Revolutionary Road (Paramount) Nature's Most Amazing Events (BBC) He's Just Not That Into You (Warner) NFL: Road to Super Bowl XLIII: Pittsburgh Steelers (Warner) Spring Breakdown (Warner) Weeds: Season Four (Lionsgate) Home (Fox) Air Force One (Sony) Anaconda (Sony) Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (Sony) Glory (Sony) Bruce Almighty (Universal) Inside Man (Universal) Fletch (Universal) Dark Blue (MGM) Navy Seals (MGM) The Graduate (MGM) Out of Time (MGM) Road House (MGM) Rollerball (MGM) Walking Tall (MGM) Direct Contact (First Look) Elsewhere (E1)
Samsung slaps "production-ready" label on 14.1- and 31-inch OLED TVs
Samsung's been kicking around its 14.1- and 31-inch OLED TVs since CES 2008, but it seems as if things are turning for the better at SID this week. In a press release outed today, Sammy told the world that it's exhibiting "production-ready" AMOLED TV sets, though the sizes are the same as the ones we've seen before. The 31-incher really has our attention, with it being the planet's first OLED with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a color gamut of over 100 percent NTSC and an 8.9 millimeter slim enclosure. So, when does "production-ready" morph into "in production?" Bueller?[Via OLED-Display]
Panasonic's DMP-B15 portable Blu-ray player: $800, ships this month
It'll definitely run you less here in America than it would if you chose to import straight from Japan, but the planet's first BD-Live-capable portable Blu-ray player still ain't cheap. Today, Panny announced that its DMP-B15 -- which originally broke cover at CES -- will be shipping later this month in the US for $799.95. That nets you an 8.9-inch WSVGA display, VIERA CAST internet accessibility, an SD card slot, 2.5 hour rechargeable battery, HDMI output and BD-Live (Profile 2.0) functionality. Oh, and quiet kids on the next road trip to Gramps' pad, which is totally priceless.
