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Best Buy's internet movie store launches this month under the CinemaNow brand
That Best Buy is ready to launch its entry into the online video on-demand game is not at all a surprise, but we weren't expecting to see such a familiar name. The retail giant purchased the CinemaNow brand away from Sonic Solutions (explaining the latter's sudden switch to RoxioNow) and will start selling movies sans-disk to web connected devices later this month, starting with LG Blu-ray players (where buyers won't see the Best Buy logo at all) and home theater in a box systems, followed by Samsung's internet connected home theater equipment and of course the house Insignia brand. As planned, it will have "first run" movies for sale as soon as they arrive on DVD, with rentals for $2.99 - $3.99 per movie and purchases at $9.99 to $19.99, including HD titles and some available in 1080p. Apparently the name game is how Best Buy plans to sneak boxes with its store embedded through other retailers, we'll see how Wal-mart / VUDU, Amazon and the rest respond to the challenge.
Breakfast Topic: What overcloak designs would you like to see?
We found out on Tuesday of the new ability to toggle customized overcloaks that replace the look of your cloak (but leaves the stats intact). As a dwarf priest, I would proudly wear the Ironforge colours of gold and red. But I wouldn't have a problem wearing something else that looks as slick as say the insignias of the Argent Crusade. From a guild perspective, I think the guild tabards in game are okay. The problem with tabards? My beard covers it up. I know for other classes and races, the tabard has that "tucked in" look. Many comments from the overcloak post mentioned overcloaks with guild tabard designs on them. Not a bad idea and that is something I hope we'll get to see. Now I have to ask, what cloak designs are you looking forward to wearing?
Best Buy Insignia Blu-ray features WiFi for $119
Now we've seen some inexpensive Blu-ray players before, but this one is really something. As if getting a half-way decent Blu-ray player for $119 wasn't enough, the Insignia NS-WBRDVD has a few items on its spec sheet that only a few other players do. The most notable is WiFi which is a pretty big deal for a Blu-ray player that supports BD Live and Netflix Watch Instantly. Now we're in no way endorsing this product because for all we know you're getting what you pay for, but the technology has officially gone mainstream when such a full featured player hits the market at such a low price.
Netflix, Best Buy deal brings Watch Instantly streaming to even cheaper Blu-ray players
Though they've been floating around retail channels for a few weeks, Best Buy and Netflix have finally made official a partnership bringing streaming to the latest Insignia Blu-ray players. The NS-BRDVD3 runs $179, while the NS-WBRDVD edition tosses in WiFi for $20 more, while they won't stream out of the box, a firmware update just made available should add all that Watch Instantly goodness. These two keep the (we'll be nice and call it plain) styling of earlier models, and likely live up to the family reputation of "basic Blu-ray playback at a bargain" reported on the second generation of players. Of course, the BD-P1600 offers more features and a nicer reputation at about the same price, but Reward Zone members may want to think twice, with AVS Forum posters mentioning the NS-BRDVD3 can be had for just $99.99 through the 24th. Decisions, decisions. Read - Best Buy and Netflix Announce Partnership to Instantly Stream Movies Over the Internet Via Latest Models of Insignia Blu-ray Disc Players Read - Save $50 On Select INSIGNIA® Connected Blu-ray Disc™ Players with Netflix [Via AVS Forum]
Best Buy bringing value priced all-in-one 32-inch LCD & Blu-ray HDTV to stores "soon"
It's not that surprising to learn Best Buy will be among those delivering a 1080p LCD with Blu-ray disc player packed in under its Insignia store brand, as we've been expecting rebadged units from overseas to hit the value market for some time. Marked "coming soon" at $599, it's easily a few hundred less than a comparable model from Sharp, but buyers will have to live without some of the newer line items like 120Hz motion processing and a contrast ratio higher than 20,000:1. Though we don't expect a lot in terms of load times, audio support or other features (no specs on the Blu-ray player noted) we're sure a bedroom or dorm room somewhere will find a spot for the NS-LBD32X. Your move, Wal-mart. [Thanks, Zach]
Insignia NS-HD01 portable HD radio hands-on and impressions
HD Radio has been desperately trying for years to become important in a world where most Americans are perfectly fine with tinny, 96kbps MP3s, and by and large, it's been unsuccessful. More vehicles today arrive with compatibility for a single shining portable media player (Apple's iPod, if you had to ask) than HD Radio, and up until this month, there was no way to easily strap an HD Radio player on your arm when heading out to the gym. One could argue that getting the technology into this segment is crucial for being ubiquitous, and while we aren't so sure we're in that camp just yet, we're still willing to give Insignia's NS-HD01 a fighting chance. Head on past the break for our take, and feel free to peruse the gallery for an up close and personal look at the hardware.
Insignia NS-HD01: first-ever portable HD Radio on sale at Best Buy
Remember that first-ever portable HD Radio prototype we peeked back in May? Turns out Best Buy just let loose the real-deal, today announcing immediate availability of the Insignia NS-HD01. Needless to say, the big box retailer and supporters of HD Radio alike are hoping that this subscription-free player will finally put some much-needed wind behind the sails of the format, and while it's pretty simple in nature, the sub-$50 price tag could place it squarely in the "impulse buy" category. The relatively brief specs list includes a color LCD, rechargeable Li-ion battery, a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a bundled armband and ten user-selectable preset memory channels. You can catch the full release after the break, and the player itself in your nearest Best Buy.
TiVo and Best Buy alliance to yield co-branded DVR, TiVo software on Insignia and Dynex TVs
It's all pending an official announcement later this morning but both the New York Times and San Jose Mercury News are reporting that Best Buy and TiVo are forming a "broad partnership." Under the multi-year alliance, Best Buy will "heavily" promote TiVo products at its 1,100 stores across the US. TiVo, for its part, will develop a special flavor of its set-top box that will be sold in Best Buy stores and lets the retailer advertise its products and services directly to TiVo subscribers -- items can then be purchased via the TiVo remote. The alliance goes even deeper as it will see TiVo's software and search tools added to Best Buy's own-branded consumer electronics (like Insignia and Dynex HDTVs) and Best Buy's Napster music service will become available to TiVo subscribers on their TVs. While this all sounds like a win-win for the two corporations, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers says that the Best Buy-customized TiVo with Napster won't likely arrive until "early next year" while the inclusion of TiVo's interface on Best Buy's Insignia or Dynex TVs is even "further out." Until then the benefits for us, the consumers, are less clear.P.S. That's our mock-up above of what we imagine the Best Buy TiVo will look like.Update: Aaaand, it's official.[Via ITVT] Read -- San Jose Mercury news Read -- New York Times
Insignia's NS-2BRDVD Blu-ray player gets reviewed
Ever heard that phrase "you get what you pay for?" Yeah, it applies here. Insignia's low-cost NS-2BRDVD has been effectively panned by reviewers over at CNET, with the only bright spots coming in the form of a relatively low price, a USB port for accessing digital media and "solid Blu-ray image quality with most movies." The bad? That Profile 2.0 compatibility we reckoned it had actually isn't there (currently, at least), and it lacks full onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. In truth, that's not totally awful, but what affluent individual with a decoding AV receiver (psst... those aren't cheap) would go out and grab this? At any rate, the deck is also slow to load some flicks, and it doesn't support firmware updates via Ethernet or USB. If you really needed a bottom line, here goes: "The NS-2BRDVD is an under-featured and slow-loading Blu-ray player, but it provides basic BD playback at a bargain."
Shifting Perspectives: Faction Gear from Oracles and Frenzyheart
THE ORACLES:Who am I kidding? You're here for the Mysterious Egg, same as everybody else. But along the way -- or possibly beyond it -- you might pick up a few good pieces. Glitterscale Wrap -- Revered, Level 78: Surprisingly good melee belt. Armor penetration prejudices it toward cat DPS although it's fine as a threat stat for bear, and it's otherwise solid. At 80 you'll want to have Trollwoven Girdle crafted for tanking (and possibly kitty if you're not doing so hot on +expertise from other pieces) if you don't get Jorach's Crocolisk Skin Belt from badges or the Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt from heroic Utgarde, but Glitterscale will tide you over til then. Fishy Cinch -- Revered, Level 78: An equally useful Restoration belt, although we're back to cloth again. No +crit or +haste to muck up the item budget; just good solid stats all around and a great chunk of spirit. If you can afford to give that up, however, then you may want to spend more time working on Ebon Blade rep for Belt of Dark Mending. Oracle Talisman of Ablution -- Exalted, Level 70(?): A level 70 trinket available at exalted with a Wrath faction is kind of a head-scratcher, but eh. The amount of crit on this, as a Wowhead commenter correctly observes, is 1.55% at level 80 -- more, obviously, if you manage to get the trinket before that. The straight +crit trinkets available from the Skyguard at exalted were actually pretty good at 70, but the introduction of Savage Roar into a cat DPS rotation generally, I think, argues for the use of trinkets granting more attack power (or an attack power use/proc). The energy/rage/mana return here could be useful while leveling or while grinding, however. THE FRENZYHEART TRIBE:One of the irritating things about the Oracle/Frenzyheart faction fight is that switching between the two will make you unable to use gear from both as your reputation rises and falls. If you're dependent on a piece from either of the factions until you get a drop, crafted, or badge piece, you'll want to keep that in mind. Azure Strappy Pants -- Revered, Level 78: The Oracles do belts; the Frenzyheart do pants. As with Glitterscale, this is a surprisingly solid piece for where it is, and possibly better for cat DPS than the Mind-Expanding Leggings available from the Kirin Tor depending on your current +expertise versus +hit. Time to fire up Rawr again. Muddied Crimson Gloves -- Revered, Level 78: The glove counterpart to the Oracles' Fishy Cinch and another fine, no-nonsense, Restoration piece with straight stats and good +spellpower. Grotto Mist Gloves from heroic Azjol-Nerub are better, unless you can somehow dig up the materials for Moonshroud Gloves -- which, at less than a month into the expansion, is going to be very difficult. Frenzyheart Insignia of Fury -- Exalted, Level 70: The proc, per Wowhead commentary, appears to be +91 critical strike rating. Undeniably useful, but again, you'll find better trinkets at 80, and quite sadly the proc is of more use to cat Druids than the actual equip on the trinket (haste, as noted, is not an amazing stat for us). It's better for moonkin, but still primarily a trinket oriented toward leveling. Whew. Next week we'll cover the Argent Crusade, the Knights of the Ebon Blade, and the Sons of Hodir. Until then, good luck with the rep grinds you're on and the dungeons you're running (especially if it's Ymiron on heroic Utgarde Pinnacle).Click here to head back to the beginning of the guide.
All Insignia LCD TVs to meet or exceed Energy Star 3.0 spec
While Best Buy completely failed to issue a press release trumpeting the inability of its latest Profile 2.0 Blu-ray deck to pass Energy Star specifications, it didn't hesitate to pump one out extolling the power-sipping virtues of its Insignia LCD televisions. In case you weren't aware, the Energy Star 3.0 specification went into effect at the beginning of this month, and any Insignia LCD TV manufactured after November 1, 2008 will meet those requirements; in fact, six of the models will exceed the requirements by 15% of more. Um, cookie?
Insignia's $250 Profile 2.0 NS-2BRDVD Blu-ray player emerges at Best Buy
Ah, ha! So that's why the Insignia NS-BRDVD recently stooped below $200. Out of absolutely nowhere comes the successor to the previously mentioned unit, the Profile 2.0 NS-2BRDVD. According to Blu-ray, the newest unit actually does have an Ethernet jack, although you wouldn't know it simply by looking at the specifications on Best Buy's website. At any rate, the new deck checks in a few inches smaller and a few pounds lighter than the old, while still supporting 1080p playback and boasting optical / coaxial audio outputs, a single HDMI socket and a bundled remote. Unfortunately, the NS-2BRDVD trashes the Media Card slot and Energy Star qualification that the previous model possessed, so not everything is actually a step up. Those too impatient to see what Black Friday will bring can expect delivery in one to two weeks (unless you drive to a store) if you plunk down $249.99 right now.[Via Blu-ray, thanks Anthony]
Insignia's NS-CNV10 "Connected GPS" unit gets unboxed, examined
Best Buy's new cellular-connected Insignia NS-CNV10 (and larger NS-CNV20) certainly has the specs to get noticed, but if the few first impressions that are now cropping up are any indication, it looks like it may not be quite as solid a bet as it seems on paper. The biggest drawback, according to both GPS Lodge and GPS Trackblog, is a decidedly lacking interface that runs on top of Windows CE, which is described as slow, visually unappealing, and simply not that easy to use (all things fairly important in an interface). On the upside, the cellular connectivity and integration with Google Maps apparently does work as promised, and the free service for a year certainly makes the somewhat hefty $399 price tag a bit more bearable. If you're still undecided, you can dig into the links below for a few more first impressions and, of course, some requisite unboxing pics.Read - GPS Lodge, "Insignia NS CNV-10 Connected GPS - Unboxing & First Impressions Review"Read - GPS Tracklog, "Insignia GPS first impressions"
Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player: now below $200 at Best Buy
Just over a month after the Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player fell to $229.99, Best Buy has now reduced it $30 further in order to compete with all those other recently reduced rivals. Best of all, the big box retailer is still throwing in that $100 coupon book for use on BD movies from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax, and even though there's no Profile 2.0, all the bare essentials are here. The best part of this news, however, isn't that we're seeing yet another sub-$200 Blu-ray player -- it's that this thing now has a real chance of being stickered at $150 or less on Black Friday. Gimme, gimme.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Best Buy launching cellular modem-equipped GPS units
Best Buy sure looks to be aiming high with its first Insignia-branded GPS units, which will apparently not only pack all the expected run-of-the-mill specs but two-way, Dash-like communication as well. That desirable feature will be included on both the 4.3-inch NS-CNV20 and 3.5-inch NS-CNV10 models, each of which make use of that cellular connectivity to provide real-time traffic information and access to Google Local Search, among other things, all of which will be free for the first year (no word on pricing after that). In addition to a larger screen, the $499 NS-CNV20 will also give you some built-in Bluetooth, but if that's more than you need, you can save a $100 and opt for the $399 NS-CNV10. Look for both to go on sale October 19th.[Via GPS Tracklog, thanks Rich]
Best Buy's Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray deck falls to $229
Not even four whole months ago, Best Buy was pushing its Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray player for $349.99 with a $100 coupon book. Now, that same pamphlet of discounts comes bundled in a box stickered at just $229.99. We've reckoned here lately that once the $200 price point was met by a few manufacturers, BD units would start flying off shelves more briskly; we can't say $230 is close enough just yet, but it's sure good to see things moving in the right direction.[Thanks, Anthony]
Alliance insignia inexplicably on a t-shirt
Reader Vid is from Croatia ("the homeland of Niko Bellic from GTA IV," he says), and he sent us this t-shirt he found in his closet. He's had it for a few years, but just recently noticed the emblem sitting on the chest pocket -- if it makes you want to grab your sword and fight the Horde, you're right. It's a slimmed down version of the Human Kingdom of Lordaeron symbol (although most of Lordaeron is now held by the Forsaken, but no mind -- the blue and gold are a widespread symbol of the Alliance).Of course, how that symbol ended up on a cruise t-shirt, Fordragon knows. If the Lordaeron insignia is a reference to any real symbol in real life, we couldn't find it. Vid says the patch wasn't added by him, and it's been on the shirt since he owned it. Interesting -- either someone at S&A is a Warcraft fan, or there's a real-world link here we're missing. That's a nice t-shirt you got there, cousin!
Insignia NS-BRDVD Blu-ray deck gets reviewed -- it's no PS3
Send in the clones -- the Insignia NS-BRDVD is another dead ringer for the Funai NB500, which started showing up under its various monikers three months ago. The Best Buy house brand is taking a stab at igniting some excitement in the sub-$300 Blu-ray player market. But reading CNET's review, it sounds like it comes up a bit short. First the good news: the NS-BRDVD is a benjamin cheaper than the ubiquitous PS3, it does a good job with 1080p/24 content and even outputs Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA via bitstream (to a comparatively upscale receiver, we assume). But the unit was marred by lackluster 1080p/60 output. As we've seen, you can pay a lot more for a Profile 1.1 player, but we're with CNET on this one -- save up just a little more dough and spring for a PS3.
How to use the PvP trinket
Yet Another Warlock Nerf has a terrific guide up to one of the most misused/underused pieces of gear in the game -- the PvP trinket. The cheapest version, Insignia of the Alliance/Horde is just over 2,500 Honor, so anyone can get a version of this (YAWN recommends the Rare version, which is powerful enough to be useful and cheap enough to spend honor on other things) and especially until many more specialized trinkets are available at endgame, it's a must have for anyone running PvP.But when to use it is the question. Especially in 1v1, the best times to break out your trinket are when it will allow you to immediately avoid damage, so breaking it out for things like Sap or Polymorph (which don't actually cause damage to you) can be a waste of the cooldown. But things like Kidney Shot, Fear, and Frost Nova mean that more damage is incoming, so then is usually (there are, of course, exceptions) a good time to pop the trinket and escape the damage.YAWN bravely goes out on a limb here and tries to provide some guidance for an activity that isn't very well governed by guidance (don't tell PvPers what they can't do!). Actions and rules are very, very situational, and so there sometimes will be times when you should trinket out of Sap, or spend your two minute cooldown on Death Coil. But as a starter guide to when to use and not use the trinket, it's a great read.[via Resto4Life]
UFO crashes in Potters Fields Park as part of Vauxhall promotion
The launch of the next-generation Vectra (or Insignia, as it has become) has been a long time coming, and Vauxhall is making good and sure everyone notices now that its time has arrived. As part of an elaborate marketing scheme, the automaker crashed a UFO in Potters Fields Park in London, and there was even a fence, men in dark glasses that were evidently mute and copious amounts of smoke to set the scene. Just how this relates to a new motorcar? You've got us there.[Via Black-Night-Sky]