premiere
Latest
TiVo Premiere unearths hidden power: USB keyboard functionality
One of our bigger gripes with the TiVo Premiere was the lack of an included QWERTY remote and how cumbersome it was to use search with the directional pad. Fortunately, while we wait for the official peripheral, it seems our old friend Dave Zatz has been snooping around the internet searching for alternatives -- and best of all, he's found 'em. Turns out even a wireless keyboard will do the trick, with the directional pad and alphanumeric keys working as expected and the function keys serving as shortcuts. Some other hidden functionality should pave the way for Android and iPhone apps to do the trick, but in the meantime, our run-of-the-mill USB keyboard worked just fine. Watch Zatz's proof of concept with an off-the-shelf Arc Keyboard after the break.
TiVo Premiere review
When we first heard rumors of new TiVo hardware back in April of 2009, our imaginations started racing. The current TiVo HD and HD XL have been the best DVRs on the market for their entire three-year run, and while they've received significant feature updates in that time, the overall experience of using a TiVo simply hasn't kept up with the explosion of online content and the revised viewing habits of consumers -- in fact, the interface has remained largely unchanged for nearly a decade. So while the actual TiVo hardware has actually gotten smaller and simpler, it's the software that's received a substantial makeover this time around -- it's migrated to Flash, and the main elements have been totally redesigned for HD displays and the invisible integration of online video services. Is it enough to keep TiVo afloat in a sea of cheap cableco DVRS? It is worth upgrading from an existing TiVo HD? There's only one way to find out -- read on for our full review. %Gallery-88972%
TiVo Premiere spotted in Best Buy with March 28th retail date
If the miniature box doesn't give it away then the word "Premiere" certainly does. That's the first in the wild shot of TiVo's inaugural Series 4 shifter riding the shelves of Best Buy. We're told that the units are definitely in-house but are being withheld from shelves until March 28th (not the 27th as originally rumored but ahead of the official "early April" date) with a list price of $2,000 to prevent enthusiastic clerks from breaking the street date. So don't go in demanding a $149.99 take home price (MSRP is $299) this morning just 'cause you saw it on Engadget, ok? [Thanks, DS]
TiVo returning to the UK thanks to partnership with Virgin Media
It looks like TiVo's freshly minted Premiere hardware will soon be setting sail eastwards as The Daily Telegraph is reporting Virgin Media's next generation set-top box will be built around it. Loyal readers of Engadget HD will already be aware that TiVo and Virgin hooked up last November and this latest news relates to the first hardware to be spawned from that relationship. According to TiVo CEO Tom Rogers, the Premiere will "heavily inspire the development work" going into Virgin's next TV appendage, which may or may not mean that the cable company will simply rebadge the well-received new boxes. What's assured though is much greater integration with online content, with search linking you out to Amazon, BBC's iPlayer, YouTube or good old standard broadcast channels. The whole thing's about unlimited choice, apparently, and should be showing up on the Queen's isles by the end of this year. We can wait, but we'd rather we didn't have to.
Oops: TiVo Premiere won't have Comcast On Demand
This TiVo Premiere screenshot with a large Comcast On Demand logo on it certainly set a few hearts aflutter yesterday when it was released from the company, but our dreams have turned into bitter, bitter ashes: TiVo tells us this screenshot is actually just a mockup and not indicative of any actual partnership. And double-oops: that other interesting screenshot with "Friends Recommend" on the Browse screen is also a mockup, meaning our hopes for some social-media integration have also been dashed, at least for now. Oh well. Let's hope our forthcoming Premiere review units can somehow turn these frowns upside-down.
TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL usher in a brand new interface, optional QWERTY remote
Over three years after the original Series3 launched, TiVo's back with Series4 -- say hello to the new TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL, which will arrive in early April. The new slimmer hardware is nice, but the big news is the totally revamped HD interface built on Flash -- yes, Flash -- with all kinds of new options for discovering content from recorded, on-air, and internet sources. The new UI is only for the Series4, and TiVo's pitching the Premiere line as a single-box solution for getting content on your TV, so although there's long been support for services like Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand, it's now being pushed to the front -- content will show up in searches and be exposed on the main screen. There are also new partnerships with Pandora and FrameChannel, both of which will also come to Series3 boxes. And yes: there's finally a capacity meter. We could kiss the ground. Both models will do up to 1080p output and have single multistream CableCARD slots and eSATA jacks for storage expansion; the $299 Premiere will do 45 hours of HD recording on the 320GB internal drive, while the $499 XL will do 150 on 1TB and adds in THX certification. The bad news? There's still no support for tru2way, so you still won't have access to your cable company's video on demand service -- although one of the screenshots has a Comcast logo on it, so we're intrigued. There's also a new optional Bluetooth slider QWERTY remote, which will ship later this year for an undisclosed price -- we played with a hush-hush prototype at CES and we can say that it'll be a must-buy for Premiere owners. We're actually a little miffed that it's not packed in the box as the standard remote -- all that searching almost demands it. Same with the new Wireless N Adapter, which will be $90 and go on sale with the Premiere; it should at least be included with the Premiere XL. We're okay with the omission of the new optional phone line adapter, though, it'll be $30 and only sold online. Press release after the break, a full set of pics in the galleries, and PDF spec sheets at the read links. %Gallery-87041%
Poll: What winter TV premiere are you waiting for?
Of course the big daddy Lost is preparing for a February return and its final season, but there's going to be plenty of new shows to watch on our HDTVs over the next few weeks, plus the return of some other familiar faces. So let us know, what are you most ready and waiting for? %Poll-39212%
Halo: Reach gameplay premieres with multiple Spartans (and some ladies!) [update: now with hi-res]
Update: Microsoft sent over a hi-res version of the trailer (seen above) as well as the screenshot in the gallery below. According to the publisher, Halo: Reach will follow the story of "Noble Team in their heroic stand to defend the planet Reach." The company also noted that a "multiplayer beta is coming [in] Spring 2010." Hooray! As promised, Spike's 2009 Video Game Awards delivered the first footage (in-game, 'natch) of Halo: Reach to the masses. More Spartans? Check! Female Spartans? Check check! A skullfaced Spartan? Wait ... what?! Since the show just aired, we've got a low-res version of the trailer for you after the break and will have a prettied up version as soon as it's available. %Gallery-80182%
The Daily Grind: Attending the 1 vs. 100 season premiere?
It's massive. It's multiplayer. And it's adding achievements! 1 vs. 100 is back again on Xbox Live, and the live version of the online game show where you can win real prizes is starting up again on November 19th. While the game doesn't exactly generate a cash cow of news, it is a lot of fun to play. Plus, you know, it is free if you have yourself an Xbox Live gold account (which almost every Xbox 360 owner does, otherwise you're doing it wrong.) So we want to know are you going to be there? Will you be jumping in with your friends online, or are you assembling yourself a 1 vs. 100 premiere party? Are you going to be aiming for prizes, or are you going to be shooting for all of the achievements you can grab? Dropping your thoughts in the comment box below and clicking send is way easier than pushing A, B, or X on your Xbox controller! (Ok, so maybe it isn't, but you should really do it anyway. It's fun!)
Welcome to Massively's Second Year!
It was one year ago today that we officially opened the doors on Massively.com. Since then we've worked tirelessly to bring you news about MMOs big, small, and in-between. Since that time millions of people have come to the site, thousands of comments have been left on our posts, and we've been around to cover some of the biggest moments in MMO history yet! We have a lot to be proud of. We followed the amazing lead up and launch of Age of Conan, and have since been following the game's struggle to make the players happy. We took note of the announcement of Wizard101, an incredibly unique kid-aimed game. We were in-deep with the Warhammer development process and its subsequent explosive launch, and now we're doing our best to keep you informed as Mythic's world continues to change. The future of SOE has been on our plate since day one as we follow the development and changes to games like Free Realms, The Agency, and DC Universe Online. We were even around for the announcement of Star Wars: The Old Republic! A year ago who would have thought that would ever happen? Most of all, though, we have to thank you guys. Without readers and commenters, without someone to tell us when we're doing well or let us know when we're off base, Massively wouldn't have had the runaway successful first year its had. Thank you, from all the writers and columnists as Massively.com, for coming here day after day. Thank you for making the site what it is. As an even bigger thank you ,starting tomorrow, we're going to be giving away gifts and prizes from across the MMO landscape. Five days of swag, fun, and amusements await you Massively readers ... I hope you'll join us!
Far Cry, a Uwe Boll joint, premiering in Germany Oct. 2
We've been told that attending a premiere for a Uwe Boll movie is like visiting Disneyland in the middle of a category five hurricane -- it's a disaster, certainly, but it's a fun disaster. That's why we were so dismayed to learn that Boll's latest dose of box office poison won't be making its maiden voyage in the States -- but rather, in the pugilistic director's homeland of Germany.If you're truly dedicated to your pursuit of attending the debut of a Boll-sterpiece, you'd better make your travel arrangements now, as the film will rear its ugly head October 2. We probably won't be in attendance, so make sure you tell us how it was, and what it was like meeting all those movie stars people who were in the movie former Wienerwald employees.
Where's the Wrath cinematic?
So it's Monday now, the Worldwide Invitational in Paris is officially over, Diablo 3 has been announced and we've got tons of new info about Wrath of the Lich King -- but where's the cinematic? We know the Wrath cinematic is coming, but there was no sign of it at all at the WWI.Then again, if you look at the timeframes, it's still a little soon -- the acclaimed Burning Crusade cinematic actually dropped on the Spike Videogame Awards in December of 2006 (just a month before BC was actually released in January of 2007), so since there's still some time until the Wrath release, there will still be some time until the cine shows.In fact, it's looking more and more like BlizzCon 2008 might be the place to see it. With a rumored release date of sometime in November, Blizzard's big convention in October would probably be the perfect place to show off the next, undoubtedly beautiful chapter in the fall (and maybe even redemption?) of Arthas Menethil. Plus maybe they'll put a Gnome in there this time around.
Resistance 2 details, gameplay revealed on last night's GameTrailers TV
Don't get your hopes up -- the above video isn't particularly fresh or tantalizing, though watching Geoff Keighley get repeatedly shot down by Ted Price, president of Insomniac Games, is rather entertaining. If you're looking for new gameplay videos and information on the sequel to the PS3's well-received launch title, you'll have to watch the entirety of last night's episode of GameTrailers TV, as the individual nuggets of new information about the game have yet to be compartmentalized into easily digestible clips.There's some interesting gameplay footage spliced throughout the episode, but for those of you who don't have 22 minutes to kill, you can check out chapters one and two for details about the single player campaign, chapter three for new info about mutliplayer, and chapter four for new characters and weapons. We imagine there's enough footage of Keighley getting the silent treatment from Price to fill up at least seventeen additional chapters.
HD premiere of South Park's Imaginationland airing on DirecTV's The 101
Believe it. Your wildest (okay, maybe one of your wildest) dreams is about to come true. Tonight at midnight (local time, we presume), South Park will air for the first time ever in high-definition (on TV) when "Imaginationland" takes center stage on DirecTV's The 101. Viewers can delight in the feature-length, director's cut from May 30th to May 31st, and if that wasn't enough, the season eight premiere -- "Good Times With Weapons" -- will also be broadcast in HD on the same station. We can't say for sure that this is a sign of things to come, but we doubt we're alone in hoping so.[Image courtesy of Scott Tenorman / Comedy Central]
National Geographic HD and MHD headed to Germany
After Sat. 1 HD and ProSieben HD went dark in Germany until 2010, things haven't been as dormant as expected. Late last month, we received word that both FOX and TNT would be making their way over (and hopefully in HD), and now we're seeing that both National Geographic HD and MHD (MTV HD) could be arriving on undisclosed cable carriers in the near future. Reportedly, Nat Geo HD -- which is nearly ready in Austria and Switzerland -- could be arriving any moment, while MHD is likely to land on PREMIERE this December. Slowly but surely, it looks as if Europe may actually be moving forward in adopting HDTV programming.[Thanks, Chris]Read - National Geographic HD to GermanyRead - MHD to Germany
FOX and TNT headed to Germany
Though it's been an uphill battle for Germans looking to acquire fresh new content, it seems as if two blockbuster stations could be headed their way, and soon. According to a pair of German-language sites, both FOX and TNT will be arriving in short order, with the former going live on May 19th via pay-TV provider Arena. We're also told that Premiere (another carrier) will be picking up FOX shortly thereafter. As for TNT, there's been no specific air date listed, but word on the street has it pegged for a launch on Premiere in the not-too-distant future. Unfortunately, the biggest detail (to us, anyway) was left out, so we'll just have to wait and see if HD versions show up alongside the SD counterparts.[Thanks, Chris]Read - Details on FOX launchRead - Details on TNT launch
Welcome to Massively!
This is it. The design is in place, our bloggers are trained and at the ready, and the password has been lifted from the site. Our brand new blog, Massively, is now live and ready for your perusal, your comments, your tips, and your eyeballs. Here, you'll find breaking news about MMO games both upcoming and established, insightful and wisecracking commentary about your favorite worlds, tips on how to get all your characters in all those universes the best they can be, and the high level of quality you've come to expect from WoW Insider, Second Life Insider, Joystiq and the Fanboy network. This is Massively, and welcome to it."But wait," you say, "we've already got tons of MMO sites out there. I've got sites I read for commentary, and sites I read for news. I've got dev blogs, community forums, and even sites that sift community forums for me. There are guide sites that have their own guide sites, and everybody and his cousin is already blogging about MMO videogames. Why do we need one more MMO blog?"The answer is: because this is the place where all of those things come together, in one location; because of our commitment to producing top-notch original features; and because our incredibly talented staff of writers have spent as much time leveling their word-smithing skills as they have spent leveling characters in the virtual worlds we're going to be covering.
HDTV Listings for September 28, 2007
What we're watching: Friday night arrives with season premieres of Ghost Whisperer, Las Vegas and Numb3rs, and the series premiere of Moonlight, a vampire private detective show, on CBS. Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for September 26, 2007
What we're watching: A fall premiere week with no Lost on Wednesday night? We've been coaxed back off of the ledge by a full plate of new shows premiering this evening, including Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money on ABC, along with Bionic Woman and Life on NBC. Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Listings for September 25, 2007
What we're watching: If you can somehow pull yourself away from Halo 3, the fall premiere season is in full swing on the major networks. New series premiering tonight include Cane on CBS and Reaper on The CW. Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
