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Must See HDTV (January 28th - February 3rd)
There's a football game this week, in case you hadn't heard -- but that's not all. Netflix is debuting the series that it claims will change internet TV, and there's also a few other new options to keep an eye out for. 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. The Americans Add another basic cable series to your watchlist this week, as FX debuts The Americans. Based in 1981, it focuses on a family of Soviet spies living in the US during the Cold War. The show already has a two year commitment to air in the UK, so it's unlikely to face a quick hook -- feel free to settle in. (FX, January 30th, 10PM) Super Bowl XLVII It's the Super Bowl. All other Sunday night programing has been pushed aside, so you'll either be huddled around the flatscreen watching 49ers/Ravens or... we're not sure what. (CBS, February 3rd, 6:30PM) House of Cards Netflix's next venture into the world of original programming begins Friday morning, when it will make the entire first season of its series House of Cards available for streaming. Starring Kevin Spacey, it has all the trademarks of a well produced cable series, it's just not on cable -- it's on the internet. (Netflix, February 1st)
Madden simulation picks Baltimore Ravens as Super Bowl XLVII winners
According to EA's annual Madden simulation, the Baltimore Ravens will beat the San Francisco 49ers by 27 to 24 in Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII. So now you know the score and the winner there's no reason to tune in, especially since EA also produced footage of the game's final moments, which sees a last-ditch play by the 49ers nullified by a trophy-winning Ravens interception.EA does have decent form in this department; its Madden simulations picked seven of the last nine Super Bowl winners. Interestingly, the two times EA got it wrong featured wild card teams as champions. So maybe, on the whole, these Madden simulations are onto something. Or maybe, as Sunday could prove, it's all a load of sportsball.
RIM prepping Super Bowl ad to introduce BlackBerry 10 to the world
Get yo' popcorn ready. When your company is announcing the latest and greatest mobile OS, why not seize the opportunity to scrape up a few million bucks to make sure the entire world gets a proper introduction? Research in Motion will be forking out for a Super Bowl spot (which averages $3.8 million this year), as part of an effort to get the word out about BlackBerry 10. Let's just hope it's not shown the exact moment 40 million people head to the fridge. A little presser can be found past the break.
CBS Super Bowl 'second screen' stream to include alternate cameras, DVR functionality
With the heavy responsibility of handling the Super Bowl XLVII livestream, CBS is focusing in on what football fans really want: commercials. Well, that, and real-time statistic updates, game highlights, alternate camera angles and a star studded musical performance by Beyoncé, of course. The network's taking its duties seriously, and seems to be pulling out all the stops to create a robust second screen experience on CBSSports.com. Viewers will be able to access a pop-up video console from laptops, desktops and tablets to choose between four cameras, pause coverage or check customized Twitter feed culled from the CBS' top sports experts. Deep social integration is promised -- particularly when it comes to the game's infamously expensive commercials -- allowing fans to instantly share their famous moments. After all, if you're going to stream the Super Bowl, you may as well do it right. Read on for the official press release, including specific details on what those four extra cameras will be looking at.
BBQ Guru releases the CyberQ remote temperature control, lets you fry those steaks from a distance
Fire. Meat. Beer. The recipe for a barbecue has barely changed since the start of recorded time, but that doesn't mean technology can't get in on the party. BBQ Guru has released the CyberQ WiFi, a wirelessly enabled temperature control that lets you fiddle with your griddle using a mobile device. You can relinquish your spot in charge of the fire but still control how rare your steak will come out (when someone else goes and gets it). Even better, if you nod off during the Superbowl, it'll send you an email alert thanks to its built-in web server. It'll install onto most standard grill / smoker types and will set you back $295 with an additional fan and grill adapter and is available from today.
Super Bowl internet debut breaks records, disappoints some viewers
Not sure what this says about the state of streaming video online, but while the first live internet stream of the Super Bowl was watched by a record 2.1 million unique viewers, it didn't receive glowing reviews. The best indicator, though, is that the engagement for the three (plus) hour event was only 39 minutes. We think the folks over at Streaming Media got it right when they called it the Super Bowl Streaming Fail. It was bad enough that only Verizon Wireless customers could watch it on anything other than a laptop, but even those who could see it were left searching for a TV once they saw the quality. Big sports fans who might've been checking it out for the additional commentary and camera angles were also left wanting more, as the stream was plagued with lag. This meant that the other angle you were in search of was as much as a minute behind the big screen. Ultimately, we're sure everyone's glad the Super Bowl was extended to the smaller screens, but one thing sure seems true, broadcasting an event like this to millions of people is unlikely to ever be replaced by unicast internet streams.
App usage doesn't drop during Super Bowl -- except during halftime
Mobile advertiser Flurry's latest report, on app usage during the Super Bowl, is fascinating for those of us who have been following the "second screen" phenomenon: The tendency of mobile device users to use their devices while also watching television or other media. Flurry notes that during last week's big game, not only was the app audience (according to the apps that the company is actually monitoring) almost as large as the Super Bowl audience as a whole, but as you can see above, app usage steadily grew throughout the game. With one interesting exception, that is: During the Madonna halftime show. During the show itself, viewers finally looked away from their smartphone devices and tuned into the television. Obviously not all of them did, but that is a big enough dip (along with the drop during the final minutes of the game) to say that yes, there's a big correlation here between what people are seeing on their televisions and how they're using their mobile devices. The opposite story is also true: Flurry was actually able to rank app usage versus the most and least popular commercials during the game. As you can see from the final charts in their report, on commercials that people generally liked and paid attention to, app usage dropped significantly. That's very intriguing: Most of the second screen work brands have done so far is designed to keep people using ads during commercials, but a study like this would suggest that customers would rather pay attention to good commercials. They postpone their interaction with those "marquee" ads until later on -- or during other ads, including possibly those of competitors. At any rate, this study definitely shines a new light on this second screen thinking, and we might see some new trends in apps trying to make use of this habit going forward.
Apple enjoys free Super Bowl advertising courtesy of NY Giants
While some tech pundits are bemoaning Apple's lack of ads during the Super Bowl on Sunday (the company hasn't run an ad during the big game for years), The Street's Jim Cramer is taking another view and one that is much more rooted in reality. Apple didn't need to pay for expensive Super Bowl air time, because the World Champion NY Giants provided tons of free advertising for the iPhone. As Cramer noted, "... there was one ad that struck me as the most honest, most riveting and most compelling of all. You see, the game had just ended, and Colts great Raymond Berry ran the Giant gantlet with the Lombardi Trophy. Suddenly it seemed like every other Giant pulled out an Apple iPhone to snap pictures of the moment. One after another after another. And I said to myself, there it is, not some pet dangling a bag of chips or some headlights killing vampires or King Elton getting trapdoored. Nope, there was an ad worthy of Steve Jobs and the company he built." Cramer went on to say "To me, the endorsement of Apple by real athletes who were not paid, especially when contrasted with the gift of the GM Corvette that Eli Manning didn't even seem to care about -- 'Eli, the keys, the keys, don't forget the keys!' -- said it all ... when everyone else is paying $3 million per commercial, Apple paid nothing and easily had the best ad of all." To see what Cramer's talking about, just check out the YouTube video below and count the number of iPhones that you see snapping photos and shooting video of Raymond Berry and the Lombardi Trophy. Amazing...
Should Apple have advertised during the Super Bowl?
Mashable's Lance Ulanoff raises the question of whether Apple should have advertised during Super Bowl XLVI. He points out that 28 years after the debut of the "1984" commercial that Apple sat on the sidelines and allowed its rivals to mock it during the most-watched show in U.S. television history. "By not appearing at the Super Bowl, Apple is letting its competition frame the discussion. Founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, who died months before the Samsung ads started airing, would likely have wanted to create some sort of counter attack. He was, after all, the chief architect of the Macintosh and the remarkable first ad promoting it," Ulanoff argues. Jobs also knew when to back away and let the buzz build. Right before the Super Bowl, Tested posted a look at the same sort of ads that aired during the game from the iPhone's competitors, as well as other offerings. The ads are fun to watch, Ryan Whitwam points out, but they don't represent the product well. Even in the much-touted Super Bowl ad, the Galaxy Note spends seconds on screen. Instead, you get a huge street party with a chorus and dancers. Apple's iPhone ads, by contrast, show off how the phone works. This is what makes people want one, Whitman said. I agree with Whitman. The ads are eye-catching in the way that Apple's "1984" ad was 28 years ago, but times have changed and people are a lot more savvy when buying tech now. Apple now has the winning strategy of showing off what their devices can actually do, and that pulls in the sales. Plus, Apple particularly isn't hurting in the sales department. They needed the Super Bowl in 1984. They don't need it now. %Poll-73444%
iPads invade Super Bowl parties
I've talked quite a bit before about the growing "second screen" phenomenon, where iPads and other mobile devices are used as a second screen while either working on another computer or watching television. And with the biggest event on television yesterday, there was likely a lot of "second screen" viewing going around. ZDNet's James Kendrick says his was one of three iPads around the coffee table at his Super Bowl party, and with tens of thousands of tweets per second going out during the most interesting parts of the game, Kendrick's experience was undoubtedly not unique. Car maker Chevrolet actually participated in the event with the Chevy Game Time app, which not only posted ads available on the iPad the second they went live on the TV, but also offered up contests and more interactivity during the show. And the NFL and NBC famously streamed the whole event live on the Internet for the first time this year -- while I didn't get a chance to pull the game up myself yesterday, I heard a few people say that it was in fact available to stream on the iPad. The commercials weren't available on the stream, though, so it'll probably be a few years before people learn the stream is out there, and before it becomes a better substitute for the TV experience. Still, the Super Bowl certainly showed off a few major trends that we're seeing in entertainment consumption lately. Apple's devices especially are providing ways for both consumers and brands to interact and extend the "watching" experience, even outside of a standard TV broadcast.
Samsung insults iPhone owners with Super Bowl ad touting oversized stylus phone
Samsung USA has been on the warpath against Apple fans lately with a series of ads that show bored, desperate people standing in line for Apple's next product while happy hipsters show off their Android-powered Sammy devices. During yesterday's Super Bowl, the company took the gloves off with a regionally-focused ad touting the new Samsung Galaxy Note. The ad, estimated to cost Samsung a whopping US$10.5 million in air time alone, follows the same theme as the others in the campaign. As in the previous ads, what appear to be Apple customers are standing in line waiting for a new device when a happy Galaxy Note user wanders up and the crowd drops everything as the scales fall from their eyes and they see the error of their ways. According to the book of Samsung, what iPhone users really want is a huge phone that uses a stylus. Yes, you read that correctly. The 5.3" Galaxy Note, in homage to the Palm Treo and a handful of Pocket PC Phones from the early 2000s, comes with a stylus that you can lose after you get Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher's autograph. Your chances of losing the stylus are probably pretty good, since most people lack pockets that are large enough to hold the Galaxy Note comfortably. I'll leave you with this final quote from Steve Jobs: "If you see a stylus, they blew it."
Super Bowl 2012 Ad Roundup: Galaxy Note, Hulu Plus, Best Buy and more
By now, we've become accustomed to the circus of elite advertising that takes place during America's biggest game, and this year was no exception. Last night's Super Bowl made room for over 50 commercials during its air time, some of which included the likes of Samsung's whopping Galaxy Note, the usual Go Daddy domain teasers, a bit of Best Buy "innovation" and the Hulu Plus Mushy Mush campaign, just to mention a few. Needless to say, we put together a small collection of some we believe you might enjoy, so take a virtual jump past the break to catch the big-ticket advertising in action. You can also find the rest of the ad pack at the source link below.
The Queue: G-Men
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) will be your host for today. I don't think I need to say anything other than the fact that it was a really good game. Sorry, Brady. exogenesis. asked: "I did the Love is in the Air bosses this morning - and the necks that dropped were not upgraded. Is this intentional, or a bug?" This is intentional. Remember, the Cataclysm expansion released at the beginning of December, with Love is in the Air launching with an updated form in February 2011. At the time, these ilevel 346 necks were a huge boon to players who were still slogging through Cataclysm heroics at the opening of the expansion, some of the hardest casual content Blizzard has ever released.
Five apps for Super Bowl Sunday
The Super Bowl is just around the corner which means it's time to get ready for the big game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Rather than our usual five apps, I couldn't contain myself and, instead, put together five categories of apps that'll set you up nicely for food, football and fun this coming Sunday. Official NFL and Team Apps if you want to learn more about the Patriots's offense and the Giants's defense, then you should download each team's iOS app. The Giants have a free app for the iPhone, while the Patriots have chosen to go iPad-only with a magazine-style app. The Patriots Football Daily app has a free 7-day trial followed by a paid subscription. The NFL also has a suite of apps to commemorate the game. Each Super Bowl XLVI app is filled with statistics, images and more about current and past Super Bowl match ups. Party Prep and Post-Game Pictures The best part of the game (besides the commercials) is spending it with family and friends. You can use Red Stamp to prepare your guest list and send out party invitations. Once you know who is coming, you can use 170,000+recipes from BigOven to start cooking for your crowd. When the party is over, you can use Pic Collage to assemble your pictures and share them with your party attendees. Social Apps That'll Let You Share The Game Part of the fun of the game is sharing it with others. Now that social apps are a dime a dozen, you can share your thoughts and comments with the world, not just your friends in the room. Besides Facebook and Twitter, you can use Football Connect to play along with the game and talk trash with your friends. If you want to know what other NFL Pros are saying about the game, then check out NFL Pro Tweets which will give you a stream of tweets from players who are watching from the sidelines. There's also IntoNow, a social app from Yahoo that gives you content exclusively for the game while tracking the TV broadcast. The app includes a StatTracker, a way to share the play-by-play action and a sports news feed from Yahoo. If you tag the Super Bowl using the IntoNow app and watch the Pepsi Max ad, you can enter the Pepsi MAX for Life sweepstakes. Apps For Watching and Listening To The Game For the first time, the NFL will stream the Super Bowl over the internet. If you're a cord cutter, you'll finally be able to watch the game on your MacBook Air. If you're going to be mobile, then you'll want to download Pro Football Radio Live. You won't be able to watch the game, but the app will let you listen to it live. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you can download the NFL Mobile app. It's free to download and requires a US$3 daily or $10 monthly subscription to watch the video streams. The Super Bowl will be broadcast live over Verizon's airwaves on Sunday, so make sure you have the app, an Internet connection and some cash to watch the game. Football-Themed Games While you wait for the big game, you can fill your time with football-themed games like Pocket Passer QB, a natural football throwing game with several fun mini-games. If you prefer to be a kicker instead of a quarterback, then NFL Kicker might fit the bill. It's a flick-style game that lets you hone your field goal kicking skills. Lastly, there's NFL Pro 2012 from Gameloft, a full-fledged football game that lets you become a gridiron champion.
Steve Jobs inspires Best Buy's Super Bowl ad
Last year when Best Buy was planning its Super Bowl ad, the retailer's US marketing chief, Drew Panayiotou had a revelation. Instead of getting a music or movie star for the commercial, Panayiotou suggested the company focus on Silicon Valley innovators. According to Bloomberg, he was inspired by Steve Jobs and all the tributes that came out after the Apple head passed away. The ad won't be about Steve Jobs, but it will include other tech innovators like Kevin Systrom of Instagram and Philippe Kahn, the man credited with taking the first camera phone picture. The Best Buy ad will appear in the first quarter of the February 5 game during the third commercial break. It will share the spotlight with an Anheuser Busch InBev beer commercial and an M&M candy ad. I love geeky commercials like this and will be watching for it on Sunday, how about you?
Totally blow out the big game! Super Bowl XLVI
With Super Bowl XLVI finally upon us all the pretenders have been shaken loose, leaving only the New England Patriots and New York Giants to compete for the NFL championship this weekend. While we're sure Indianapolis is lovely in February, we prefer to enjoy the game from the comfort of home where there's conveniences like affordable refreshments, central heating and of course our full loadout of equipment including HDTVs, computers, tablets and phones. Whether you're already set with equipment or are scouring the shelves looking for a new television in time for game day, we're back again in time for the 2012 game with a few suggestions to make sure you're getting the most out of what you've got -- feel free to drop in your own tips, chili recipes and the like in the comments below.Update: We've added a few more HDTV deals from Samsung, Sears and Westinghouse, you'll find links after the break.
EA picks NY Giants as Super Bowl XLVI winner in Madden simulation
Are you wondering who has the upper hand in this Sunday's National Football League sporting contest, but you're beyond trusting those silly old sports journalists? Let EA answer that for you, with its annual simulation of the Superbowl as conducted in Madden NFL 12 on Xbox 360. As evidenced in the video above, the New York Giants are set to overtake the New England Patriots in Superbowl 46 by three points (GO GIANTS WOOOO), with a field goal in the final quarter locking the win for big blue.We might seem a tad dismissive, but EA has set a precedent in the past with annual predictions being spot on (at least in terms of a winner ... less so in terms of actual scores). That either tells us that Madden's numbers game has been spot on for several years, or that football is easily predicted. We'd rather avoid the pummeling that will assuredly result in supposing the latter, so we're gonna go with option A.
Three COWs descend on Lucas Oil Stadium, courtesy of Verizon Wireless (video)
When you think of Super Bowl Sunday, many images likely come to mind: malty beverages, nachos, high-budget commercials and -- oh, yeah -- football. Even amongst us mobile fanatics, however, cellular coverage rarely crosses the mind. Fortunately, that's not how Big Red rolls. The company has brought three of its LTE cell-on-wheels rigs to Indianapolis in anticipation of the Big Game, which is expected to draw 85,000 attendees. Amongst other things, Lucas Oil Stadium is now wired to the teeth with $69 million in Verizon gear to ensure that all subscribers will be able to tweet along with each touchdown, fumble and botched call -- like the Giants / Packers game, for instance. In addition to the COWs, the equipment includes 400 mobile antennas inside the stadium to carry voice and data, along with 600 WiFi stations to support a total of 28,000 simultaneous connections. The folks at GottaBeMobile have an excellent spread of how all this came together, but if you're more of the visual type, you'll find a quick video after the break.[Thanks, Josh]
NFL to stream the Super Bowl to iPhone, iPad apps (Updated)
Update: As commenters have pointed out, this is for iPhone users on Verizon ONLY. Pity. I'm excited about this one, both for what it is, and for the potential of what it could be. The NFL has decided, in a (rare?) move of generosity, to stream the Super Bowl broadcast out to its mobile device apps, including the official NFL app on the iPhone and iPad. The stream on the app will actually have more information, including more camera angles and live stats on it, than the official television broadcast, and of course it'll be available in places that people without a normal television setup might not reach. The NFL has already provided some games for streaming, but this February's Super Bowl (and also the Pro Bowl) will likely be one of the largest potential audiences the apps could yet reach. I think this is awesome -- I don't have an HD cable set up any more (instead, I use Netflix and Hulu for my television content), and so, at the bare minimum, this gives me a way to watch the game officially. But even more than that, I'll probably be at a friend's house to watch the proceedings anyway, and this means that we'll have second screen access through my iPad to more information, stats, and live updates as the game goes on. That means more engagement for the NFL, not to mention more places to sell more ads, and create more revenue on what's already one of the most profitable broadcasts around. In short, this is a great move, not only for us the NFL's consumers, but for the network itself. I'll bet that we'll see some very surprising stats after the game in February on just how many people tuned in this way. Given how popular "second screen" content is getting, I think this will do very well.
Super Bowl to be streamed online and to Verizon phones for the first time
It looks like you'll have a few more viewing options than usual at your next Super Bowl party. The NFL announced today that the Super Bowl, plus wild card Saturday and the Pro Bowl, will all be streamed online for the first time on both the NFL's and NBC's websites. Mobile users will also be able to get in on the act, albeit only if they have a Verizon smartphone with the NFL Mobile app. What's more, those broadcasts will also give viewers access to quite a bit more than old-fashioned TV watchers have access to, including multiple camera angles, in-game highlights, and live stats. No word if the streams will include ads.
