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Facebook teams up with 'True Blood' creators for new series
Facebook's Watch tab won't just be chock-full of sports shows and gaming culture. The social site has ordered 10 episodes of Sacred Lies, an adaptation of the Stephanie Oakes novel The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly (which, in turn, is an adaptation of the Grimm Brothers' The Handless Maiden). The show revolves around a handless teen who escapes from a cult and is believed to know who killed the cult leader. It's an intriguing (if not completely original) premise -- and importantly, there's an appropriate pedigree.
What's on your HDTV this week: World Cup, 'Fargo' finale, 'True Blood' premiere
Hockey and basketball are over, but now it's time for the global game to take center stage. The World Cup started last week, but the USMNT is only just getting ready for its first game today against Ghana, the country that's knocked it out in the last two tournaments. If you have cable, watching the game in the US is as easy as turning on the TV or opening ESPN's app, but those without should keep an eye on Univision, which is streaming the action from Brazil with no login required. Also of note, the season finales of Orphan Black as well as FX's excellent Fargo and Louie are on the schedule this week. Check after the break for a list of what's new this week plus a few trailers, and drop a note in the comments if you see any highlights we've missed. [Image credit: Alexandre Loureiro/Getty Images for adidas]
YouTube Trends Map shows you what the rest of the country is watching
In an effort to give some visual pizazz to the often dry world of regional metrics, Google has announced a new trends map for its YouTube viewers. While the top video (True Blood's season six teaser, if you're asking) currently dominates across the (for now, US-only) map, there are some Walking Dead fans that can't get enough bad lip-reading in the North-West. An upgrade from YouTube's Trends Dashboard, the Trends Map can be tweaked for gender and age profiles, with scrollable bars showing the number of regions in which a video has claimed the top spot. While we're still not sure how YouTube is assigning the regions just yet, take a look at what's popular in your locale at the source below.
It's not TV, it's HBO Go, and it's finally coming to Cablevision
Being a Cablevision customer was hard. Watching your colleagues with FiOS subscriptions stream Carnivale on their iPads, the guy who pays Dish Network for his programming could get Cinemax on his smartphone -- and all you had was YouTube for entertainment. Fortunately, the final major provider not to carry Home Box Office's online services has relented and you'll be able to enjoy both HBO Go and Go Max as soon as it's launched in "the next few months." Just remember that while you can now enjoy all those episodes of True Blood in public places, it doesn't necessarily mean that you should.
Fluorescent nanosensor tattoo monitors glucose under the iPhone's glare
Unless you're a True Blood diehard, the idea of bleeding yourself intentionally shouldn't really seem all that appealing. So imagine how most diabetics feel when they're forced to prick their fingers seven times a day in the name of health. Well, soon they might not have to thanks to a nanosensor tattoo and... an iPhone? Developed by Prof. Heather Clark and her Northeastern University team, this injection of subdermal nanoparticles combines "fluorescent dye, specialized sensor molecules...and a charge-neutralizing molecule" that attach to glucose, releasing ions and altering the tat's glow in the process. The researchers had originally designed a "large boxlike" tattoo-reading device, but an apparent Apple fanboy on the team modded an iPhone case with LEDs and a filter lens to make the whole affair a bit more stylish. Next up for the team is, you guessed it, an app for that -- although this one'll focus on sodium.
PlayStation Network adds HBO content before Zune / Xbox 360, follows iTunes pricing
Congratulations PSN, you are the first video game console to sell content from HBO. That means you can't buy True Blood, The Sopranos or Rome on Xbox via Zune yet, but you already could on iTunes if you were willing to pay $3 per episode. Contrary to a few reports, that premium pricing doesn't extend to the rest of HBO's lineup which share their $2 per episode pricing with the SD versions of most TV shows on the PSN and elsewhere. It's actually not a terrible price, with the season two DVDs of True Blood available for $32 on Amazon buying all twelve episodes one by one will only cost an extra $4, and still let you avoid any that don't feature your character of choice removing their shirt. the only sad part is that just like iTunes, there's still no HD availability, so we hope you like 480p -- and if you're reading this site, you probably don't. Hey Sony, make a big deal when you've negotiated some higher resolution or lower prices than what's available elsewhere, and tell HBO to stop crowing to the Wall Street Journal about its ability to charge premium prices when it really isn't -- when you sell an episode of The Wire for the same price as the pilot for Bionic Woman that's nothing to brag about.
Screen Grabs: the G1 gets some serious love on 'Weeds' and 'True Blood'
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. If you're unfamiliar with either Showtime's series Weeds or HBO's True Blood, we'll catch you up to speed really quickly. The former is about a widowed housewife living in California who sells stolen gadgets to make ends meet for her family, while the latter is a Southern-fried tale of a Louisiana town infested with vampires plus a cute young woman who can see the future, and uses her power to predict Nokia's product roadmap for 2010. No? Well, that's what we thought we saw. We'll tell you this much: we definitely spotted the G1 in both shows this week. Yes, in Weeds Andy took a call from Nancy, and boom! Android screen, while on True Blood, Eric did some evil, tanktopped talking on his own. Who knew vampires were nerds? Second shot is after the break. [Thanks, Brendan]
HBO, Cinemax coming to Comcast's On Demand Online
Following Starz, HBO has announced plans to provide programming on Comcast's On Demand Online trial. Of course, this move shouldn't surprise anyone given previous hints HBO was looking for ways to brings its video online or previous trials it has participated in. Just like Starz, users can expect a mix of television shows and movies, basically reflecting the current on demand lineup, including series like True Blood and Entourage, further detailed in the press release after the break. Also like Starz, following the launch, HD streaming is expected -- clearly premium channel subscribers have the most reasons to be interested in being included in the 5,000 customer nationwide trial Comcast is launching in the coming weeks, but what about the basic cable only folks?
Blu-ray releases on May 19th 2009
After missing some great movies last week, for no good reason, we're back. The most exciting new release is easily Tom Cruise's Valkyrie, but Paramount also has an old favorite in Enemy at the Gates -- if you love playing the sniper in FPS games then this is a must see movie. Lionsgate gets ready for the latest Terminator movie in theaters by releasing special editions of the previous blockbuster hits. There are also a few TV shows this week which is a trend we like to see as True Blood and 24 both get the Blu-ray treatment. Next week is a little slower though, but Universal does have a few more catch up titles -- yeah we can't believe there are still any left either. Valkyrie (MGM) Lions for Lambs (MGM) The Machinist (Paramount) Enemy at the Gates (Paramount) Paycheck (Paramount) Three Days of the Condor (Paramount) Changing Lanes (Paramount) My Bloody Valentine (Lionsgate) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Lionsgate) Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Skynet Edition (Lionsgate) 24: Season Seven (Fox) Driven to Kill (Fox) Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (Fox) Batman (Warner) True Blood: The Complete First Season (Warner) A Bug's Life (Disney) Eden Log (Magnolia) Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony)
