In a random survey of HD Report readers we found that almost eighty percent of poll-takers would order an HD-only service plan if one was offered. So why aren’t the service providers offering this? It seems like a reasonable request to order only the channel formats which fit your 16:9 HDTV. Full Story
If you’re suddenly in the market for Sony’s PlayStation 3, good luck trying to find one. Many retailers both on and offline are reporting low or no stock as of the past few weeks, and most cite the potential demand for God of War III, the newest God of War title exclusive to Sony’s gaming platform, as the reason. Full Story
It was bound to be thus… Fox has announced that as of Earth Day, April 22nd you can re-visit planet Pandora, and mate before Eywa at the Tree of Voices direct from the comfort of your sofa. The highest-grossing motion picture of all-time is set to arrive in stores on both DVD and Blu-ray, but you know in your heart of hearts and what your eyes see that Blu-ray is the only way to go with this cinematic experience. And now a caveat of sorts… In order to provide the ultimate Blu-ray (and DVD) viewing experience, the Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment release will be sold without special features, menu options, trailers, studio promotional material, etc… nothing but 162 minutes of James Cameron’s ode to technical wizardry and mediocre storytelling environmentalism. The L.A. Times reports that the film will NOT be released in 3-D as the home-version of the technology (as previously stated at HD Report) is still in the baking stage and is not quite ready to serve. Full Story
After discussing it for over six months DirecTV and Comcast finally came to an agreement to get Versus back on the satellite’s lineup. DirecTV says Comcast wanted more money for the Versus feed, and Comcast argued DirecTV wanted to cut the channel’s potential audience almost in half from 14 million households. Meanwhile, hockey fans with DirecTV were unable to watch the NHL on Versus. Full Story
The biggest release on Blu-ray and DVD this week is without a doubt The Twilight Saga: New Moon. But it won’t be part of Tuesday’s weekly list. Rather, the movie will hit the shelves on Saturday, Mar. 20. As Twilight fans anxiously await the clock to strike midnight, retail stores nationwide are getting in on the hype by hosting release parties and offering special promotional goodies. To check for a local release party near you visit the official ‘New Moon’ website and enter your zipcode on the left column. Full Story
Although Hulu recently lost popular Viacom content from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report”, they may make up for some lost viewership with the addition of content from NFL Network. The NFL channel on Hulu (http://www.hulu.com/nfl) is featuring nine football categories including 149 “Game of the Week” episodes, 18 “Greatest Games” episodes, and 43 “Super Bowl Highlights.” Each team also has its own sub-channel (For example http://www.hulu.com/nfl/carolina-panthers) which makes its easier to find content for a certain team rather than browsing through categories. Full Story
LIFE, the BBC’s follow up to the hugely popular Planet Earth series, will be broadcast over 11 episodes in HD starting Sunday, March 21, 2010. The series will break new grounds in filming, showcasing techniques such as The HD Heli-Gimbal (producing rock-steady aerial shots with 800mm lens distance capacity), Extreme High-Speed Photography (reaching speeds of up to 1,000 FPS), Underwater Time-Lapse Sequences, and new techniques in microscopy, infra-red, and ultrasonic imagery. Full Story
The much anticipated LIFE series from the BBC and Discovery Channel will release on hi-def Blu-ray and DVD June 1, 2010. The series documents in astonishing high-definition the natural world’s struggle for survival. Extreme camera techniques, such as high-speed photography at speeds of 1,000 frames-per-second, make this an extraordinary piece of documentary work that covers all continents. Full Story
Yesterday, during Sony’s GDC 2010 press conference, we were given the first official look at the new Playstation motion controller. The Playstation Move is a motion tracking controller that, unlike its Nintendo counterpart, offers complete 1:1 movement detection in a current gen, HD environment. Full Story
Terrific news for some mobile users on the Netflix front: iPhone and Nintendo DS users may have to wait a while, but Netflix chief Reed Hastings and staff have already sent out surveys to gauge what consumers desire when it comes to mobile use of the streaming service. According to HackingNetflix.com, the company is gathering user interest to determine the possibility of an iPhone app (and Nintendo DS interface) with 30 second load times, the ability to fast-forward/rewind and pause the stream, and basically get all the functions and features of Netflix Instant Watch without advertisements similar to the Xbox, PS3 and Wii versions of the streaming service. Full Story
DirecTV will offer a special midnight premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon for pay-per-view on Mar. 20, which includes behind-the-scenes bonus footage not available from cable networks. Bonus featurettes include “The Subtle Details” (behind-the-scenes look at New Moon’s production design), and “Chris Weitz Takes the Helm” (a look at the transition from ‘Twilight’ director Catherine Hardwicke and ‘New Moon’ director Chris Weitz). Full Story
Sony announced today the addition of HD content from the major studios to their Playstation Network video-on-demand service. 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. are the six major studios to provide titles for rent or own through the Playstation Network. Full Story
Samsung has officially released pricing on its 2010 line of Blu-ray players ranging from $179 to $499. The BD-C6900 (which won Best of Innovations at CES 2010) features built-in 3D playback, Netflix and Blockbuster apps, social widgets, and a slim design with transparent cover (so you can be mesmerized by the spinning of your Blu-ray discs). The BD-C6900 also comes with 1GB internal memory and 7.1 channel audio. Full Story
Moments ago Valve made the official announcement that, indeed, Steam will be coming to Mac OS X this April. The Mac client will include every game available to the PC service including Valve’s Half-life, Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress series. Full Story
So, did you see those Samsung 3D-HD-LED TV ads for hours on end while some show called the “Oscars” got in the way with their worthless shilling for art over commerce? Really? How could you miss ‘em, they were everywhere… showing a beautiful coral reef’s worth of colorful fish (did you spot Dory and Nemo… great cameos) and a manta ray flying swimming over the heads of a family who can’t help but reach out to touch the nothingness that’s right before their eyes. They’re wearing expensive looking 3D glasses (small than those theater ones) and seem to be truly enjoying themselves, save for the fact that though story and character might remain completely unaffected by the 3D gimmick, it’s just oh so cool to touch a manta ray that’s not there. Funcity. Full Story
Is Valve planning to offer their Steam download services on Mac OS X? Will Portal 2 be the flagship release for the new platform? In the most recent issue of GameInformer magazine Valve, all but, confirms the fact that the sequel to the smash hit Portal will be playable on a Mac near you. Full Story
After an ongoing dispute between Disney (ABC’s parent company) and cable TV provider Cablevision failed to be resolved, the network was pulled at midnight on Saturday, Dec. 6. The dispute wasn’t settled until Sunday night at 8:43 p.m, almost fifteen minutes after the Academy Awards had already started. Until then, 3.1 million Cablevision subscribers were unable to get ABC. Full Story
Samsung’s new line of multimedia R80 notebooks will hit Best Buy stores on Sunday, March 7. Two of the three R80 models are loaded with nVIDIA GeForce graphics cards (R580 and R780) and the less expensive R480 and R580 models come with internal Blu-ray Disc drives. It’s strange that the more expensive R780 doesn’t come with a BD drive, but those are specs we got. The 16:9 hi-def resolution LED displays vary in size according to the model. (See chart below.) All three models include HDMI ports. Full Story
Time Warner Cable will no longer market their HD services as “free” according to a company statement which followed a Better Business Bureaus recommendation. Multichannel reported yesterday The National Advertising Division found TMC had been using the term “free” for about two years when the price of HD service had actually become embedded in the price of its regular service. Therefore, it shouldn’t be called free. Full Story
In the U.S. the Wi-Fi enabled Apple iPad (available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB) will hit stores on Saturday, April 3. Later in April, the 3G models will be released throughout the U.S. as well as Japan, Australia and Europe. The iPad is almost an enlarged iPhone, with the functionality of Amazon’s kindle its driving point. The large 9.7″ display on the iPad is LED backlit at 1024 x 768 resolution. “iPad is something completely new,” said Steve Jobs. Continue on for pricing. Full Story
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