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All posts tagged "television"


Monday, October 24, 2011

Apple Television Talk Turns Focus To Looming Battles

Posted by Brad Wasson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/in-t...ooms-large/4163

"That war will be fought in the living room-and the den, and the dorm room, and just about any place where people watch movies and TV programs and listen to music. It's been an open secret for years that Apple will make a play for the living room eventually. Despite Steve Jobs's protestations that Apple TV was "just a hobby," a high-definition TV is the inevitable next step in the natural evolution of the Apple ecosystem."

Like others close to the industry, Ed Bott from ZDNet has been following the "battle for the living room" for some time. His editorial on the subject (hit the Read link below) is great background reading for a subject that will likely explode in focus now as it has essentially been confirmed in the Steve Jobs biography that Apple has great interest in developing a TV to add to their arsenal. This is a battle that will play out for a very long time, but it almost certainly will change the way we have traditionally viewed TV shows and other forms of entertainment. The players include representatives from a wide variety of viewpoints and ecosystems, including Microsoft, Google, Netflix, Hulu, TiVo and a slew of others, basically hardware, software, and content providers from all aspects of the entertainment, news, sports, and music industries. Bott does a nice job of introducing the battleground, including providing his perspective on which dimensions will be particularly important (user experiences, business relationships with content providers, and cable/satellite infrastructure). To get started, curl up in your easy chair, in your living room, of course, and get reading.


Wednesday, January 5, 2011

TV Has Gone Crazy...It's Going to be a Few Ugly Years

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Articles & Resources" @ 12:00 PM

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01...ing-on-with-tv/

"After more than a decade of false starts, web TV is here -- sort of. I'm talking about more than just streaming a sitcom on my laptop. We know the web has the power to make any media distribution system cheaper and more efficient. This is different. Thanks to streaming video services like Hulu and Netflix (NFLX) and new portable devices such as the iPad, we've begun to expect that TV should be more like the web itself: social, mobile, searchable, and instantly available."

This article definitely strikes a chord with me - and nicely summarizes the incredibly complex TV landscape, pointing out the reasons why we're unlikely to get what we really want any time soon: the ability to watch any TV show or movie on any device we have, anywhere we are. This is an ugly time for the TV/movie industry as they figure out how to offer consumers what we want, while still trying to preserve their fat profits...and you can guess why we haven't seen much in the way of good solutions so far.


Monday, September 27, 2010

My Journey to a Media PC in the Living Room

Posted by Don Tolson in "Digital Home Talk" @ 07:00 AM

Here's how it all started: like many people (and I would guess a majority of DHT readers), building my home theatre started slowly. First it was the big screen TV from Costco. That was pretty cool as we hoisted it up on the wall, but then we needed better sound, so it was off to the audio shop for a 5.1 receiver/amplifier and so on and so on -- bit by bit getting pieces of equipment and jury-rigging them together as they are added. Eventually, it got to the point where I was the only one in the house who knew how to get everything working (which is quite the accomplishment, given that I have two pretty techno-saavy teenaged sons!!). Read more...


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tivo Premiere Brings On-Demand Content Into The Mix

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 11:07 PM

If you're a Tivo fan, there's some really great stuff that has been announced tonight. Engadget has the live event coverage - though it was kind of boring and short compared to the other stuff they tend to cover - and they have the details on the new Tivo Premiere along with some images and a brief hands-on. This looks pretty impressive actually - it blends YouTube, Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix, and other content. I can't get too excited about it though until a cable provider in Canada decides to pick it up...


Monday, November 24, 2008

Huddle Up in 3D!

Posted by Richard OKane in "Digital Home News" @ 12:00 PM

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10...g=2547-1_3-0-20

"If you thought that watching football in high definition seemed more realistic, just wait until you can view a game in 3D. Next week the National Football League is broadcasting live in 3D a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders to theaters in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. The event, to be held December 4, is a demonstration to show how the technology can be used to provide a more realistic experience in a theater or in the home."

As a Packer fan, I wish they would choose a better team ;-), but we have to settle for the Chargers and the Raiders. Seriously, though, the technology that allows this would be incredible. Imagine the processing power, let alone the network connection! How I wish I was in the one of these three cities on the day of the showing!

If any of you attend this, please comment in the forums. I'd love to know how it looked, and if there were any glitches. Oh, and Jason, maybe next year we can watch your Stamps in 3D - congratulations to the Grey Cup Champions!

Tags: television, sports, 3d

Monday, July 7, 2008

Pew Pew Pew! Here Come The Laser-Based TV's!

Posted by Tim Williamson in "Digital Home News" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/25/...-due-this-fall/

"We got a first glimpse of Mitsubishi's brand new rear-projection-ish laser-based TV tech, LaserVue, back at CES, but now the sets are just about primed for action, and should be hitting store shelves, as previously noted, Q3 2008. LaserVue will debut in 65-inch and 73-inch, with the 65-inch version hitting the scene first. Mitsubishi is still pretty coy about what exactly makes the technology tick -- other than the "zomg, lasers" aspect -- but is quick to point out the 200 percent color gamut that LaserVue provides, more than twice that of most traditional HDTVs."



It looks like Mitsubishi will soon be releasing their new "LaserVue" 65 inch and 73 inch laser-based rear-projection TV's. These monsters are a MASSIVE 10-inches thick though, but appear to have great color and take about half the power of comparable LCD's. The price point is comparable to plasma and LCD, so we'll see if that affects the popularity of these things.


Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Digital TV: It'll Cost You Ten Bucks

Posted by Jeremy Charette in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 06:00 PM

http://www.walmart.com/search/searc...ter+box&ic=24_0

"One week before U.S. households receive the first of thousands of $40 digital converter box coupons, Wal-Mart is stocked and ready with these small converter box units designed to keep home analog TVs receiving a digital signal. Today 3,400 Wal- Mart stores carry a new Magnavox digital converter box, with a retail price of $49.87."

Next year analog TV goes bye-bye. So what to do with all those perfectly good analog TVs? Throw them out? Hardly! The US Government is giving out $40 coupons to help consumers with the cost of converting to digital over the air TV. Wal-Mart is pitching in by educating consumers about all of the digital TV options available to them, and making sure to have plenty of Digital TV Converter boxes on hand when the coupons start arriving at homes next week. So if you've got parents or grandparents who have an older TV and no cable service, be sure and point them in the direction of the nearest Wal-Mart. It's only gonna cost them ten bucks.


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