Archive for: July, 2009
July 29th, 2009
LG adds Vudu HD service to NetCast service for its Web-enabled TVs
Unlike a global competitor like Philips, LG Electronics is still trying to make an impact in the North American TV market. It unveiled its version of Internet-enabled TV, called NetCast, last month with four new sets. Among other services, NetCast offers Netflix’s on-demand movie service, and today it’s added another streaming video service in the form of Vudu.
You may already know the company from its Vudu Box BX100 device, which supports 1080p HD movies through its HDX format. LG is the first TV manufacturer to offer the service directly through a network-connected set. While Vudu offers the choice of buying or renting movies, today’s TVs don’t have the storage capacity for storing downloaded HD movies (the BX100 has a 250GB hard drive), so this is presumably a rental-only version of the service. Vudu offers more HD titles than Netflix’s service, and it doesn’t require you to pay monthly fees. (Netflix’s on-demand programming requires you to already have a monthly subscription plan.)
Will Vudu’s jump from standalone device to TV-based service become a permanent shift in the future? The BX100 is unavailable from Vudu’s site, and according to a company representative on its site forum, there’s no official date when new shipments will become available. In the meantime, Vudu will arrive on NetCast next month, by which time the first four LG NetCast sets will all be on sale.
July 27th, 2009
Would an Apple tablet mean the end for Apple TV?
The media is abuzz with reports that Apple is working on a tablet device (the latest is from the Financial Times) that could be like the iPhone or iPod Touch on steroids. While the thought is that an “iTablet” would be a netbook-killing (and Kindle-killing) device, it could eliminate another product: Apple TV.
Unlike its ventures into MP3 players and smart phones, Apple’s home theater device hasn’t been a big hit and has even been labeled as a “hobby” product by the company. The Mac Observer argues that an Apple tablet, which is rumored to have a 10-inch color screen, could replace Apple TV by letting a younger generation used to looking at small screens on mobile devices watch video on the tablet.
But there’s another way that an Apple tablet could replace Apple TV. Presumably, the tablet would come with built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi support. While that could allow the device to download or stream videos to watch on its screen, couldn’t it also allow you to stream those videos to an HDTV (via an adapter that, knowing Apple, would be optional)? This could head Netflix off at the pass in another market: on-demand Internet video delivered to a set-top box or widgetized TV. Instead, you could rent a movie on iTunes, start watching it on a bus ride home, then finish viewing it on your TV once you’re in the your living room. Unlike Netflix (though like Amazon Video On Demand), iTunes doesn’t require a monthly subscription plan in order to access online rentals. Of course, the Apple TV interface could be ported over to your tablet, which could also function as a (large) remote for your cable box, too, if an app is created for it.
I’m sure this scenario isn’t a foremost one in Apple’s collective mind, but it would be an intriguing way to try again to bring Apple into the living room. Of course, Apple has to announce a tablet first. Then again, sometimes it’s more fun to think of things that Apple could do with a new device than what ultimately gets implemented.
July 26th, 2009
Kitchen designers rejoice: Toshiba introduces Stainless Style LCD/DVD combo unit
If you don’t have an TV in your kitchen, you probably know someone who does. Finally, someone figured out that maybe it should release a set that matched the most popular kitchen accent: stainless steel. Now you can pair your kitchen appliances with the Toshiba Stainless Style model, which marries a 19-inch LCD with a DVD player.
Beyond its metallic styling (obviously no one’s going to make a TV using actual stainless steel), the 19LV612U offers fairly standard specs for an HDTV this size: an HDMI input, component-video port, and built-in ATSC/NTSC/QAM digital tuners, which could come in handy if you don’t have a cable connection in your kitchen. The slot-loading DVD player support DivX-format discs—a nice touch, though I don’t see many Moms burning DivX movies to watch while they cook.
Toshiba says the Stainless Style combo unit will ship in September for $349.99. Will it inspire a rash of stainless-looking TVs?
July 24th, 2009
Sony introduces massive Blu-ray disc changers for the one guy with 400 Blu-ray discs
Having made disc-changer units for CDs and traditional DVDs in the past, Sony inevitably had to make them for Blu-ray discs, which it’s apparently finally ready to do. The company has announced two new “megachangers” that can hold and play up to 400 Blu-ray titles.
Both units can handle CDs and DVDs in additional to Blu-ray discs, and support 1080/60p, 24p True Cinema, and an array of 7.1 surround-sound formats, as well having an Ethernet port, which comes in handy when the device downloads info about your discs from the Gracenote database. The connectivity also allows you to access BD-Live content for compatible discs (if anyone is even bothering to tap into those interactive features).
If you want every bell and whistle, there’s the $1,899.99 BDP-CX7000ES, which includes an RS-232 and IR inputs so you can control the disc changer through your home automation interface. It also supports Sony’s Super Bit Mapping and HD Reality Enhancement technologies, which add some technical wizardry to boost image quality from your source material. If you don’t need any of those features, the BDP-CX960 (pictured) is “only” $799.99.
Sony also unveiled one new single-disc Blu-ray player. The $699.99 BDP-S1000ES offers the same video processing technologies and RS-232 and IR inputs as the high-end BDP-CX7000ES while adding built-in Wi-Fi to its connectivity options. Both ES series player will be available in August, whereas the BDP-CX960 will be shipping sometime in the fall.
July 21st, 2009
Are you ready for 3D movie downloads? CinemaNow is preparing for them now
It may be putting the cart ahead of the horse a bit, but Sonic Solutions announced today that its Roxio CinemaNow service will be capable of offering 3D video downloads sometime at an unannounced future date. Of course, 3D TVs aren’t here just yet, and there are just a handful of 3D computer monitors on the market, but why let that get in the way of letting us know CinemaNow is still out there competing with Netflix’s on-demand service along with Amazon Video On Demand.
Of course, with the growing number of 3D movies being released and the interest of companies like Panasonic in bringing 3D tech to future HDTVs, it may work out in the long run for Sonic to lay the groundwork for 3D downloads. In the meantime, it’s working with Nvidia to make sure its tech is optimized for GeForce graphics cards and 3D Vision-ready displays, such as the Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ and ViewSonic FuHzion VX2265wm. Sonic says it’s also working with home theater companies to bake the 3D technology into future HDTVs and Blu-ray players.
When will the first 3D downloads be available? What will they cost? Those dimensions to CinemaNow’s announcement weren’t made visible.
July 19th, 2009
Hell freezing over? Toshiba set to release a Blu-ray player this year
The biggest supporter of the HD-DVD format, Toshiba has made no real move to support Blu-ray, which triumphed over HD-DVD as the top high-definition DVD technology. That may be changing, however, as the company is planning on releasing its first Blu-ray player, which will apparently be called the BD 18 and be released by the end of the year.
Considering the feature sets of today’s Blu-ray units are pretty similar, Toshiba is either going to have to offer some standout technology or compete on price to really make a dent in the market share of its competitors. Unfortunately, the electronics giant probably can’t price its players lower than the bargain brands that show up as Wal-mart’s occasional “doorbuster” specials, but a low retail price from a known brand like Toshiba could exert pressure on the Samsungs and Sonys of the world to drop the prices on their Blu-ray drives.
One area in which Toshiba could innovate is a Blu-ray recorder for the home theater, as PC World speculates. The market for these in the U.S. might not be large, but it could be a profitable niche for the first entrant into the space, since these would probably command a premium price. Panasonic is planning such recorders for the U.K., though it’s unclear if and when these would reach our shores (owing in no small part to DRM issues with Hollywood).
It’s also unclear how easy it will be for Toshiba to differentiate its player products from the competition, but we’ll presumably find out soon enough.
July 17th, 2009
Belkin cancels FlyWire wireless HD solution while Atlona releases new wireless USB to HDMI adapter
Sending HD signals through the home wirelessly is one of those Holy Grails that seems to be just outside of the reach of mainstream consumers. One of the slickest-looking solutions that suffered lengthy delays, and from a $1,500 price tag, is Belkin’s FlyWire, which used WHDI technologyto beam high-def video to a TV without wires. Such delays in getting a product to market usually signal big problems, and Belkin has finally killed off the project.
Belkin is blaming the cancellation on the sky-high price tag being too burdensome in this economy, though other companies are continuing on with their more-affordable wireless solutions. While the FlyWire was getting shelved, Atlona was introducing the HDAiR, a USB converter that delivers high-def content from your computer to an HDTV using ultra-wide band (UWB) wireless technology. Its cost is just $199. The HDAiR’s range is 30 feet, but it only can beam 720p HD signals, not 1080p.
The HDAiR joins Gefen’s Wireless HDMI Extender on the market, though Gefen’s device can handle 1080p HD and lets you send signals from Blu-ray players and other HDMI-compatible devices. It also costs $999. Sony has its own solution in the $499 Wireless Link Module for its Bravia HDTVs, while Panasonic has introduced the $6,000 Viera Z1 plasma that includes a receiver unit using WirelessHD technology.
Of course, 802.11n Wi-Fi may wind up being more popular as an HD transmission standard than all of these, and Belkin has released the $149.99 Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit (pictured), which claims to use your power outlets to stream video at up to 1Gbps to your TV.
Which solution will ultimately win, and when? Let us know your thoughts in the TalkBack section.
July 15th, 2009
More channels join Comcast's Online On Demand service; Verizon adds interactive widgets to FiOS TV
Where I live, and in many other regions of the country, Comcast and Verizon are duking it out over paid TV customers, with Comcast’s cable service often the incumbent and FiOS the scrappy new kid (if you can call a huge corporation like Verizon “scrappy”). Internet service is often bundled with their TV plans, so sooner or later, they had to acknowledge how the Web is changing the way we interact with television and video programming.
Comcast has decided to come to the Internet to meet its subscribers, who are probably watching too much Hulu.com for the cable giant’s liking. So Comcast is trying out its On Demand Online service, letting a selection of 5,000 customers view programming from 23 different channels via a secure login system. CBS, which has thus far resisted Hulu’s Siren song, will be making its shows available to On Demand Online instead, and a slew of cable staples like A&E, Food Network, HBO, and HGTV are also onboard. The service is available at no cost to subscribers. In the future, Comcast plans to let content be downloaded, though you can imagine the DRM will be strong with those files.
In comparison, Verizon’s most recent interactive move is to bring the Internet to the TV. Today it’s rolling out its new Widget Bazaar, which is basically an app store for on-screen social services. Free widgets available now include Facebook, Twitter (pictured above) and ESPN Fantasy Football—all of which can be accessed while you’re watching your favorite shows. The Widget Bazaar is an open platform so Verizon expects more apps down the line, including ones that are “transactional” in nature (perhaps such as movie downloads).
Slightly less exciting is the new Internet Video feature, which lets you access online videos from providers like blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh through your FiOS Home Media DVR service. You can also view personal videos from your PC on your set via the My Videos feature. These features are available for no extra charge, though any videos you’ll really want to see in the future (like Netflix’s streaming service) would be widgets that you’ll need to pay for (or be a paying subscriber for).
July 14th, 2009
Blockbuster OnDemand service comes to Samsung's TVs, Blu-ray players
Another day, another news item about a TV manufacturer and a streaming-video partner. Yesterday, Mitsubishi announced it was giving away a Vudu Box with the purchase of a TV (most models, at least) for the next month. Today, Samsung and Blockbuster have revealed a partnership to bring the Blockbuster OnDemand online movie service to Samsung’s networked HDTVs and Blu-ray players this fall.
While it’s another feather in Samsung’s Internet-services cap, the deal probably means more to Blockbuster, which has whiffed with its attempt to sell a player, the 2Wire MediaPoint, that ran Blockerbuster OnDemand and has to compete against Netflix’s on-demand service as well as Amazon Video On Demand.
The service will be available with new Samsung connected TVs and Blu-ray players at some point in the fall, while consumers who’ve already purchased those devices can get access to Blockbuster OnDemand either through a firmware update (Blu-ray devices) or by downloading the Blockbuster widget (TVs). The service will have “preferred positioning” on the Blu-ray interface, though it remains to be seen what that exactly entails.
July 13th, 2009
Mitsubishi to give free Vudu Box with purchase of new TV
Here’s one way around having to offer a networked TV to consumers. From July 16 to August 10, Mitsubishi is giving away a Vudu Box, a device that downloads and plays movies—including 1080p titles—with the purchase of most new Mitsubishi HDTV models. The Vudu unit costs $149 regularly, and the TV manufacturer is also throwing in $50 of download credits to use with the device.
Mitsubishi says the promotion is designed to be a little different than all the TV-and-Blu-ray-player specials that its competitors are offering. But it’s also an interesting strategy to take given the growing number of new networked sets with online services from the likes of Netflix and Amazon Video On Demand. Mitsubishi doesn’t offer these connected TVs yet, but a Vudu Box may be a better alternative at this stage since it offers superior video quality with its HD titles. You could even spend another $79 and get the Vudu wireless kit if you don’t have an Ethernet connection in your home theater.
Is this a gamble that will pay off with consumers? Let us know in the poll below if you’d rather get a Vudu Box or a Blu-ray player with the purchase of a new HDTV.
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Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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