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Sharp Adds Cyan and Yellow to LCD TVs
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Science,
Sharp’s new line of LCDs will have cyan and yellow added to the RGB Spectrum. The 60.5-inch Five-Primary-Color LCD with “Multi-Primary-Color Technology” (special image processing circuitry) gives viewers about 99% of colors that human eyes can detect. Always on the cutting edge of viewing on the planet, the company will display their latest technology at the Society for Information Display Symposium in San Antonio this week.
Read More 
| Akihabara News
Gallery: Sharp Adds Cyan and Yellow to LCD TVs
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Zune HD revealed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Microsoft, Portable Audio / Video, Video Games,
Microsoft has finally unveiled the Zune HD. The touch-screen Zune is set to take on the iPod touch this fall, when it debuts. The Zune HD will feature an OLED screen, HD radio receiver, and a version of Internet Explorer specifically formatted for the Zune screen, and is based on Windows CE. The Zune HD will also play HD content on televisions using a dock.
Plans for the future involve the Zune ecosystem coming to the Xbox 360 for purchasing movies and television shows, as well as Zune showing up on other devices. Microsoft specifically declined to go into the gaming capabilities of the Zune HD, since E3 is happening next week. We should expect to hear about any portable Zune gaming news at their Xbox Media Briefing. Expect the Zune HD to replace the current line of flash Zunes, while the hard drive-based Zune players will remain. “This device is created to go head to head with the iPod Touch,” Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Microsoft Zune, said in a telephone interview.
We can’t wait to get our hands on this one.
Read More | CNET
Gallery: Zune HD revealed
Netflix officially comes to Windows Media Center
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Movies,
Netflix continues their push for dominance today with their integration into Windows Media Center on PCs running either Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate. If your Windows machine runs either of those operating systems, all you have to do is pull up Media Center, and in the TV + Movies section, you’ll now see a Netflix tile, powered by Silverlight. The cool thing here is that, unlike on some other devices, you can browse and search the entire Netflix library, manage both your Instant and DVD Queues, and even sort search results to just show titles available to watch instantly. I must say, we are loving how aggressive Netflix is being about getting their Watch Instantly service on more and more platforms. Wanna bet they soon appear on Apple TV?
Gallery: Netflix officially comes to Windows Media Center
Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 4 Plasma TV
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment,
Sometimes you just have to wonder about those that have. That would include “those” who will ring up Bang & Olufsen and order a BeoVision 4. The 103-inch plasma TV is custom built and can be mounted on the wall or ordered with a stand that will lift the TV with a button press. The cost of the deluxe TV (which includes delivery and installation) is $93,050 for the wall mounted version or $11,805 for the TV on motorized stand.
Read More | Bang & Olufsen
Gallery: Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 4 Plasma TV
Exclusive: Twitter and Facebook widgets coming to FiOS TV
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet,
Earlier we posted a fairly in-depth piece looking at some of the upcoming FiOS TV features, but we figured some of you might just be interested in this juicy tidbit. We know a bunch of you are addicted to Twitter and/or Facebook, and if you are a Verizon FiOS TV subscriber, you’ll be interested to know that both are going to be integrated into your television viewing experience by way of widgets.
The Twitter integration is particularly cool, as the widget will give you a look at what people are saying about the show you are currently watching. Could be fun for sports, or reality shows. Not so much for Keeping Up with the Kardashians (hat tip to Jason on that one.)
We have no timeline for when the widgets will be pushed out, but we do know that they are currently in beta.
[Image credit: Zatz Not Funny]
Read More | Upcoming FiOS TV features
Gallery: Exclusive: Twitter and Facebook widgets coming to FiOS TV
Exclusive: Upcoming Verizon FiOS TV features
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet,
As most of you know, we are big fans of Verizon FiOS here at Gear Live. The actual Internet and television services are stellar, and it’s pretty hard to find fault with things, especially since downtime is almost nonexistent. Sure, we’ve had our issues, but those are all fixed, and at this point it is pretty much smooth sailing.
Today we were inviting to a media briefing at the main hub in Everett, WA, to get a look at some of the current and upcoming features of the Verizon FiOS TV service. We were able to sit down with Eric Rabe, Senior VP of Media Relations for Verizon to get the full scoop. Of course, being who we are, we had to make sure we got questions answered about FiOS Internet and phone services as well, just to be thorough. We will just go through these in no particular order - some of this you already know, while other parts are definitely new:
HD Content: FiOS TV is completely uncompressed through Verizon. They get the signal, and pass it straight through to the subscribers box the way they received it from one of two providers (depending on where you are located.) Every market has a minimum of 100 dedicated HD channels. The caveat here (and it’s a small one) is that the cable box does not have a mode that simply passes through the content to your receiver or television the way it comes in. This means you have to set the FiOS TV cable box to display either 1080i or 720p, and it will either up-convert or down-convert depending on what you choose. I let them know it would be nice to have boxes that just passed through the resolution without any conversion taking place. Of course, if you have a TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD with a FiOS CableCARD, you don’t have this issue.
I also asked about 1080p content, since satellite is currently offering HD content in 1080p. Unfortunately, their answer is that they are a couple of software revisions away from being able to offer that, so no timeline there.
Click to continue reading Exclusive: Upcoming Verizon FiOS TV features
Gallery: Exclusive: Upcoming Verizon FiOS TV features
Reminder: Enter our LG Scarlet HDTV giveaway
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Announcements, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment,
Just wanted to give you guys a heads up, as our LG HDTV giveaway ends this week! In case you missed it, we are giving away a 52-inch LG Scarlet Series HDTV, in conjunction with ExpoTV.
Interested in entering? It’s easy - check out the contest rules, and submit your entry (you can enter as many times as you like.) The giveaway ends on May 8th at 11:59 PM EDT. Good luck!
Read More | Enter HDTV Giveaway
Gallery: Reminder: Enter our LG Scarlet HDTV giveaway
Sony has a new BRAVIA to lust after, the Z5500. It features their Motionflow 200HZ with 200fps and Image Blur Reduction technology for smooth motion and sharper images. It also has been designed to go with their HT-CT500 Home Theater system. Add to that Engine 3 that analyzes and optimizes video signals from any HD or SD source and AppliCast that can connect to online services via Ethernet without having to switch on your PC.
Read More | Sony
Gallery: Sony BRAVIA Z5500 HDTV
Cablevision to Offer Faster Connections
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, HDTV, Internet, Wireless / WiFi,
Cablevision has announced that they will be offering the fastest Internet connection ever. Beginning May 11, the plans have download speeds of up to 101 Mbps and upload speeds of 15 Mbps at a price of $54.90 to $64.90 per month. That equals out to an HD movie in only 10 minutes. It will also be making its WiFi Internet service faster by 3 Mbps at no extra charge. Rumor has it that they are competing against Verizon, which will is offering its FiOs 50 Mbps for $89.95 in NY.
Read More | Newsday
Gallery: Cablevision to Offer Faster Connections
Now anyone can afford an MP4 player. The MSI MV622 is a mere 2.4-inches with 2GB storage and comes in black, white and pink. It supports RM, RMVB, FLV, MPG, DAT, AVI, MP4, WMV, 3GP, MPEG, MOV, VOB, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, OGG , RA, M4A, APE and FLAC files for a mere $29.00. The MV882A is HD and has S-video out at a price of $58.00 for the 4GB abd $73.00 for 8GB.
Read More | PMP Today
