Latest Gear Live Videos
2009 Holiday Gift Guide: Roku HD-XR Player
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Women, Techies, Under $100, Under $250,
We are kicking off our 2009 Holiday Gift Guide with the Roku HD-XR player. Why? Well, we think that it’s the perfect time to introduce someone to the new hotness that is TV, delivered over the web, and right into the living room. Sure, Netflix has come to the Xbox 360, but if you want streaming access to the Netflix service and don’t own a game console, this is your cheapest barrier to entry. The HD-XR model also gives you access to the Amazon Unbox catalogue, as well as the entire MLB game service as well, if you are subscribed.
Definitely a great gift for movie buffs, the Roku HD-XR player is able to stream over 12,000 movies and television shows from the Netflix Watch Instantly catalogue, and over 45,000 from Amazon Video on Demand. It connects to your home network through an ethernet port, or over Wi-Fi, connecting at up to 802.11n if you have it. There’s also a USB port on back, which Roku says is for future use. Our guess is that they’ll be allowing the device to read from an external USB drive, which would be stellar.
The actual device is tiny, so it takes up barely any space, and setup takes just a couple of minutes - very simple. Of course, a Netflix subscription is required, but once you have that, everything else is a piece of cake.
Honorable Mention: If you want all the features of the Roku HD-XR, but don’t need the USB port or 802.11n wireless speeds, you can grab the Roku HD Player for $99!
Read More 
| Roku HD-XR
Advertisement
Microsoft scores Netflix streaming console exclusive
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Movies, Video Games,
Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard rumblings that Netflix streaming would be coming to both the PS3 and Wii, but apparently, all that is now out the window, because Microsoft has been able to score an exclusive console partnership with Netflix. Read on:
Netflix Partnership
This exclusive partnership offers you the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via Xbox 360. Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers**, at no additional cost.
From the Netflix Web site, simply add movies and TV episodes to your instant Queue, which will appear automatically on the TV screen via Xbox 360. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. In addition to instantly streaming Netflix movies to the TV, Xbox LIVE Gold members can browse and rate movies, fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either their Xbox 360 Controller or Universal remote.
Now, of course, we assume this just means that the Xbox 360 gets an exclusive on full console integration. But hey, you can just go download PlayOn if you really want to access Netflix from your Playstation 3 or Wii. Problem solved.
Read More | Xbox
How are you liking the 8/11 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Yeah, in case you forgot, today is the day that the masses (including you) get access to all the fancy new features in the latest Xbox 360 Dashboard Update! I’m talking about things like Netflix Movie Parties, Games on Demand, the Avatar Marketplace, etc. You can get the full scoop on all the updates, both major and minor, at the link below. What we wanna know now, though, is how you are liking it. Let us know in the comments.
Oh, and remember, there is more to come in a couple of months, as we still have Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and Zune Marketplace with 1080p instant-on movie streaming to look forward to later this fall.
Read More | August 2009 Dashboard Update Details
Bleeding Edge TV 312: Xbox 360 August 2009 Dashboard Update Walkthrough
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Full Episodes, High Score, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Podcasts, Product Reviews, Video Games, Videocasts, Videos,
A few days ago we did a quick post of our Xbox 360 August Dashboard Update video, promising that we’d publish the actual video podcast version later. Well, here it is. In case you missed it, we give you a 35-minute full walkthrough of the upcoming Xbox 360 dashboard update, giving you a look at the new Netflix features, Avatar Marketplace, Games on Demand, Indie Games, and more. Go ahead and give it a look for all the goods. Definitely a nice, solid Xbox 360 update.
Video: Xbox 360 August 2009 Dashboard Update Hands-on
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Software, Video Games, Videos,
We know a lot of you have been excited about the August 11th Xbox 360 Dashboard Update, so we figured that while we were waiting for the transcodes to finish for Bleeding Edge TV, we’d also throw our walkthrough of the update onto our YouTube account as well. Go ahead and give it a look, as we bring you 35 minutes of Dashboard goodness. The “real” episode should be out later this evening, if not by the end of the weekend.
Let us know if we missed anything that you’d like us to cover in the comments.
Hands-on with the August 11 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Downloadable Content, Features, Microsoft, Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
This morning, Microsoft hooked us up with an early preview of the next Xbox 360 Dashboard Update. We were able to get a look at the new Netflix features (which no longer require a PC,) the Avatar Marketplace, Game Ratings, Games on Demand, and more. While more coveted features like Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and Zune Marketplace won’t be landing until the fall, the update is still a solid one. Here are our thoughts on the next update, which lands on your Xbox 360 on August 11 (or sooner if you apply for early access!)
Click to continue reading Hands-on with the August 11 Xbox 360 Dashboard Update
Gallery:
Samsung’s latest Blu-Ray HTIB, the HT-BD3252
Posted by Mark Rollins Categories: Home Entertainment, Music,
Clearly, I must be into reporting Samsung products this morning, as they have not only released that S9110 watch phone, but a new Blu-ray Home Theater In a Box.
The HT-BD3252 not only features a bundle of speakers, but it has an integrated Blu-ray 2.0 profile player that supports BD-Live. It supports audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA, and includes streaming Internet services such as Pandora, Netflix, and Blockbuster with the included Wi-Fi dongle. All this plus an iPod dock for just $799.
Full press release after the jump.
Click to continue reading Samsung’s latest Blu-Ray HTIB, the HT-BD3252
Xbox 360 Fall 2009 Update Preview
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Downloadable Content, Features, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Lucky us, we are getting early access to the Xbox 360 Fall 2009 Dashboard Update this coming Monday. We will bring you all our thoughts on everything we are able to try out. We have a list of stuff we will have access to on Monday, which you can see after the jump, but we were also able to put together a gallery of some of the things we will be playing with as well. You can find all those images over in our Xbox 360 Fall 2009 NXE Dashboard Update Preview Gallery.
Click to continue reading Xbox 360 Fall 2009 Update Preview
Gallery:
Amazon to acquire Netflix to form digital movie powerhouse?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies, Rumors,
Netflix stock is surging today due to a hot rumor that the company may be acquired by Amazon.
To the average Amazon consumer, this may be an odd pairing at first glance. However, as broadband penetration becomes more widespread throughout the US, digital movie download services will slowly drive a nail through physical disk media rental services. Both Amazon and Netflix offer movie streaming services right now. Many users of the Netflix service have complained about the lack of newer content being available. Amazon however, offers new movies for rent and download. Together, though, you have one hell of an offering.
A Netflix acquisition for Amazon would mean up airing of these two services, which in the eyes of many a digital downloader would be perfection.
Of course this is all rumor, and we won’t know for sure until something official comes out of either camp. However, looking at the stock surge, there certainly seems to be something up at Netflix. Do note, however, a similar rumor cropped up about two years ago, and nothing ever came of it.
Read More | Bloomberg
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:
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.