Step aside Microsoft, there’s a new Netflix streamer in town. Today, Netflix announced that it has added TiVo to its growing list of streaming partners. Being that TiVo’s subscriber base hasn’t grown much since 2005, we’re thinking TiVo needs this partnership more than Netflix; considering Netflix has already partnered with LG, Microsoft and Samsung.

Netflix will be available to TiVo Series3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL owners. The two companies will begin testing the new service today in “several thousand” U.S. households, and it’s expected to be widely available in early December. Whether or not this will keep TiVo in the business of DVR remains to be seen. For TiVo’s sake, this partnership should keep them in the running for a few more years.

Link

Radio stinks. It’s boring and pretentious and they never play enough 1970s progressive rock bands. In a desperate attempt to get more listeners in on radio, Coby Electronics’ HD Radio launched with promises of higher audio quality for no additional fee.

The two new HD Radio receivers in town include the portable HDR-700 Radio System and the HDR-650 (pictured above) Component HD Radio Receiver. The latter is intended to be integrated into already existing household component systems. So if you don’t have one, you’re up shits creek without a paddle. The HDR-700 is priced at $149, leaving the lower-end HDR 650 at a price tag of $99. With no subscription fees, could this be a reason to give up your satellite radio subscription? Probably not and y’know why? Not enough NPR.

Link (via)

It figures. A year after I move to NYC from Philadelphia, the Comcast Center is completed and the finishing touches it has are beyond spectacular. When I go back to visit, I’ll have to get some footage of this $22 million high-def video wall in action. It’s 27′ x 87′, features 10 million pixels across various modules, has six LED digitizers and a boatload of video processors. Oh yeah, it contains 27 TB worth of data.

The purpose of this huge video screen? To one-up One Liberty Place and to keep security guards entertained. The 3-D animations are apparently a real hoot to see in person. Peep the video above or stroll over to Center City to witness all that video goodness.

Link (via)

FlexScan has announced their SX2461W-U HD LCD display. The 24″ screen offers a special colorblind system, which allows those who have problems seeing certain colors to actually see most graphics as they are meant to be seen.

The new FlexScan display will come rockin’ 2 DVI-I HDCP ports as well as a USB HUB 2 port. The colorblind feature is impressive, though I’m still skeptical at how well this would actually work. — Andrew Dobrow

Link

Gateway is set to launch their most revolutionary product to date. The Gateway One PC mixes in the tower with the monitor in one streamline design, sort of like the iMac. Though unlike the iMac, the Gateway One still keeps the monitor pretty thing, only measuring 3.5 inches at its thickest point.

The monitor itself is a 19-inch widescreen display, still offering plenty of room and a decent aspect ratio with HD resolution to view all of your media. One side of the display features 7 USB ports, while the other side holds the DVD drive. Both the keyboard and mouse are wireless, meaning no tangled cables and probably really simple installation. Gateway, I never thought I would say this, but you might convince me to give PC’s another try. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

People spend their lives dreaming about one day being able to experience the feeling of space travel. The new NASA Shuttle Launch Simulator allows people to experience the thrill of a launch without the need for all that training.

The $60 million ride opened up yesterday to the public, starting with a test run by a team of 40 astronauts, who all proclaimed that the ride was even more realistic than the NASA training simulators. Using 13-channels of surround sound, an 84-inch HD display, and vibrating seats, the NASA simulator is now open for business. We suggest having a few extra pair of pants around for when riders crap their pants. — Andrew Dobrow

Link [via]

Samsung Korea has announced its new line of PDP TV’s, being released under the name ‘Cannes’. The TV will be available in three sizes. The 42″ ($2200), 50″ ($3500), and 63″ ($9450), will all respectively come with Ultra DayLight technology, which will adjust the contrast ratio automatically depending on the ambient lighting environment of your room. Ultra Daylight allows for superior picture in any lighting condition, with a contrast ratio ranging from 1000:1 to 15000:1.

Cannes’ TVs will also be enhanced with Natural True Color for accurate color reproduction and Real Motion Studio, which removes any blurred outlines from sudden facial movements or letters. The 63″ model, which is Full HD, will also come with a Bluetooth connection to pair up with a headset or a printer to print the on-screen picture. — Andrew Dobrow

Samsung Cannes PDP TV [Newlaunches]

 

When it comes to SD (SDHC) card camcorders, few would deny that the Sanyo Xacti line is indeed one of the most popular products if not the best and most successful in the market. Digital camera giant Canon is planning to take Sanyo down with their new PowerShot TX1, equipped with a similar 7MP CCD sensor and the ability to record HD videos up to 1280×720pixels 30fps. What’s more is that Canon fitted in an optical anti-shake lens with 10x optical zoom, their DIGIC III image processing engine, other proprietary technologies such as face-recognition autofocus. The TX1 is also a lot smaller than the Xacti, measuring 29.0×59.9×88.8mm and weighing 220g. Sanyo must be very worried when Canon quoted the suggested retail price of 500USD (a whooping 300USD less than the Sanyo Xacti HD-2), you would lose the HDMI output and the ability of taking still pictures in the middle of video recording, but who cares, you can do a lot with the 300 bucks you save; besides, we have more faith in Canon optics. We have a picture of the TX1 flipped open after the jump.

(more…)

The Inquirer reports that a drunk Nintendo representative was spewing at the mouth about the Wii GPU’s hi-def capability, even though the full potential is yet to be seen. So why DON’T we see the Wii slinging out high definition resolution? Apparently, for two reasons.

The console can’t handle a reasonable frame rate for true HD quality and because the cost would be even higher then it already is for the gaming unit. So this comes down to the Wii being able to handle HD, but just not at par with the competition. Keeping its capability secret is seeming to be part of the business plan. Although this is just a rumor, hackers are sure to go to work on the GPU unit now that the supposed “word” is out. Seems sort of unlikely, but a Wii HD is worth the experimentation. — Andrew Dobrow

Nintendo hides Wii’s HD [The Inquirer, via GWN News]

 

You know there are always moments that you want to capture with good-enough digital photo, especially in the middle of movie recording? And those screenshots off the moving pictures are never good enough, even when we have HD recording nowadays. Well, Sanyo’s Xacti line of pocketable digital camcorders might just come into the right place, because these camcorders can take great digital prints in the middle of movie recording. The company has updated their flagship model this morning with a CCD of 7.1 Megapixels effective, low light performance was also improved so that the camcorder can work in environments as dim as 7 Lux (down from 14 Lux on the previous model), ISO can go up to 1600. Also, 8GB SDHC cards are now officially supported, this is good for 3 hours of HD-SHQ movies at 1280×720 pixels 9Mbps, or 21 hours of VCD quality movies. The Xacti houses a lens with 10x optical zoom (38-380mm f3.5). Digital anti-handshake during movie recording and HDMI/D4 output are both in place. The improved battery life allows you to take movies non-stop for 85 minutes or 180 photos straight. With all that power, the DMX-HD2 still keeps the compactness of the Xacti line, measuring 80×36x119mm and weighing 235g. The DMX-HD2 will be on shelves by March and will sell for a very reasonable 800USD, keep in mind that this is also the world’s smallest and lightest High Density camcorder. — Sam Chan

Press release [Sanyo Japan]