Personally, as a Mac user, I could give two shits about Microsoft’s latest incarnation of its failed digital audio player. But alas, Gizmodo’s Brian Lam got his paws on the Zune HD and says it’s quite the improvement. In fact, he seems to like it more than Apple’s ultra-popular iPod Touch, save for the lack of apps available. Check out the video above. You’ll get to see the animations and the entire UI.
It seems like only yesterday I was paying $20 dollars for every hot movie that hit store shelves in VHS format. Today, I can go into a store and buy three tapes for just a dollar. Whoever said that a dollar can’t buy you anything was full of shit. Ever since the creation of DVD, VHS has been on a steady decline. Now with the last major VHS supplier calling it quits, the final nail in the coffin of VHS has arrived.
“It’s dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt,” Distribution Video Audio co-owner Ryan Kugler told the L.A. Times. “I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I’m done. Anything left in the warehouse we’ll just give away or throw away.”
Distribution Video Audio is now in the business of selling discount DVD displays for big-box retailers and its co-owner warns that in three or four years DVD will face the same fate as VHS. Looking to buy a movie for someone? Consider Blu-ray.
If you’re a football fan with a broadband Internet connection, your weekend just got a whole lot better. The NFL has launched a service called “Game Rewind” that will retail for $19.99 for the season or $4.99 a week. The service lets you watch all the football games you can handle in HD quality with no commercials. Awesome, right? It doesn’t end there.
You’ll also get the ability to watch four games at once, chat with other fans and complete DVR functionality. Want to rewind to see that interception Drew Brees threw? You got it, champ. Keep in mind, this is a web-based service so you’ll need a way to bring out the picture if you plan on watching the games with your boys.
YouTube is great for entertainment, but quality is a whole other bag of marbles. When I have a video I plan on uploading, I don’t want it compressed to all hell and back for the purpose of streaming. Because of this, I usually use Vimeo for those vids. But thanks to a hack involving the URL of YouTube videos, you can now squeeze 720p HD quality vids from everyone’s favorite video website.
To do it, find the video you want in 720p and change the following text in the URL or embed code:
By changing that fmt variable to &fmt=22 or tacking on &ap=%2526fmt%3D22 to the embed URLs—that’s right, turn it up twice past 11—Youtube will kick out compatible videos at a whopping 720p resolution.
Extremely sweet. I’ve included some hacked video of CSI’s David Caruso to demonstrate. Just remember that 720p video means big bandwidth, so no slow connections and don’t go bitching at YouTube because your favorite video isn’t loading right away.
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.
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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.
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.
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
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
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
