Category: Video (Page 15 of 16)

      WD My DVR Expander Adds 1TB of TiVo Storage

      April 22, 2009 /

      The Western Digital My DVR Expander.Today, Western Digital announced the newest in its line of “My (fill-in-the-blank)” external storage peripherals with the My DVR Expander. The unit is being advertised as “TiVo verified” with options for 500GB and 1TB of expansion.

      This is certainly a boon for TiVo users, particularly the HD folks. Consumers should be able to record about 100 hours of HD or 400 hours of standard video on the 1TB drive. Hopefully Western Digital has managed to solve the circuit board failures associated with the My Book series of drives. I’ve heard horror stories involving the drives just powering down mid transfer. Not cool when I’m trying to get my Dexter on.

      Source: Crave

      Storage, Video

      Warner Bros. Offers HD DVD Trade-In

      April 22, 2009 /

      Red2Blu let's you swap HD DVDs for Blu-ray titles.Now that HD DVD has gone the way of Betamax, early adopters have been looking for ways to get rid of their old discs in favor of Blu-ray. This time last year, Best Buy started picking up the DVDs on their trade-in site for a meager $3 a pop if you also brought them a player.

      In an attempt to appease their customer base, Warner Bros. released a website, red2blu.com, which allows consumers to essentially swap their HD DVDs for the same title in Blu-ray. By sending the cover sleeve (even they don’t want the disc) and $4.95/title, plus a few bucks shipping per order, you can swap up to 25 titles per household. Not a bad deal if you ask me. You did ask me, right?

      Video, Websites

      Say it isn’t so: Apple to deny the SlingPlayer App?

      April 17, 2009 /

      Just when my gadget life was all coming together.

      SlingPlayer AppFirst, I got my Dish HD Absolute package installed about 1 month before they discontinued selling it. So I now get all the HD channels including locals and DVR for $40 a month. Hell yeah! Then I jumped on my wife’s iPhone plan, which is mostly company paid, and converted it to a family plan. Hello shiny new iPhone 3G, goodbye old crappy phone from 2006. Then Dish shows up at CES with a Sling-Loaded DVR. Sling-Loaded meaning that not only can you record, pause, and rewind live TV but now you can also stream that TV to pretty much any internet connected device in the world. How sweet is that? The reason I said pretty much any device is because there is not a SlingPlayer app for the iPhone… at least not yet.

      Well, all that changed late last month when Sling submitted their SlingPlayer Mobile app to Apple. You see? You see? Everything is coming together! Or it was until I read this:

      Electronista cites “a source close to Apple’s approval processes,” who claims Apple is giving SlingPlayer the red light because AT&T fears it will strain bandwidth on its network.

      Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! Damn you AT&T. Damn you Apple for submitting to AT&T. Damn you Sling for being so cool that I would get this upset over an app.

      Thankfully, there is a silver lining:

      However, Wired.com thinks SlingPlayer will appear in the App Store for a few reasons. First, Sling is a very high-profile, popular service whose plans for an iPhone app have been well-documented; a flat rejection would cause an uproar. Second, Sling tells Wired.com it has a good, communicative relationship with Apple, and we trust Apple will not break that relationship. Third, Apple already announced it’s optimizing live streaming in the upcoming iPhone 3.0 OS — a Major League Baseball app using this improved streaming support is already in the works, although it remains unconfirmed whether this will only work with Wi-Fi.

      Well now I don’t know what to think. Will it happen? Won’t it happen? Who knows. I just hope the gadget gods give Sling the push they need to get the SlingPlayer Mobile app approved.

      Apple, Apps, iPhone, Mobile, News, Video

      Bouncing Around the Web

      April 4, 2009 /

      In case you missed it, here’s what’s Bouncing Around the Web:

      Apple and Stanford University have joined forces to teach an iPhone development class. The course materials and video of the classes will be available through iTunes. Best of all, they are free. This is a great move at keeping the iPhone and iPod Touch app content fresh and new. Just another reason Apple will probably dominate in the mobile phone market.
      Via Wired

      iPhone Game Boy Case      What has to be the coolest case I have ever seen for an iPhone is over at engadget. The case looks exactly like a Game Boy. First, I haven’t seen the Game Boy in years and second, it makes me just want to pick it up and play it. The case is more of a tease than anything. I guess it fits right in here at Gadget Teaser.
      Via engadget

      I think I need to apply for a job at Popular Mechanics. Any company that has enough time on their hands to put up a review of the Top 10 Nerf Guns of All Time is OK with me.
      Via popularmechanics

      While I’m not a fan of the evil empire, I can be a fan of the Yankees new 101 by 59 foot LED display at their new stadium. That thing is enormous. I might have to take a trip to New York just to get a glimpse of it. And hopefully to watch the Yankees lose too.
      Via engadgetHD

      Apple, Gaming, iPhone, Mobile, Video, Websites

      HD Resolution Explained

      March 30, 2009 /

      CNET’s Fully Equipped blog has a great article comparing 720p and 1080p HD displays. The article gives a detailed overview of the difference between the 2 resolutions and even covers 1080i as well. It also covers what type of content is available in what definition. The bottom line is summed up here:

      HDTV Logo

      In our tests, we put 720p (or 768p) sets next to 1080p sets, then feed them both the same source material, whether it’s 1080i or 1080p, from the highest-quality Blu-ray player. We typically watch both sets for a while, with eyes darting back and forth between the two, looking for differences in the most-detailed sections, such as hair, textures of fabric, and grassy plains. Bottom line: It’s almost always very difficult to see any difference–especially from farther than 8 feet away on a 50-inch TV.

      It goes on to say that unless you’re going to use a projector or a very large display, the difference between 720p and 1080p is hardly, if at all, noticeable. Most of the public probably doesn’t need a TV larger than 50” because most living rooms aren’t large enough for anything bigger. Can a larger TV fit in a smaller living room? Sure. But unless you sit further away, the quality of your TV watching experience is going to be reduced by the sheer fact that you are sitting too close to the display.

      I appreciate Fully Equipped for keeping us up-to-date on these things. Saving a few hundred dollars when purchasing a new television is no small thing in this economy. And it’s reassuring to know that you won’t lose out on picture quality by going with 720p. Hell, you may save enough to get a second 720p set for your bedroom too!

      Video

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