Hasta La Gadget!

Barnes & Noble have kept its “early December” promise to bring the Nook Video service to the UK. The company has signed deals with heavy-hitters like the BBC, HBO and Warner Bros., so Game of Thrones and The Dark Knight Rises are ready and gagging to be seen. It’s also the first to arrive in Blighty with full-fat UltraViolet access, enabling you to watch your (compatible) purchased DVDs and Blu-Rays without all of that fiddly ripping and re-encoding. If you haven’t snapped up one of the company’s Nook HD tablets yet, you’d better get writing that letter to Santa.

Continue reading Barnes & Noble brings Nook Video to the UK, first to offer UltraViolet in the old country

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Tablets, HD

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While Netflix Watch Instantly movie streams are mostly useful for casual viewing, if you’re interested in the actual quality of the video provided you may have noticed a few changes recently. Chronicled in a thread on AVS Forum and reported to us by several tipsters, more than a few users have noticed their streams on 1080p-capable hardware (PlayStation 3, WDTV Live) no longer rock the “X-High” notification (on PS3, hit select to view more information bout your streaming details) that had previously let them know they were getting the highest quality possible. We checked with Netflix, and according to the company, it’s rolling out better encoding that improves picture quality despite using a lower bitrate. That means 1080p works even for people with slower connections, and increases detail on “textures, shadows, skies, and particularly faces.” As a result, what was previously called “X-High HD” is now being labeled a tier lower.

While it wasn’t mentioned specifically, some are theorizing the move is tied into Netflix’s use of eyeIO’s video encoding tech, which it announced earlier this year, to shrink the size of streams. eyeIO claims it can chop bandwidth by more than half for a 720p stream, something we’re sure a company that’s pushing as much data as Netflix would appreciate. Still, some viewers in the thread are claiming a noticeably softer picture as a result. Check after the break for the statement from Netflix, then take some time for “research” and let us know if you’re noticing any changes in picture quality lately.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Netflix 1080p streams no longer called X-High, company credits improved encodes

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: AVS Forum, Tech of the Hub

All those digital games you’ve purchased on your “Deluxe” 32GB Nintendo Wii U have been accruing virtual points, and now you can cash out those virtual points for some virtual currency, as Nintendo’s “Deluxe Digital Promotion” website is now live. All you’ve gotta do is sign in with your Nintendo Network ID on this website, click through some terms of service agreement business, and you’re in like Flynn. The breakdown of dollars to points is 1 to 10 — a game that costs you $14.99, for instance, equates to 149 points. For every 500 points, you can cash out for $5 / £5 / €5, which spits out an activation code you can then apply directly on the Wii U’s eShop. Might we suggest using those points for Little Inferno?

Filed under: Gaming, HD, Nintendo

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Via: Nintendo

Source: Nintendo of Europe, Nintendo of America

Catching up to Microsoft’s own web-based Xbox store, Sony’s unleashed a new online store for its movie, TV and video content– but neglected to mention it. Titled the Sony Entertainment Network, and separate to its own book store we were able to login to the UK site and found that content pricing matched what we’ve seen on the PlayStation Store and other Sony digital shops. As an example, the complete Mass Effect trilogy rings in at £60 ($96), although Sony is kind enough to offer links to discounted titles, PlayStation Plus highlights and other offers at the top of the browsing sidebar — Tokyo Jungle is today’s holiday deal at £5 ($8). Purchases can be done through the store, with the product downloaded to your game console when it’s turned on next. Video content, meanwhile, can be purchased and then played on your PC, as well as on the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PSP, Sony Tablets and compatible Xperia smartphones. Even if you’re balking at some of those early prices, it might be worth browsing through some more palatable festive deals by visiting the source below. We’ll have more when we hear the official line from Sony.

Update: We’ve been unable to access our downloads just yet, something that was also noted by Eurogamer, which spotted that content can also be purchased through Paypal. PlayStation Blog manager Fred Dutton has added that the store is currently under testing, and that Sony are set to announce the full details of the service soon — no harm in taking an early look, however.

Update 2: After digging around in our PS3’s network settings, we were able to discover our web-based purchases and start downloading them to the console, although it wasn’t the most clearcut way to get to them. Unfortunately, it looks like the service won’t officially launch until next week and our US editors have had no luck connecting to the service so far, suggesting that at this stage it’s still being tested before being rolled out further.

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile, Sony

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Via: Eurogamer

Source: Sony Entertainment Network, Fred Dutton (PlayStation Blog)

Here in the US, Samsung has consistently pushed the idea of using its HDTVs to watch cable / satellite without a set-top box at CES for the last several years. So far it has actually managed to launch support for DirecTV and Verizon FiOS video via IP although other providers demonstrated are still missing (Time Warner, Comcast), and now it’s launching IPTV support at home in Korea with LG U+. The app lets Smart TVs directly tune into any of 138 broadcast channels as well as video on-demand, apparently without any box in the house. While we wait for easier IP access stateside — and it’s going to be an even longer wait now — Samsung’s also rolling out IPTV access with Estonian provider Elion, while LG U+ has already announced a set-top box with integrated Google TV, NFC and more. Maybe next year really is the year we get to ditch the cable box — but also, maybe not.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung

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Source: Samsung Tomorrow (Flickr), Samsung Korea