Hasta La Gadget!

Hurricane Sandy (and a flood of news courtesy of Google, Microsoft and Apple) pushed our podcast back to a Halloween edition, but for some the scariest thing is news that Disney will take over Lucasfilm and its franchises like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. We’ll tell you why we’re actually encouraged by the development (hint: Pixar), and dive into the latest news about Xbox 360 and SmartGlass, Media center on Windows 8 and Google’s connection to your HDTV with Android 4.2. Of course other standbys like Netflix, Roku and TiVo have news for us to discuss and Ben’s new laptop means we can record as long as we want. Distribute the credit / blame for this week’s XXL-sized edition as necessary, and press play below.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

00:21:43 – Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, plans more Star Wars movies
00:29:13 – Xbox SmartGlass now available in Google Play, brings console integration to Android
00:34:29 – Microsoft offering free Media Center upgrade to Windows 8 Pro users until January 31st 2013
00:50:58 – Google bumps Android to 4.2, keeps Jelly Bean moniker
00:53:54 – TiVo Premiere fall update starts rolling out with more HD menu screens and a few other tweaks
00:58:49 – Tim Cook: 1.3 million Apple TVs sold in Q4, 5 million for 2012 fiscal year
01:02:50 – BBC iPlayer comes to Sky+, Hell reports incoming frost
01:04:43 – ITV Player revamp brings ad-free TV rentals, keeps the free catch-ups
01:05:25 – Roku update adds cross-provider search over Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Vudu and Crackle
01:09:40 – Boxee hands out free Boxee TVs to its most eager cloud DVR fans
01:10:38 – Netflix Q3 2012 earnings: 2 million more streaming subscribers worldwide, $8 million net income
01:12:00 – Open webOS-powered HDTVs said to be on the way from… LG?
01:13:30 – Samsung 2012 Smart TVs get Amazon Instant Video streaming app, synchronicity with your Kindle Fire
01:22:40 – Barnes & Noble bolstering Nook Video catalogue, bringing UltraViolet to the HD and HD+
01:24:45 – LG’s 84-inch 4K TV goes on sale in the US for $19,999, home mortgage optional
01:26:42 – Warner, Redbox agree to 28 day delay on disc rentals, UltraViolet support for Redbox Instant
01:29:10 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment
01:30:40 – Must See HDTV (October 29th – November 4th)

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Filed under: Podcasts, HD

Engadget HD Podcast 322 – 10.31.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disney is already one of the biggest media companies around, and it’s now set to become even bigger. The company announced late today that it’s acquiring Lucasfilm Ltd., currently 100 percent owned by founder George Lucas, for $4.05 billion in a cash and stock deal. That of course includes the rights to both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises, as well as Lucasfilm properties like Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. What’s more, the press release announcing the deal also confirmed that Disney is now targeting 2015 for a release of Star Wars: Episode 7, and that its “long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years.” No word yet on a proper release of the original, original trilogy.

Continue reading Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, plans more Star Wars movies

Filed under: Misc, HD

Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, plans more Star Wars movies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While the fall sports have taken the center stage, there’s still plenty of other content to fill the schedule. Assassin’s Creed 3 hits consoles this week, as well as the return of Okami in HD, while indie flicks Safety Not Guaranteed and Ruby Sparks are available on Blu-ray. Comedian Louis CK will take the stage on Saturday Night Live, and a collection of Alfred Hitchcock movies comes home in a new boxed set. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

NBA
After a whirlwind summer that saw the Heat complete their quest to win an NBA Championship (despite a lockout-shortened season) and the Olympic team bring home basketball gold medals, it’s time for NBA action again. The season officially resumes Tuesday night as the Celtics take on the Heat and the Mavericks face the Lakers on TNT. There’s a full slate of other interesting games awaiting including the debut of #1 draft pick Anthony Davis on the Hornets and more. We’ve got plenty of storylines to follow like Linsanity’s move to Houston, Miami’s quest to repeat and Dwight Howard joining Kobe, Steve and Pau on the Lakers.
(October 30th, TNT, 8PM)

Saturday Night Live w/ Louis CK
Comedian Louis CK has seen his popularity blow up as of late thanks to his cable show and an internet distributed show that set records. Now he’s hosting Saturday Night Live, which should go well, and if it doesn’t, then it will provide plenty of material for the next season of his show which is scheduled to air in 2014.
(November 3rd, NBC, 11:30PM)

Alabama/LSU college football
Last year Alabama LSU played in the regular season before meeting again in the championship game, and while that seems less likely to occur this time around it’s still an SEC matchup worth keeping an eye on. Currently ranked first and fifth, respectively, in the BCS it will be one of the key matchups this season and provides an opportunity for LSU to redeem itself for last year’s losses — not that Nick Saban and Alabama will make doing that easy.
(November 3rd, CBS, 8PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (October 29th – November 4th)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Must See HDTV (October 29th – November 4th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen web portals that let you search for TV and movies on the internet across different services, but a new update for Roku is bringing that capability directly to its set-top boxes. Whether you’re searching by movie, TV show, actor or director it will sniff out related content across some of the higher profile services it offers, including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Crackle, Vudu and HBO Go. The new Roku Search function is front and center (once your second gen HD or higher player has been updated to the latest version) and in our tests worked quickly, pulling up content wherever it was available and mentioning if it was available in HD. The only downside is navigating the onscreen keyboard via remote, although you can always sub in your mobile device thanks to those recently upgraded remote apps for iOS and Android. All in all Roku says it can reach its tendrils across around 130,000 titles and almost 100,000 actors and directors. Check after the break for a couple of screenshots and a quick demo video, hit the official blog for more info or force an update on your hockey puck to check it out yourself.

Continue reading Roku update adds cross-provider search over Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Vudu and Crackle

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Roku update adds cross-provider search over Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Vudu and Crackle originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s now clear that Sharp doesn’t have an exclusive lock on IGZO displays, even for the big-screen TVs that are still the company’s domain. AU Optronics has developed a 65-inch IGZO panel that wields the very light-friendly technology to reach 4K resolutions without the usual penalties — as the screen doesn’t need much backlighting to illuminate all those pixels, it can stay slim and keep the shocking energy bills to a minimum. The smaller size and miserly power draw also leave a real chance that any pricing will be closer to the mere mortal realm than current 84-inch behemoths. And while it’s mostly up to other companies to decide if and when they use AUO’s flagship display, we’ll have choices of our own should the IGZO TV still be too rich for our blood: the Taiwan firm has simultaneously developed a more conventional, 55-inch 4K screen with a wide color range as well as a 50-inch, 1080p panel with an extra-skinny 0.14-inch bezel. It’s at least good to know that there’s already competition for technology that’s just getting started.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD

AUO develops IGZO-based, 65-inch 4K TV screen, vows high resolution without the high power originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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