Hasta La Gadget!

London 2012 Olympics
If TV broadcast tape delay and streaming restricted to pay-TV subscribers isn’t entirely ruining your experience, the first week of the 2012 Games has started off with a bang. There’s plenty of sporting action to go around and the world records have already started falling. Live coverage is early in the day for US time zones, while NBC is keeping some of the more anticipated events off TV and only online until its prime time airing later.

For viewers we have a few tips, like using Google to search Olympics + [sport] to get a minute by minute schedule of the events in your local time so you don’t miss ’em on the live stream. Also, check your cable or satellite provider, most have expanded options to help you catch all the sports, while Cox and DirecTV are doing the multiview thing, Comcast has added Olympics specifics filters to its remote apps, and Time Warner Cable has added more channels to its streaming iPad app.
(All week, NBC channels and online)

Total Recall (Mind-Bending Edition)
The Paul Verhoeven / Arnold Schwarzenegger classic is back on Blu-ray and should be better looking this time around. So, why opt for this one instead of a ticket to the remake this weekend? Beyond the obvious reasons, it’s also cheaper, currently listed at $7.99 on Amazon.
($7.99 on Amazon)

NFL Preseason
It’s finally time for football again, and while it’s just preseason action, we’ll be ready to see the Saints take on the Cardinals Sunday night from Canton Ohio. Also worth checking out, the HOF induction ceremony Saturday night as DB Jack Butler, C Dermontti Dawson, DE Chris Doleman, DT Cortez Kennedy, RB Curtis Martin and T Willie Roaf take their place among the other all-time greats.
(August 5th, NFL Network, 8PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (July 31st – August 5th)

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Must See HDTV (July 31st – August 5th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We’ve survived the great DirecTV / Viacom slapfight, somehow. After many days in the wilderness we have returned with a new episode of the podcast and despite the summer doldrums, developments like two new supersized HDTVs from Samsung and LG there’s still something to talk about. Of course we’re getting ready for the Olympics later this week, press play to see if we’re more excited about that or the arrival of Star Trek: TNG S1 on Blu-ray.

Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS – AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes.
[RSS – MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
[MP3] Download the show (MP3).

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

Producer: Trent Wolbe

08:11 – DirecTV and Viacom deal brings MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and the rest back on the air
11:28 – Plex Android app updated with remote control from mobile devices, new transcoding
13:31 – Hulu rolls out a simplified player UI for the web, takes a few cues from mobile
14:48 – Amazon, Warner deal brings Fringe, The West Wing to Prime Instant Video exclusively
16:05 – Yahoo shows off Beyond Gold Olympics app for its connected HDTVs
23:13 – iTunes in the Cloud movies find their way to Australia, Canada, the UK and 32 more countries
24:50 – Comcast Xfinity TV Player for Android updated with beta support for Jelly Bean, Nexus 7
26:11 – Comcast reportedly prepping 305Mbps internet service, aims to put FiOS in its place
31:50 – Nielsen to use watermarks to enhance local channel rating accuracy
36:50 – Samsung 75-inch ES9000 smart TV makes stateside debut: on sale in August for $9,999
35:27 – WD TV Play media hub revealed by the FCC, puts Texas Hold’em on the big screen
38:15 – LG 84-inch ‘ultra definition’ 4K HDTV going on sale in limited quantities in Korea
39:41 – Onkyo upgrades remote apps for latest-gen receivers, intros music streaming Bluetooth adapter
40:30 – Star Trek: The Next Generation Comic-Con trailer tries to make season one (and two) look exciting
42:03 – Must See HDTV (July 23rd – 29th)

Hear the podcast

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)

Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget HD Podcast 309 – 07.24.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 22:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

2012 London Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympics kick off this week in London, and you’ll want to have your TV, computer and mobile devices at the ready. This time around NBC has made the laudable step of promising every sport will be available for streaming live on the internet, however the Opening Ceremony TV broadcast on Friday will be tape delayed until the evening. Hit the NBCOlympics.com site to sign in with your pay-TV account for streaming access and grab the necessary apps, as well as see full listings for every sport, the action will actually get started on Wednesday with a slew of soccer matches, so make sure you don’t miss anything.
(All Week, NBC & Online)

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One
The full remastered first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation debuts on Blu-ray this week, and as we’ve seen from the clips and teaser release earlier this year, the quality is top notch. Whether or not the first season of adventures with Picard, Riker, Worf, LaForge and company is worth buying is your decision, although the current Amazon price of $60 for the six-disc set doesn’t seem terribly prohibitive.
($59.99 on Amazon)

Alphas
Last week we said goodbye to one excellent sci fi series in Eureka, and this week one of our new favorites Alphas comes back on the air. An X-Men-style drama focusing on people granted with super abilities of various types teaming up to take on evil doers the plot is familiar but managed to mix things up a little during the first season, we’ll see if season two can keep the excitement going.
(July 23rd, Syfy, 10PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (July 23rd – 29th)

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Must See HDTV (July 23rd – 29th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

While NBC has already shown off its official Olympics apps for mobile devices, Yahoo is readying an onscreen companion app for connected TVs built on its widgets. While smart TV platforms and boxes are practically everywhere, Yahoo’s is built into HDTVs from several manufacturers, and the app is available for TVs from Sony, Vizio, Samsung and Toshiba. It gives users access to Yahoo Sports coverage with video, news and analysis including daily updates on the games and a real-time medal count. If you have a TV with the Yahoo Connected TV store, it should be just a few clicks of the remote away, and content updates are scheduled to start coming in early next week. We’re still waiting to see the second screen action we previewed at CES put to use, but maybe this event is just the reminder the world needed that this is on more TVs than Google’s effort and actually exists unlike the often-rumored Apple HDTV.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Yahoo shows off Beyond Gold Olympics app for its connected HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 06:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Yahoo Connected TV Blog  | Email this | Comments

Undecided about buying the first season (or two) of the remastered Star Trek: The Next Generation? We understand, but perhaps this pair of trailers will change your mind. The increase in quality is obvious to see, with the recomposed special effects and 7.1 DTS HD even offsetting the pain of re-watching episodes like Shades of Gray and Haven. The second set also includes a reunion talk, interesting just to see how much the stars of the show have changed in the intervening two-and-a-half-decades. You can watch both after the break, but if you decide to hold off until season three, we won’t tell anyone.

Continue reading Star Trek: The Next Generation Comic-Con trailer tries to make season one (and two) look exciting (video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Star Trek: The Next Generation Comic-Con trailer tries to make season one (and two) look exciting (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jul 2012 05:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Ain’t it Cool News  |   | Email this | Comments