Richard insists Pacific Room is just a movie with a light plot (rather than a dumb action flick), while Ben explains his general distaste for pre-feature trailers. Mix those discussion with the HD news highlights from the last week and you’ve got episode 358 of the Engadget HD Podcast. Stream it below.
Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)
Producer: Joe Pollicino (@akaTRENT)
Hear the podcast
Early this year, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. movie studios chose Dolby Digital Plus as their preferred means to deliver surround sound for their UltraViolet common file format (CFF) downloads. Paramount Pictures, however, has decided to go with Dolby’s competitor, DTS, announcing today that the DTS-HD codec will be used in its UltraViolet CCF offerings. Like Dolby, the DTS codec delivers up to 7.1 channels of surround sound for Paramount’s UV catalog — though your cloud-based audio/visual bliss will have to wait, UltraViolet CFF isn’t slated for release until sometime in the latter half of 2013.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: The Verge
Philips makes colorful Hue light bulbs, and it (indirectly) makes colorful Ambilight TVs. Wouldn’t it make sense if the two devices talked to each other? They do now: a new Ambilight+Hue app for Android and iOS coordinates Hue bulbs with compatible TVs, spreading Ambilight effects across the entire room. To mark the occasion, Philips and TPVision are launching the 60-inch Elevation TV (not pictured here). The 3D-capable, 1080p LCD introduces a four-sided Ambilight system that produces a fuller lighting effect when the set is wall-mounted. It’s also the thinnest Philips TV to date, at 0.54 inches thick, and it includes the requisite smart TV features like Netflix, web browsing and Miracast media sharing. Ambilight+Hue should be available now, although Europeans will have to wait until later in the summer to buy the Elevation for about £2,800 ($4,168).
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household, HD
Source: Philips
To use UltraViolet these days, you have to live in one of a few English-speaking countries. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will change that soon: the company just teased its plans for the digital locker service in mainland Europe. According to the firm’s David Bishop, Germans will get cloud access to Sony movies in late September — possibly September 30th, as DECE hinted in April — while the French will have their turn sometime in the fall. Neither Sony nor other studios have provided additional launch dates, although we know that neighboring countries like Belgium and the Netherlands should be next on the list.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: Handelsblatt (translated)
Though ESPN 3D’s imminent demise might be evidence to some that 3D TV isn’t exactly killing it, BBC has confirmed that it will cover Wimbledon again this year with that extra dimension. In particular, it will broadcast selected matches, including the men’s and women’s finals and semi-finals, in free-to-air 3D for those with the Red Button service and supported sets. Wimbledon marked its first-ever 3D broadcast two years ago, and the BBC is also experimenting with 4K coverage this year with Sony, albeit exclusively at a live spectator “experience zone” on the finely manicured grounds. The network also said it would up its live streams from six to ten to go with its YouTube coverage — meaning UKers who miss a single grunt will have only themselves to blame.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: BBC
If you’re like us, you were wondering what impact Samsung’s acquisition of Boxee would have on Boxee’s Cloud DVR service. Unfortunately, we don’t have good news. Boxee is shutting down the service on July 10th, and customers will lose access to their TV recordings at the same time. We’re not surprised by the move, but it effectively shuts the company down within the space of a week. When Boxee’s apps, the Boxee Box and the Live TV add-on are either gone or on their way out, there aren’t really products left to offer — it’s all Samsung from here.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Via: The Verge
Source: Boxee
Like many, many (many) other programmers, NBC Universal’s USA Network has had its own iOS app, USA Anywhere, for quite some time. However, users have been disappointed with the lack of past episode availability, among other foibles, so USA has just taken the wraps off a new app called Anywhere Plus, available for free on iTunes. You’ll now be able to watch all its programs a day after they air and back episodes for certain shows, assuming you’re signed up for the network with a cable provider. Even if you’re not, selected episodes are now available along with behind-the-scenes clips, interviews and the like. You’ll also get a program guide and the usual social network bells and whistles, so if you’ve been looking to get your Psych or Burn Notice fix on the go, hit the source.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: 9 to 5 Mac
Source: iTunes
Like many, many (many) other programmers, NBC Universal’s USA Network has had its own iOS app, USA Anywhere, for quite some time. However, users have been disappointed with the lack of past episode availability, among other foibles, so USA has just taken the wraps off a new app called Anywhere Plus, available for free on iTunes. You’ll now be able to watch all its programs a day after they air and back episodes for certain shows, assuming you’re signed up for the network with a cable provider. Even if you’re not, selected episodes are now available along with behind-the-scenes clips, interviews and the like. You’ll also get a program guide and the usual social network bells and whistles, so if you’ve been looking to get your Psych or Burn Notice fix on the go, hit the source.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: 9 to 5 Mac
Source: iTunes
We may have had some connectivity issues during our livestream, but the magic of post production means a smooth podcast for your listening pleasure as usual. Aside from the usual topics like Netflix, 4K TVs and IPTV, Ben’s still wondering how Richard manages to have time to waste for watching multiple TV episodes — given our hectic schedules and all. Get to streaming below!
Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)
Producer: Joe Pollicino (@akaTRENT)
Hear the podcast
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Podcasts, HD
Bell tried to shake up the Canadian media landscape last year by acquiring Astral Media, but it ran into a CRTC-sized roadblock — regulators didn’t want 25 TV stations moving to one provider. After some big concessions, however, Bell has received approval to buy Astral for $3.2 billion. The revised deal gives Bell control of 12 channels that include The Movie Network, HBO Canada’s owner. Bell is offloading some important TV content to move forward, though. Corus gets several recognizable channels that include the Cartoon Network and Teletoon, while big stations like Disney XD and MusiquePlus are on the auction block. Not that Bell will complain too loudly when the buyout closes on July 5th, mind you. The merger still gives it 35.8 percent of the English Canadian TV market and 22.6 percent of its French Canadian equivalent, or enough to immediately eclipse rivals like Rogers and Quebecor.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Variety
Source: Astral Media
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