Hasta La Gadget!

It’s not often that we see those services present on the Apple TV get tweaked, but today Hulu announced its Plus offering has been on the receiving end of a major design overhaul. Clearly taking a cue from Cupertino’s own iTunes app on the tiny media box, the Hulu Plus redesign makes perfect use of a top navigation bar, which, as pictured above, lists familiar entries like TV, Movies, Kids, Latino, Queue and Search — a nice visual (and useful) change when compared to what we’ve been become accustomed to since the app first arrived on the “hobby” platform. According to Hulu, the redesign was driven by the idea to bring quick access to what subscribers are trying to watch, as well as the thought of delivering an easier discovery experience which aims to help with finding new shows and making it easier to watch recent episodes of those that are already preferred. Apple TV owners running the latest firmware can play with the fresh UI now — of course, that’s for those who are already shelling out the required $8 monthly fee for Hulu’s premium ware.

[Thanks, Andrew]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Apple

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Source: Hulu

The XBMC crew hasn’t been distracted by its early work on XBMC 13 Gotham — it’s more than willing to share the love with those who are still busy with Frodo’s adventures. A just-launched XBMC 12.1 update improves the experience in several ways on Apple platforms, rolling up iOS 6 support for second-generation Apple TV boxes, making full use of the iPhone 5’s expanded screen and bringing support in OS X for both the default audio device and playback acceleration from Intel GPUs. There’s a number of upgrades elsewhere as well: XBMC no longer monopolizes audio in Linux, runs more reliably on the Raspberry Pi and supports more Xbox 360 controllers and HDMI-CEC devices. Android has received an audio control tweak of its own and the software is available in seven new languages We’d say 12.1 is a near-automatic download if XBMC is the cornerstone of your living room, hit the source to find out everything new that awaits, or check out the Github link.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD

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Source: XBMC

March Madness is dominating the TV schedule, but a number of shows are back with new episodes or premieres. The Hobbit comes to Blu-ray (in 3D, but not 48fps… yet) this week, and Continuum has its season finale. 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.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
The seedings are set and hopefully your brackets are all filled in. March Madness is upon us and over the next three weekends we’ll see who emerges victorious from the field of 68 teams. This year you’ll be able to catch all the action on PCs and mobile devices with free apps, however if you don’t have a cable or satellite subscription, your selection of games will be very limited. Check out the full game schedule here.
(All week, CBS / TBS / TNT / TruTV)

Gizmodo: The Gadget Testers
Fellow tech blog Gizmodo will be premiering an episode of its show after the season finale of Top Gear tonight, which happens to feature our friend Veronica Belmont as one of the hosts. Check out a trailer after the break to see what the show is about, but it’s probably like whatever you’re already thinking.
(March 18th, BBC America. 10:20PM

Chupacabra vs. the Alamo
’nuff said.
(March 23rd, Syfy, 9PM)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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We got a peek at Sony’s 2013 HDTV lineup during CES in January, and now the company has announced they’re starting to roll out and confirmed official pricing. The new sets add features like NFC, MHL and Miracast support to certain models, while the top of the line W900A is its first to use Quantum Dot technology in combination with edge LED lighting. Sony’s brought back its old Triluminos brand name for the technology, which it claims provides a wider color gamut while keeping prices quite a bit lower than its last TVs to rock the tag, the now-retired XBR8 series.

There’s no word on the XBR series, but in the lower W- and R- lines the KDL-W900A is the only one with Triluminos. It also brings an extra long internal speaker duct for improved sound and standard NFC remote, and the 55-inch model will carry an MSRP of $3,299. The step down W802A version keeps MHL standard, has the NFC remote as an option and comes in 55- and 47-inch versions that start at $1,799. The 32-inch W650A will ship for $799. The R-Series dodges some of the higher end features, but some still include 3D, WiFi, RVU and the Sony Entertainment Network suite of apps including Netflix, Hulu Plus and more. The R550A has all that and is available in 70-, 60- and 50-inch versions that start at $1,399. Hit the source link for info on more models, or just keep an eye out on (digital) store shelves as these leak into retail.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Source: Sony Blog

As ubiquitous as wireless printing has become, there remains the occasional hoop to jump through for printing from mobile devices if you don’t happen to have either a special app or iOS gear that supports AirPrint. HP and Samsung are teaming up to remove many of the headaches for the Galaxy S 4: when the phone launches in April, it should have setup-free WiFi printing to almost 200 HP inkjets and LaserJets, as long as any given printer is either on the same network or is otherwise accessible through direct printing. Don’t expect ubiquitous support, though. Beyond being limited to the one phone, you’ll have to stick to some of its preloaded apps, including the browser, contacts, email client, photo gallery, Polaris Office and S Note. It’s far from a truly universal solution, then, but the two partners are at least promising zero-setup printing on both the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II through firmware updates coming later in 2013. We’ll take the approach if it saves time snagging an old-fashioned boarding pass or some concert tickets.

Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Mobile, Samsung, HP

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Source: Android Police