Hasta La Gadget!

During CES week, European television network Eutelsat launched the first-ever 4K TV channel, and while it’s only for experimental and demonstration purposes, it’ll set the tone for the future of television broadcasting. Case in point: Japan is planning on launching 4K TV broadcasts in July 2014, which is two years ahead of schedule.

According to a report from the Asahi Shimbun, the 4K transmissions will first begin using communication satellite channels before moving to broadcast satellites, with digital broadcasting arriving at a later date. Not a lot of details are available at this point, but it should only be a matter of time before we hear more about 4K TV broadcasting.

However, the report notes that the 4K broadcast is set to be up and running by the time the final match of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil kicks off, which will no doubt excite avid soccer fans in Japan. Plus, since 4K broadcasts are two years ahead of schedule, they’re also moving up 8K broadcasts as well, which should be launching in 2016.

The biggest story of CES 2013 was the rise of 4K televisions. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve heard about them this year, but companies like Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, and LG are just now putting their respective models up for sale, but of course, it’ll cost you a pretty penny to afford one of these new panels.

[via Reuters]

Japan to launch 4K TV broadcasts in July 2014 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In case you missed the news, some U-Verse customers in a number of different areas around the country have been experiencing service outages since the beginning of the week. When we first told you about the problems, AT&T was being vague on what was causing them and when service would return. Today is a different story, as AT&T is saying that service is returning for many affected customers.

If you still don’t have service, sit tight, because the company claims that service should return for everyone at some point today. Even better is the fact that AT&T will credit those who were affected by the outage, so your next bill might be a little lower than it usually is. Paying less is always a good thing, even if you did have to deal with a service outage for the better part of a week.

Speaking to The New York Times, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel spoke of the outage. “U-verse service has been restored for the vast majority of our customers affected by the outage,” Siegel said. “We expect any remaining customer issues will be resolved this morning.” Apparently, the outages were caused by a botched software update, so it seems that AT&T has fixed the issue and is definitely ready to move on from this sticky situation.

The outages affected many consumers in a number of different states, seemingly stretching across the south of the US. We’re glad to hear that AT&T is bringing U-Verse back for most today, but we imagine that the company has quite a few angry customers to deal with now. Were you one of the many who were affected by this service outage?

AT&T U-Verse issues being resolved today is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re an AT&T U-Verse customer, then there’s a chance that you’ve been experiencing some problems with your service lately. AT&T U-Verse service has been suffering from outages in some areas of the US, with little in the way of an explanation from the company. All we know is that AT&T is working to bring U-Verse service, which includes TV, Internet, and phone, back to these affected areas.

DSLReports says that its users in several states including Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, and Arkansas are reporting outages, with AT&T confirming the outages in Florida to The Miami Herald. In its confirmation, it didn’t say why the outages were happening, only saying that it has a “team of engineers and technicians” working on coming up with a fix.

Some of these folks have been experiencing service interruptions since Monday morning, so the fact that they haven’t been fixed yet may suggest a big problem for AT&T. Indeed, it sounds like the company isn’t going to divulge the cause of the problems, as similar statements are lacking any significant details. Perhaps AT&T doesn’t yet know what’s causing the problem? It seems unlikely, but with the company remaining tight-lipped about the issues its having, we suppose it’s possible.

The good news is that a few U-Verse subscribers are reporting restored service, but for the most part, it seems that outages are still plaguing customers. With AT&T’s vague statements, it’s impossible to know how much longer these outages will last, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope that they don’t go on much longer. Keep it here at SlashGear, as we’ll let you know if AT&T makes any new announcements on the outages.

[via FierceIPTV]

AT&T U-Verse outages hitting some US consumers is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

CES is mostly useless, sure, and most of the trillion dinky things trotted out like chrome and plastic show chihuahuas will wind up in landfills. But CES is worth it just to give 4K, Ultra HD TV its big debut. And if you’re not amazed by it, I’m afraid you’re an idiot. More »

Netflix customers in the US will soon get a host of new shows coming their way, thanks to a content-licensing agreement between Netflix and two content providers, Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros. Television Group. The deal means that tons of new shows from Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TNT, and more, will be making their way to the streaming service as soon as late March.

Netflix’s exclusive Arrested Development production won’t air until later this May, so while eager fans are waiting for the show’s return, they’ll be able to catch up on shows like Adventure Time, Ben 10, the Green Lantern animated series, Robot Chicken, Johnny Bravo, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and TNT’s Dallas, which will join Netflix in January 2014, while the rest will come on March 30.

This licensing agreement comes just one week after Netflix announced an earlier deal, which focused primarily on live-action shows, and it appears that Netflix and Warner Bros. are becoming increasingly friendly with one another, which is both good for the two companies involved, as well as the consumers.

With the ever-increasing back catalog of TV shows, Netflix is becoming a dominant figure in the streaming media realm, hosting not only TV shows, but a respectable collection of movies as well. And every time the service makes another deal with a content provider, it becomes more and more tempting to cut the cable cord.

[via Deadline]

Netflix makes content-licensing deal with Turner and Warner Bros. is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.