Hasta La Gadget!

Windows Media Center fans can finally breathe again. After seemingly endless will they / won’t they speculation Steven Sinofsky, the President of the Windows Division has confirmed in a blog post that Media Center will return for yet another go ’round in Windows 8. There’s no word on any possible changes, only that the company has “work to do” concerning the quality and compatibility of add-ins. Wondering why it hasn’t been in some pre-release builds? Between the potential for multiple SKUs (no details until closer to release, but it seems like you’ll be looking for an Ultimate pack or something similar again to get everything) and simple engineering decisions as features are added and removed that’s just the way it is. Another factor is that WMC isn’t exactly mass market, as he cites stats indicating only 6 percent of Windows 7 users launched the app in July, with over half of those sessions lasting less than a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, IE apparently pops up on 88 percent of Windows 7 desktops. Check the blog post for his full statement, plus a bit of discussion about the new Metro style and ribbon mechanism.

[Thanks, Joe]

Microsoft confirms Media Center will be in Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had plenty to talk about on this week’s Engadget HD Podcast but first we had some internal business to attend to with our BTS giveaway (you’re entered right?) and Fantasy Football trash talking. After that, a combination of DirecTV leaks and news from Google and Apple had us in a mood to talk about the state of the TV industry and just who is standing in the way of innovation. Luckily, there is someone working on new technology, and the ATSC is working on new broadcast standards for 3D and other features to be delivered via antenna. After that we turned to the Xbox 360, which is getting some 3D games from Microsoft including Halo: CE Anniversary, and a brand new ESPN3 app. To wrap things up we had to get in some HD display news, with a new projector and Sony’s web app that lets you figure out just what size TV your living room can handle before digging into this week’s HDTV shows, Blu-ray discs and videogames.

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

Producer: Trent Wolbe

03:40 – Engadget’s HD Back to School Giveaway: Win Scarface and The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray!
04:30 – DirecTV’s Nomad teaser page suggests a Slingbox competitor, but little else
06:30 – More DirecTV Nomad info uncovered, but details are still fuzzy
09:17 – TiVo talks cable, satellite deals in Q2 results; DirecTiVo exposed! (video)
11:51 – Time Warner Cable will pay for your Slingbox, in exchange for love
15:34 – Google TV coming to the UK within six months
20:00 – Google remains committed to TV business, expects more partners soon
26:20 – Android SDK add-on brings Market one step closer to your Google TV
26:50 – Apple stops renting TV shows in iTunes, could be working on a new kind of video service
39:05 – ATSC commences 3DTV standard development, better get your glasses ready
42:29 – Microsoft confirms 3D support in Halo: CE remake for Xbox 360
44:18 – Xbox 360’s ESPN3 app updated with more voice control, split screen and more
49:56 – Digital Projection debuts new native ultrawidescreen projector
51:08 – Sony’s AR tool lets you put big screens in small apartments (video)
52:10 – Must See HDTV (August 29th – September 4th)

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Engadget HD Podcast 263 – 08.30.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re still in a holding pattern waiting for the NFL regular season to start and fall TV shows to premiere but luckily college football is here to save the day. It’s not alone though, check out our highlighted picks of the week right here, followed after the break by our weekly listings of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

College Football
While the pros — a distinction that is getting fuzzier and fuzzier *cough* Miami *cough* — get ready for their season to start college football teams will be getting back to it this weekend. UNLV and Wisconsin have the first high profile matchup of the year on ESPN (and ESPN 3D) Thursday night while Oregon and LSU play Saturday in a game that could have National Championship implications right away. We’ll include some of the high profile national matchups on our schedule, but you can click here to find out where every nationally broadcast game will be on throughout the season — we know how tough tracking Middle Tennessee can be.

The Hour
BBC America will air the third of six episodes of this drama on Wednesday night as it takes us behind the scenes of a 1950s TV news show featuring The Wire’s Dominic West. While it’s a period piece with plenty of sex, sexism and whiskey if you’re looking for a Mad Men clone you’ll likely be disappointed. The short story arc doesn’t build Don Draper-like lead characters, but the Suez Crisis, spies and a suspicious death form a strong enough backdrop for us to sink our teeth into. If you’re a fan of British TV we’d rate this one below the excellent Luther, but well above Law & Order: UK — check out a trailer after the break.
(August 31, BBC America, 10 PM)

Madden NFL 12
It’s that time of year again, when Madden comes out and we resort to couch based battles of supremacy for bragging rights and more. As usual, not that much has changed from year to year, but there are updates including a new collision system that promises to improve tackling, custom playbooks and new camera angles cribbed from NFL Films archives. After generally positive reviews — it snagged a 3.5-star rating from our friends at Joystiq — we won’t stop you from laying down $60 one more time for EA’s annual refresh.
($59.99, August 30)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (August 29th – September 4th)

Must See HDTV (August 29th – September 4th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even though DirecTV’s website is ready to start doling out the information on its elusive Nomad TV box, a post on Gizmo Lovers digs through the available information to show just how much there is to know, and how much is still unknown. Between on a DirecTV satellite installer training video, a suggestive press release by fellow RVU member Morega and the long running rumor thread over on DBSTalk, the technology in play is certainly capable of both Slingbox style streaming and TiVoToGo sideloading, but what will actually be enabled is unclear. Once it rolls out, the Nomad will connect to multiroom capable satellite boxes via a wired network connection and transcode the video streams it pulls in for other devices like PCs and mobiles. All the other details are shrouded in rumor, regarding its use of h.264 and how much internal storage is available, but if you’re wondering whether the long delayed DirecTV will really be able to compete with Sling, Monsoon and the flood of TV-streaming iPad apps available in 2011 then hitting the source link below is a good way to get started.

More DirecTV Nomad info uncovered, but details are still fuzzy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has been slower than Sony to jump on the 3D gaming bandwagon — not surprising considering it isn’t the one desperately pushing the televisions needed to experience them — but today the company confirmed rumors that Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be playable in 3D. Joystiq experienced a demo at Gamescom in Germany, and reports that it only works with the game’s updated graphics mode, and that the game’s producer claims the framerate will stay consistent even in 3D. While there are already a number of Xbox 360 games that support 3DTVs, this is the first one we’ve heard developed by Microsoft, although Epic revealed earlier this month that the Microsoft-produced Gears of War 3 will support 3D. that’s good news for gamers that have made the extra dimensional jump already, while those of us playing in 2D can hopefully still see performance improvements, especially while playing co-op — we always bring a wingman / shoulder to cry on for The Flood.

Microsoft confirms 3D support in Halo: CE remake for Xbox 360 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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