Hasta La Gadget!

Let’s be honest, as much as we all like to play film snob, we’re thinking more of you watch Family Ties, Star Trek and Cheers than the works of Bergman and Kurosawa. As long as that’s the case, perhaps the pain of losing Criterion’s content to Hulu Plus will be eased by word of a new deal with CBS bringing a slew of its older shows including the aforementioned plus Twin Peaks, The Twilight Zone and newer-but-not-new shows like Medium to the service for two years starting in early April. No word on how big of a check the now-20 million strong Netflix had to cut to pull this off, but the deal is non-exclusive, so you could see all of these on Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, Redbox or… you get the picture.

Continue reading Netflix signs up some TV shows from CBS’ library for Watch Instantly streaming

Netflix signs up some TV shows from CBS’ library for Watch Instantly streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our program today is XXXXXL heavy in a lot of different ways, and most of those ways lie under a big robotic green umbrella. Get it? It was a weather-related Android allusion; please forgive us. It’s the Engadget Podcast, wedged firmly between the past and the future, unsure of what to feel about either one, but trying to exist really completely in the now.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Love Will Tear Us Apart

00:05:30 – Samsung Galaxy S II official: dual-core 1GHz CPU, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus, coming this month (hands-on with video)
00:05:50 – HTC Incredible S, Desire S, and Wildfire S video hands-on
00:06:00 – Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 preview (video)
00:16:22 – Qualcomm promises Netflix streaming support on ‘future Android devices’ with Snapdragon
00:16:43 – Android-powered LG Revolution caught streaming Netflix at MWC (video)
00:23:02 – Next version of Android will combine Gingerbread and Honeycomb, arrive on a six-month cycle
00:23:58 – The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (update: video and full spec sheet!)
00:24:25 – Sony Ericsson touts Xperia Play multiplayer gaming, promises 50 titles at launch
00:24:40 – Sony Ericsson Xperia Play available in March, on Verizon in ‘early spring’
00:35:26 – LG Optimus 3D hands-on
00:44:48 – HTC’s Facebook-worshipping phones headed to AT&T later this year
00:46:20 – HTC Salsa and Chacha bring the dedicated Facebook button to Android (update: eyes-on)
00:51:30 – Motorola Xoom vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs. LG G-Slate — battle of the Tegra 2 Honeycomb tablets
00:52:08 – Motorola Xoom price official: $799 unsubsidized on Verizon, $600 for WiFi-only
00:53:00 – Motorola’s Sanjay Jha on Xoom: ‘Our ability to deliver 4G justifies the $799 price point’
00:59:10 – HTC launches 1.5GHz, 7-inch Android 2.4 Flyer into the tablet wars (update: hands-on video!)
00:59:48 – HTC Flyer tablet hits Amazon.de for 669 euros
00:59:55 – The stylus isn’t dead: more pen-based tablets and apps coming this year
01:05:01 – Exclusive: Sony ‘S1’ PlayStation tablet (updated)
01:06:02 – Nokia: ‘Our first priority is beating Android’
01:06:20 – Eric Schmidt: ‘We certainly tried’ to get Nokia to use Android
01:06:40 – HTC CEO Peter Chou on Microsoft / Nokia partnership: ‘it’ll make the ecosystem stronger’
01:07:00 – The Engadget Interview: Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman talks Windows Phone 7 and Nokia
01:07:30 – Windows Phone 7’s multitasking uses zoomed-out cards to check on your apps
01:08:50 – Microsoft Rally Ball demo shows Windows Phone 7, Kinect, Xbox Live living in perfect harmony (video)
01:09:10 – Microsoft shows off WP7’s future with multitasking, Twitter integration, and IE9, all coming this year
01:12:40 – Nokia’s marginalization of MeeGo came as a surprise to Intel
01:13:58 – Intel’s Otellini insists company is committed to MeeGo, says he ‘understood’ why Nokia moved to Microsoft
01:14:25 – Editorial: Intel keeps pushing MeeGo, but why?
01:14:50 – Intel shows off more of its MeeGo Tablet UI, still needs lots of work
01:27:50 – Motorola Atrix 4G review

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Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget Podcast 233 – 02.21.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There is another solution for Android owners disappointed that their phone or tablet may never support Netflix’s official DRM specs, now that PlayOn has unleashed a version of its mobile app (already on iOS) for the platform. The free app uses Adobe Flash so it’s limited to devices running Android 2.2. (Froyo) and above, but like Plex, coupled with a computer running the server software, it brings online video streams from almost any source including Watch Instantly, Hulu, ESPN3 and more over 3G or WiFi. Barring any kind of Roku-style bannination existing users should download the app and get going immediately, while new users can give the server a 14-day free trial before deciding whether or not to pay the $39.99 first year subscription fee — check out the press release and video trailer after the break.

Continue reading PlayOn app for Android 2.2 and above means Netflix, Hulu for all

PlayOn app for Android 2.2 and above means Netflix, Hulu for all originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consider it a mystery solved. Throughout the week here in Barcelona, we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time chasing down suits from LG, Qualcomm, NVIDIA and Verizon Wireless to answer one simple question: “What’s up with the processor in the Revolution?” If you’ll recall, NVIDIA actually sent one of its own to Verizon’s LTE press event at CES 2011, specifically to bust out a Revolution and gloat about the Tegra 2 chip within (video’s after the break if you don’t believe us). As it stood, it seemed as if the Thunderbolt and Revolution would be butting heads from a CPU standpoint, with the former definitively sporting a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8655. And then, came the confusion. We showed up at Qualcomm’s booth here at Mobile World Congress to see which phone it was using to demonstrate the recently unveiled Netflix-on-Android support — lo and behold, LG’s Revolution was the handset of choice. Obviously, there had to be a new Snapdragon processor within, as only the newest of the new will have the necessary DRM libraries at a hardware level that are necessary to pass muster with the MPAA.

After venturing over to LG’s booth, we were also able to confirm that the only Revolution it knew of was boasting a Qualcomm CPU, and the shot above (which was sourced from there) proves it. We also confirmed with Verizon Wireless’ paperwork that the version it’s expecting in the next month or so will ship with Qualcomm inside. Finally, NVIDIA refused to comment on the matter, simply suggesting that we contact LG for more details. Put all of that together, and we’re able to come to two main conclusions. First off, it seems as if LG yanked support for the Tegra 2 at some point between CES and MWC — right around four weeks. Hard to say if there were reliability issues, an unsatisfactory amount of power drain, or just irreconcilable differences between the two CEOs (joking, of course). Secondly, it’s reasonably safe to assume that Verizon’s Revolution will be the first Android handset on Big Red to stream Netflix directly, which may please those who were planning on buying one but weren’t looking forward to going without Netflix thanks to the Tegra 2 that was (presumably) slated for inclusion. Qualcomm 1, NVIDIA 0.

Update: NVIDIA finally saw fit to drop us a line and clarify a bit. Turns out, the confirmation in the video below was a gaff to begin with, as the Revolution was never going to be outfitted with NVIDIA innards. Go figure, right?

Vlad Savov contributed to this report.

Continue reading LG Revolution using 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8655, not NVIDIA’s Tegra 2

LG Revolution using 1GHz Snapdragon MSM8655, not NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, well — what have we here? That up above is LG’s Revolution, a Snapdragon-powered Android superphone. What’s inside is no normal Snapdragon, though. It’s actually a newfangled chip that isn’t shipping to consumers just yet, which includes DRM libraries at a hardware level that serve to satisfy paranoid movie execs. The good news is that Qualcomm has actually whipped up a solution that’ll finally bring Watch Instantly to Android; the bad news is that existing smartphones — even existing Snapdragon devices — will not be able to utilize the app. Without new hardware, the Android version of the Netflix app simply won’t function, and no one at Qualcomm was willing to tell us when these Netflix-friendly Snapdragon chips would begin to ship out.

Whenever that fateful day arrives, though, Snapdragon devices with HDMI sockets will be able to beam that content right to their HDTV — the company’s hardware is HDCP-approved, so there’s no sweat when it comes to watching content on the big screen. On-site representatives made clear that both the phone and the app were for demonstration purposes only, but we’d be shocked if LG’s handset shipped without this compatibility. The demo we saw was smooth as butter, and the app itself looked glorious on the Revolution’s 4.3-inch touchscreen. See for yourself in the video just past the break.

Continue reading Android-powered LG Revolution caught streaming Netflix at MWC (video)

Android-powered LG Revolution caught streaming Netflix at MWC (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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