Hasta La Gadget!

Google has released an early WebM plug-in for Microsoft’s latest and greatest browser, IE9 — stepping in to fill a gap that Microsoft itself refused to fill. You may remember the firm’s decision to not build in support for the new standard natively, but that it was “all in” with HTML5, WebM’s close cousin. Billed as a “technology preview” at this stage of the game, the add-on will enable users to play all WebM video content just like the good Internet overlords intended them to, despite the fact that an additional download is needed. Microsoft said that it would allow for support and it appears to be following up on its word, regardless of other harsher comments made separately. Isn’t it good to see big companies getting along? Now if only these same niceties played out in the mobile landscape, then we’d really be getting somewhere.

[Thanks, ChrisSsk]

Internet Explorer 9 gets WebM support with ‘preview’ plug-in from Google, internet video gets more friendly originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every year CBS has enhanced its March Madness On Demand experience, from HD VOD on cable boxes to HD streaming on PCs before adding PiP and paid mobile access last year. For 2011, a new deal has brought in Turner Sports to not only provide enough channels to air all the games in high definition (we figure you’ll find CBS, TNT and TBS on the channel guide with no problem, but with some of the games diverted to lesser known TruTV HD check the HDSportsGuide link below to see if it’s in your area yet) but also expand the streaming experience by promising higher quality video, personalized channel lineup and social tie ins. If you’re on the go, the mobile client for iOS devices (sorry, no Android or other mobile OSes) is free this year so you can keep that fiver in your pocket this time. There’s another pic of the iPad client, a video trailer and all sorts of details waiting after the break, so click through to find out more or just wait for the free apps to hit iTunes March 10th.

Continue reading CBS & Turner Sports are streaming all the March Madness games to PCs, iPhones & iPads for free

CBS & Turner Sports are streaming all the March Madness games to PCs, iPhones & iPads for free originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a slow climb since Netflix first announced it was adding closed captioning to the PC and Mac in early 2010, but today’s blog post indicates its reached 30% of the available titles. So far platforms on the second revision of its streaming frontend like the PS3, Boxee Box, Google TV and Nintendo Wii support optional captions while the Xbox 360 and Roku players should “later this year.” Of course, while its per-episode count is significantly higher, it’s still only a few hundred of Netflix’s available series, and deaf/hard of hearing users face problems like having some episodes subbed while others aren’t. Netflix’s new page breaking out supported titles should help, while nc-mac-asl’s blog or InstantWatcher.com also can provide a filter. The plan is apparently to have subtitles on 80% of content by the end of the year and here’s hoping it gets to 100% soon — makes our quibbling over 5.1 surround sound seem sort of trivial doesn’t it? (But, while we’re on the subject, Netflix, where’s 5.1 on non-PS3 clients?)

Netflix: 30 percent of Watch Instantly titles subbed with more on the way, plus Xbox & Roku support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Driving RC cars never gets old, but driving them over the internet is truly something magical. Welcome to the RixRover, the creation of Quebecer Pierric Gimmig. It’s a cheap RC truck fitted with big knobby tires that’s had its ABS body removed, replaced by an Arduino board and a netbook. The car itself cost about $45, the Arduino about $30, and Eee PC 1005-series netbook about $200. But the result, being able to drive the car over remotely via streaming video, why that’s quite simply priceless. Video after the break and, if you want to try your hand at this, there’s some source code on the other end of the source link.

Continue reading RixRover is the cheap RC car controlled by a rather more expensive Arduino and netbook combo (video)

RixRover is the cheap RC car controlled by a rather more expensive Arduino and netbook combo (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumors of Amazon either purchasing Netflix or launching a competing option have been circling and now one of our readers says he’s seeing an unlimited video streaming section to complement the current Amazon VOD options. That’s a nice bonus for the $79 / year package that currently adds a few free shipping bonuses and it would be cheaper on a yearly basis than Netflix’s Watch Instantly ($95.88.) As seen above and in the gallery, it consists of “unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows” with selections that mirror the Watch Instantly catalog closely. Resolution is apparently limited to a “pretty solid” 480p SD, but there’s no word on audio or subtitle options. We’ll wait to hear if anyone else is seeing a similar page before assuming a wide rollout, but it certainly appears that there could finally be a viable competitor to the Netflix juggernaut.

Update: We weren’t able to pull up the option on any of our Prime-enabled accounts and from the comments it doesn’t appear any of you were either. According to our tipster, the option has disappeared from his page as well. One other interesting note came from commenter vfiz, who found that several variations of the primeinstantvideos.com domain name were registered by Amazon-owned DPReview January 5.

[Thanks, Pavel]

Amazon rolling out Netflix-like unlimited video streaming for Prime subscribers? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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