Here we post some great articles on digital cameras, gadgets, handhelds, HD and home entertainment to name but a few.

No blog would be right without involving the old laptop here and there, media, mobiles, networking, news, vehicles and videos.

So thanks for viewing and look forward to seeing you soon…

Filed under: Satellite, New content

“HD Supremacy” was claimed by DISH Network, but DirecTV is heading down the Comcast path, touting its VOD offerings with the biggest selection of 1080p movies. With “more than 30″ movies available it doesn’t quite match Blu-ray and falls short of HDX, but DirecTV Plus HD DVR receiver owners can look forward to new flicks like Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler and Quantum of Solace being available in the highest res as soon as they launch on the DirecTV on Demand platform. According to VP Eric Shanks, even customers without 1080p HDTVs are seeing the benefit. A year after we first heard 1080p HD VOD was on the way, are you taking advantage?

DirecTV claims largest 1080p library, including all new HD VOD on the way originally appeared on Engadget HD on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, New content

Missed the Dr. Who holiday special? It, and other BBC programmes will be available as previously rumoured in high definition via BBC’s iPlayer, now featuring new adaptive bitrate technology plus a new BBC iPlayer Desktop and a cross platform download manager for access under Windows, OS X and Linux. The only bad news? All that HD doesn’t seem to extend to set-top boxes or the PS3 just yet, you’ll have to try it out for yourself under boxee to find out if that works.

iPlayer HD now available originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Displays, Philips, LCD

We’ll definitely be missing Philips UltraWidescreen 21:9 display with no U.S. release in the plans, but buyers world wide who need a bit of a convincer to drop the €4,000 need only check out the new Cinema “interactive movie.” The 2+ minute feature takes you through a fictional movie setup with director, FX supervisor and director of photography chiming in on the importance of cinema widescreen. The interactive bit comes into play as the viewer can switch between 16:9 and turn Ambilight on and off on a simulated screen playing the flick. Cinema 21:9 launches this month in France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Russia, the trailer is embedded after the break (live demo video is here), check it out and let us know if you’re ready to come out of pocket for this 2560×1080p beast.

Continue reading Philips “Carousel” short shows what you’re missing without Cinema 21:9 and Ambilight

Philips “Carousel” short shows what you’re missing without Cinema 21:9 and Ambilight originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: New content

Just when we were wondering about Univision’s plans for HD, comes word that it is rolling out high definition throughout the 2009-10 broadcast season, ready in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. also to be in HD? Video on-demand packages, as well as broadcasts on the Telefutura group, but if soccer / football isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there should be plenty of telenovelas and other entertainment specials in the coming year as well.

[Via Multichannel News]

Univision going HD in time for the 2010 World Cup originally appeared on Engadget HD on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: ABC, CBS, Discovery-HD, ESPN-HD, Fox, HBO-HD, NBC, TNT-HD, Listings

What we’re watching tonight:

• ABC (720p) has Dancing With the Stars at 8 p.m. and Castle at 10:02 p.m.
• Fox (720p) has House at 8 p.m. and 24 at 9 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) lines up Chuck at 8 p.m. followed by Heroes and Medium
• CBS (1080i) has The Big Bang Theory at 8 p.m., followed by How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami at 10 p.m.
• ABC Family (720p) has Greek at 8 p.m. followed by Roommates at 9 p.m. and Sophie at 9:30 p.m.
• Discovery (1080i) airs the season finale of Destroyed in Seconds at 8 & 8:30 p.m. an Arctic Roughnecks at 9 p.m. and the series premiere of Doing Da Vinci at 10 p.m.
• History (720p) has Battles BC at 8 p.m. and Ax Men at 10 p.m.
• TLC (1080i) brings Little People, Big World at 8 & 8:30 p.m., then Table for 12 at 9 p.m.
• TNT (1080i) has the season finale of Saving Grace at 10 p.m.
• USA (1080i) has a three hour WWE: Raw at 9 p.m.
• Travel (1080i) has Dhani Tackles the Globe at 9 p.m.
• HBO (1080i) has In Treatment at 9 & 9:30 p.m.
• ESPN (720p) has Padres/Mets at 7 p.m.

HDTV Listings for April 13, 2009 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Displays, JVC, LCD

Not that JVC’s been avoiding the 3D bandwagon or anything, but it has yet to formally introduce a 3D HDTV to really take advantage of the in-home 3D revolution that 3D backers just swear is right around the bend. The GD-463D10 is a 46-inch LCD HDTV with a native 1,920 x 1080 resolution, 2,000:1 contrast ratio, twin ten-watt speakers and support for three-dee material. We’re also told that the set will come bundled with a pair of polarized glasses when it ships in Japan early next month. The only problem? That

Filed under: Industry, Fiber, Internet

This week Verizon’s taken some time off from its expansionist FiOS TV policies, instead highlighting the upcoming UEFA Champions League playoffs subscribers can catch on ESPN 360, and a new multiyear deal making it the first distributor to offer Yankees games on-demand from the YES Network. Otherwise, we’ve got the obligatory response to the FCC’s national broadband plans, we’ll be back next week to see if there’s any new rollouts to speak of.

Read – Verizon and ESPN360.com Bring High-Powered European Soccer League Playoffs to American Online Audience
Read – Verizon Statement on FCC Broadband Plan
Read – YES Network and Verizon Reach Multiyear Video-on-Demand Agreement

Verizon’s FiOS TV expansions: April 11, 2009 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 11 Apr 2009 08:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Blu-ray, Players

Looking for region-free Blu-ray and DVD support? The Momitsu BDP-899 fits the bill, including BD-Live and Dolby TrueHD output. It’s not clear whether multi region support is included by default or only due to retailer mods, but the BDP-899 can be manually changed between DVD & Blu-ray regions when there isn’t a disc in the tray via a code input by the remote. We found a few reviews indicating its region switching and PAL/NTSC conversion works as advertised, though checking out every possible combination could stress anyone’s disc library. At $349, it’s the cheapest BD-Live compatible region free player we’ve seen, although questions about how fast Momitsu will be in providing firmware updates in case of problems might have the region switching consumer eyeing more expensive modded players from other manufacturers instead.

[Via CD Freaks, thanks Richard!]

Read – Quick review of Momitsu BDP-899 BluRay player
Read – BDP-899 (modified) Region FREE Blu-ray player review

Momitsu BDP-899 promises out of the box region free Blu-ray for cheap originally appeared on Engadget HD on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Misc

Here at Engadget HD, we’d prefer not to just focus on high-def happenings in the US of A. Thus, we round up the best of the best from the international front each week and present it here, bundled together in a single, easy to digest list. If something went down in your corner of the globe over the past seven days, let the rest of the world know it in comments. ‘Til next week, Ma as-salaamah!

Read – Unitel Classica reveals HDTV details
Read – Sun Direct launches high definition services
Read – The silver bullet for MENA HDTV
Read – Eutelsat Announces the Launch in June on ATLANTIC BIRD(TM) 3 of France’s Free Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) Channels for Homes Beyond Terrestrial Reception
Read – Naxoo adds myzen.tv HD
Read – Brava HDTV extends to Portugal
Read – Pre-pay DTH for Hungary
Read – No HD in 2009 for RTL Nederland
Read – West Coast Baseball is Back With 50 Games, All in High Definition

International HD news roundup originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Polls, Blu-ray, Media PCs

Alright, Steve may have called Blu-ray “a bag of hurt” but Microsoft’s Laptop Hunting mom & son duo (ad embedded after the break) looked pretty happy to see it in their new VAIO laptop. The Apple / Blu-ray rumors flying since the format launched have amounted to very little and for now it’s up to iTunes to take care of ones legit HD movie fix, so we’ve just got to know, is that enough to send you running to XP, Vista or Windows 7? Vote, then let us know why in the comments.

View Poll

Continue reading Poll: Is the lack of Blu-ray playback keeping you from buying a Mac?

Poll: Is the lack of Blu-ray playback keeping you from buying a Mac? originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Announcements, Cables, Switches, Others

The recession antidote giveaways over at Engadget Classic have been a huge hit, and nothing could make us happier — except a special set of giveaways just for HD readers, of course! We’re sure AV gear is one of the first things to get trimmed from the household budget, but we want to make sure our readers aren’t totally cut off. Luckily, the good folks at Next Generation Home Products sent us a raft of HD-centric goodies. There’s still more good stuff in the bag, which brings us to round two of the giveaway. Up for grabs this week are four bundles that should help alleviate any HDMI shortages in your system. Each bundle has a 5×1 HDMI switch with remote control, a 1-m length of Copperhead HDMI cable and a 6-inch HDMI extension. Four lucky readers will be picked, so your odds should be a bit better on this giveaway; check the rules below and start commenting!

Special thanks to Next Generation Home Products for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once.
  If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. Four winners will receive one (1) 5×1 HDMI switch, one (1) 1-m length of Copperhead HDMI cable and one (1) 6-inch Copperhead HDMI extension. Approximate value of each package is $250.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Friday, April 17th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Engadget HD giveaway: win a 5×1 HDMI switch and Copperhead HDMI cables! originally appeared on Engadget HD on Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: DVRs, Media streamers, Set-top boxes, Cable

In Digeo’s latest move into the consumer DVR market it is rolling out first big update since the launch only a few months ago. The list of additions is pretty nice, but our most anticipated feature, the Moxi-mate, is still just “coming soon.” Although all the new features are interesting, the most notable is the DLNA certification which allows your Moxi to play all kinds of media from your PC, including from a PlayOn server. What’s even better is that Digeo is actually throwing in the PlayOn software — famous for its Hulu and Netflix support — for free with the update, which $40 normally. The other new Moxi features users will have access to within the next few days is an expansion of Moxi Net outside its walled garden, as well as a few new home automation tricks that’ll let you take advantage of Z-Wave lights and various IP cameras — also configured via Moxi Net. Believe it or not though, there is actually more, but rather than go on and on covering the Flickr improvements and Rhapsody support, we’ll just provide the entire release after the break.

Continue reading Moxi’s spring updates brings PlayOn, DLNA and a little home automation

Moxi’s spring updates brings PlayOn, DLNA and a little home automation originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Industry, Cable, Sports

This Hatfield & McCoy-like dispute has been going on for years now and it might be ready to come to a head. In case you haven’t seen the ads, the NFL Network could leave Comcast altogether May 1. As always, the NFL wants to be on the basic tier in every subscriber’s house alongside ESPN and, less popular, Comcast owned channels, and Comcast wants to keep it on the sports tier, where only those willing to shell out extra will see what it claims is the 4th most expensive channel it has. We like the NFL, but we also hate higher basic cable bills for stuff not everyone wants to watch. Of course, an 11th hour reprieve is always possible — see Viacom, Big Ten Network and more, but next month Comcast subs may have to choose which large, greedy corporation they love more.

Read – NFL, not Comcast, is behind dispute over NFL Network
Read – I Want NFL Network

NFL Network, Comcast slapfight could see channel yanked May 1 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Industry, Misc

Looks like Brits have something more important on their minds than HDTV, with survey results indicating that although 99% of consumers were aware of HD only 11% are planning on buying one this year. Of course, one must take online polls with a grain of salt, but the results must be troubling for projected rollouts of HD and beyond, with 53% indicating they don’t have it and don’t plan to buy. The problem? Tight wallets and a “perceived lack of content.” We’ll wait until the HD Dr. Who Planet of the Dead special airs and see if that shifts the numbers any.

Survey: Only one in 10 UK consumers planning to go HD this year originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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