Harris Poll Finds DTV Transition Mostly Positive Experience

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV

It didn’t take long for Harris to take a poll to find out how many TV watchers will opt for free OTA today. Fifty five percent said they are likely to switch to antennas and drop their cable or satellite subscriptions, while those under 24 seem the most positive about the switch. Sixty nine percent found that the transition will be “good,” and the company’s Jay Adrick feels that “consumers are embracing the change.” We are not sure we agree with the survey completely as most viewers we know wouldn’t dream of giving up their gazillion+ channels.

Read More | PR Newswire

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

FEARnet Petitions to Return to Time Warner

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Movies

Fans of all things gorey, unite. Time Warner and Brighthouse Cable recently dropped FEARnet from its line-up. In an attempt to get them back on, the channel has placed a petition on Facebook. Viewing is still possible online at the site, Comcast, Fios and U-Verse. Although they only have about 7,000 fans so far, we are hoping that a few more might change the moguls minds because, as we all know, there is always room for more zombies.

Read More | FEARnet

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (1)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

Exclusive: Twitter and Facebook widgets coming to FiOS TV

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet

Earlier we posted a fairly in-depth piece looking at some of the upcoming FiOS TV features, but we figured some of you might just be interested in this juicy tidbit. We know a bunch of you are addicted to Twitter and/or Facebook, and if you are a Verizon FiOS TV subscriber, you’ll be interested to know that both are going to be integrated into your television viewing experience by way of widgets.

The Twitter integration is particularly cool, as the widget will give you a look at what people are saying about the show you are currently watching. Could be fun for sports, or reality shows. Not so much for Keeping Up with the Kardashians (hat tip to Jason on that one.)

We have no timeline for when the widgets will be pushed out, but we do know that they are currently in beta.

[Image credit: Zatz Not Funny]

Read More | Upcoming FiOS TV features

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

DTV Transition Makes Man Shoot TV

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV

We thought it most amusing when we learned that Elvis shot his TV when he would see Robert Goulet, but we guess this man took that kind of anger a bit too far. A man in Joplin, Mo. got so irritated at the DTV transition that when he lost his cable and couldn’t get the converter to work, he shot his television. Apparently, he had been drinking at the time, still that was an extreme reaction. He was charged with unlawful use of a firearm.

Read More | Home Theater

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (1)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

Gov. Paterson Proposes iPod Tax

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Home Entertainment, Movies, Music

New York’s Governor David Paterson is trying to come up with creative ways to pad the state’s $15.4 billion deficit. One of these is an “iPod tax” that would charge for downloaded music and other “digitally delivered entertainment services.” In addition, cable and satellite TV services, movie tickets, taxis, soda, beer, wine, cigars and massages will also be taxed. The proposal must still get legislative approval and we expect that if it passes, there may be an influx of New Yorkers flooding to places like New Jersey to get their tunes.

Read More | NY Daily News

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

Gefen HDMI Switcher

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Movies

Gefen’s HDMI Switcher sends HD video from 4 1.3 video sources, such as DVDs players and satellite systems at 340MHz up to1080p on your TV. Control is done by the included remote and it remembers the current selection. If you add another source and that one loses power, it goes back to the previous device. It also features lip-sync pass through, XV color support, Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master support, and CEC pass through. The switcher, which is HDCP compliant, comes with a MSRP of $199.00.

Read More | Gefen

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

AT&T testing bandwidth caps, Verizon says no plans to cap FiOS or DSL

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Corporate News, Internet

If you’re in Reno and you use AT&T as your broadband Internet provider, you’re now unfortunately the latest victim of this whole capped bandwidth nonsense that seems to be taking hold across the US. It started when Comcast implemented a 250GB per month cap on October 1. Now word has hit that metered billing of between 20-150GB per month is going to be tested in Reno on AT&T’s DSL network. If you are a new customer who’ll be apart of the trial, depending on the speed tier you choose, you’ll get a cap somewhere between 20 and 150 gigabytes per month. If you’re an existing customer, you’ll be chosen to be a part of the trial if your monthly bandwidth happens to exceed 150GB in a month.

The trend is something we are vehemently against, so I figured I’d ask one of the Verizon PR reps that I know on Twitter, Kevin Laverty, if we should expect a similar announcement from Verizon, after another Verizon rep said no. His answer:

That’s an affirmative - Verizon has no plans to cap bandwidth on either its FiOS or High Speed Internet/DSL services.

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. It’ll be a nice bullet-point for Verizon if they can say that FiOS is not only faster, but also is completely uncapped as far as usage goes.

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (1)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

Terrestrial TV Viewers to Go Online After Digital Switch

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Broadband, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech

In a survey done recently by ABI Research, the results showed that when the dreaded digital change occurs in February, 70% will attach a digital converter. As for the rest of the participants, 10% say they will switch to cable or satellite service, and 20% will just let their TVs “go dark.” Analyst Steve Wilson says the the data suggests that there will be some overall terrestrial viewers who will use other venues for entertainment such as broadband video, DVD rentals, or other online alternatives.

Read More | ABI Research

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (1)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story

Verizon FiOS vs. Comcast: Feature-by-feature

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Broadband, Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet

Ten days ago, Verizon FiOS TV officially launched here in Washington state. I was actually invited to speak at the launch event that took place that day, alongside Verizon representatives, and local government officials. I was specifically chosen as a case study of just how good FiOS is, since I literally moved specifically because Comcast was way too slow for the things we expected out of our Internet connection here at Gear Live HQ. It was an event meant to talk up the advantages of FiOS over cable (specifically, Comcast, in this area). Obviously, with FiOS looming over their territory, Comcast went into damage control mode to combat Verizon’s claims that they were the best option for Internet and television services. We were sent both the FiOS press release and the Comcast press release, and we figured we would respond to the claims of each, point-by-point.

For some background, we’ve been Comcast customers for over six years, for both Internet and television services. When we moved for FiOS 15 months ago, Comcast was still our cable television provider. As of today, I am a FiOS customer for both Internet and television, and as of 10 days ago, am no longer a Comcast customer. Now, on with the comparisons.

Click to continue reading Verizon FiOS vs. Comcast: Feature-by-feature

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (45)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

Panasonic Free-Angle HDMI Cable

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Misc. Tech

While there are plenty of flexible cords and cables for computers, Panasonic claims they have the planet’s first “free-angle” HDMI cable. The device has a version 1.3a high data transfer speed and is meant for flat panel displays. The cable can move 180º, which means you can reduce the 9cm of space usually needed behind a flatscreen to only 3 cm. Look for the flexible 1.5 and 3 meter cords to become available in August.

Read More | Pocket-lint

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story