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LG 55-inch OLED HDTV priced at $7,900, coming this May
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment,
LG is ready to launch its first OLED HDTV in May during the Cannes film festival. The television set, which we first saw at CES, is priced at 9 million Won, or about $7,900, so this is definitely a premium product not meant for the masses. The company originally planned to launch the OLED TV during the London Olympics, but has expedited production in order to be the first one on the market with an OLED set at retail. Upon consumer reactions, LG will either continue its investment in the OLED market, or reexamine its direction. The internal review is said to take place in July.
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| OLED Info
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TiVo introduces 500 GB Premiere, slashes prices of on XL, Elite, and service packages
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals, Storage,
TiVo has just announced that its replacing the 320 GB TiVo Premiere with a newer 500 GB model, netting buyers an additional 65% more storage. The new units start shipping on March 25th. In addition, the company has also lowered prices on the rest of its hardware lineup, as well as on the service plans as well. Here's the new pricing for the Premiere, Premiere XL, and Premiere Elite:
- TiVo Premiere $149.99: Records two shows at once and up to 75 hours of HD content
- TiVo Premiere XL $249.99 (reduced $50): Records two shows at once and up to 150 hours of HD content
- TiVo Premiere Elite $399.99 (reduced $100): Records four shows at once and up to 300 hours of HD content
As for the service plans, here are the new, lower costs:
- The TiVo monthly service fee is now $14.99 per month, with a one-year commitment, making it lower on a monthly basis than most cable offerings
- Multi-service discount pricing is now $12.99 per month
The new 500 GB TiVo Premiere can be purchased in stores, or directly from TiVo.com.
Nintendo looking to woo content providers for Wii U
Posted by John Ball Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Rumors, Wii U,
Ahh Nintendo, rarely an innovator, often an imitator. At least that can be said about the company’s next online “innovative” venture. The company is looking to various media service providers in order to kick off the Wii U release later this year with a bang. Like the Xbox 360, Nintendo has every intention of collecting as many service providers as it can in order to try to replace your cable or satellite box with the console. Nintendo is currently in talks with several ‘top content’ companies, possibly including Comcast, to become a cable TV provider alongside or after the Wii U launch.
Currently there are no official statements from Nintendo as to what content we can expect to see with the Wii U. What we do know is that Nintendo has announced that the Wii will soon be receiving Hulu compatibility.
Groupon featuring a screaming deal on a LG 3D Smart HDTV
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Hot Deals,
This week Groupon is featuring a 60-inch 3D 1080P LG plasma HDTV at a significant discount, at just $1,299 with shipping included. The deal is good for the next six days. The retailer behind the sale is the fantastic OneCall, so it's legit. The LG set features a THX-certified display, WI-Fi capability with included adapter, 2D-to-3D coversion, and a motion control remote.
Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.
Read More | Groupon
Redbox and Verizon partner to start video streaming service later this year
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Movies,
As Netflix continues to bleed customers (although that trend seems to have slowed down considerably,) Redbox has stepped in to save the day, well so we hope. The rental kiosk service will be taking a stab at video streaming options. With the success they’ve had with rentals, it was only a matter of time until the company jumped into on demand streaming. Set to be released later this year, Redbox will be available on your nearest handheld device.
Redbox will be partnering with Verizon to stream their video selection, and it appears that Verizon will be managing their service and streaming content. Though there are no set details as to how the service will work, what it will cost, or when it will launch. This is definitely an interesting one though, so we will be keeping our eye on this one.
2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Features, Home Entertainment, PC / Laptop, Family, Techies, Under $100, Under $500,
The Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB is one of the cooler items we're featuing in our 2011 Holiday Gift Guide. It basically turns your computer into a fully-functional live TV DVR. We know that features like Media Center exist on PCs, but the problem is that, until now, it's been hard to get a good signal into your computer. The InfiniTV 4 USB fixes that. It's a CableCARD adapter that plugs into your machine using USB. So all you need to do is insert a CableCARD from your cable provider, plug in your cable cord, and plug in to your computer. From there, you'll have access to all of the cable channels that you subscribe to, and you can record up to four different channels at once. See? We told you this was cool. Great for rooms where you only have a computer and no television, but also great if you want to incorporate a Mac or PC into your home theater setup, as it eliminates the need for a cable box, meaning you save on that montly rental fee. The Ceton InfiniTV 4 USB sells for $299, but you can get one on Amazon for $269, saving yourself 10%.
Will the Apple TV set be driven by apps and Siri?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, HDTV, Home Entertainment,
As soon as Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs hit the streets, buzz about a possible Apple television set has hit a fever pitched. The idea was renewed based on comments Jobs made that he had finally "cracked" the interface for such a device. Now a new report suggests that we may have already met that interface: Siri.
It's been less than a month since the new digital voice assistant on the iPhone 4S debuted to the public, but Apple may already have plans for it to feature as the controller of a connected TV. Nick Bilton, writing for the Times' Bits blog, says Apple engineers tried one thing after another in their search to simplify or do away with the remote control. After floating ideas like a wireless keyboard or iPhone control, they eventually had their eureka moment: just talk to it.
Although the report cites anonymous sources who say Apple has a television in the works, it's not clear if the information about Siri as a controller comes from them or is Bilton's speculation. It does seem like a logical move for Apple to include Siri in future products, particularly any TVs it may be working on. However, it remains to be seen if consumers fully embrace it as a control mechanism or see it as a barely useful extra. In addition, integrating Siri would require a level of electronics that most TVs don't have, pushing the price up.
Click to continue reading Will the Apple TV set be driven by apps and Siri?
Why the TiVo Elite is so much faster than the TiVo Premiere
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, HDTV, Home Entertainment,
The TiVo Premiere Elite was released this week, and many have been wondering if the only changes are the addition of a couple of tuners, and more hard drive space. Well, as it turns out, one immediately noticeable difference is just how fast the Elite is when compared to the non-Elite TiVo Premiere. In fact, it boots up in half the time, and you can move through the menus virtually lag-free. A thread on the TiVo Community forum goes into detail on what we know about the Elite so far:
- Newer 14.9 software (instead of 14.8)
- Newer kernel revision 2.6.18 buildmaster93 (instead of buildmaster64)
- Newer GCC 4.2.0 compiler used (instead of 3.3.4)
- 1024 MB of RAM (instead of 512 MB)
- SMP support enabled during boot process (instead of ?)
- Quad Tuner support (instead of dual cable & dual OTA)
After the break, we've got the full breakdown of what each of those changes means, and how they make the Elite a powerful and worthwhile beast. If you're interested, you can pick up the TiVo Premiere Elite now on Amazon.
Click to continue reading Why the TiVo Elite is so much faster than the TiVo Premiere
TiVo Premiere Elite now available, 4 tuners, 2TB, $499
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment,
TiVo's four-tuner Premiere Elite box is now available. Some were able to grab them over the weekend, prior to the official launch, and have been digging deep into the system to find changes, improvements, and bugs. The big rumor is that this TiVo is packing dual core support, and also makes multi-room Premiere-to-Premiere streaming a reality (so, no more needing to copy a show from one box to another.) There were a bunch of features that seemed to go missing, but we're guessing they've been lit up today alongside the launch of the box.
Logitech Harmony Link turns iOS and Android devices into full-fledged remote controls
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Home Entertainment,
Logitech is releasing a new product that will turn users' iPads into Harmony remotes by Halloween. The Logitech Harmony Link is the company's newest Harmony remote product, but it's not a device you hold and manipulate to control your home theater. It's a wireless device that can connect to your iPad, iPhone, or Android smartphone to let it function as a universal remote.
The Harmony Link is a disc-shaped device you place near your home theater to control all your devices. It functions as an infrared blaster, sending remote commands to your HDTV, Blu-ray player, set-top box, or compatible game console. The device itself can send infrared commands, and it comes with an infrared blaster so you can keep it in a cabinet with your other home theater devices and still send commands to your HDTV. It then connects to your Wi-Fi network, and can be controlled by any iOS device or Android smartphone through the Harmony Link app.
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