Latest Gear Live Videos
Hulu Plus launches on Xbox 360 tomorrow with one-week free trial for all
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Home Entertainment, Microsoft, Movies, Video Games,
Xbox 360 users in the U.S. will have access to Hulu Plus starting Friday, Microsoft announced today.
Hulu Plus members will be able to stream the site's content over the Xbox 360 console, and those with the Kinect can control their Hulu queue with their voice or gestures.
As a promotion, Microsoft is teaming up with Jack Link's Beef Jerky, which will offer all Xbox Live users free access to Hulu Plus from April 29 to May 6.
"Through this sponsorship, all Xbox Live members (Free or Gold) will be able to enjoy Hulu Plus on Xbox Live, no Hulu Plus subscription or Xbox Live Gold membership required for an entire week," Larry Hryb, the director of programming for Xbox Live, wrote in a blog post.
For $7.99 per month, Hulu Plus provides users with access to full seasons of the TV shows it has available, as well as movies.
Click to continue reading Hulu Plus launches on Xbox 360 tomorrow with one-week free trial for all
Advertisement
Netflix secures syndication rights for ‘Mad Men’ on Watch Instantly
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment,
"Mad Men" fans might not get a new dose of Don Draper until 2012, but Netflix has inked a deal with Lionsgate to stream all seasons of the show via Watch Instantly.
The first four seasons of the AMC drama will be available to U.S. viewers on Netflix starting July 27. Canadian customers already have streaming access to the show.
"Mad Men has been and continues to be a representation of TV at its best and Netflix is proud to be the syndication home for this acclaimed series," Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said in a statement. "This deal secures long term instant access to an iconic show for Netflix members for years to come."
The deal is noteworthy because Netflix is paying for the syndication rights to "Mad Men"; reruns will not air on other broadcast or cable TV channels.
Click to continue reading Netflix secures syndication rights for ‘Mad Men’ on Watch Instantly
Time Warner removes Fox, Viacom, and Discovery channels from iPad App
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Software,
Amidst a controversy over streaming rights, Time Warner Cable has agreed to remove content from Fox Cable Networks, Viacom, and Discovery from its iPad app.
All three networks were "willing to threaten to sue over it," Jeff Simmermon, director of digital communications at Time Warner Cable, wrote in a blog post, so Time Warner has pulled the networks from its iPad streaming for the time being.
Specifically, Time Warner will remove streaming access to 11 channels: Animal Planet, BET, CMT, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, FX, MTV, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, Spike, and VH1.
Time Warner still maintains that it has "every right" to stream content from these channels via its iPad app, but said it will focus its iPad efforts "on those enlightened programmers who understand the benefit and importance of allowing our subscribers - and their viewers - to watch their programming on any screen in their homes."
Click to continue reading Time Warner removes Fox, Viacom, and Discovery channels from iPad App
American Idol’s Casey Abrams Back in the Hospital
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Television, Where Are They Now?,
The health problems with American Idol contestant Casey Abrams continue. We joked in our Thursday results recap that “for a few seconds it looked like he might need some sort of medical attention,” and the singer proved us right just minutes later.
Abrams won the coveted judges’ save after failing to secure votes following his Wednesday performance, and the experience was so overwhelming that he hyperventilated and collapsed after cameras stopped rolling.
Staff rallied and sat Casey in a chair before rushing him to the hospital, again, in his third dramatic stay of the (still rather young) AI season. Abrams had received a blood transfusion that very morning for his ongoing stomach problems.
As always, you can keep track of the current season of the show when you read all our American Idol 10 posts.
Read More 
| TMZ
Showtime Picks Up Chew Script
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Television, Image Comics,
Tony Chu will soon be taking literal bites out of crime... on TV.
Showtime recently purchased a script -- written by Terri Hughes Burton and Ron Milbauer -- based off of John Layman and Rob Guillory's Chew, which chronicles FDA Agent Chu's detective work, primarily performed thanks to the psychic impressions he receives from eating things (which aren't always the most edible).
Circle of Confusion, the company behind fellow Image TV adaptation The Walking Dead, is fueling the project, which Stephen Hopkins is set to direct and executive produce.
While I imagined back-to-back marathons of Chew and The Walking Dead on AMC, I take comfort in the fact that Chew has found its TV home at Showtime, which has seen a show centering on a serial killer continue past five seasons.
The biggest question, of course, is whether or not Ken Leung will be cast as Tony...
Read More | Deadline
Billy Ray Cyrus: Divorce Dropped
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Television, Divorce, Child Stars, Rumors, Where Are They Now?,
“I want to put my family back together,” Billy Ray Cyrus, one-hit wonder and father to Miley Cyrus, will tell The View on Friday. “Things are the best they’ve ever been.” Thanks to the recent progress, Billy Ray will put a halt to his divorce plans and stay in his marriage (which, so far, has lasted 17 years).
“I feel like I got my Miley back, in a way,” he revealed at the Thursday taping. “I feel like we are the daddy and daughter that we were before Hannah Montana happened.” Minus a few years, some questionable photos and a salvia-smoking scandal, of course.
Billy Ray and wife Tish issued a joint statement about their disintegrating marriage in October. In a later interview with GQ, the country singer blamed Hannah Montana for “destroying” his family.
But on The View, he’ll change his tune. “I don’t think Hannah Montana ruined my family,” he backpedaled. “Now fame, fame is a different animal. You’ve got to be careful with that thing.” Or, so he’s heard.
Read More | People
Gilbert Gottfried Fired for Tacky Japan Tweets
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Television, Where Are They Now?,
Winning! Gilbert Gottfried is currently walking the Charlie Sheen path toward success -- he just got fired from his TV gig. No longer will Gottfried power the grating voice of the Aflac duck, and you’ve got Twitter to thank for it.
The comedian went one laugh over the line when he cracked a dozen jokes in a 24-hour period, all of them about the massive catastrophe that occurred in Japan, via Twitter. Some of his ill-timed, tasteless cracks include: “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them,” and “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.’”
Aflac didn’t think any of it was very funny, apparently. In a statement, the company said, “Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac.” They also promised not to rest on their laurels, adding “Aflac will immediately set plans in motion to conduct a nationwide casting call to find a new voice of the iconic Aflac Duck.”
Gilbert Gottfried could not be reached for comment about the situation. Stay up-to-date on all the celebrity gossip -- follow VIP Breakdown on Twitter.
Read More | TMZ
App Store coming to Google TV
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Home Entertainment, Rumors, Software,
A version of the Android Market for the Google TV platform is due "very short term," the general manager overseeing Google TV products for Logitech said Tuesday.
Speaking at the OTTCon here on Tuesday, Ashish Arora, the vice president and general manager for Logitech's Digital Home Group, was asked on a panel discussion whether Google TV owners would be able to take advantage of other Android apps soon.
Arora answered in the affirmative, although his answers didn't quite nail down the timeframe. "It will happen shortly," he said. "It's a given that it will happen this year, 100 percent," he said.
"We're talking about a very short term," he said.
Although Arora does not work for Google, Logitech was one of the key launch partners for the Google TV platform, with Sony. Logitech launched its Logitech Revue in October. At the time, some of the personalization aspects from other Google services were missing, part of Google's practice of launching a product and adding functionality over time.
Click to continue reading App Store coming to Google TV
Bleeding Edge TV 374: Intonow for iPhone is like Shazam for TV
Posted by Reza Malayeri Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Apple, Cell Phones, Features, Home Entertainment, Podcasts, Videocasts, Videos,
IntoNow is a free app for the iPhone that allows you to connect with your friends around the shows you love. Simply place your iPhone in front of the TV, and IntoNow uses it's SoundPrint technology to recognize whatever you're watching. Once your show or movie is tagged, you can see how many other people are watching, share it with your friends, review it on IMDB, add it to your Netflix queue, and buy or rent it on iTunes.
IntoNow's SoundPrint technology covers more than 140 million minutes of previously aired shows, or the equivalent of 266 years of video. It can recognize a show even if it's airing live for the first time. SoundPrint has an index of "more than 2.6 million airings, indexed during the past five years, and it’s growing by the second." They describe SoundPrint as a “fingerprinting” technology; a series of algorithms that can quickly identify a show based on the audio. They've has even made a SoundPrint API available for developers, so look for more applications to come out using SoundPrint technology.
Internet-connected social TV is becoming the new trend in technology, and data is showing that Americans are using TV and Internet together on an increasing basis. Google and Apple have launched their own internet connected set top boxes, and companies like Comcast and TiVo are major players as well. The future of social television looks very promising, and soon we'll all be "checking in" to our favorite TV shows on a regular basis, using awesome technology like IntoNow and SoundPrint, or other social apps like GetGlue.
Check out a demo of Intonow's social TV app in this episode.
How many times do you catch yourself watching tv while you're on the internet?
Big thank you to JackThreads for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out, we've got exclusive invite codes that give you $5 to use towards anything you'd like.
BBC iPlayer coming to the iPad
Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: News, iPad Apps,
When the BBC launched it's iPlayer service, a way for people to listen to shows from the BBC radio and TV stations from the past 7 days, it was hailed as a great step forward. With more than 139 million requests in October, it's currently the largest VoD service in the UK, comparable in scope with Hulu in the US. Unfortunately, the iPlayer service has been limited to UK citizens only. Now, the BBC has announced that it's coming to the US with a subscription based model, initially as an iPad app. The iPlayer app will allow people to watch popular BBC shows on demand like Dr Who. So far, the only way people outside of the UK has been able to get some of the BBC shows was through third party services like iTunes, or from networks who bought the rights to redistribute shows on their channels. Now, a single app will allow the BBC to provide that content directly to users for a monthly fee. The service should be live at some point next year.
Read More | PaidContent
