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HDTV Listings for May 7, 2011

What we're watching tonight:
  • BBC America (1080i) has Doctor Who at 9 p.m. and Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey & Ellie Goulding at 11:29 p.m.
  • NBC (1080i) airs Chase at 8 p.m.
  • Fox (720p) has NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Darlington at 7 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) has NBA Playoffs action with Heat/Celtics at 8:30 p.m.
  • Syfy (1080i) presents Almighty Thor at 9 p.m.
  • CBS (1080i) has CSI: Miami at 9 p.m.
  • A&E (720p) has Parking Wars at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
  • Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Predators/Canucks at 8 p.m.

Johnny Depp, star of 3D 'Pirates' movie, can only see 2D

Johnny Depp's eccentricities extend beyond a propensity to show up at British elementary schools dressed in pirate garb. The actor is part of a small segment of the population that can't process three-dimensional effects in movies, a malady he refers to by its formal name: "weird eye." In fact, he's likely to skip tomorrow's global premiere for the fourth Pirates installment (aka Stranger Tides), which was filmed in 3D. A pity, since shooting films with multiple cameras (a prerequisite for 3D) reportedly makes nailing shots all the more challenging. At least he can take comfort in the fact that he'll never suffer the pangs of a 3D-induced headache while watching his bank account swell.

HDTV Listings for May 6, 2011

What we're watching tonight:
  • Fox (720p) has the season finale of Fringe at 9 p.m.
  • CW (1080i) has Smallville at 8 p.m. and Supernatural at 9 p.m.
  • CBS (1080i) has the season premiere of Flashpoint at 8 p.m., CSI: NY at 9 p.m. and Blue Bloods at 10 p.m.
  • NBC (1080i) has Friday Night Lights at 8 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) has Shark Tank at 8 p.m., Primetime at 9 p.m. and 20/20 at 9 p.m.
  • Syfy (1080i) has WWE Smackdown at 8 p.m. and Urban Legends at 10 p.m.
  • Discovery (1080i) has Dual Survival at 9 p.m. and American Loggers at 10 p.m.
  • History (720p) has American Restoration at 10 p.m.
  • TLC (1080i) has Say Yes to the Dress at 9 & 9:30 p.m. and Four Weddings at 10 p.m.
  • Starz (1080i) has Camelot at 10 p.m.
  • National Geographic Channel (1080i) has Hooked at 9 p.m. and Ice Pilots at 10 p.m.
  • FX (720p) airs Running Wilde at 11 p.m.
  • Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Sharks/Red Wings at 7 p.m. and Flyers/Bruins at 8 p.m.
  • ESPN (720p) has NBA Playoffs action with Bulls/Hawks at 7 p.m. and Lakers/Mavericks at 9:30 p.m.

Eastbound and Down Season One and Two come to Blu-ray August 2nd

Been missing your dose of Kenny Powers in high definition? Don't worry, the wait is almost over since HBO is bringing both seasons of Eastbound & Down out on Blu-ray August 2nd. According to the press release, the season one DVD was HBO's best selling comedy SKU last year, which probably helped push it for a Blu-ray edition this time around. Special features include a typical lineup of behind the scenes featurettes, blooper reels, commentaries and deleted scenes, should you find either season worthy of their $39.98 MSRP.
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Samsung's entire line of active shutter glasses gets a price cut, more money for your popcorn

Following its pledge to make 3D TV experience more affordable, Samsung's just announced a price drop on the rest of its active shutter glasses lineup. As you probably already know, the entry-level SSG-3100GB went from $129.99 down to just $49.99 last month; and now we have the better-looking SSG-3300CR plus SSG-3300GR reduced by $50 down to $129.99, along with the swanky SSG-3700CR (pictured above) getting a $70 discount to just $149.99. Of course, these premium spectacles are still far from affordable compared to their passive counterparts, so it'll be interesting to see if Samsung's attempt to lure more 3D viewers will work at all. Ultimately though, we'd love to see other manufacturers follow suit -- bring on the 3D price war!

Sony offers free Debix identify theft protection for PSN and Qriocity hack victims in US

Sony's "Welcome Back" package of free software and PlayStation Plus subscriptions was a nice gesture, but it won't help you if your credit card gets fraudulently charged in the aftermath of the PlayStation Network debacle. That, however, is exactly what Debix is for. Sony's announced that it will provide a complimentary one-year subscription to Debix's "AllClear ID Plus" identity theft protection service to all PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders in the United States, which will attempt to protect your personal data from harm, by both monitoring known criminal activity for your private digits and providing up to $1 million in ID theft insurance coverage. We've never used Debix, so we can't vouch for its reliability, and this particular plan admittedly doesn't look quite as comprehensive as the one Debix offers regular customers for $10 a month. Still, some peace of mind is a heck of a lot better than none, so we think we might take Sony up on its offer and sign up by the June 18th deadline. If you'd like to join us, you should find an activation code in your inbox before long.

HDTV Listings for May 5, 2011

What we're watching tonight:
  • NBC (1080i) has Community at 8 p.m., The Office at 9 p.m., Parks & Recreation at 9:30 p.m., the season finale of 30 Rock at 10 p.m. and Outsourced at 10:30 p.m.
  • Fox (720p) has American Idol at 8 p.m. and Bones at 9 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) has Wipeout at 8 p.m., Grey's Anatomy at 9 p.m. and Private Practice at 10 p.m.
  • CBS (1080i) has The Big Bang Theory at 8 p.m., Rules of Engagement at 8:30 p.m., CSI at 9 p.m. and The Mentalist at 10 p.m.
  • CW (1080i) has The Vampire Diaries at 8 p.m. and Nikita at 9 p.m.
  • 3net (1080i) has the series premiere of Bullproof at 9 p.m.
  • HBO (1080i) presents Precious Life at 8:30 p.m.
  • Showtime (1080i) has The Secret Diary of A Call Girl at 10:30 p.m. and Gigolos at 11 p.m.
  • Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Canucks/Predators at 8:30 p.m.
  • TLC (1080i) has Police Women at 9 p.m. and the series premiere of Pawn Queens at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
  • History (720p) has Swamp People at 9 p.m. and Mounted in Alaska at 10 p.m.

Ask Engadget HD: Best Netflix streamer?

A Netflix Watch Instantly app is pretty much a standard feature on home theater devices these days, but with so many options, how do you choose which one to use? That's what our friend Don wants to know, but we'll let him describe the situation first:
I've got plenty of options on what to use for Netflix streaming, but how am I supposed to know which one is the best? I've been using my PlayStation 3 for a while and dig the surround sound, but it stopped working when the PlayStation Network went down and since then I've been switching between the Xbox 360 and my Samsung TV's embedded Netflix app. I've got a Roku player in another room but i don't use that very often. Every now and then there's some softness in a picture or one of them won't pull an HD stream if it's available and I wonder if I should switch for good, but so far it's easier to just go with whichever one is the easiest. Do you have a preferred option?
There you have it, with many of us doing at least some streaming now we're wondering which way have you found works best to bring Netflix's movies to your TV screen? Obviously only a few options support extra features like 1080p streams, surround sound or closed captions, and even with standardization on the new HTML5 UI, there's several devices out there going their own way. We've done our own comparisons, but the rapid iteration of hardware and software has left it a little out of date. He's probably not the only one with more than one Netflix-capable box in the living room either, so let us know why you chose the one you use most in the comments below.

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

Intel refreshes Wireless Display with support for DRM-protected DVDs, Blu-rays

We were bowled over from the start by Intel's Wireless Display technology, which lets you stream HD content from select laptops to an HDTV (with the help of a small adapter, of course). But while WiDi's been good for watching The Colbert Report on Hulu and streaming flicks stored on your hard drive, it hasn't played so nice with DVDs and Blu-rays. At last, though, Intel is supporting HDCP-protected discs (along with some online content) through a free driver update. One catch: it only applies to Sandy Bridge laptops, which just started shipping this spring. If your notebook's a few months too old, well, using an HDMI cable isn't the worst consolation prize.

Harman Kardon's MAS 102 stereo has a petite profile, luxury looks and matching $999 price tag

Harman Kardon has departed from its austere design language on occasion and come up with some questionable aesthetic results, but its latest compact stereo system sports the clean and classic lines for which H/K is famed. Of course, looks aren't everything, so the MAS 102 slings songs at your skull using a two-channel 65W amp, five-inch mid bass drivers, and one-inch waveguided dome tweeters. The MAS 102 also has dual USB ports for accessing digital music and a phono input for those who prefer sourcing tunes from an old school turntable. It's not all sonic bliss, however, as an optional dock (sold separately) is needed to hook up the iDevice of your choosing. That's a glaring omission for a stereo that costs just under a grand -- but forgiving that flaw should be easy for the form-over-function crowd. More info can be found in the PR after the break.
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Hands-on and unboxing the InfiniTV 4 v2

InfiniTV 4 box
There isn't much new about the second generation of the InfiniTV 4, but that didn't stop us from appreciating the new box and revised design. You have to look pretty hard to find the differences because while they're there, they are subtle. The card is slimmer and obviously simpler, and Ceton went with a new dongle connector that now sits flush with the plate and doesn't get in the way anymore when switching it to low profile mode.The original card had a bit of a identity crisis with Ceton brands on the front and back, but the new one is InfiniTV all over. Obviously the biggest improvement is Ceton's new found ability to produce enough of these cards to meet demand, but we'll be putting it through it's paces just in case while we wait for the other anticipated CableCARD tuners to hit the street.

MIT Media Lab develops glasses-free HR3D, supports broad viewing angles (video)


We've already seen plenty of glasses-free 3D HDTVs and portable devices, but a promising new technology called HR3D (High-Rank 3D) has hit the prototype phase. Engineers from MIT's Media Lab, who developed the new solution, say that it avoids compromising on screen brightness, resolution, viewing angle, and battery life, and doesn't require those pesky (and pricey) 3D glasses. HR3D uses a pair of layered LCDs to give the illusion of depth, with the top layer (or mask) displaying a variable pattern based on the image below it, so each eye sees a slightly different picture. Nintendo's 3DS uses a similar technique, but with a parallax barrier instead of a second display. The designers constructed the prototype from two Viewsonic VX2265wm displays, removing the LCDs from their housings and pulling off polarizing filters and films. We've yet to go eyes-on with HR3D, so we're a mite skeptical, but tech this promising is worth watching closely, and from every angle.
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HDTV Listings for May 4, 2011

What we're watching tonight:
  • ABC (720p) has The Middle at 8 p.m., Better With You at 8:30 p.m., Cougar Town at 9:30 p.m. and Happy Endings at 10 p.m.
  • NBC (1080i) has Minute To Win It at 8 p.m. and Law & Order: SVU at 10 p.m.
  • CBS (1080i) has Survivor at 8 p.m., Criminal Minds at 9 p.m. and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior at 10 p.m.
  • Fox (720p) has American Idol at 8 p.m. and Breaking In at 9:30 p.m.
  • TBS (1080i) has Are We There Yet? at 8 & 8:30 p.m. and House of Payne at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
  • FX (720p) has the season finale of Justified at 10 p.m.
  • Showtime (1080i) has Inside NASCAR at 9 p.m.
  • Discovery (1080i) has Mythbusters at 9 p.m.
  • History (720p) presents Custer's Last Man at 9 p.m.
  • TLC (1080i) has the series premiere of Spouse vs. House at 10 p.m.
  • Comedy Central (1080i) has South Park at 10 p.m. and Workaholics at 10:30 p.m.
  • TNT (1080i) has NBA Playoffs action with Hawks/Bulls at 8 p.m. and Mavericks/Lakers at 10:30 p.m.
  • Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Flyers/Bruins at 7 p.m. and Sharks/Red Wings at 8 p.m.
  • NHL Network (1080i) has Capitols/Lightning at 7 p.m.

3net launches 3D 'sportumentary', monthly news show and Civil War series

We're still waiting for the Sony / Discovery / IMAX backed 3net to pop up on more providers than just DirecTV, but for now it's concentrating on building up a library of 3D content and it's had several notable announcements recently. The freshest one is a new four episode "sportsumentary" called Bullproof that will start airing tomorrow and focus on highlighting the dangers faced by bullfighters who protect the cowboys competing in the Professional Bullriding Circuit. Also new is a weekly entertainment news show called In The Qube that launched April 24th and features Nicole Dabeau from E! News. The premiere episode reportedly features looks at 3D content and hardware, no word on what it's focused on since. A little further off in the future is The Civil War 3D, a four hour minseries that claims to be the first native 3D war documentary. There's more details in the press releases after the break but so far we're not quite moved to pick up the phone and ask our TV provider "where's my 3net?".
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Star Wars Blu-ray set ships Sept. 12th/16th (world/NA), has 40 hours of special features

LucasFilm has chosen Star Wars Day (May The 4th) to finally reveal more information about the upcoming Star Wars Blu-ray releases, due to hit shelves September 16th. The three editions include The Complete Saga with all the movies included, or the original trilogy / prequels by themselves. When the counter hit zero the official website has dropped the curtain on... absolutely nothing since it's down, likely crashed by the refreshing of a billion fans around the world. Before it crashed completely we snagged the release dates (September 12th internationally, 16th in the US) and a list of special features (included after the break along with the Blu-ray announce trailer) that breaks down the commentaries on each disc plus several new documentaries. Currently the site is refreshing to the standard Fox page, the plan is apparently for a promotion where fans share the page on social media networks which unlocks additional artwork as more people continue to visit throughout the day. We'll let you know if R2-D2 can get the servers back up, until then we can all just imagine what the three new documentaries might be like.

Update: There's also a short (really short) YouTube trailer meant to push the "Feel The Force" content unlocking promotion on the site, it's embedded after the break. [Thanks, Taylor T Farmer]

Update 2: It appears the site is up now, calling on fans to unlock more of an embedded video with various "exclusive imagery" by sharing the page on Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you could also not do that, wait a few hours for someone else to finish unlocking it and avoid ending up on our block list along with everyone who plays Farmville. Your choice.

Update 3: As of about 3 p.m. Eastern the site has been fully unlocked, so feel free to click through and check out the entire video, or just peep the box art for all three packs in our gallery here.
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Vudu adds TV shows to its rental catalog, but only some are in HD

Here we go again with a good news / bad news announcement from Vudu, as it's added a nice catalog of TV shows to its library for rent and/or purchase. The bad news however, is that despite having the 1080p / 5.1 audio HDX technology we've come to know and love, it's currently only offering a small subset of them in anything other than standard definition. Like other online stores, there's an odd situation where some things are a decent value (season one of The Walking Dead is $26.99 on Blu-ray at Amazon, $15.99 on iTunes in HD, and $16.99 on Vudu HDX) and others are not (season six of Weeds is $27.99 on Vudu HDX, $23.99 on Blu-ray at Amazon and $38.87 on iTunes) so shop carefully. Given time the library will probably even out more in quality and price and once Vudu is available on more devices (and hopefully in HD on the PC at some point) there will be more reasons to consider it as a VOD option.

HDTV Listings for May 3, 2011

What we're watching tonight:
  • Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Capitals/Lighting at 6:30 p.m. and Canucks/Predators at 9 p.m.
  • TNT (1080i) has NBA Playoffs action with Celtics/Heat at 7 p.m. and Grizzlies/Thunder at 9:30 p.m.
  • NBC (1080i) has The Biggest Loser at 8 p.m. and The Voice at 9 p.m.
  • ABC (720p) has Dancing with the Stars at 9 p.m. and Body of Proof at 10 p.m.
  • CW (1080i) has One Tree Hill at 8 p.m. and Hellcats at 9 p.m.
  • Fox (720p) has Glee at 8 p.m., Raising Hope at 9:01 p.m. and Traffic Light at 9:31 p.m.
  • Spike TV (1080i) has Repo Games at 8 p.m. and Auction Hunters at 10 p.m.
  • CBS (1080i) has NCIS at 8 p.m., NCIS: LA at 9 p.m. and The Good Wife at 10 p.m.
  • History (720p) has Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy at 9 p.m. and the series premiere of How The States Got Their Shapes at 10 p.m.
  • Comedy Central (1080i) has Sports Show with Norm Macdonald at 10:30 p.m.

Plex Media Server launches client for Roku

Plex has been serving up streaming video for more than a minute, bringing content to Macs, iDevices, and even jailbroken Apple TVs (not to mention apps for all sizes of Android). For those who are neither Apple aficionados nor dedicated 'droid users, the company has rolled out a client that runs on Rokus. It's currently in beta and only supports video, but Plex plans to provide picture and music management in the future. Plex's XBMC secret sauce paired with Roku's ample streaming content buffet? Sounds delicious.

[Thanks, James]

Engadget HD Podcast 247 - 05.03.2011

This week there were three shocking developments that rocked our world in the 24 hours before the podcast was recorded but we'll only deal with two of them -- SiliconDust's HDHomeRun Prime was certified by CableLabs and the Dish vs. TiVo DVR patent beef was settled for $500 million. Our mobile / tablet segment was also unexpectedly packed this week with developments from TiVo, HBO, the NFL and Epix. While Logitech tries to turn around the Revue, DirecTV might be launching a Netflix customer and the X Games are back with even more 3D this time. Of course, no one has been in as much trouble as Sony lately, after investigating the PSN hacking we close out with Hulu Plus on the Xbox 360 and the upcoming releases of Dumbo and Star Wars on Blu-ray.

Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

03:10 - HDHomeRun Prime TV tuner passes CableLabs tests - Update: Preorder pulled, 6-tuner ships first
15:00 - Dish Network, EchoStar will pay TiVo $500 million to settle DVR lawsuit
23:38 - TiVo Premiere App for iPad gets modest update
25:18 - HBO Go mobile app hands-on (video)
30:12 - NFL Mobile apps bring the draft to you live tonight on iPhone, iPad and Android
35:24 - Epix brings its thousands of movies to Google TV; apps for Android, Roku and Playbook on the way
36:45 - Logitech's 'disappointing' Q4 results not helped by poor Revue sales; will cut price to $249
38:55 - DirecTV asks its customers what they like so much about Netflix, could launch competitor
40:59 - ESPN X Games 17 returns with more than double the 3D coverage, takes rally racing to the streets
43:54 - Sony promises 'phased restoration' of PlayStation Network and Qriocity starting this week
48:06 - Hulu Plus on Xbox 360 launches tomorrow, all members get a free week thanks to beef jerky
51:35 - Dumbo 70th Anniversary Blu-ray has a trailer and a release date: September 20th (Updated)
55:25 - Star Wars Blu-ray details to be revealed May 4th

Hear the podcast


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Nielsen estimates show first drop in TV ownership in 20 years, Mayans nod approvingly

The Nielsen Company has announced that its estimated number of TV households for 2012 is dropping to 114.7 million (96.7 percent), down from 115.9 million (98.9 percent) the year before which is the first time it's gone down in two decades. While some will say this marks the end of the TV era as we've known it, there are a couple of factors to take into account, starting with how the numbers are gathered -- Nielsen only counts TVs that are capable of tuning into at least one channel. If you've cut the cord and gone all internet / Blu-ray / DVD without putting up an antenna or never upgraded for digital broadcasts (as some rural or low-income homes have not) then your TV doesn't count. After reviewing the numbers and watching Apocalypto twice we still can't tell if this means it's already over for linear TV or if it's more of a temporary bump due to an uncertain economy like it was in 1992. Of course, the fact that we rented the movie on iTunes may be telling.
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"We dropped by their booth before departing CES to get a quick look at the functionality in action (video embedded after the break), plus put our hands and eyes on the company's R-904 NetBoxx, RD-7505 receiver and iNet 2.0 tabletop radio & internet streamer."
99.1
MILLION

The number of televisions estimated that sit unused in closets.

The EPA estimates that nearly 100 million unused televisions are currently taking up precious, beautiful space. (source: EPA, July 2008)

A tiny black puck of a device priced at a staggering $99, and centered around a handful of completely new ideas about getting content onto your TV screen.

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