HDgadget

The Apple TV has had some time to mature since hitting the scene years ago, and while its functionality has certainly grown, it's still one of the most low-key products to ever emerge from Cupertino. Marvin's Ask Engadget HD question is about this very product, and given that quite a few of you probably own one by now, why not take a look and contribute?

"The Apple TV seems like a pretty good choice for my living room now that HD content is available and boxee can be added on. Still, I'd be buying into a mostly proprietary ecosystem, so I'm curious if it's really the best choice for a movie set-top-box / home media server. Do your readers have any suggestions one way or the other? Is it really the best, or are there better alternatives that do most of the same tasks?"

Give it some thought and chime in below. Don't worry, we won't call you a fanboy -- promise.

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.

Comcast and now-former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin haven't exactly been the best of buddies during Martin's tenure at the regulatory agency, and it looks like things weren't about to change as he made his way out the door. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Martin announced yet another investigation into Comcast in his final hours on the job, with this one focused on allegations that Comcast is deliberately downgrading its rivals' phone services -- an allegation that may sound strikingly familiar to those that follow such things. For its part, Comcast simply says that it has "fully complied" with the FCC's so-called congestion-management practices, and that it is "reviewing the FCC staff's letter." In related news, Martin has also proposed $500,000 in fines against several cable companies, including Comcast, saying that they have failed to provide enough information about whether they have improperly shifted channels from analog to digital tiers. Of course, all of this is still up in the air at the moment, and could possibly be rolled back if and when President Obama's expected choice to head the agency, Julius Genachowski, takes the reins.

We had every reason to believe that these channels were coming, but now Cablevision itself has stepped forward with a confirmation. Starting right about now (and continuing over a three-day period), customers of the carrier with HD set-top-boxes can find 15 new premium movie channels in high-def. Yep, the whole lot consists of HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz and Encore variants, and while it's certainly not admitted, we have all ideas that these were added after the removal of the 15 VOOM HD networks a few months prior. Regardless of the motives, we better not hear a single complaint from movie buffs who happen to get their pay-TV from this carrier.

[Image courtesy of Reuben]

In case you haven't noticed, official DivX support has become a part of many consumer electronics platforms over the last few years -- but not the Xbox 360. While it will play back many files with DivX and Xvid encoding, DivX VP Jerome Vashist-Rota is still "not very happy" that Microsoft's console works off of unofficial third party support, unlike the DivX Certified PlayStation 3. Of course, considering DivX's history as a reverse engineered version of Microsoft's own MPEG-4 codec some choppiness is to be expected so it's hard to say if that will ever change but let us throw in one more (probably fruitless) request for MKV playback while we're at it.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy & 1UP]

What we're watching tonight:

• ABC (720p) has the Lost: Destiny Calls special at 8 p.m. and the season premiere of Lost at 9 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) lines up The New Adventures of Old Christine at 8 p.m. followed by Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds CSI: NY
• NBC (1080i) has a new Knight Rider at 8 p.m. and Law & Order at 10 p.m.
• Fox (720p) continues American Idol at 8 p.m. and the series premiere of Lie to Me at 9:03 p.m.
• Showtime (1080i) airs Inside the NFL at 9 p.m.
• FX (720p) has Damages at 10 p.m.
• Discover (1080i) presents Volcanoes at 10 p.m.
• MTV (1080i) airs The Real World at 10 p.m.
• ESPN (720p) has college basketball with Villanova/UCONN at 7 p.m. and Clemson/UNC at 9 p.m.
• ESPN2 (720p) keeps up Australian Open coverage at 11 p.m.
• Tennis Channel (1080i) has the Australian Open at 7 p.m.
• ESPNU (720p) has Nebraska/Oklahoma college basketball at 9 p.m.
• Versus (1080i) airs Contender at 10 p.m.
• Travel Channel (1080i) has Man vs. Food at 10 p.m.
• Bravo (1080i) has Top Chef at 10 p.m. (Thanks drphil7!)

Hey Sony -- we know that experiencing your first annual operating loss in 14 years calls for drastic measures, but this is bordering on downright rash. Barely a month after announcing that 16,000 employees would be axed, Sony has now revealed plans to close one of its two television plants in Japan and rid itself of 2,000 domestic full-time jobs as it attempts to "revive its electronics business." Of note, it's stated that those 2,000 -- which seem to be a part of the previously mentioned 16,000 figure -- will be shed via "early retirement and other programs." Just think what a 40-inch XEL-1 would do for business. No, seriously Sony, just think.

[Image courtesy of DigitalWorldTokyo]

On the eve of his resignation, now-former FCC chairman Kevin Martin got in one last shot against nine of the biggest cable companies -- including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and Charter -- to the tune of $25,000 each. Citing the MSOs (Multiple System Operators) for failing to respond to the FCC's investigation of how they moved channels from analog to digital tiers, additional fines were then added on, bringing the total damages to all nine companies to a cool $510,000. Top honors go to Time Warner, which racked up a $137,000 bill. Wielding his poisoned pen, Martin wrote that the actions of the MSOs "... exhibits contempt for the FCC's authority," and by forcing customers to pay for digital set-top boxes, "... customers have been receiving less from the cable companies but paying the same price." Strong words, but would we wouldn't expect anything less from the FCC chairman who oversaw some of the biggest changes in telco this country's seen.
[Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Just in case you haven't seen enough NASA footage in HD, you'll love the latest 35 minutes captured by Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke. Said crew member, along with flight engineers Sandy Magnus and Yury Lonchakov, has filmed a high-definition tour of the orbiting complex that will be aired as a special Video File on NASA Television's HD Channel 105 at 1:00PM and 3:00PM CST Thursday and Friday (yes, of this week). Of course, it'll also be made available for SD viewers, but where's the fun in that? So, are your DVRing this or what?

[Via iTWire]

When we heard last September that General Electric was aiming to enter the "premium" HDTV market, we all had a brief laugh and continued on about our day. Apparently, our doubts are completely unfounded. According to an interview with numerous GE executives tied in with the initiative, the GE-branded sets will be serious contenders. In fact, bigwigs are hoping to make their sets "a top-tier brand that rivals the likes of Sony, Samsung, and Sharp." The secret sauce is the differentiation, as GE is looking to stuff internet connectivity, wireless audio and many other "advanced features" onto its sets in order to show up rivals. Among the early prototypes shown at CES earlier this month was a 46-inch HDTV with a GLT edgelight that utilized white Luminus LEDs and GLT's lightguide blades. It's also looking to expand into wireless video boxes with 1080i support, which means the sky really could be the limit here. Obviously, we're keeping our skeptic hats on until a commercial device hits the market, but you can definitely color us intrigued.

[Image courtesy of DecoRadios]

DivX Connected v1.4 brought us the highly anticipated addition of Hulu support last September, and now v1.5 is bringing a few extras that are also quite delicious. The v1.5 Beta, which is out this very moment, adds in support for Matroska (MKV) and H.264, though you'll need the newly unleashed DivX 7 installed in order to experience the magic. The entire changelog is surprisingly lengthy, so we'll point you to the read link for those details as well as a download URL. A demonstration vid is just past the break.

We've got to say -- we agree with the "retailers" here. According to a new report on VideoBusiness, the Blu-ray players unveiled at CES 2009 are being smiled upon by those that'll have to move 'em. Panasonic's Profile 2.0 DMP-B15 portable Blu-ray player was seen as one of the more attractive units, with airport-based InMotion Entertainment deciding that it would carry this very unit as its first BD deck in order to appeal to travelers. As expected, reactions were somewhat mixed on Panny's DMP-BD70V VHS / Blu-ray player, though it is anticipated that a small niche of consumers will eat it up. All in all, the entire '09 lineup was seen as a nice step forward from decks we've seen in the past -- our only question is do you agree? Which BD unit from the show had you most interested?

boxee took full advantage of its space at CES this year, and according to a recent post on its blog, it fielded quite a few inquiries from other companies about crafting a boxee-branded set-top-box. Currently, the only way to get boxee running is to install it on your TV-connected PC or inelegantly onto an Apple TV. A number of companies approached boxee asking for its thoughts on embedding the application into "existing or future products," so the cats at boxee are coming right out and soliciting your opinion on the matter. boxee does caution that getting it baked into a device would take "a long time," but it certainly seems like that ball is rolling. So, what say you? Would you snap one up? Or would you balk at the notion of adding yet another STB underneath your television?

[Thanks, cros13]

Sanyo yesterday announced a plethora of "dual camera" models (camcorders with still capture aspirations) and Geek.com's Chris Gampat was lucky enough to get a little hands on time with the lot, choosing three favorites from the scrum: the VPC-FH1, VPC-HD2000, and VPC-WH1. The first two are similar in terms of specs, both capturing 1080p video at 60fps and 8 megapixel stills at 12fps through a 10x optical zoom. They differ only in form factor, the VPC-FH1 offering a traditional style and the VPC-HD2000 coming with a pistol grip. Sanyo's VPCP-WH1 is the more adventurous of the three, waterproof down to 10 feet and coming in a "look at me, sailor" yellow, but only shooting 720p video at 30fps and 2 megapixel stills. However, its 30x optical zoom is perfect for spotting Piping Plovers, and the 3.5 hour battery life means this thing can probably survive longer underwater than you. Videos of these three are embedded below, and surely one them fits your lifestyle, so make a little room this spring, won't you?

Read - Hands-on: Sanyo VPC-FH1 and VPC-HD2000
Read - Hands-on: Sanyo VPC-WH1 waterproof camcorder

CES 2009 may be a fading memory, but Netflix's founder and chief executive Reed Hastings took time in Vegas to talk about technologies that should be affecting us for years to come. In an interview with The New York Times, Hastings proudly confessed his belief that within two years, "WiFi and Netflix would be built into all televisions." He also speaks at length about how the world wide web is becoming more accessible on the TV, noting that big things could happen if more potent processors and additional memory were stuffed into future HDTVs. Sadly, when asked about why Watch Instantly didn't include brand new releases, Reed simply stated that Netflix "doesn't think of it in title count... it thinks about it in terms of volume and having an even better experience" than is currently offered. Sure, we appreciate improvements in speed / quality / etc., but don't pretend like new releases aren't high (high!) up on the wish list of avid Watch Instantly users.

[Image courtesy of Syracuse]

It's a question that's always asked during downturns, but we actually believe there's a remote possibility of it happening this go 'round. A recent Wall Street Journal report suggests that industry experts anticipate only the top-tier brands -- Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, LG and Toshiba, for example -- making it through the current economic slowdown without consolidation. They also suggest that everyone else could be "forced to either pull out of the TV business or join forces with a surviving entity." Quite frankly, we feel that's probably a bit extreme, as we can't imagine names like Insignia and VIZIO vanishing (or crazier still, merging) when it's price that matters most. Still, we can appreciate that the big firms could likely outlast the others in terms of coping with weak sales, but we still refuse to believe that Westingneer is even close to becoming a reality.

Believe it or not, Super Bowl XLIII is but days away. If you've been putting off that home theater expansion, the time to get serious is now. We've hosted up a handy guide to get your abode totally ready for hosting a rather monumental bash, so why not head over to Engadget Classic and check it out? We're not responsible for the condition of your wallet should you follow each and every recommendation, but we are guaranteeing that it's a darn good recipe for joviality.

We already heard what a few others had to say about Kodak's Theatre HD Player, but we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to unbox our own and toss out some impressions. We won't bother teasing you, though -- head on over to Engadget Classic for the full spill.

Although Blu-ray has been out for a few years, it is still pretty new and thus the studios are still testing the waters to see what works. The latest test by Disney is one that Blu-ray fans have been recommending for some time; release new titles on Blu-ray before DVD -- but we suspect that many had more than a two day lead time in mind. Although this will be interesting, we still think Disney's previous test of including a DVD with the Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Disc was more interesting. Also, like the more recent titles from Disney Bolt will feature some BD Live content as well as a digital copy.

Apricorn's DVR Xpanders have never been the prettiest bunch, but we would've thought a redesign was in order with the introduction of the 1.5TB model. Sadly, our hopes and dreams of a DVR attachment from the outfit that isn't completely heinous have been decidedly crushed, as the latest edition is just as unsightly as prior models. Of course, it can hold up to 187.5 hours of HD content or 843 hours of SD material, not to mention its ability to connect via USB 2.0 or eSATA. So yeah, if all that matters to you is functionality (and not missing a single drama while out on that month-long vacation), we'd say the $239 asking price is totally reasonable.

[Via PCLaunches, thanks Vinit]

If the shrink -- that measure of lost sales that typically go unaccounted for -- gets to growing at a faster pace than sales, you just might have a problem on your hands. According to Mark Fisher, EMA VP of strategic initiatives, that's exactly what's happening in some retail locations, though he does point out that having to tackle a theft issue is, at least in some way, a sign of heightened demand. Undisclosed sources have indicated that some retailers are facing Blu-ray theft rates in the double-digits, compared to around 1.5% for standard DVDs. EMA is already evaluating one possible solution from Aequitas Innovation, which places an RFID lock within the package that can only be unlocked upon being scanned at the register. In theory, at least, the theft deterrent should only add around $0.20 per unit, but whether or not this is more convenient than one of those "keeper cases" is totally up for debate.

What we're watching tonight:

• Fox (720p) doubles up on Bones episodes at 8 & 9 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) has My Name is Earl at 8 p.m. followed by Kath & Kim, The Office, 30 Rock and E.R.
• ABC (720p) brings Ugly Betty at 8 p.m., Grey's Anatomy at 9 p.m. and Private Practice at 10:01 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) lines up CSI at 9 p.m. and Eleventh Hour at 10 p.m.
• CW (1080i) has Smallville at 8 p.m. and Supernatural at 9 p.m.
• Discovery (1080i) airs How Stuff Works at 8 p.m. and Treasure Quest at 10 p.m.
• USA (1080i) brings back Burn Notice at 10 p.m.
• A&E (720p) presents The Beast at 10 p.m.
• TLC (1080i) has Saw For Hire at 9 & 9:30 p.m. followed by LA Ink at 10 p.m.
• MTV (1080i) tosses in America's Best Dance Crew at 10 p.m.
• ESPN (720p) kicks off Winter X Games 13 at 9 p.m.
• ESPN2 (720p) has Purdue/Minnesota college basketball at 7 p.m. and 2009 Australian Open at 11 p.m.
• TNT (1080i) has Celtics/Magic at 8 p.m. and Wizards/Lakers at 10:30 p.m.
• ESPNU (720p) brings college basketball with Providence/Seton Hall at 7 p.m. and Cincinnati/St. Johns at 9 p.m.

With the latest announcement from boxee, we are really starting to wonder what's left? Sure we know there is plenty of internet content out there that isn't accessible on boxee, but not much. At the very least with that addition of ABC.com, you can now stream video from every major online video source worth mentioning. The bad news is that at this point only boxee Mac users can enjoy the season premiere of Lost via boxee, but the team is working furiously to add it to the Apple TV build just as soon as possible -- hopefully in the "next few days."

The Missing Remote spent a few weeks with the new Windows Media Center in Windows 7 and was nice enough to share the experience by posting an overview and a few nice videos. Most of the this has been covered before, but there were a few good tidbits like m2ts container support, which will come in handy for playing Blu-ray rips. The most interesting part though is the list of pain points that were not addressed, like the fact that you still can't record the live TV buffer, no channel logos, and there is still no native Blu-ray support. The author obviously isn't an avid EHD reader or he would've been intimately familiar with the new Cyberlink Blu-ray playback software that was shown at CES. As for our coverage of the new Media Center features in Windows 7, stay tuned.

Oh, brother. Evidently the 3D bandwagon was simply getting too full, so GenAudio has decided to start a new trend: 4D. Over in Park City at the Sundance Film Festival, said outfit is demonstrating its AstoundSound 4D sound localization cue technology, which purportedly enables audio to be "perceived as coming from every direction including above and beyond the physical placement of the speakers." Jerry Mahabub, chairman and CEO of GenAudio, seems pretty stoked about bringing this fourth dimension to future 3D films, and it's also partnering up with Universal Pictures and Lionsgate to bring the enhanced audio experiences to the DVD / BD release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Bangkok Dangerous. If you're eager to see what the fuss is all about, you can grab its consumer audio software (AstoundStereo Expander) right now and enjoy it for free for 30 days. Just be sure to not get permanently stuck in a parallel universe or anything while trying it out.

Rumors that Paramount was planning a Blu-ray release of the remastered Star Trek: The Original Series coinciding with the new movie this spring just got a lot stronger, with box art pictures for season one and a Star Trek: The Motion Picture trilogy consisting of the first three movies popping up today on Release.no. Through the magic of Google Translate we know these are due in Norway May 13 (along with Star Trek II, III, IV & VI in standalone editions on BD & DVD) and it's not unreasonable to assume they'll hit U.S. shelves around the same time. Of course, if you can't wait until then, or at least for some more official info from Paramount, we're sure there's an HD DVD player and boxed set in a bargain bin somewhere just waiting to be picked up.

[Via Indy Star]

We're actually having a hard time believing this ourselves, but word on the street has it that the Senate is "on the verge of passing a bill that would delay until June the date when TV stations must broadcast in all-digital format." Without Congressional action, all TV stations will switch off their analog signals on February 17th -- a date that has been blasted out to the general populace for years now. The issue is that millions of Americans are currently on a waiting list for one of those $40 vouchers, and evidently it'll take a few more months to get additional funding and clear the backlog. It's expected that the new switchover date will soon become June 12th, and you can find all the fine print just down there in the read link.

[Via TVWeek, thanks Vanbrothers]

One one hand, it's nice to see that the number of U.S. households not ready for the coming analog TV shutoff dropped to 5.7% from 7.7% back in October, but then comes the sobering realization that with 26 days to go, around 6.5 million homes still don't have the necessary equipment to get digital TV. Coming straight from the latest Nielsen report, Albuquerque-Santa Fe, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston top the charts for digital unready markets, with African American and Hispanic households still lagging in percentages of unready homes. Of course, we still don't know if things will take place on schedule, but barring a delay, have a look around and make sure people in your community are ready (or as ready as they can be until the coupon program is back up and running.)

While many TV makers have rushed to announce that their future sets were Energy Star 3.0 compliant, there's apparently quite a few manufacturers out there with aways to go in the eco-friendly department. A new report from DisplaySearch has it that in 2008, just 20% of flat-panel display shipments had "green features," while that percentage should rise to 50% by 2011 and 70% by 2012. So, just what does a set have to do to be classified as "green?" It needs to meet one of the following conditions: use environmentally friendly components and materials, achieve lower power consumption by using new components or technologies, be compliant with environmental regulations such as waste disposal, use production processes that reduce energy and materials consumed, be completely or partially recyclable after useful life or use green or eco-friendly concepts in product design. Seriously, just one of those? Not too high a hurdle, guys.

[Via CEPro]

Bowers & Wilkins sure didn't simmer on its Panorama soundbar for long, as the company is already trotting out another product that it's hoping you can't live without. The XT 8 mid-sized tower, which supersedes the superficially identical XT 4, is substantially refined on the inside. The "re-engineered midrange" features proprietary FST (fixed-suspension transducer) technology that promises to deliver "demonstrably and measurably greater mid-frequency accuracy." As for pieces that were retained, you'll still find the same dual 5-inch woofers and Nautilus tweeter, so it's tough to say without a listen if these are really worth the upgrade -- you know, given the stratospheric $3,500 per pair sticker.

It's been forever and a day since HP issued a MediaSmart Server update, but now -- at long last -- owners can suck down some more new software in order to implement a few minor changes. The HPMSS-1.3-R1 update adds in a Rollback feature, improves image processing performance in HP Photo Webshare, corrects error messages displayed using SSL and TZO certifications and removes unnecessary temperature sensor displays. Give it a go and let us know how things turn out, will ya?

[Thanks, Duane]

With everything going on at this year's CES we didn't get a chance to do more than take a few pictures of Sony's unfortunately named Webbie HD (aka the MHS-CM1), a tiny little camcorder that shoots in high-def yet costs just $200. Michael at Diffusion had the opportunity to review one and, while he liked everything on the camera's spec sheet, in practice found it to be a "low priced, low quality disposable HD camera." It shoots 720p and not-quite-1080p video (maxing out at 1440 x 1080) as well as 5 megapixel stills through a 5x optical zoom lens. Overall image quality was found to be poor, thanks in large part to exposure settings that could never settle on the right values themselves yet couldn't be manually tweaked. Given the price really there's not much reason to complain, as it seems perfectly serviceable for those who worry about cost more than image quality, but if you were hoping for a prosumer cam at a plaything price, keep searching.