Disney and Microsoft have teamed up for online content in a way that makes total sense -- and that gives Microsoft yet another leg up in the world of online distribution via a console: high-definition and standard-definition feature films from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films and Hollywood Pictures will be available for rent-on-demand to Xbox Live members in the United States. The first wave of titles will be available starting today, with more on the way this fall. … [Read more...]
A&E, National Geographic Headed to Xbox Live
Just as Microsoft announced the HDMI-equipped Elite Xbox 360 is coming in April, the company has announced new ways to fill up the Elite's 120 GB hard drive: five new video partners are going to provide content on Xbox Live Marketplace. Paramount Pictures, A&E Network, National Geographic, ADV Films and TotalVid.com will all provide content on Xbox Live Marketplace. Paramount's downloadable films will include Braveheart, Team America, World Trade Center and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Warner Bros. will also … [Read more...]
Microsoft Second-Guessing HD-DVD?
Ah, the Internet. A beautiful place, really. Limitless information, amazing research resources, active online communities, naked ladies ... what isn't there to like? Oh yeah, fanboys. OK, so 50 percent of the Internet sucks. The rest? Refreshing and entertaining, especially if you like the rumor mill. Months ago an image found its way onto the Internets showing the supposed evolution of Microsoft's next-generation Xbox 360. Code-named Zephyr, this version 1.3 system would have HDMI output, a larger hard drive and an … [Read more...]
Xbox 360 IPTV "Demo" Coming in March
Microsoft's trojan horse into your living room, the Xbox 360, will be used in March to demonstrate IPTV on the console. The demo will take place in Europe, at "The Connected Home" show taking place in Olympia, London March 5-7. IPTV on Xbox 360 is expected to be available through select service providers as early as the 2007 holiday season. However, because so few U.S. providers have access to the necessary infrastructure, most of the service providers that have chosen Microsoft IPTV Edition are European (AT&T, BT Group … [Read more...]
Two Reasons the iPhone Could Fail
It's not en vogue to say this, but Apple Inc. isn't King Midas. The company has certainly made a great recovery in the desktop space, and its "fashionable computing" expertise translated brilliantly to the portable-music arena via the iPod. But like any technology company, Apple's not immune to missteps, and the iPhone might be just such an example. On the surface the iPhone is a great little gadget, and Apple's hardcore fans and techno-geek early-adopters will surely line up to get one. The Internet community buzzed … [Read more...]
Dear Sony: Try as You Might, You're Not "Dope"
Somebody over at Sony needs to stop watching the Weird Al "White Guy" video and taking it so seriously. Twice in the past seven days, we've received idiotic emails with "this is dope" or "check it peeps" in the headlines. Michael Shelling - we're asking you now, just stop. All we want to know is what's coming out and what's cool about it. Comments in your PR emails like - "WTF? My Wii strap broke?" "It's a pretty dope trailer that shows all the buccaneering-badassery..." and finally - "So here's the dilly: Pile on over … [Read more...]
PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Player: How's it Compare?
The gaming and Blu-ray gods smiled down upon us today and bestowed a shiny new PlayStation 3 console with a trio of games and the Talladega Nights Blu-ray Disc movie. Since "opening the box" ceremonies have already taken place all across the Internet, I'm going to bypass the celebrated geek ritual and skip to the good stuff: my quick first impressions of Sony's new technological beast while connected to a Westinghouse 47" 1080p television, and compared against the Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc player with the latest … [Read more...]
Review: Epson PowerLite Home 20 Projector
As we move into the era of high-definition videogames and even higher-definition movies (HD-DVD and Blu-ray), it's incredibly tempting to run right out and purchase a new projector to take advantage of all the graphical goodness. If you've explored the vastness of the projector world, you already know it's easy to get lost, not to mention get overwhelmed by the prices of the newest models. But affordable projectors do exist for those who are determined to play their games and movies on an 80-inch screen. One such … [Read more...]
Hardware Review: The Echo Indigo Mobile Sound Card
Pity the laptop gamers, for they must suffer the indignity of low-grade audio. While video cards, processors and memory are keeping pace with market trends, sound is always relegated to a minor role in laptop design. The team at Echo Digital Audio has decided to put an end to our suffering by introducing the Indigo, a PCMCIA (PC Card) sound card that's a mobile gamer's dream come true. It may sound to you like I might be laying it on a bit heavy, calling the Indigo a ?dream come true,? but believe me, if you try out … [Read more...]