Online Entertainment

Sony's next-generation gaming console will reportedly arrive next year. Users of the upcoming system will be able to play games by inserting discs, just like they do with the present-day PlayStation 3. However, Sony executives came very close to limiting the console to downloadable games only. Curre...

Motorola Mobility this week unveiled its DreamGallery video navigation software for content providers at a cable industry trade show. DreamGallery lets users search hundreds of channels in seconds, bookmark and store their favorite content in one place, and discover new content tailored to their pre...

Verizon Wireless on Tuesday introduced Viewdini, a mobile video aggregation portal. It will run on the company's 4G LTE network and let users search and access videos from a variety of content providers. Partners include Comcast Xfinity, Hulu Plus, mSpot and Netflix. Others, including Verizon FiOS, ...

Microsoft is reportedly planning to release its Xbox 360 bundle beginning next week for $99. If rumors are to be believed, it could rival a TV infomercial's promise -- "but wait, there's more" -- by including the Kinect motion control sensor with a 4 GB version of the game console. However, as with...

If you've been anywhere near a consumer electronics retailer lately or have leafed through the consumer electronics circulars and ads that supplement Sunday newspapers, you've no doubt noticed the words "Smart TV" shouting out at you. And if you've been wondering what a Smart TV is, or whether whate...

The tumultuous convergence of entertainment devices, greater interaction with the television-viewing experience, and increased involvement of social networks were all in the Klieg lights at the IP&TV World Forum, the Internet television show I attended recently in London. I was immersed in the f...

I'm surrounded by screens here at the Olympia exhibition hall -- tablet-sized, big screens, you name it -- and they all connect with each other. It's day three at the IP&TV World Forum. The lowly remote control can soon be buried under the sofa cushions for good, judging by the offerings from se...

CONFERENCE REPORT

IP&TV World Forum, Day 2: The Future

I'm attending the IP&TV World Forum, aka the Internet Protocol Television Show, at the Olympia exhibition hall in sunny London. I have been checking out technologies being deployed in Europe that we may be seeing state-side very soon. HbbTV is a hybrid television delivery system available now in...

Internet-delivered television was once thought of "disruptive," but it looks like it's about to be firmly adopted by common television programming suppliers worldwide and incorporated into their delivery systems. Looking around at the IP&TV World Forum, I'm seeing a whole bunch of monkey wrenche...

Speculation that Google is going to disrupt yet another industry -- this time cable television -- is circulating, prompted by an application the search engine giant filed with the Missouri Public Service Commission, seeking a franchise to provide video service in Kansas City, Mo. A similar applicati...

Vizio will roll out five new PCs at CES 2012. Together with the company's HDTVs, these will constitute an attack on the multiscreen home entertainment market, which Apple dominates at the high end. Vizio's plans are "part of the battle for the living room, where you've got all your devices able to s...

Google has launched a major interface redesign for YouTube. This latest change revamps the site overall. It also provides a new home page and simpler, customizable channels. "We want to grow the amount of time people spend on the site, and we feel that growing channels is a way to help them find the...

Unless you're driving a tricked-out late-model BMW or Mini, you're unlikely to have Internet-based media streaming options built into your vehicle. However, there are ways to replicate that Internet media experience -- just without the integrated controls. The basic premise is to use your smartphone...

Google unveiled a software update for Google TV on Friday that includes a slew of apps. These are based on Android 3.1, Google spokesperson Jacques Herbert told TechNewsWorld. This is the latest version of the so-called "Honeycomb" release. An update based on Honeycomb has been expected for a while....

Field of Streams, Part 3

When ICE identifies a site that is violating copyright and/or intellectual property laws, it obtains a warrant from a United States court granting it the authority to seize the URL. At that point, ICE takes down the streams and throws up an intimidating warning that is overlaid on a red background w...

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