NBC Olympics Coverage on Windows Media Center

The 2008 Summer Olympics takes place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24. With a free download service1 called NBC Olympics On The Go,2 you can catch up on TV coverage from NBC Sports. Select your favorite sports and NBC Olympics On The Go will automatically download the right events to your Windows Media Center-based PC. You can watch your selected events in up to HD quality, even when offline, and you can pause, rewind, or fast-forward the video.

Download NBC Olympics On The Go

To get NBC Olympics On The Go, start Windows Media Center and scroll to the Online Media menu. You’ll see an NBC Olympics graphic. Read More »

Introducing Zune 2.5

Microsoft continues to hammer away at its Zune digital media player and the services built around the device, but the evolution is largely a case of going where Apple has already taken the iPod and iTunes. On May 5, 2008, Microsoft introduced the latest update to Zune, not only adding new features and enhancements to the device itself but also evolving the Zune software, Zune Social and the Zune Marketplace. The focus of the update is to build on top of what the company started with “Zune Social” in November 2007, namely to extend the social networking community created around the device.

“Zune owners are pretty passionate, and they had a lot of great ideas for making the community more valuable to music fans. And I definitely fall into that category myself - the main reason we’re all here is we love the music,” stated Brian Seitz, a Group Marketing Manager for Zune. Zune Social offers users the possibility to interact in terms of music discovery, comments, playlist browsing, with the update bringing to the table additional capabilities including the ability to send messages to friends, explore their music collections and even drag-and-drop Zune Cards. Read More »

Watch Out Windows

Radio, phone, GPS, MP3 player, TV, camera… been there done that, but just when you thought there wasn’t anything else that could be shoehorned into a wristwatch, think again. A company called Epoq has managed to fit a copy of Windows Mobile onto one, which you drive using a 1.4-inch OLED touch screen, and just for good measure the EGP-98B has built in 1.3MP camera, wi-fi, Bluetooth and a 4-band GSM phone. Now, it might all be a wind-up (pun intended) because details and availability are all very sketchy, and good images are also hard to find. Read More »

Don’t Watch This Space

Microsoft, Google. HP, Philips, Samsung and Intel are amongst the big names behind the White Space Coalition, which is looking at ways to provide high-speed wireless Internet access using the gaps between TV channels. The gaps, which are designed to stop channels clashing with one another, are essentially wasted space, but until recently it was thought that any attempt to use them would result in interference and broadcasters are naturally against the idea. Read More »

Get Free PS3 With Bravia HDTV Purchase

It’s one of those super-pricey deals that makes every consumer drool- for our lucky Aussie friends, Sony will be giving away a 40GB PS3 with every purchase of a Bravia full-HD 1080 LCD TV. This promotion runs between December 21 and January 28, and applies to the current XBR, X, and W Bravia series models. How’s that for a package?

“Our Full HD BRAVIA range shows the phenomenal detail possible with high definition, and what better way to experience this than through the Blu-ray-enabled PS3,” said Sony Australia senior product manager, Graham Keogh. “Sony is as much about content as we are about hardware. Now, consumers will get the best of both worlds with this Full High Definition combination.” (source- Smarthouse) Read More »

End of the Line for Back Projectors

Once, not so long ago, the only way to pack a really big TV screen into your living room was a back-projection TV. In their heyday there were some real monsters from the likes of Toshiba and Sony, but now it looks as though their days are numbered, with the announcement from Seiko Epson that it is to stop production of the projection gubbins that many manufacturers used to use.

You don’t have to look far to see why it has happened, these huge boxes, which were mostly filled with air, have been killed off by big screen plasmas and LCD flat screens. Read More »

HDTV technology improves surgery

You may have watched last night’s Buffalo Bills game on a high definition television. And now, local doctors are now using that same technology to improve surgery. News 10NBC is the first to show you how it all works. HDTV sets like this one are now in many homes. The three dimensional effect increases realism when you watch, that’s why it’s become so popular with TV viewers and sports fans. Now this same technology is being miniaturized for doctors.

Rochester General Hospital is now using a specially designed HDTV camera system that is improving the way surgery is done. Dr. Louis Eichel says, “It gives you better definition of the tissue planes between the different anatomy. It can do more like a precise dissection and minimizes any complications.” Read More »

iPod Hottest Gadget Yet?

At least the one belonging to airport worker Danny Williams is. Action News 2 in Atlanta is reporting that Mr William’s iPod Nano the older model burst into flames, burning a hole in the pocket of his trousers. The conflagration lasted around 15 seconds, not long enough for him to suffer any serious burns, thanks to some paper he had in his pocket at the time. The chief suspect is the iPod’s lithium ion battery pack, the same technology as the famous exploding batteries used in several brands of laptop. Apple offered to replace the Nano straight away but Danny William’s mum called the TV station with the story because she was worried about what would have happened if the authorities had seen the smoking player and thought Danny was a terrorist. This is not the first time it has happened and there have been several reports of iPods going up in flames whilst charging; not surprisingly Apple has decided not to comment on the incident…

Sony Announce Super Thin OLED Screen

Start saving because Sony aims to be the first to introduce an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV, in time for Christmas. Don’t get too excited, though, the XEL-1 is only 11-inches across, and initially only available in Japan, oh yes, and it’s going to cost the thick end of £600, but here’s the good bits. It’s only 3 millimetres thick, it is reputed to have a contrast ratio of 1,000,000 to 1 (many times better than most current LCD and plasmas), uses significantly less power than comparable LCDs, there’s no backlight to fail and none of the image ‘lag’ associated with low-end LCDs. There are some minus points too; scaling up the technology to a decent size is proving difficult, it is going to be expensive for quite some time, and the displays have a finite life. Read More »