TiVo To Partner With Entertainment Weekly

Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 by MegaZone

Reuters is reporting that TiVo will partner with Entertainment Weekly, allowing TiVo subscribers to records programs suggested by the magazine’s staff. TiVo is expected to announce the deal later today (Wednesday), likely before their financial conference call in the afternoon. This sounds much like TiVo’s existing deal with the Chicago Tribune. It will probably be an Entertainment Weekly Guru Guide.

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Roxio Launches Creator 2009

Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 by MegaZone

Roxio Creator 2009

Roxio Easy Media Creator 10 is being updated and it is now known simply as Roxio Creator 2009. This is Roxio’s premier media creation and authoring package for Windows. Creator 2009 has a new UI and supports HD content from AVCHD camcorders and transfers from HD TiVos for Blu-ray discs with a free HD/Blu-ray plug-in, a $29.99 value (a limited time offer). You can also easily share your content online via a free, secure Roxio web page or via YouTube. Roxio Creator is the only officially endorsed authoring tool for TiVoToGo on Windows.

Through September 30, 2008 you can buy Creator 2009 for $79.99 (after $20 Mail-in Rebate) and receive the High-Def/Blu-Ray Disc plug-in (a $29.99 value) free. So that’s a $129.98 for $79.99.

Roxio issued a press release to detail all of the changes and improvements in Creator 2009:

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A Small Amazon Blu-ray Sale

Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 by MegaZone

Amazon is running yet another Blu-ray sale, though this one is kind of small. Eight titles 43-45% off: V for Vendetta, Twister, The Perfect Storm, GoodFellas, Ocean’s Eleven, The Departed, Ocean’s Twelve, and Rush Hour 3.

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Strange Bedfellows

Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 by MegaZone

Panasonic has announced a new uber-box for the Japanese market. It is a combination 320GB DVR and Blu-ray & DVD recorder. But that’s not all, it also has a built in VHS deck. So you can dump your fuzzy VHS tapes to DVD, or Blu-ray to really capture the fuzziness in high quality. It isn’t completely clear from the translated AV Watch Japanese text, but it sounds like you can also record to VHS – though not from the tuner. You can also dump content to the hard drive, and then transfer from the drive to media. All this can be yours October 1st for the equivalent of $1,450 – only in Japan of course.

We need an HD DVD and Betamax combo deck just for the Epic Fail factor that would represent. (This system supports Digital Audio Tape, Digital Compact Cassette, and MiniDisc – it can’t fail!)

Picked up via Gizmodo.

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DISH Network Offers All SD & HD Content Via MPEG-4 AVC

Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 by MegaZone

DISH Network now offers all of the standard- and high-definition programming via MPEG-4 AVC in 21 markets: Cleveland, OH; Richmond, VA; Baltimore, MD; Columbia, SC; Tampa, FL; Green Bay, WI; Greensboro, NC; Providence, RI; Greenville, SC, Knoxville, TN; Raleigh, NC; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Charlotte, NC; Dallas, TX; Nashville, TN; Minneapolis, MN; Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; New York, NY; and Hartford, CN. The all-AVC service will be rolled out to additional markets over time. DISH is the first pay-TV provider to offer all-AVC service.

The migration to MPEG-4 AVC away from MPEG-2 will allow DISH Network to add additional channels, especially HD content, as the new codec is more efficient and allows for more channels to be carried by the available satellite transponders.

Dish issued a press release, though I take issue with the phrase “Blu-Ray Disc quality 1080p resolution”. While it may be 1080p HD content, and Blu-ray is indeed 1080p, DISH sure as hell is not coming close to the bitrates delivered by Blu-ray (nor would I expect them to), so they can’t match the overall image quality. Not to mention the lossless audio available on many Blu-ray titles. Here’s the release:

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