Like one of the undead characters from the '90s hit TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the WB Network is rising from the grave. Yet this time its incarnation will be solely online and targeted to the 16-to-34 year girls and women with a penchant for the 'Slayer' and other former WB Network broadcast shows. The shows, including the likes of 'Gilmore Girls,' 'Smallville,' 'The O.C.' and 'Friends,' will be free to view and entirely advertising supported.

TheWB.com and KidsWB.com will both have original content, some of it developed by Charlie's Angels movie director Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol and also Josh Schwartz, executive producer of 'The O.C.' and 'Gossip Girl.' [Source: The New York Times]

Disclosure: Warner Television and Switched share a corporate parent, AOL/Time Warner.

Heroes fans can get their full HD fix August 26, when the DVD boxed set of season two is released on DVD, it'll also hit Blu-ray and bring along season one for the ride.

No word on price or what extras are in store (or if 1080p will somehow make the whole twins subplot less meaningless, just a thought), although the S1 set on HD DVD last year included HDi internet connectivity, and we don't expect anything less from BD-Live. Universal is going day and date with its movies starting with Doomsday, while NBCU's first dual-format feature film should hit shelves ahead of the holidays. [Source: Broadcasting & Cable]

3-D baby, that's what we've wanted from home television for 50 years. Now it's yours... if you live in Japan anyway. Introducing the world's first 46-inch 3-D stereoscopic television (which is essentially a fancy name for a 3-D television that requires glasses to view properly). Many companies are working on TVs capable of displaying 3-D -- ideal for video games for example -- but it looks like this one is the first one that's actually for sale.

Built by Hyundai, the 1,920 x 1,080 set is capable of grabbing BS11 3-D broadcasts pumped by Nippon BS in Japan for the last few months. The ¥498,000 (about $4,857) LCD brings 2x HDMI and 3x composite inputs (to name a few) and apparently works fine for traditional 2-D broadcasts.

Unfortunately, you'll have to wear what appear to be 3-foot wide, 3-D glasses judging by the image provided above. Perhaps they're meant as a radiation shield since the set is also the world's first TV with built-in "nuclear reactor" according to the machine translated text. Be careful out there kids, it's just television.

From Impress (via Engadget)

Following today's announcement that iTunes is now among the top 10 US record sellers, the BBC will be offering its programs through Apple's iTunes Music Store as part of continuing efforts to expand its content outside the borders of the UK.

Currently, BBC programs are made available on the free, UK-only iPlayer application after airing on TV, and short clips and previews are available on the BBC YouTube Channel. The new deal with Apple outlines the BBC's plan to offers at least 10 series through iTunes, including "Life on Mars" and "Ashes to Ashes." Simon Danker, director of digital media at BBC Worldwide, said, "We want to give audiences a wide variety of options on how and where to view their favorite BBC shows." Once purchased and downloaded, users will be able to view the content in iTunes and on iPods, iPhones, and Apple TVs.

While we're encouraged by the BBC's first step in making this content available worldwide, we're hoping that more of the enormous BBC archives will be opened up and made available on iTunes soon.

from BBC News

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Well, we all knew it was coming. The rumors have been circulating for so long that it's more been a matter of when rather than if.

At today's MacWorld keynote, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that he has finally struck a deal to put movie rentals on iTunes. Pretty much all the major movie studios --Touchstone, MGM, Miramax, Lions Gate, Fox, WB, Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony -- have all signed on to provide rentals at $2.99 for older films and $3.99 for new releases.

Like pretty much every other online movie service and Vudu, the iTunes movie rental service, which launches today, gives you 30 days to watch a chosen film, but after you hit play, you have just 24 hours to complete the movie before your rental expires. The files can be transfered to iPods and Apple TVs, though, so you can start watching the movie while it's still downloading your computer's iTunes, then copy it over to your iPod (or Apple TV) and finish watching it somewhere else later that day.

Apple also unveiled Apple TV Take 2, which essentially amounts to a new interface for the Apple TV that makes it independent of a computer. The update lets you access the full iTunes store directly from your Apple TV and rent DVD-quality movies to watch on your TV (or buy music and audiobooks to listen to on your TV/home theater system). And, for just a dollar more, you can get HD quality video and 5.1 surround sound. The Apple TV will still sync to your PC or Mac, if you have one. The revamped Apple TV ships in two weeks for $229.

The best part is that current Apple TV users aren't left out in the cold. Jobs admitted that Apple hadn't exactly hit the nail on the head with the original Apple TV, and is offering the new UI and features as a free download to all current Apple TV users. For once, some of Apple's early adopters are getting taken care of!

So, does this mean you should forget Blu-ray and just pick up a new Apple TV? Maybe, though we're going to reserve our final judgment until we find out whether the HD offered is highest-quality 1080p or not (as with Blu-ray) and if every one of the 1,000 or so films Apple is promising to have available by year's end is also available in HD.

That said, we won't say don't rent movies from iTunes. We've got iPods just like everyone else, and we'd be dumb not to partake of this latest offering from Apple. We just want to see if Apple really has a decent selection of HD movies, since no one else -- other than the Blu-ray camp (and only recently) -- seems to have pulled this off.

From Engadget

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After leaving Blockbuster in its dust, Netflix is looking to expand its reach beyond the decidedly low-tech DVD rental business. Sure, Netflix.com has its Watch Instantly feature, but that still requires a PC to stream digital content in questionable quality. Cutting out the computer is an important step in seamlessly integrating your digital content and your home theater. To that end Netflix is teaming up with LG to stream movies and TV shows straight to LG's upcoming line of Internet-connected HDTVs and combination Blu-ray / HD DVD players.

The Netflix deal is looking to one-up Amazon's deal with TiVo to stream films from its Unbox service to TiVo set top boxes. Netflix's likely hope is that it can ultimately ditch those costly red envelopes.

From the New York Times

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According a new report (PDF file) from the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, the U.S. government is not prepared for the February 17, 2009 deadline for the switch to digital television signals. The GAO says that, "Despite efforts by the public and private sectors and ongoing coordination, we found that no comprehensive plan for the transition exists."

Till now the government relied very strongly on initiatives from the private sector to spread the word about the switch from analog to digital. When the switch is finalized, citizens' analog television sets will cease to function with over the air (OTA) broadcasts. Owners who don't purchase a digital television will be forced to get a cable or satellite TV system or a digital/analog converter box. The government has put in place a program to lighten the load on the consumer by subsidizing the purchase of a new digital TV or converter box by offering $40 coupons for the purchases.

Kevin Martin, chairman of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the arm of the Commerce Department overseeing the transition, responded by offering 99 pages of "comprehensive plans, goals and achievements" drawn up by the FCC.

While you might not be able to rely on the government to tell you what to do and when, we can do our part and remind you to have your new TV in place by February 2009 (the earlier the better) so that you don't miss a single episode of the the 11th season of 'America's Next Top Model.'

For more information regarding the switch from analog to digital television check out the following links:

• DTV.gov
• FCC 'All-Digital Television is Coming'
• PBS 'Digital TV: A Cringley Crash Course'
• How Stuff Works: Digital Television

From Reuters

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The Apple TV, after garnering some initially positive press, has faded into obscurity. Apple won't even release sales numbers for the tiny device, and Steve Jobs recently dismissed it as a "hobby."

So what happened? Apple usually has unprecedented success with its consumer electronics, and has a knack for creating a market where one didn't previously exist. But the Apple TV did not find much of an audience beyond die-hard Apple fanatics and the hacker/tinkerer crowd.

The failure of the Apple TV can be attributed to a number of decisions by the boys in Cupertino:

Poor Marketing
It's not that Apple didn't push the product, but more that they didn't explain it properly. The Apple TV is not a proper set-top box or a smaller Mac Mini. Essentially, it's a stationary video iPod with a hefty set of restrictions.

Apple TV didn't come with cable to connect to your TV.
It may seem like an odd complaint, but Apple is known for shipping products that work right out of the box. If you have to buy a $30 HDMI cable to make the thing work, it's betraying Apple's "it just works" ethos.

Apple TV requires an HDTV.
While HD is invading American homes at an incredible rate, Hi-Def sets are far from ubiquitous, limiting the device's appeal from the outset.

Apple TV lacks media support.
Sure, you can load up just about any audio file (other than Ogg or WMA) or photos of your choice, but the Apple TV's main selling point was its video capabilities -- where it undeniably fell short. The Apple TV is limited to lower-resolution MPEG 4 and H.264 video files such as those available through the iTunes store. These formats are nowhere near a high enough resolution to look passable on the fancy HDTV required to use the box. No DivX, no Xvid, no WMV. In fact, the Apple TV isn't even capable of handling the HD trailers hosted on the Apple Movie Trailers web site. Basically if you didn't buy shows and movies on iTunes and don't want to watch YouTube videos blown up to 1280x720, you probably have no reason to purchase the Apple TV.

A small community of intrepid hackers managed to add support for more formats, add USB storage expansion (a must on the original 40 Gigabyte model), and force the diminutive box to run both OS X and Linux, but homebrew enthusiasts alone cannot float an entire market segment.

Is there hope for the Apple TV? Probably not. At least not in its current iteration. Dropping the HD requirements would be a start, but simply building a more open and capable streamer is the only way to reinvigorate interest in the device. The Apple TV might be significantly cheaper, but we'd strongly recommend you drop the extra couple hundred bucks on a Mac Mini and an adapter for your TV -- you'll be much happier with the results.

From DailyTech

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Every summer, when the weather's (usually) nice, TV networks go dormant, filling their programming slots with endless repeats and stupid new game shows hosted by B-list celebrities. In the Fall, they wheel out the big guns and launch salvos of expensive premier pilots at each other -- all to win the never-ending war for viewership.

This year, a few of those salvos have had their potential downgraded, thanks to the leaking of their storylines online. Within the past week, the scripts for pilots for new series like 'Bionic Woman,' a modernized take on the classic 1970s 'Bionic Woman' series, appeared online on many popular peer-to-peer sites where pirated copies of movies and TV are downloaded.

Other scripts that have shown up fon these sites include 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles,' an Arnie-less spin off of the 'Terminator' movies, and 'Cavemen,' the seemingly ill-fated sitcom based on the tragic Geico commercials.

If television history is any indicator, most of these plots are doomed and won't last more than a season or two anyway, but we sure are digging the 'Bionic Woman' preview (the show is being produced by David Eick, the same guy behind the revamped 'Battlestar Galactica,' and even stars Katee Sackoff, who plays Starbuck on BSG).


From Newsvine

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The era of streaming High-Definition content our PCs is almost here. The latest entry is ABC, which quietly started beta testing its new HD streaming channel. Now you can watch episodes of 'Lost,' 'Ugly Betty,' or 'Grey's Anatomy' in beautiful 720p HD.

Before you get too excited, the player has some pretty hefty requirements for streaming video:

PC

• Processor: Intel Pentium 3 or better
• Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP (Pro, Home or Media editions) with Service Pack 2 and all Microsoft Updates, Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate.
• RAM: 128 MB (512 MB recommended)
• Video Card: 32 MB (128 MB recommended)
• Browser: Internet Explorer 5.5 (or higher), Vista or Firefox/Mozilla
• Screen Resolution: 1024x768 minimum (1280x1024 recommended)
• Internet Connection: Broadband/High Speed (DSL or Cable)

Mac

• Operating System:Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar", 10.3 "Leopard", 10.4 "Tiger"
• RAM: 128 MB minimum (512 MB recommended)
• Video Card: 32 MB minimum (128 MB recommended)
• Browser: Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, Safari 1.3.2 or higher, or Firefox/Mozilla 1.5 or higher
• Screen Resolution: 1024x768 minimum (1280 x 1024 recommended)
• Internet Connection: Broadband/High Speed (DSL or Cable)

There are still some kinks to be worked out, and we wouldn't suggest bothering with this service unless your broadband service downloads over 2 Megabits per second. Also, forget about watching if you just bought yourself one of those nice new Ubuntu powered Dells -- there's no support for linux.

From BetaNews

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That rumored budget HD TiVo box we discussed earlier, it's here! And carrying the moniker TiVo HD, it ditches the previous naming scheme of 'TiVo Series X.' It seems the previously-reported specs, and even the photo, turned out to be accurate.

Here are some of the features the entry-level Tivo HD will lack:

• No OLED
• No fancy remote
• No THX

What do these feature omissions mean? For most people, not much. The lack of OLED simply means you won't get an on-console read-out of whatever the Tivo is recording unless you have your TV on -- a cosmetic advantage at best. The fancy remote is really just a glorified regular remote (besides, you'll probably be using a universal remote, anyway). Now, the lack of THX can be a bummer for those who have compatible, high-end A/V receivers or sound systems, but chances are that most non-audiophiles won't notice the difference.

The box does come with dual Cable Card slots, with M Card support, which allows the use of two tuners with one card (great feature). The box also includes an ATSC tuner for watching digital broadcasts and an analog NTSC tuner, in case you're buying a TiVo for your 10-year-old tube. TiVoToGo, and downloading Amazon.com movies and TV shows, among other Internet offerings, are also supported.

Now, if only Tivo could get its fantastic interface to scroll faster through the 200-plus channels most satellite and cable companies offer, it would have a real winner. (We hate to say it, but the otherwise glitchy DVR boxes from your cable company do a better job of quickly scrolling through channels.)

From Engadget and Tivo.

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That TiVo Series 3 box sure is tempting ... until you see the price. At $800, it's no wonder TiVo units aren't moving as briskly as they once did. Thankfully, the company is finally offering an HD DVR at a much more reasonable price.

Rumor has it, the Series 3 Lite will run consumers only $299. TiVo is keeping the price down by dropping some of the more extravagant features, such as the programmable remote, the OLED display and THX certification. It also ditches the dual encoders for a two in one model.

This certainly seems like a more reasonable option if you want your TiVo fix and don't have tons of cash to burn, though there's no word yet when this model will be released.

From Engadget

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For some people (possibly including some of our readers), even pressing buttons on a remote is simply too much work. Who wants to hit a whole bunch of buttons? What happens if you lose the remote? Then you'll have to get up and change the channel by hand. And no one wants that.

Thankfully a group of Australian scientists has developed a prototype device that will allow you to control your TV and other home entertainment devices with hand gestures. The device uses a camera to watch for a set of predetermined gestures to turn equipment on or off, change channels, etc.

This new-fangled bit of tech wizardry has software that helps it weed out unintended gestures, so that flailing children or over active pets can't accidentally change the channel on you. The scientists are working on shrinking the technology down so that it can be built into gadgets like televisions and DVD players. They hope to have the controller-less controller in stores within the next three years.

From Gizmo Watch

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He had us in stitches with his role on 'Wings,' he scared the bejesus out of us in the TV adaptation of 'The Shining' and he most recently incited our anger as the mother of all bad bosses in the ill-fated 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.' He's also an accomplished stage actor. Yes, Steven Weber is one versatile dude. Pictured here during a reading at the recent Nantucket Film Festival, Weber took some time out to talk tech with Switched.

What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?
Treo 700. It's very good, has a good camera. I managed to download the 'Jetsons' doorbell as my phone ringtone. The bad thing is that is freezes every so often.

Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?
Nate Corddry telling him something revolting.

What annoys you most about your iPod, cell phone or laptop?
That the world is becoming increasingly dependent on them and they replace human interaction.

Name one thing you wish your iPod could do that it doesn't do now.
Full release.

You're stranded on a desert island: What gadget do you bring?
Betty Crocker Easy Bake Oven (it would provide warmth and snacks).

What's the most-played song or artist on your iPod?
The Rolling Stones "She Smiled Sweetly"

Blackberry, Sidekick, or Treo?
I've Blackberried and I miss it. I'm Treoing currently. Sidekicks look like they're for emaciated teenagers who look up to Paris Hilton. I could be wrong though.

Are you getting an iPhone?
Only if it triples the amount of brain whisking radiation that is available on normal phones.

What's the longest time you've ever spent playing a video game in one sitting and what game was it?
I lasted a few days doing 'Tetris' before realizing that when I tried to do anything else or go anywhere else I still could not stop arranging the world into neat, cubic stacks. It was a clearly marked road to madness.

For fans of Weber, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is available on iTunes.

James Lipton of 'Inside the Actors Studio' can go on and on all he wants about the "art" of movie making, but he clearly hasn't ever had a good look at your DVD collection (or Blu-Ray or HD-DVD or Betamax or whatever). The only way 'Big Momma's House 2' is going to come anywhere close to being artsy is if you own Pottery Barn's Chadwick Flat-Panel TV Frame. The museum-like frames can gussy up most TVs measuring 37, 42 and 50 inches and cost $399, $499 and $599 respectively. Unfortunately, unless you're handy with a can of spray paint, the frame is available only in Pottery Barn's "Espresso" color.

From Uncrate

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