You know those really cool home theaters, like the ones they show on MTV Cribs, with the slick leather recliners, 1000″ screen, popcorn machine and special lights?  Yeah, I wish I was wealthy enough to afford one too.  Sigh, maybe in my next life.

Well here’s a neat way to make your own home theater using your iPhone or iPod Touch and you don’t have to be a billionaire Hollywood starlet to do it.

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Image courtesy of HP

HP has made available software that makes it easier to manage the content your Tivo has recorded and also enables you to view this content on any PC in your home.  The new software is called HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo® and is available for free from HP.

With this software, you can:

• transfer shows from a TiVo DVR to a HP MediaSmart Server and back to a TiVo DVR
• manage TiVo recordings stored on a HP MediaSmart Server
• watch TiVo DVR recordings that are stored on a HP MediaSmart Server on any PC in the home

For those who aren’t into setting up your own server and DVR, this is an almost ideal setup.

If I had a Tivo and MediaSmart server, I would definitely try this out.

Tivo and I have been together a long time. Almost four years, which in the electronic world is practically a lifetime. Sadly, Tivo has begun showing signs of dementia; mainly, stuttering and freezing occasionally, and insisting on attempting to record from every HD channel FIOS offers, despite our distinct lack of an HDTV. Constantly playing whack a mole with removing HD channels from the lineup settings is not my idea of a good time, nor is it fun when I come home from a long weekend and discover Tivo has helpfully recorded the Verizon screensaver instead of actual TV.

So it’s time to start researching alternatives. My cable is through Verizon FIOS, and for one DVR they want $14.95 a month. Tivo is currently $12.95 a month, so the difference is minimal. It really comes down to features and the cost of the digital video recorder itself. Verizon’s is rented through my service, and Tivo is an up-front sunk cost.

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My mother is going to watch the Academy Awards over streaming video tonight. Is it because she’s embracing the web, and discovering new ways to enjoy media? Not quite…

If you had to chart my mother on a technology adopter scale, she’d fall somewhere around mid-to-late adopter. The first time I recall getting a text message from her was in 2006, when my parents were traveling abroad and they wanted to touch base at home. Since then she’s learned to text more in large part because my brother communicates almost solely by texting. But the larger point here is that my mother, like most non-technolusting folks, adopts technology for two reasons: out of necessity and because it becomes so ubiquitous that it becomes integral to remaining connected to the mainstream.

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The song “We Are the World” was originally recorded in 1985 as part of an effort to raise money and awareness for African famine relief.

The song was resurrected and recently re-recorded by a new “super-group” this time to raise money for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Social Media can be very powerful.  YouTube has a lot of great personalities who run their own channels via it.  Some feature comedy videos, some are tech. reviewers and some are singers.  YouTube features a ton of musical channels.  It’s become a place where anyone can upload videos of themselves singing and let the world listen in.

I recently stumbled across a YouTube version of “We Are the World” that sung by many of the YouTubers who use their channel to promote their own musical efforts.  These are some of the best musicians YouTube has to offer and I was blown away by how good they did.  Each recorded their own parts individually and then the song was edited together to create one continuous track.

Straight from the creators description: Watch the video below and then please help the people of Haiti by buying Quincy Jones’ Official 2010 remake version of this song on iTunes. All of the money from sales go directly to relief in Haiti.

Visit the official “We Are The World” foundation http://wearetheworldfoundation.org and do what you can to help.

Our younger son had his birthday at the local theater this past weekend, and part of that was getting a tour of the projection area, getting to splice a trailer into a reel, and even starting the movie they were seeing and checking audio levels. It is a really cool time, and the local theater manager does a great job with the kids. I took note that even after doing all of the start-up in the booth, getting his special theater display poster and other stuff for the kids in the party, and heading on downstairs and into our theater and being seated … we hadn’t even missed any trailers.

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Remember Gordon Gekko?  Well he’s back.  Oliver Stone is set to release the sequel to the popular 80s film “Wall Street.”

The original starred Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, a super rich, super powerful and super dirty Wall Street broker.

Charlie Sheen plays the title role of a young and impatient stockbroker who is willing to do anything to get to the top.

In one scene, Gekko is seen talking to Sheen on a “cell phone” while strolling along his beachfront property.  Of course the cell phone back in 1987 was a little different than what you’re used to now.

Well Gekko’s back in the sequel and so is his old phone.  Watch at around the :39 mark to see for yourself.

Its time for a quick round up of news about our favorite online video sites:

YouTube site redesign: After their news about supportng HTML5 and starting their own rental services, what else does YouTube have to announce?   Well, the left the best for last by announcing a major site redesign.The new look is opt-in through YouTube’s TestTube labs for right now, but it looks great, making it much easier to focus on the video you’re watching than be distracted with comments, descriptions, user information or ratings.

Hulu charging??: Hulu, the video site with the funny TV commericals, is considering charging for content.  According to an article on Geek.com, “Apparently the companies behind Hulu, which include NBC Universal, News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity Partners, have been looking for new ways of generating revenue from the content being offered. One idea that looks like it may stick is to start charging a subscription if you want to watch shows deemed as “old”.”  The kicked around price? $4.99/month.  We’ll be watching to see if this happens or not.

Boxee may start charging too: Following in Hulu’s footsteps, online service Boxee may start charging as well.  According to their official blog, “Users want to see more content on Boxee. Content owners want to be paid for what they produce (whether that’s TV Shows, movies, music, or applications). We don’t believe these are conflicting interests. This is why we plan to release a Payment Platform this summer where users will be able to make purchases with one click on the remote. The content partners we launch with will offer shows, movies and channels that were previously not available to Boxee users.”  No formal pricing on this as yet.  The blog mentions a “small fee” only.

With the Internet becoming the 1st mode of entertainment in homes today, its no shock that the online video distribution sites are trying to step up their game with new looks, and new fees.  We’ll see what happens next.

YouTube today announced that it is going to start offering movie rentals. The site is going to start small, offering some films that will be featured at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, but hopes to branch out from there by working with other film distributors to gain access to their catalogs.

According to the announcement:

Independent filmmakers have been critical contributors to our platform ever since we launched our site, almost five years ago. In that time, we’ve increasingly come to understand some of the challenges facing these filmmakers: technology has made it easier and cheaper than ever to produce films; more films have led to more competition for audiences; more competition for audiences has led to more films needing massive marketing budgets to cut through the clutter. And these high costs have made it difficult for independent films to compete, leaving too many films going unseen.

The first films will rent for $3.99 and be viewable for 48 hours. YouTube plans to let movie companies set their own terms, something that the companies will undoubtedly like more than consumers!

The plan is to launch the service this Friday January 22nd:

On Friday, we’ll post another blog to walk you through how to find and start watching some of these independent films.

What do you think? Good idea? Bound to flop? Add your thoughts in the comments!

Source: Yahoo! Finance

I love IMAX movies because they are always beautifully shot, intelligently narrated, and because the impressive screen and massive sound system combo is generally enough to make even the most meh topic appear amazingly inspired. Yeah, I said it – there have been IMAX movies that I watched on subjects only because they were IMAX movies. But based on the subject matter and the preview, the upcoming Hubble 3D movie is already in the running to be my all-time favorite IMAX movie.

Through the power of IMAX® 3D, Hubble 3D will enable movie-goers to journey through distant galaxies to explore the grandeur and mysteries of our celestial surroundings, and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt the most difficult and important tasks in NASA’s history. The film will offer an inspiring and unique look into the Hubble Space Telescope’s legacy and highlight its profound impact on the way we view the universe and ourselves. Hubble 3D is an IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures production, in cooperation with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The film reunites the Space Station 3D filmmaking team, led by Producer/Director Toni Myers. Hubble 3D will blast off exclusively to IMAX and IMAX 3D theatres on March 19th, 2010.

I doubt that in my lifetime space travel will be affordable for the masses or that I’ll be able to explore the cosmos, so this movie may be the closest I can get. I’m okay with that. Now Kev and I just need to figure out which IMAX theaters will be showing it in Texas this spring, so we can pick one and make the trip.

IMAX Hubble 3D

via Richard Dawkins.net

more info CNN Money

Image courtesy of Joystiq

When the Wii came out there was much consternation over the fact that it wouldn’t play DVD video, compared with the HD options on the XBOX360 and PS3. Since then, both of those consoles have gotten Netflix streaming capabilities, allowing gamers to enjoy ‘Watch it Now’ movies through their consoles. Now – after months of rumors – Nintendo and Netflix are announcing that the Wii will gain video streaming capabilities (presumably through a ‘Netflix Channel’) this spring.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, said the Wii had always been primarily about bringing video games to the mass market, including people who normally would not play a violent shoot-’em-up or pick up a traditional video game controller.

But, Mr. Fils-Aime said, “from Day 1, we always had other capabilities within the console.” The deal with Netflix, he said, “is a continuation of an effort to bring more and more entertainment to consumers who interact with the Wii.”

So – will you watch movies using your Wii? I can definitely see our kids making use of this – they have the Wii on a TV in their area of our basement, and this will be a great way to watch what they want.

Source: New York Times via Joystiq

Photo courtesy of Wareseeker

Even though the Zune HD packs one of the most powerful mobile platforms out today, the MP3 player gets no love compared to Apples’s industry Juggernaut the iPod. I have a 32GB Zune HD and absolutely love it. The biggest issue I have is the small marketplace and app support.  The Zune HD is actually a really great player, but needs to unleash the power of the Tegra, and so far has failed to do so. With Tegra powering the device, HD content and games have no problems with playback or quality. The ultra slim case and OLED screen make it stand out from the crowded MP3 player market, but the software development has been left in the cold since the release.

Our friends at Microsoft are finally releasing a worthy firmware update for the device. MPEG-4 (part 2 Advanced Simple Profile) codecs incl. Xvid will be natively supported after the update. Playback will also allow the codecs to work while docked and connected to a HD monitor. Unfortunately Divx will not be making an appearance this time around, but you can scour the internet for some good transcoding software to take care of that for you. Smart DJ (on-the-fly playlists) will also be featured in this update, currently available on the desktop client but now will be a feature on the device itself. Hopefully the future brightens up for the Zune, I would like some other streaming media apps outside of the marketplace such as Pandora.

For now I’ll patiently wait for the update and enjoy the Zune for what it is. The super responsive multitouch screen and accelerometer leaves endless opportunities for future apps and games. HD radio is also great feature but adding some streaming media over Wifi would be even better. More accessories are beginning to show up along with a few good selections of screen protectors and cases. We’ll update you when the new firmware has been released.

Via Slashgear

… or was that WA RTY TOWELS … or perhaps WATERY FOWLS … or maybe even FLAY OTTERS? Whatever the sign outside said, you knew that once inside the lobby you were in for some hilarious and cringe-worthy shenanigans with Basil Fawlty and the rest of the gang! Now you can enjoy all twelve episodes in a three-disk collection that also includes gobs of extras! Continue Reading

Hurray for heavy-handed (and not data-based) tactics from the movie industry once again. If you have been reading all of Caryl Z’s excellent ebook posts recently you have seen how the industry is trying to limit consumer choice and delay the move to new technology in order to maximize profits. The same is true with the movie industry – they estimate that that sell 75% of their DVD’s during the first four weeks after release, and want to make sure that the rush during that time is for sales rather than rentals or streaming views. Continue Reading

Image Provided by LaCie

LaCie has released a cool looking set top box that can pump out HD video at full 1080p.  It has 500 GB of storage, 802.11n for streaming and a compact form factor.  I could see getting one of these and stuffing it my suitcase when going on business trips.

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