While most of the FCC's new Broadband plan has been about, well, broadband, there's also some great news for HDTV fans. We expected a few mentions about CableCARD and its future when the FCC requested comments and declared it a failure, but we're still glad to see that the FCC listened to consumer electronics companies like TiVo and Sony -- among others. The biggest news is that the FCC has asked the industry to come up with a residential IP gateway that is open and that will provide same abilities as your provider's equipment, and most importantly, it should enable the very same gear to work no matter what type of service you prefer, whether it be satellite, cable or fiber -- for example, via various gateways the same TiVo would work with either DirecTV or Comcast. But while the FCC has given the industry until December of 2012 to define and deploy these IP gateways before implementing an "appropriate enforcement mechanism," in the meantime the FCC wants to see the biggest issues with CableCARDs resolved by this Fall. The list below of immediate fixes is pretty impressive, and other than the persistent lack of video on demand support, it'll help make CableCARD a pretty respectable solution.

• Ditch Tuning Adapters and let devices with Ethernet ports communicate upstream via IP to tune SDV channels.
• If a customer has a CableCARD in their leased set-top box, it must be reflected on the bill like any other CableCARD would.
• If the provider offers a self install for leased set-top boxes, they must also allow self install of a CableCARD.
• Software shouldn't require the same CableLabs certification hardware does.

There's not a lot to see here -- in fact, there's nothing at all to see at this point -- but The New York Times has it on good authority that Google, Intel, and Sony have teamed up to develop an Android-powered internet platform using Atom processors for televisions and set-top boxes. Dubbed Google TV, the apparent mantra seems to be making web app navigation (Twitter, Picasa, etc.) as easy as changing the channel. Joining the fun will be the peripheral casanovas at Logitech for, you guessed it, peripherals. It certainly isn't novel territory, from as far back as WebTV to as recent as Yahoo! widgets -- and from Google itself, be it Motoblur boxes or Dish Network trials -- but the proof will be in the pudding, and for now, mum's the word on any more concrete details. As they say, stay tuned.

What we're watching tonight:

• ABC (720p) has the season (series?) finale of Scrubs at 8 p.m. and Ugly Betty at 10 p.m.
• Fox (720p) has Human Target at 8 p.m. and American Idol at 9 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) has the season finale of Gary Unmarried at 8:30 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) has Mercy at 8 p.m. and Law & Order: SVU at 10 p.m.
• Comedy Central (1080i) has the season premiere of South Park at 10 p.m. and series premiere of Ugly Americans at 10:30 p.m.
• TLC (1080i) presents the series premiere of Addicted at 10 p.m.
• CW (1080i) has High Society at 9:30 p.m.
• Syfy (1080i) has Ghost Hunters at 9 p.m. and the spring premiere of Destination Truth at 10 p.m.
• DirecTV (1080i) has Underbelly at 10 p.m.
• History (720p) has MonsterQuest at 9 p.m.
• Showtime (1080i) has Inside NASCAR at 10 p.m.
• TBS (1080i) brings House of Payne at 10 & 10:30 p.m.
• Brave (1080i) has Shear Genius at 10 p.m.
• A&E (720p) has dog the Bounty Hunter at 10 p.m. and Billy the Exterminator at 10:30 p.m.
• ESPN (720p) has an NBA doubleheader with Spurs/Magic at 8 p.m. and Hornets/Warriors at 10:30 p.m.
• ESPN2 (720p) has NIT tourney action with Weber State/Cincinnati at 7 p.m. and St. John's/Memphis at 9 p.m.

Digital Living Network Alliance is one of the biggest media groups out there and for good reason. But while there are over two hundred members of the alliance, there are only twenty one Promoting Members. That exclusive group that "signifies a strong commitment to the work and mission" of the alliance just got bigger as AT&T, Dolby Laboratories, Qualcomm, Technicolor and Verizon have signed on. This is great news since each is a big player in the digital space and getting behind DLNA is getting behind something we love; enjoying our media on every device we own. There's no word on when this new found commitment will bear fruit, but that doesn't stop us from dreaming about seeing HD content with Dolby surround sound from Verizon FiOS TV, on our media streaming game console.

Fewer products are more appropriately named than the Logitech Harmony series of smart remotes. They do wonderful things to take home entertainment systems, comprised of a disparate jumble of mismatched devices, and turn them into peaceful entities that work together for the betterment of your living room -- you half expect doves with olive branches in their mouths to fly out of the box when you get one. Alas, there are neither birds nor branches included with the company's latest entrants to the series, the 600 and 650 announced two weeks ago, but still they offer the best value amongst the current Harmony lineup. Can they broker successful negotiations amongst all your devices? Read on to find out.

Panasonic has never needed to wait for a new studio album before putting together another major tour, the latest of which it's dubbed Touch the Future. Trading in the traveling truck exhibition for a more intimate indoor setting, the real production Full HD 3D televisions are available and on display, along with glasses, Blu-ray players plus a few other products for good measure. We took a look as soon as the doors opened in NYC (the display runs through today at the Penn Plaza Pavilion and other locations in Chicago and Los Angeles, check the schedule for 12 more cities on deck) and got an eye full of the same 50-inch plasma 3DTVs on sale at Best Buy stores around the country. One major new look for this demo was an NVIDIA PC running the 3DTV Play solution, as you can see from the pics even New York's finest enjoyed turning a lap or two of Need for Speed: Shift in 3D. The action was smooth and easy compatibility with 3D gaming on the PC should provide plenty of content while we wait for more true 3D games to hit consoles (which should ramp up after the PS3 update this summer) while checking out Blu-ray demos on a 50-inch television proved every bit as engaging this time as it did on the 152-inch CES display.

The last we heard of Samsung's BD-C6900 Blu-ray player it was up on Amazon for a pre-order -- and then it was mysteriously gone again. We're not sure whether anyone clicked the button quickly enough to get one of those into their shopping cart and onto their credit card statement back then, but even if you missed out then it is actually shipping now. At least, it is according to Amazon, which lists the thing as "In Stock." The price is still $399.99 and for that you get 1GB of integrated memory, "explosive 3D capabilities," DLNA streaming, and of course that lovely skylight to show off the spinning blur of your latest library addition -- or Netflix rental.

Got 50k to spend big daddy? Good, then meet Alexa from ARRI, a German company founded in 1917 that just happens to be the world's largest motion picture equipment manufacturer. Alexa is ARRI's answer to the RED ONE digital, so don't be held captive by your consumer-based experience of what a camera is or what it should look like. ARRI has a trio of cams slated for release in 2010 offering a 3.5k pixel count, 800+ El equivalent sensitivity, 1 to 60fps frame rate, electronic viewfinder and on-board HD recording. The A-EV Plus model adds uncompressed on-board recording and wireless remote control to the 16:9 aspect ratio shooting A-EV. The A-OV Plus switches things up to a 4:3 aspect and adds an optical viewfinder to the mix. The rest of the details will arrive during an April 6th launch event where ARRI will reveal the complete media, format, and what's promised to be a "super fast workflow."

Until then, check a side-by-side test done by the cats over at Animation World Network pitting a prototype Alexa against a RED One equipped with a new MysteriumX sensor and software. AWN was so enthusiastic by the results of the two cams that it proclaimed, "2010 is the year that celluloid died." Jim Jannard, RED CEO, graciously responded to the test by saying, "We had expected the images to be very similar and it appears that this test confirms that." He then added the following:

"We have believed, since IBC last year, that these two platforms would be the ones standing for the future. We are very proud to be in such good company. But for the moment, we tip our hats to Arri."

Now hit the source links for the full read because the future of film looks set to become historic.

As of December, RealD cinemas alone served 100 million moviegoers, and even if the vast majority recycle, that's still a ton (probably several thousand tons, in fact) of plastic 3D glasses. According to a company called Ceroplast, those glasses aren't biodegradable; if so many as 10 million pairs end up in a landfill, it would result in C02 emissions equivalent to burning 50,000 gallons of gasoline. Of course, Ceroplast wouldn't be quoting statistics if it didn't have a greener solution. Under the brand of partner Oculus3D (whose co-founder Lenny Lipton is RealD's former CTO), it's presently making biodegradable polarized shades out of polylactic acid that it intends to deploy -- along with the company's proprietary OculR projectors -- as early as summer of this year. As for which theatres you should expect to see them in, well, we're still in the dark on that one.

During CES 2010. RealD managed to slide its 3D glasses in with most of the new televisions coming our way this year, but XpanD is continuing its promise to work with any IR-enabled set from any manufacturer (Samsung has already stated its glasses will only work with its TVs, Panasonic couldn't confirm cross compatibility with other brands when we asked) with the X103 series. XpanD is claiming compatibility with "virtually any monitor capable of displaying 3D content". Even with plans for 12 different colors and sizes for kids or adults it's more likely you'll end up in a caption contest than a look book rocking these, but as long as they get the job done they seem like a natural go to for additional pairs when they launch in June. The main problem? Pricing isn't final but Chief Strategy Officer Ami Dror told PC Mag he expects them to run $125 - $150 -- even if the local cinema uses active shutter technology, that's a lot of 3D flicks before you recoup the cost and makes it nearly out of the question to grab a few spares for friends to watch.

Sometimes it feels like all we do is talk about what's coming, but not today, as we get to actually talk about what is here -- for a change. First on the list is 3DTVs from Panasonic and Samsung and how the two compare. Then we move on to some exciting new 3D content like The Final Four and The Masters. Then we talk Media Center and about our initial impressions of the Ceton InfiniTV 4, at which point Jeremy Hammer joins in the fun to fill in the details. He even sticks around to explain what DMIPS are when we talk about the TiVo Premier processor, and his thoughts on exclusive programming deals; and finally Ben's favorite show Lost.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh, Richard Lawler
Guest: Jeremey Hammer of Ceton Corp

Producer: Trent Wolbe

Program
00:01:15 - Comments from Podcast 182
00:05:03 - Panasonic 3D home entertainment system goes on sale to a country in mourning
00:10:57 - Samsung's 2010 3DTVs priced from $1,700 to ridiculous and everywhere in between
00:15:27 - First 3D showdown pits Samsung vs Panasonic
00:18:43 - Poll: Will you still buy home theater equipment that isn't 3D-ready?
00:23:09 - CBS Sports to present the Final Four in 100 3D theaters
00:25:57 - Comcast will beat DirecTV to the punch by broadcasting the Masters Tournament in 3D April 7-11
00:28:50 - Netflix prototyped for Windows Phone 7 Series
00:30:56 - Sony signs up all six major studios for HD movies on PlayStation Network
00:36:08 - Ceton's quad CableCARD tuner for Media Center available for pre-order
00:14:42 - The processor in the TiVo Premiere is over twice as fast as the Series3
01:26:54 - Court rules against Comcast, Cablevision on new FCC program access rules

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)

What we're watching tonight:

• ABC (720p) has Lost at 9 p.m. and a FlashForward recap episode at 10 p.m.
• CBS (1080i) has NCIS at 8 p.m., NCIS: LA at 9 p.m. and The Good Wife at 10 p.m.
• Fox (720p) has American Idol at 8 p.m.
• NBC (1080i) airs Parenthood at 10 p.m.
• CW (1080i) airs 90210 at 8 p.m. and Melrose Place at 9 p.m.
• History (720p) has Samurai at 8 p.m. and the season finale of Life After People at 10 p.m.
• TLC (1080i) brings 19 Kids & Counting at 9 p.m.
• Spike TV (1080i) airs Blue Mountain State at 10 p.m. and Players at 10:30 p.m.
• TNT (1080i) has Southland at 10 p.m.
• Travel (1080i) has Food Wars at 10 p.m.
• Syfy (1080i) has WWE NXT at 10 p.m.
• FX (720p) has the series premiere of Justified at 10 p.m.
• ESPN (720p) has Winthrop/Arkansas-Pine Bluff NCAA tourney play in game at 7:30 p.m.

It's really no surprise, since Fox was quick to dispute Jim Cameron's prediction of November for a 3D home release of Avatar but didn't say anything about the now confirmed release of April 22 (check the press release after the break for worldwide release info) for the standard 2D DVD & Blu-ray. The L.A. Times reports we can expect one first for this version -- a new release Blu-ray movie with no trailers or promo content of any kind. No extras, no nothing, with the justification that they'll use all the space on the disc for the highest quality audio and video transfer possible. Whether you buy that one (literally or just the idea that 50GB isn't enough for a beautiful movie and a featurette or two) get your wallet ready as an "ultimate version" multi disc release is already on deck due in, wait for it... November. The "ultimate" tag might be a bit much if it can't present an extra dimension to the visuals, but we should find out more during a press event planned for March 23 featuring producer Jon Landau and director James Cameron (the Black Eyed Peas are regrettably not scheduled to attend.)

It's been a long and painful four months since Pogoplug introduced its second generation NAS-ifier, but those who've been holding out for additional functionality can finally buy in. In an effort to cater to these so-called "gamers," the company has enabled its device to stream multimedia content directly to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles; users will be able to access, share and stream media directly to their console from any local or remotely located Pogoplug, and if all goes well, your console should actually see the drives connected to the Pogoplug and the contents of other shared Pogoplugs automatically. In related news, the unit is also now capable of pushing out offsite backups through a new version of Active Copy (shown above), so all that's left to do is hop online and suck down that tasty firmware update that should be waiting. Enjoy!

Another pretty good week which features the first hand animated movie in a long time, The Princess and the Frog. A few TV shows that are always welcomed additions as well as some classics like The Wizard of Oz. Nice.

The Princess and the Frog (Disney)
Armored (Sony)
Breaking Bad: The Complete First Season (Sony)
Breaking Bad: The Complete Second Season (Sony)
Broken Embraces (Sony)
Did You Hear About the Morgans? (Sony)
Astro Boy (Summit)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (MPI)
Fallen Angels (Kino)
The Fourth Kind (Universal)
New Moon (Summit)
Ninja Assassin (Warner)
The Wizard of Oz (Warner)
Paris (MPI)
South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season (Paramount)
Suicide Girls: Guide To Living (First Look)
Unrivaled (Lionsgate)
Wonderful World (Magnolia)

While it might have been a pipe dream back in '09, Taiwanese display manufacturer AU Optronics is firmly committed to blasting our eyeballs in 2010, with a monstrous 65-inch HD LCD panel ready for all the 3D and pseudo-3D content (we're looking at you, G-Force) you have on offer. AUO isn't hedging its bets on this one, either; at FPD China 2010, the company announced that they're using a polarized solution with cheap, $2 to 3 glasses to generate the 3D effect. Sure, polarized is the preferred method for most theatres, but it's often more expensive than active shutter tech for an in-home user -- and can come with some serious visual tradeoffs like permanent ghosting or halved vertical resolution. We won't know for sure until we get hands-on, but either way, expect to see AUO's panels in a branded 3D HDTV near you early next year, or just a few months before HDI drops a 103-inch monster of its own.

LG is today proudly boasting that it has sealed the biggest sale of 3D television sets so far, thanks to its partnership with UK broadcaster BSkyB. Following a surprisingly successful trial run of broadcasting the Arsenal versus Man United match in 3D this January, Sky clearly sees its future through polarizing glasses and has ordered up the big batch of tubes so that it can provide weekly 3D broadcasts of Premier League games. The plan is for a rapid rollout this spring -- which is right about now -- meaning that your local pub should be getting all glitzed up just in time for the end of season excitement. It remains to be seen whether Brits will swarm to the new tech or lose interest once the novelty wears off, but judging from the size of this investment, it would seem the bigwigs in charge of our entertainment are already convinced that 3D will be a win.

Looks like Dell is getting itself a membership in a club of which AT&T, Nokia, and the US Department of Justice are none too pleased to say they're members. The company has filed suit in a San Francisco court today against four Japanese LCD makers - Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Seiko Epson - and Taiwan-based HannStar. The crime at hand? None other than the much-chronicled LCD price fixing cartel. At least two of the aforementioned companies (Sharp and Hitachi) have already come forth to admit involvement and pay fines elsewhere, and now it looks like the troubles are still coming for them and others. If only there was some way the companies could band together to increase profits and help pay for these suits... oh, wait.

Very cagey way to play it Comcast. While DirecTV, ESPN and Discovery were first to say they would have 3DTV broadcasts back at CES, the cable company will actually be the first to deliver it, starting with the Masters Tournament (but why not the 3D broadcast of the Final Four?) April 7-11. That's right, the first "live next-generation 3D broadcast of a major sporting event on TV, the first live simulcast of a next-gen 3D event online, and the industry's first live multi-camera next-gen 3D production" will be on cable (& internet), not satellite or telco. Again, that's right, if you don't have a 3D television set up yet, it will also be streamed at Masters.com (no word whether this is a Comcast only or if it will be open to all) for all those with a 3D setup on their PC. We'll temper our expectations until we see what kind of quality is able to squeeze through Comcast's fiber backbone and down our neighborhood coax wires, but this should certainly blow away the anaglyph stuff currently offered on VOD. Of course, the old school HD streams will still be broadcast on ESPN and CBS, but if Tiger really does make his comeback at Augusta this should give us a better view of the course (and any residual damage from that "car accident") than ever before.

[Thanks, Simon]

It's Monday, and we know that getting the week started can be tough. We're here to help by letting you peek into the recording booth when the Engadget HD podcast goes to tape Monday the 15th at 8:30pm. Think of it as a kind of time machine that will help you power through your day by reviewing what happened in the week HD-wise. Embedded Ustream tools and a list of topics after the break.