Terminator: Salvation BD-Live director commentary impressions

Terminator: Salvation BD-Live director commentary impressions
Disney's Upgrade2Blu Program saves you $8, lets you keep your DVDs
Poll: How do you feel about Comcast buying NBC?
Hell freezes over, the FCC admits that CableCARD is a failure
SSD drives don't help dedicated Windows Media Center PCs much

What we're watching tonight:
Given the high price of Blu-ray boxed sets, the news from Video Business that some series are going backwards from having Blu-ray editions to DVD only really isn't that surprising. Specifically cited are Rescue Me, Damages and Nip/Tuck, with numbers indicating the average title sells only 5% of its copies in HD. Series that appeal to early adopting Blu-ray owners and HDTV fans like Fringe, Lost and Terminator:SCC naturally do better on Blu-ray, regardless of price, but with the exception of fanatics who will either pay up or wait for a sale, it's not surprising that most people would rather keep an extra $15 - $30 in their pocket and just grab it on standard def.

It figures that Microsoft would finally give DIY Windows Media Center users the ability to add a Digital Cable Tuner with CableCARD to their PC and now the devices are no where to be found. Since these devices were never actually available to the public, they've always been a little hard to come by, but we have seen 'em for sale from Dell as well as from Cannon PC and even on Sony's site. This entire situation only makes us even more sure that ATI's days in the Digital Cable Tuner business are numbered. What we mean is that there is no doubt that ATI knew this was coming to Windows 7 long before we did, so any company who actually wanted to sell something would have actually had them available at retail by now. One thing is for sure, there is a pent up demand for CableCARD tuners in the Media Center community and a more affordable, more available, option can't get here soon enough. While we wait for the 1st quarter of 2010 to come, you can pay through the nose for one on eBay in the meantime.
The countdown to CES continues, but the big news this week is on the regulatory and industry side, as the FCC tries to figure out where CableCARD is going wrong and what to do about it, and Comcast buys into NBC. We also take on the troubles of going all digital with this week's Ask Engadget HD question, and also show you what an SSD can and can't do for a HTPC. Sony's making the World Cup a part of its 3D showcase, is that enough to get us excited about soccer? Next we go behind the scenes at Sharp, while discussing plasma burn in and Universal's new flipper combo discs before closing out with the latest attempt at relevancy for BD-Live.






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 on Monday, December 7th at 6:30PM ET. 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.
It feels like just yesterday that Warner released the a Harry Potter movie as a way to decide which HD format it should abandon and now the whole world is Blu and this week Half-Blood Prince hits the shelves and it sure doesn't feel like two years later. In the TV show category, Disney has the 5th season of Lost and although that's one of our favorite shows, we're waiting on the complete collection. The real interesting one this week is Anchor Bay which really opened up the gates with 10 new Blu-ray titles in one week.
What we're watching tonight:



Correspondences from Team Engadget out into the Twitterverse.


The amount of electronics thrown away rather than recycled in 2007.
The EPA reports that 82% of electronics disposal in 2007 ended up in the garbage (mostly landfills) rather than a recycling center. (source: EPA, July 2008)
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