Engadget HD Podcast 114 - 12.3.2008
By Trent Wolbe 
posted Dec 3rd 2008 11:00AM
posted Dec 3rd 2008 11:00AM
Back from Thanksgiving, and Netflix's addition of certain Samsung and LG Blu-ray players to the Watch Instantly HD party shows it hasn't slowed down its HD rollout. This makes us wonder where Blockbuster's own offering fits between Netflix and VUDU -- three may be a crowd in this case. Speaking of VUDU, they're back again; this time with capabilities that just manage to lift the device from its "one trick pony" pigeonhole. We talk a bit about Blu-ray disc pricing, which leads us to the natural topic of whether we see The Dark Knight as a must-buy. ESPN's purchase of the BCS starting in 2011 gets us talking about whether they'd really want to lose the OTA-only eyeballs. We also find time to shoot off on the BCS tangent, of course. This week's MOTO award goes to the study that concludes that pay-TV should keep an eye on digital downloads coming up in the rearview mirror. We wrap up with news of full screen Flash support on the PS3, SageTV's new HD200 media streamer and a long response to a short listener question about getting HD streamed wirelessly from a computer to a TV.Get the podcast
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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh and Steve Kim
Producer: Trent Wolbe
01:03 - Comments from Engadget HD Podcast 113 - 11.26.2008
04:21 - HD Netflix streaming coming to Samsung's BD-P2500 / BD-P2550 Blu-ray players
06:05 - LG's BD300 next in line for HD Netflix streaming
07:10 - Blockbuster CEO talks up 2Wire MediaPoint, says rentals coming to BD decks in Q1 2009
11:23 - VUDU rolls out YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and games
14:28 - Hey Hollywood, how about some Blu-ray Disc price cuts?
19:09 - The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc review roundup
20:49 - ESPN snaps up BCS rights starting in 2011, antenna viewers SOL?
27:52 - Survey finds over half of football fans would take an HDTV over vacation
27:52 - Report asserts that pay-TV should watch out for digital downloads
31:23 - Full screen Flash-enabling v2.53 PS3 firmware available now
35:01 - SageTV launches HD Theater (HD200) media streamer
LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)
Wow, I just checked out the popcorn hour, and how come you guys dont give more love to that A110. It will bitstream out the HD audio feeds, plays iso files for straight rips of dvds, and everything under the sun you could want it too. for 215 bucks, drop a 1Terabyte hard disk in there, and wait for some 30gig .torrent files to download and presto, this thing will kick Vudo's ass. Oh wait i cant get the BD-live features of listening to Sally in Kansas's commentary on how each scene was crafted by Satan and I am going to hell for enjoying the new batman flick. shucks.
But seriously, the best thing about this is that I dont need some special PC software like UPNP servers or WMC. It can view files over the network, and you can see it from your PC. This means that even say even a PIII with a 100 mbit NIC can be your media server.
Hey Ben, FYI class does NOT end the first week of December for most colleges. The last week of classes may be the first or second week of December, but then you're also forgetting finals which are the second of third week of December, more likely third week for schools on semesters vs. quarters.
I would have already replaced my PS3 with a BD35 if panasonic anounced they were going to stream netflix. I think I'm going to pick up the BD-P2500 instead.
I'm thinking about axing cable TV after college basketball ends and before NFL starts back up and just stream TV shows instead. Thats about $300/yr in savings.
With the talk of Netflix servers being hit harder now, and people getting a smaller bit rate on streams, how long before Netflix adds an additional fee to stream HD? They did this for blu-ray, so...
Netflix streaming is now a big factor in picking a new player as I watched it on a friend's 360. It looked pretty good at only 3 bars. Definitely good enough for my plan of dropping subscription TV. And I think netflix is still having problems because my friend did a speed test and was getting 13mb/s at the time but was having a hard time even getting it to start at HD quality. Also, if the quality goes down because it has to buffer, you have to get out of the show and restart to get it to go back to HD. Maybe I'll finally try play on with the PS3.
The Popcorn Hour is awesome! Like you guys stated it plays back virtually any format. There is also support for GB-PVR which I have not yet checked out yet, but might be a promising alternative to VMC.
Also, the Popcorn Hour has a built in Usenet and Torrent client and will also run a par utility and then unrar the files once they are verified/fixed. It is definitely worth the purchase!
Thanks, Ben and Steve, for helping me with my question. I think Popcorn Hour may be the way to go! I keep hearing about them coming out with new models, though, so I wonder if I should wait a bit and see what happens.
But, if I go forward, I think you guys are right about the nature of stream for HD. I live in a fairly rural suburban area with only one other network visible, but if I can just wirelessly drag and drop the files to a HDD attached to the popcorn hour and then stream straight from there, I won't have to worry about it! In fact, I could load up all of my existing stuff onto that drive right from my computer before hooking it up to Popcorn Hour to give me a head start, then just transfer over new stuff as I get it.
Now, I have to see about buying one, since it seems they are hard to get. The Linksys seems good, too, but I have some weird codecs with my video camera (a proprietary HD MOV that I have to convert to avi) I am hoping PH can handle without conversion.
Of course, just today, you guys announce more Boxee goodness, which keeps AppleTV in the running, especially since I only have a 32" 720p TV.
I may wait until after the holidays to see how everything plays out in this field.
I vote for a AAC RSS feed over MP3 feed
C
Ben when are we getting a write up on your eHome trip?
Ben when are we getting a write up of your trip to the eHome team?
It'd rather the mp3 feed stay the mp3 feed. While I'd like an aac feed, more devices support mp3 than aac, and what's the point of converting a file on a PC if that file is automatically downloaded by phones, Kindles, and other devices that aren't connected to a computer to begin with.
I've been listening to the podcast for over a year, and I think (sadly) that this one was probably the least interesting.
Why ?
The whole playoffs thing lost me (and Steve, obviously) and had no relevance to "Engadget HD". It is to Ben's credit that he, himself, realized that, but it should have been edited out, in my opinion.
Speaking of Ben and Steve: I appreciate Ben's intelligence more and more. His arrogant attitude used to be a turn off, but, hey, he's right most of the time. Kudos for knowing so much about the subject matter and being able, most of the time, to make a valid argument.
Too bad Steve's not up to the task: most of his affirmations are easily shot down and after Ben argues a bit, Steve almost always ends up saying "Yeah, I guess you have a point".
Very weak...
Sorry Steve: do your homework, dude !
Or bring back Darren !
DLNA not seemless?
Have you tried TVersity
This seems seamless to me.
Install on computer,
Choose your folders
Choose Custom in Media Library Menus settings mirrors you computers folders
Watch on your shiny PS3
TVersity + Combined Community Codec Pack = stream MKV files
Your brothers at the Engadget podcast have an AAC feed...
As an avid listener I don't remember you mentioning the WD TV as an alternative to the Popcorn Hour, I know it doesn't include a hard disc or wifi but it see ms a cheap and cheerful alternative.
Guys - a little too much football talk. Let's get back to HD talk, please.
On another note - a common topic these days is movie downloads. It would be great to see someone put together a matrix of all the options available with all the specs.
Personally, I am a blu ray hard copy guy. Can't beat the quality - audio and video but for those movie you are just curious about and don't want to make the investment I'll wait for someone to get it right.
I have no problem with you moving to AAC. My player can support it.
I like the football talk - just wish there was more Big12 love from that Ben guy ;)
Seriously though - sports and HD go hand-in-hand so it is very appropriate to the podcast and EngadgetHD... And I would not take a HDTV over a vacation-at least most vacations.
Regarding the SageTV HD200 - it is actually new hardware compared to the HD100 - faster CPU, double memory which means faster UI etc. And while most will use it as an extender, the standalone mode gives a person who might want a media player to connect to their network for streaming, and includes online video (YouTube, Google Video and other online podcasts) built in as well as UPnP which gets you Hulu as well with PlayOn support.
Great job on the podcast as always from both Steven and Ben - keep up the good work.
I have to point out that if you want to stream content to behind your TV set, you should not discount Powerline networking. After burning through 3 USB keys in 2 years, I traded my wifi in for Powerline and it is far stable. I find I get the full 100 Mbps speed, with no interference from my neighbors or wireless phones or other devices. I am able to watch any streaming video like my computer is plugged directly into the router, and it is a floor away, on a separate circuit. What Powerline gives up in mobility, it makes up for in stability.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3742270
pretty interesting for a football fan.
how about your guys finally make the chaptered AAC version of the podcast into an RSS stream for us chaps who wish to use enhanced AAC on our ipods instead of MP3