Engadget HD Podcast 197 - 06.8.2010

Say hello to the most special of guests this week -- our own Steve Kim! That's right, with a full complement of EHD podcasters we kick things off with plenty of Apple talk, including the other Steve's comments on set-top boxes, and the debut of the iPhone 4. After that we take a look at Redbox's Blu-ray rates and what's going on with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Amazon Gold Box deals on HD stuff this week are reason to be excited -- or afraid, before we close things out with the Sonic/DivX acquisition, this week's Ask Engadget HD and the latest promo from DirecTV and DISH Network.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@Rjcc)
Guest: Steve Kim


Producer: Trent Wolbe

Program
00:05:53 - Steve Jobs on TV: 'no one wants to buy a box'
00:20:12 - iPhone 4 does 720p HD video, iMovie
00:38:32 - AVSForum launches free iPhone App
00:40:50 - Redbox CEO suggests $1.50 rate for Blu-ray rentals
00:47:40 - Hulu headed to a Xbox 360 dashboard near you?
00:53:25 - PlayStation 3 is finally HDTV ready with an HDMI cable pack-in for Father's Day
00:57:17 - 3DTV-enabled Super Stardust HD turns up early on UK PSN?
01:02:15 - High-Def week in Amazon's Gold Box keeps the deals coming until June 11
01:05:04 - Sonic acquires DivX to expand online movie delivery options, share of Kazaa downloads
01:08:23 - Ask Engadget HD: Home theater on a $2,500 budget?
01:18:34 - DirecTV, DISH offer "free HD for life" with a few strings -- anyone signing up?

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[RichardLawler Posted Jun 8th 2010 3:20PM]

The RSS isn't updated! --- It will be, thanks.

[jagowar Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:47PM]

Couple of points....

1. On the iphone I am kinda surprised people are that excited about the screen when its the same size as the first iphone. Clearer text really doesn't matter on a screen that small, make the text bigger (on say the 4.3 inch evo screen) and its far more readable than the iphone's 3.5 screen. This is marketing hype and people are buying it hook, line, and sinker.
2. I think a mini hdmi on my phone would be very useful and it will certainly be a requirement on my next phone. Being able to hook my phone to any modern tv would be awesome.... playing netflix movies, playing music, showing photos on any tv at my families or friends house will be very useful. I also do not agree with ben that want multiple copies of my moves. I want only one 720p version with 5.1 audio that will play on my tv, phone and computer. I have about 100 movies on my homesever right now it takes a few terabytes to store. I do not want to store multiple copies of each movie.

3. I am actually very interested to see where hulu goes if the rumor is true. This goes back to media center for me as I really see the xbox being the "box" for microsoft. (alluding to the appletv discussion). As such I have a feeling hulu might be part of a larger streaming tv initiative for xbox live that will take the place of media center. I am a current media center + xbox extender user but I think media center will not be getting more updates and they will push that stuff to the xbox directly and remove the pc requirement. The skytv deal in the UK is a good example of what I think the xbox live tv service will end up being albeit at an early stage of the service. Hulu and espn3 (also rumored) could be the test case for the US version.

[Picasotriggerfish Posted Jun 8th 2010 5:38PM]

It's great to have Steve Kim back after a long hiatus

[Zepplimaniac Posted Jun 8th 2010 9:43PM]

I spit up my coke because of Richard's reaction to Steve's comment about Pocahontas and Avatar.

[dmccall Posted Jun 9th 2010 6:33PM]

Great to has Steve back. He, per se, isn't deadly funny, but whenever he is on the show I laugh my butt off.

You three are the f'in BEATLES!! haha.

[ChiWax Posted Jun 9th 2010 8:12PM]

I completely disagree with Ben about playing HD video from small pocket devices. The Zune HD is very convienent for using in hotel rooms especially. Music and video are both much easier to enjoy using the television that is provided. It's especially nice to have after a night out in Vegas because the TVs in a lot of those rooms are at least decent LCD. Avatar on the Zune is a large file but the movie is almost 3 hours long. Most movies are just over 4GB and it's great to watch some of that movie on the plane and then finish it up later during down time on a larger screen. TV shows like Mad Men sourced off the blu ray are just killer when played on the Zune or through the Zune dock. If I was into smart phones(sure I will be someday) I would appreciate the ability to watch HD on the device and being able to output that HD to a larger screen. Q.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 11th 2010 5:48PM]

Just a tip for Ben. For downloading podcasts on the iphone, check out RSS Player. No need to use itunes anymore.

[Yakuza Fighter Posted Jun 14th 2010 8:45PM]

Ben,

Thanks again for the article on overscan. I download videos from The Onion from ITunes and play them on my Popcorn Hour which is attached to my LCD TV.

I didn't know why I couldn't read the ticker on the bottom of The Onion news stories from my TV but could on my PC. A simple press of the button on my remote fixed that for good.