Where the confusion comes in is that Amazon is claiming each episode of the TV series as an individual show. That means if you watch something like the X-Files with over 200 episodes, Amazon considers that 200 different TV shows. That’s one show to anybody with a sane mind.

The real number of TV shows and movies available on Amazon Prime is 1745 flicks, and 150 different TV series. That doesn’t sound nearly as good in the marketing material as 17,000 movies and TV shows. This reminds me of the Where’s the Beef commercial from the 1980s. It’s not only Amazon Prime either; Netflix does the same thing with the claim that it offers more than 60,000 streaming titles. Anyone can look at the library and know Netflix is also counting every individual episode of every TV show. Something like Top Gear that has been on for years and years would represent a huge number of shows if you look at the number of shows that way.

[via Fast Company]

Streampix will allow you to view content on the web, your iPad and other mobile devices as well. There is a catch with the service though, it will only be offered to subscribers of Comcast cable. That means if you’re like me you live in an area where Comcast isn’t available you won’t be able to get access. For those that can get access it will cost an extra $4.99 per month. Apparently, it will be offered at no additional cost on some cable packages (like those expensive “Triple Play” bundles).

While Comcast has already been offering on-demand movies, the streaming service will offer past seasons of TV shows like 30 Rock, Lost, and many more. It will also have movies like Oceans 11, The Big Lebowski and others. I wonder if the service being tied specifically to a cable company if that will mean Streampix might get content that Netflix is unable to access.

[via Geekwire]

Good news for those of you who use your Xbox to watch Netflix. The latest version of Netflix is tucked away in the latest Xbox 360 dashboard update and it has some cool new features.


You’ll find a new user interface that allows for a more streamlined browsing experience and there are up to 3 times as many titles available on screen at once. Users also have access to audio and subtitle settings, ratings, episode selection, and related title suggestions.

There’s also support for voice and gesture control when using Xbox Kinect for browsing and playing, 720p HD and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The Netflix app will be automatically installed when you do the latest Xbox 360 Dashboard update. Netflix on Xbox 360 is now available in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. Of course, you need both an Xbox Live Gold and Netflix streaming account to take advantage of the updated app.

[via Netflix]

Netflix CEO Reed “Hasty decisions” Hastings said:

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs. This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster… Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that… There is a difference between moving quickly… and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.

What will this crazy company do next? Stay tuned.

[via Netflix]

The streaming deal in place now will last through February 2012, and then it’s gone. Netflix says that in the beginning Starz was only a small portion some of its mainstream content and now that it has more content providers, Starz is only 8% of its mainstream stuff. I’m not buying that, Starz is almost all of the mainstream content I want to watch. The rest are artsy films and other crap I don’t care about.

Once Starz is gone, I guess I will have to go back to watching on satellite to see the stuff. The content I will really miss are the Starz original shows I won’t be able to watch when I feel like it such as Spartacus. Netflix, you had better replace Starz with some good stuff.

[via Business Insider]

According to reports, Netflix is set to expand internationally even more in 2011 with a move into other locations around the world. Netflix spokesperson Steve Swasey said that Netflix is “talking about other regions of the world” and was devoting “significant dollars” to the expansion efforts. I really don’t care if other parts of the world get Netflix since that really won’t affect me one way or the other. What will affect those of us at home is if more loot flows into the Netflix coffers they can pony up for more content.

I like the idea of streaming-only service from Netflix, and if they can land more recent network shows I will bite. I hope that more money in subscriptions internationally means that more content will be added. Netflix is also said to be in early negotiation with ad firms for ad placement on their service.

You pwned her hard my friend. You have to look at the full-size pic and think about the complexities of the Netflix recommendation system to really understand the amount of time it must have taken this dude to make his creation. I will say this is the funniest way to get back at a cheating ex that I have ever seen.

The only one that doesn’t fit in with the filthy cheating whore motif the dude has going is Bambi. Some recon the geek is hinting at something in the movies. Another suggests that considering Bambi’s mom dies, the dude might be hinting at something a bit more nefarious, like a murder for hire plot. Then again, maybe his ex really just likes Bambi. Or maybe her name is Bambi.

[via Reddit]

This is one area in which I think the TouchSmart software really shines, combining multiple music sources all in a single touch-based interface. At its most basic, the TouchSmart Music app can discover all of the music on your PC, and lets you easily browse through albums in cover flow, album art or text grid lists. And the software is capable of working with either the same library format used by Windows Media Center or iTunes, so you’ve got a choice if you’re migrating from an existing library.

The TouchSmart Music app can run in the background while other TouchSmart Applications are running, so you can browse pictures, surf the internet, take notes, read recipes or even watch videos while you listen to music. But the really cool thing in the app is the relatively seamless integration with both Pandora and Rhapsody, both of which give you an endless music library.

I’ll start with Pandora, as it’s the simpler of the two interfaces. Just log in with your existing Pandora account (or create a new one), and it pulls in any already existing artist mixes on the right side of the screen. You can choose to play individual artist-inspired Pandora playlist, or jump right to a QuickMix of all of your Pandora artists and related tunes. The left side of the Pandora interface features artist bios, related artist info, and is the one place you’ll see advertising in the TouchSmart interface. I kept getting ads for Wendy’s cheeseburgers, but your mileage may vary. And now I’m hungry.

On the right side of the interface, you can thumb up/thumb down and skip music. One cool thing with HP’s Pandora is that you can put the Music app in the background, and all the artist info, ads, etc, go away and all you get is a small playback control in the upper-right corner of your screen with track and artist info. Of course, you’ll occasionally hear ads on Pandora, but what do you want for free?

Rhapsody, the all-you-can-eat subscription music smorgasbord is also nicely integrated into TouchSmart Music. The Rhapsody store is available as an additional link in the header of the Music app, and with the appropriate subscription (currently $12.99 USD/month), you can surf and listen to all the music you’d ever want as if it were just part of your personal library. You can easily create playlists by just dragging the tunes you want from the left side of the screen to the right using your fingertip.

I had a couple of random issues with the Rhapsody service in which the album art turned up blank, but that seemed to be a transient issue, and is no longer happening. Other than that, the Rhapsody component worked flawlessly, and also supports background playback so you can do other things while the music plays. I also really like the Playlist Central area, which is great for discovering new music based on editorially-selected playlists.

One other unique feature in all the TouchSmart Music apps is the touch-based search. Just write the name of the artist, album, song or keyword with your fingertip, et voila!…

About the only thing not to like about TouchSmart Music is the fact that you can’t co-mingle playlists across your media library, Pandora and Rhapsody, but I’d definitely file that on the “nice to have” list. As is the case with video and Live TV, you can alternatively use the bundled Windows Media Center apps, but unlike Live TV, I couldn’t see any significant advantage over using the TouchSmart Music app unless you have a Zune membership. Personally, having the Pandora integration is what really made me a believer. I think I have Pandora running on some device of mine hours a day lately.

As I mentioned in the first part of this article, the TouchSmart has a completely admirable built-in audio system that’s more than sufficient for use in a small room. It won’t blow you away if you’re a serious audiophile, but if you don’t want to clutter your room with lots of wires and speakers, you definitely can get by without extra hardware. And there’s always the audio out ports if you want to use an external sound system.

Since this is the final article in my three-part review of the TouchSmart 600, let me bring it all in for a landing. Overall, I’ve been very impressed with this hardware/software combo from HP. The all-in-one form factor is great for bedrooms, offices, and larger kitchens, and if you don’t want to have both a TV and a computer in those rooms, it’s a no-brainer. With a built-in digital HD tuner, 1080p video resolution, and robust media playback and management capabilities, you could definitely live with one of these as a standalone entertainment system. And the HDMI port on the side is a real bonus, since you can hook up a gaming console or satellite receiver and use it like an HDTV too.

There are definitely areas for improvement in the TouchSmart software,  specifically in the area of Live TV, where the playback and channel-surfing experience isn’t as smooth as Windows Media Center. However, there’s enough meat in the TouchSmart app suite – especially with the addition of Hulu, Netflix, Pandora and Rhapsody – to make it a compelling interface for day-to-day operation. And lest we forget that there’s an entire (reasonably) powerful Windows 7 PC packed in this box as well. You can surf the web, run productivity apps, play games, and do everything I’ve described in this series – all in a single slim box that actually looks quite nice sitting on your desktop. And while the touchscreen interface might not really be necessary (with the mouse, keyboard and included remote control), it still is pretty cool, especially for the media playback apps.

If you do decide you want to get your mitts on one of these, you can find the TouchSmart 600 over at Amazon with prices ranging starting around $1100 (USD) depending on configuration.

Or you could just enter our TouchSmart contest, and win one for yourself

So to refresh your memory, the TouchSmart 600 features a large 23-inch 1080p BriteView LCD screen, which can also double as an HDTV. For movie playback, the system has a built-in Slot-loading Blu-ray player, which can also burn DVDs.

I put the Blu-ray player through its paces with a copy of The Dark Knight, which really looks beautiful on the wide, bright screen of the TouchSmart. The interface for movie playback is clean and simple, and lets you use the touchscreen to control the play, pause, volume and scrub controls for your discs. I also like the little visual chapter indicators on the scrub bar. I did find one minor annoyance with movie playback – when you press any on-screen control, a floating D-pad controller comes up in a separate floating window, and you have to close it separately – it doesn’t fade out like the rest of the controls. I also couldn’t figure out a way to get the advanced menu features on my Blu-ray discs to play, so if that’s important to you, you should research this further. And why the app is called “MediaSmart DVD”, even though it plays Blu-ray discs is anyone’s guess. No biggie. Still, it looks great, and if you’re looking for content to show off the screen, this is it.

The other day, I tried the TouchSmart with both over-the-air HD broadcasts and a direct HDMI connection from my PS3. But once you pop in a native 1080p Blu-ray disc, you’ll really see this thing shine. There’s really no comparison in image quality to any other video format besides a digital 1080p file.

In addition to physical media playback, the TouchSmart software also includes applications for Hulu and Netflix. Both of these apps work great, and the TouchSmart Hulu app offers a cleaner interface than the standard web-based version. It also offers touch-based controls which make it easy to select content and scrub through scenes with just your fingertip. There’s also a nice little image thumbnail that pops in as you scrub through the scene to help you navigate. It takes a second to refresh, but once you get a hang of it, it’s pretty slick.

By comparison, the Netflix app is pretty austere. It looks very nice, and offers smooth playback of standard-def content in your Instant Queue. I still wish that Netflix would allow you to modify their instant queue in their viewing apps though. For now, you still have to surf to Netflix.com or use one of the myriad Netflix phone apps to edit your queue.

The Netflix app does have a clean, simple cover-flow like interface for selecting movies using their DVD box art, and when a movie is playing back you can scrub with your finger and see preview stills to guide you through your movie.

Video playback on both Netflix and Hulu were smooth over my 802.11n wireless network on my 6mbps DSL connection. However, I didn’t see any streamed content beyond SD resolution on these services. At least not by my naked eye. That said, the TouchSmart handles HD streamed content from sites like YouTube without a hitch – just not in the TouchSmart interface.

I didn’t get a chance to check out surround playback during movies, but the TouchSmart does offer a SPDIF optical output which should provide your surround system with what it needs to engulf you with big movie sound. The speakers inside the TouchSmart are more than capable of projecting sound in a small room, such as a bedroom or den though.

If you were just looking for a Blu-ray player and a 23-inch LCD monitor, you could probably score both of those for less than $500 total. But remember, the TouchSmart 600 is a true multi-purpose computing and home entertainment device. You can surf the web, play digital media files, listen to Internet radio (more on this in my next post), play your game consoles, and do everything else you’re used to doing with a Windows 7 PC in one box. Not too shabby in my book.

In my next post, I’ll be telling you how the TouchSmart handles your digital music collection and my conclusions on the system. Stop back by later this week to find out more. And don’t forget, if you read all of the articles, you’ve got chance to win a TouchSmart 600 too.

From the looks of this manual, as well as a number of devices recently submitted on the site, LG plans on a major refresh of their display line, with 21 new display models mentioned on the front cover, along with a couple of others I managed to scrounge up. The new models include:

• LCD TVs: 32LD550, 42LD550, 46LD550, 60LD550, 52LD550, 47LD650 and the 55LD650
• LED-lit LCD TVs: 22LE5300, 26LE5300, 42LE5400, 47LE5400, 55LE5400, 42LE5500, 47LE5500, 55LE5500, 60LE5500, 42LE7500, 47LE7500, 55LE7500, 47LE8500 and 55LE8500
• Plasma TVs: 50PK750 and 60PK750

With displays ranging from 22″ to 60″, it looks like there’s something for everyone coming out. That 60″ LED/LCD sure sounds nice to me. Woot! The shot below shows a rather unsexy photo of the sexy top-of-the-line LED LCD model, the 55LE8500. Check out how skinny it is. Looks about as thin as Samsung’s super slim LED LCDs…

There’s also a couple of smaller LED lit LCD models which might be nice in a bedroom or used as computer displays – the 22LE5300 and the 26LE5300, pictured below:

And here’s a decidedly unflattering shot of the ginormous 60″ plasma, the 60PK750:

Further examination of the manuals reveal that at least some of the sets will include internet connectivity (although it looks like wireless still requires an add-on dongle), along with Yahoo! widgets and digital streaming of movies from Netflix, Vudu and YouTube. There’s also the ability to view content from your Picasa albums.

If you’re in the market for a new flat-panel, you might want to wait a few weeks to hear when these will be released and how much they’ll cost. I’m assuming that LG will provide more details at the upcoming CES show in early January.

Vizio has already confirmed the support of several content and service providers aside from Facebook and Twitter, such as eBay, Flickr, Netflix and Vudu. Currently, the only XVT series on sale is the 55″ VF550XVT LCD HDTV. You can order one at Amazon for $1899 (USD), or at Vizio’s online store for $2000.

The 42″ SV421XVT and 47″ SV471XVT HDTVs will be available in July for $1,200 and $1,500 respectively. If you were hoping for relatively cheaper XVTs, you’re in luck: The 32″ SV320XVT will be available in September, featuring a thin profile and full 1080p goodness for “only” $750. The 37″ SV370XVT ($850) will also be on sale in September, along with the LED-backlit 55″ VF551XVT ($2,200). Check out Vizio’s press release for more info as well as the complete roster of XVT series. Whew. Typing is exhausting.

[via Engadget]

The main selling point of the BD-P4600 is obviously its unusual looks. CNET summarized Samsung’s design philosophy into three main principles: “rounded corners, translucent red highlights, and a glossy black finish”. It’s a bit too fancy for my tastes, especially if I take into account that all that gloss translates into a more expensive, but not necessarily better, media player. In fact, CNET mentioned that the BD-P4600 uses the exact same video processing chip as its cheaper yet uglier sibling, the BD-P1600.

Like a lot of sexy and modern home entertainment equipment today, the BD-P4600 is thin, wall-mountable, and expensive. How expensive? Try $500 USD. That’s right: the BD-P4600 makes the PS3 look cheap. On the other hand, you can’t mount your PS3 to a wall, can you? The BD-P4600 also comes with a stand for those who aren’t bent on putting stuff on walls. Touch-sensitive controls and a slot-loading design round out the player’s fancy aura.

On the geekier side of things, CNET says that the BD-P4600 did very well both on their benchmark tests (Video Resolution, Film Resolution, and jaggies test) and in actual use; I think it made Ghost Rider almost watchable. Almost. The BD-P4600 also impressed CNET with its loading times: “…it’s the first one we’ve used that feels just as responsive as the PS3, and in some cases it also loads discs faster.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as good when the reviewers played DVDs on it, failing a couple of jaggies tests and overall had less crisp and clean playback compared to a Panasonic DMP-BD60, another cheaper yet uglier Blu-ray player.

As you can see the BD-P4600 has a standard composite output, an HDMI output and an optical digital audio output, but no composite video output. It also has 2 USB ports. The BD-P4600 is capable of streaming Netflix and Pandora via Ethernet, but it also comes with a Wi-Fi USB dongle for wireless connectivity. It can also stream media from a connected PC. MP3, JPEG and DivX formats are supported, but AAC is not. The player also has 1GB of on-board memory, perfect for downloading and playing BD Live content.

Overall, I think the BD-P4600 has an awkward name for a sexy device. Oh and it’s for people who want more than something that works. You rich fools can get your own BD-P4600 at Best Buy for $500 USD.

[via tv snob]