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CES: Samsung Smart TV to get live, on-demand programming

Following up on a host of smartphone, tablet, and TV announcements yesterday, Samsung said in a keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show today it is revitalizing the TV by adding live and on-demand content to its Smart TV and turning mobile phones and tablets into remote controls and guides.

People are looking for bigger and smarter devices, according to Boo-Keun Yoon, president of Samsung's Visual Display Business.

"That's why TV will once again become the dominant and central piece of technology" in people's lives, he said. "I am confident that Samsung's Smart TV will become the leader" in content.

In this new "Smart TV era" people will be able to search for any kind of Web content, as well as broadcast TV and movies, from any Samsung device connected to the cloud and view it on a high-definition or even 3D screen, he said.

He brought several content partners on stage whose companies are helping to make that vision reality, including Glenn Britt, chairman and chief executive of Time Warner Cable, who announced that a "live subscription TV feature" is coming this year.

"We're radically changing how consumers interact with their televisions," said Brian Roberts, chairman and chief executive of Comcast.

The announcements were:… Read more

CES: Aluratek device turns your TV into a Web-surfing PC

LAS VEGAS--A new gadget from Aluratek takes the idea of an Internet-enabled TV and ramps it up a few notches.

Being demonstrated this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, the new device lets you use your TV as a full computer with the ability to surf any Web site. The device is so new that it doesn't yet have an official name. The working title is Plug PC, but that may change based in part on the response it gets from the crowds at CES.

How does it work? Plug PC contains an embedded copy of Ubuntu Linux. Just … Read more

Xooming along at CES 2011

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Motorola announces the Xoom tablet and 3 new Android phones

LG shows off the Optimus 2X

AT&T announces its 4G plans for 2011 and 20 new smartphones

Research In Motion gives us some details about the BlackBerry PlayBook on Sprint

Toshiba shows off glasses-free 3D TVs

Mitsubishi shines the light on a 3D projector

The 2012 Ford Mustang will have voice-controlled apps called App:Sync

Microsoft is adding more functionality to Kinect with video streaming control

GM partners with PowerMat to put wireless chargers in car consoles

'Daily Show' coming back to Hulu?

"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" could be on their way back to Hulu.

Citing an unnamed source, The New York Times is reporting that Hulu and Comedy Central are in talks to bring the popular shows back to the video service. Although no deal has been struck, the Times claims, both sides hope to ink an agreement sooner rather than later.

"The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" were removed from Hulu last March after the companies couldn't agree to a deal that would see the video service maintain … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1375: Happy Holidays, rights-holders! Thanks for ruining everything! (podcast)

On today's show, our cogent analysis of the FCC's Net neutrality regulation adoption (actually, I mean that), with surprisingly little argument. Also, the PlayStation phone and the Nintendo 3DS are planning to spoil our CES parade by announcing their cool gadgets after the big show. And Apple proves that it is Wiki-weak. Plus, our holiday thank you cards go out to those Scrooge-like rights-holders who keep shows off Google TV, Hulu Plus and Netflix off cable-supplied TiVo DVRs, and Google Maps off our Verizon phones. Seriously. Thanks for that. Xoxo. --Molly

STOP WRITING IN ALL CAPS!

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Netflix gets licensing rights to stream Disney and ABC TV shows and movies

Google shows off a much-needed update to Google Groups

YouTube is holding a popularity contest for musicians

Forthcoming notebooks running Google's Chrome operating system seem to be missing the caps lock key

Bing Maps now help you navigate the local mall

A new study shows that Android users hog up more data than other smartphone users

And don't forget to visit CNET TV today to see our review of Google's new flagship phone, the Nexus S

Report: Viewers seem OK with more Web video ads

You might be more willing to watch video ads online than you think you are.

According to The New York Times, Turner Broadcasting, which owns TBS and TNT, recently tested how long people will watch television shows online with few ads, compared to how long they will watch shows with a slew of ads embedded in them. Jack Wakshlag, the company's chief research officer, told the Times that when viewers were presented with more ads, they would still "spend approximately the same amount of time watching episodes online."

According to the Times, which cited Turner's internal … Read more

Netflix offers $8 streaming-only option

Netflix has a new streaming-only option, the company announced today.

The video rental company will now offer customers a plan that includes the ability to view movies through its streaming service for $7.99 per month. It was quick to point out that its cheapest plan includes no DVD rentals.

In addition, Netflix has increased its streaming-plus-DVD-by-mail plans by $1 to $8 per month, depending on the option. Netflix's previous $8.99 plan, which offered streaming and one DVD out at a time is now $9.99. The company's two-DVD plan, plus streaming, is now $14.99, up … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1354: Stuxnet worm takeover: this Stux (podcast)

All the news today was totally shocking: MySpace and Facebook having an announcement? Together? Stuxnet now the "biggest threat to industry" everywhere? National Unfriend day!? What!? Also, the scariest robot we've ever seen: Snakebot. Oh, and I have my own dirt track to nowhere in the UK. Suck on that, haters. --Molly

Orb TV aims to deliver streaming video sites Google TV can't

Orb TV is aiming to succeed where Google TV and Boxee have stumbled.

The new video-streaming product from Orb Networks aims to let users watch a wide variety of streaming video on their big-screen TVs. That sounds like a wide variety of Internet TV products that we've seen introduced this fall. The difference with Orb TV is that it should be able to deliver unfettered access to a wide variety of online video sites, including TV network sites (Hulu, ABC.com, NBC.com, CBS.com, and so forth) that have since been blocked when accessing from the built-in Flash-enabled Web browsers found on Google TV products, Boxee, and the PlayStation 3.

What's the catch? There are two, right off the bat. The Orb TV doesn't offer HD video, and it requires users to run the Orbcaster server software on a Mac or Windows PC elsewhere on their home network. That software streams the Web video to the Orb TV, which displays it on the television to which it's connected (via composite or component AV cables). In other words, you'll need to keep the PC running whenever you're watching the Orb TV.… Read more