movies

Take the Blu-ray plunge with $198* Magnavox player

Walmart is currently offering a $100 gift card on Blu-ray players (including the Sony PlayStation 3). That means if you buy the Magnavox NB500MG9 for $298, you're effectively getting it for $198.

The catch is that it's an online-only gift card, meaning you can't use it for, say, groceries. However, you could probably eBay it for cash.

The player itself delivers 1080p output, upconverts regular DVDs, and supports Profile 1.1. It includes both HDMI and component-video outputs as well as a coaxial digital audio output. Curiously, it doesn't appear anywhere on Magnavox's Web … Read more

Gadgettes 93: The Kelly's extravagant baby shower episode

We are gonna miss Kelly around here while she's away on her maternity leave. So guess what? Molly and Jason both chipped in and bought Kelly a bunch of really cool stuff for her time away from the podcast! Yes, we're that rich. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 93

iPhone 2! (Rumor roundup) http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/06/05/new-iphone-rumor-roundup/?mod=googlenews_wsj

Sanyo Xacti HD1000 4MP MPEG4 High Definition 1080i Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-HD1000-Definition-Camcorder-Optical/dp/B000V79G0M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1212700827&sr=8-1 … Read more

Netflix's social experiment. It's time to come clean.

I know that some people are worried that mad scientists can now clone sheep.

Soon, they say, they will do the same with human beings.

Think of it. Tasteless nerds creating hundreds of Thomas Kinkades and David Archuletas to alter the cultural balance of America.(Or, perhaps, confirm it.)

I am here to tell you that those very probably nice, sane scientists at Netflix are surely ahead of the game.

Here's how it works. I declare that "Climates", a very sensitive and refined Turkish movie, deserves five of my stars. The Netflixsters tell me that they have … Read more

Roku's Netflix Player sells out

There's more proof that the Netflix Player is a hit.

Start-up Roku, the company behind the device that enables Netflix subscribers to watch movies streamed from the Internet to their TVs, has run out of inventory two weeks after launching.

"Due to the tremendous coverage and initial success of this product we're now in a two-week backorder situation," said Tim Twerdahl, Roku's vice president of consumer products. "We have boats coming in weekly from China with additional products, and we're doing everything we can to get them out."

The shortage comes after … Read more

The 404 112: Where all we are is dust in the wind, dude

CNET producer and SF transplant Cheryl Holloway steps into the studio today to lament over crappy New York burritos and discuss the "dangers" of marijuana smoke, awful movie sequels, Hilary's announcement, and the upcoming movie from faux-news group The Onion. EPISODE 112 Download today's podcast

Can game developers expand out of the game business?

An interesting article from Kotaku today, discusses Ubisoft's intention to get into the film business and try to expand its offerings beyond video games.

"Our goal is to create a studio that will be very high quality, our goal is to try to get to the level of quality of Peter Jackson's Weta studio," Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot said in an interview. "We have been working to train people, to recruit highly talented people and we are in test mode at the moment. We are going to make sure that we get to the level of Weta. We have a long way to go but in getting to that level will help us to actually be one of the studios where everybody has to go."

Peter Jackson, best known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy and as director of King Kong, is currently working in collaboration with Bungie to create a new game set in the Halo universe. The game is currently titled Halo: Chronicles, but no release date has been given.

Guillemot sounds ambitious and I applaud him for trying to do more with his business, I can't help but wonder if video game developers have any place in other forms of entertainment. Can they really create a stellar sitcom or a blockbuster hit at the theaters? Are they capable of publishing sci-fi novels?

With the way things are going in all of those industries, I don't think it's too far-fetched at all.… Read more

Rip DVDs to your PC, iPod, Zune and more with free Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate (today only)

Last month, freebie-software site Giveaway of the Day offered a great DVD-ripping utility. If you missed it (or didn't like the program for some reason), here's your chance to score one that's arguably even better: Xilisoft DVD Ripper Ultimate.

Normally priced at $55, DVD Ripper Ultimate promises to rip discs to just about any video format. It includes preset profiles for iPod, iPhone, PSP, Zune, Zen, and dozens of other devices. It can also rip DVD audio, great if you want to turn, say, a concert DVD into a batch of MP3s. Plus, there's a video … Read more

Best Buy's Geek Squad jumps on 'Sex' fever

The movie spinoff of Sex and the City hits theaters Friday, and if the estrogen-fueled near-rioting at its New York premiere is any indicator, it'll be a cinematic event of such shriekingly girly proportions that the average straight man is bound to run and hide.

But Geek Squad, the electronics help service owned by Best Buy, saw it as a potential marketing opportunity. I got an e-mail pitch in my inbox on Thursday explaining a gimmick that the company's pulling in a few cities geared toward men who have been dragged to the theaters for Sex and the … Read more

Your Blockbuster movie download is just a drive away

In the opening scene of The Player, Tim Robbins' character is meeting with writers who are pitching movie ideas they hope the Hollywood producer will agree to make. One idea is pitched to him as, "It's Pretty Woman meets Out of Africa, without stars."

Applying that Hollywood approach, the latest idea from Blockbuster can best be described as "Netflix meets YouTube, without the convenience." That's basically the pitch Blockbuster Chairman and CEO James Keyes made at his first annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday when he unveiled an in-store kiosk he hopes consumers will use … Read more

TiVo to offer Disney movies for download

TiVo is gearing up to dish out Disney movie rentals, as the digital video recorder company expands its lineup of movies from major studios.

Under an agreement with Disney-ABC and CinemaNow, TiVo subscribers can download the movies for 24-hour rental. TiVo expects to offer the Disney rentals later this year to its broadband-connected TiVo Series2 and Series3 subscribers. Price for the service was not disclosed.

The Disney movies will add to TiVo's more than 30,000 titles from Amazon Unbox, Music Choice, and other content providers.

TiVo's efforts come as Blockbuster is reportedly looking at set-top boxes for … Read more