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'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' Streams Free for New Sony Owners
Wed Nov 11, 2009 at 09:00 AM ETTags: Sony, Industry Trends, High-Def Retailing (all tags)
New owners of Sony internet connected televisions and Blu-ray players will get free access to an early stream of 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs' in 720p. Existing Sony owners, you’ll have to pay $25.
To show off the streaming capabilities of their new hardware, Sony is hooking new Bravia owners up with a free rental of 'Cloudly With a Chance of Meatballs.' Customers will be able to watch the movie in a 24 hour window, anywhere from December 8th until January 5th.
This availability marks a unique offering from Sony, as the streaming rentals will start nearly a month before the film’s January 5th DVD and Blu-ray release date. The rental will be in a 720p resolution, rather than the 1080p of Blu-ray discs, and while pausing and rewinding will be possible, recording will not.
Existing Sony owners will not have access to the free rental. Sony isn’t completely leaving these customers in the lurch though, as they can opt to pay a $24.95 rental fee for the same 24 hour viewing window. That’s right, for around the same price as the Blu-ray disc of the same movie, you’ll be able to rent it in 720p for a whole 24 hours.
Information is fuzzy at best, as it is entirely unclear exactly which TVs and Blu-ray players will qualify to receive the free stream, and whether there is a certain time during which these purchases must take place. Sony has stated that PS3s will not have access to the film.
Source: Associated Press
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Profile 2.0 Blu-ray Disc Players Heart Streaming Content
Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 06:00 PM ETTags: Blu-con, Michael S. Palmer, Industry Trends (all tags)
Our recap of Blu-con 2.0 continues with news on the growing number of Blu-ray players capable of streaming video content.
By Michael S. PalmerThere we were. Blu-Con 2.0. Up on the stage, sitting mere inches apart: mortal enemies and rental competitors Netflix and Blockbuster. Nothing overtly dramatic happened, sadly, but there was an awkward tension in the air. Netflix the young upstart; Blockbuster the foundering giant. Then came the numbers: Netflix plans to ship discs through 2030; they currently have 11 million subscribers, with 1 million of those paying a premium for Blu-ray access. Blockbuster, not to be outdone, claims 50 million people per day enter its stores (Seem a little high to anyone?), in addition to forming new alliances with TiVo and Samsung for “Blockbuster Online.”
Despite jabs over who offers older streaming content (Netflix*) vs. newer releases (Blockbuster, CinemaNow), it was clear to these companies (and their researchers) that physical media is here to stay. Many of you may be downloading and streaming, but most consumers still identify a “purchase” or “ownership” with a tangible object (obviously this excludes music). As evidence, consider the fact that people were still buying VHS/DVD combo units as recently as last year. Because they own physical copies of movies.
This is fantastic news for Blu-ray as big box retailers like Best Buy and Walmart join forces with hardware manufactures and Hollywood studios to push Blu-ray into the 90% of homes who do not yet have it. The final sales quarter is immensely important for Blu-ray and for the first time, Blu-ray disc is a top 10 most-wanted holiday gift for adults. This could be the year where customers finally understand why their HDTVs need quality high-def source material. Where Blu-ray becomes mainstream.
But Blu-ray isn’t a standalone feature anymore. Slow, oversized, single-minded, clunky machines have given way to sleek, broadband-capable home media centers. Blu-ray Disc’s always had great picture and sound. And now the Profile 2.0 players have arrived in a big way, offering extra choices / content for customers.
In fact, “available choices” is what it means to be a modern consumer (“I want it all. I want it all. And I want it now!”). This is why Blu-ray needs streaming / download services as much as streaming / download services need Blu-ray. It’s a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which all ties into what Blu-ray players do, and where they're located in the home.
Alone, Blu-ray has spectacular picture and unbeatable sound. Its abilities all stem from digital bandwidth, which is three to six times higher than most broadband internet connections, meaning its quality easily trumps streaming options (though Vudu HDX sure comes close). But, watching a Blu-ray is an “occasion”: a once or twice per week “event.” And, Blu-ray either means a trip to a physical location such as Best Buy and Blockbuster, or a multi-day wait from Netflix or online retailers like Amazon.
Streaming / digital downloads can be instant, and portable. There’s no trip to any store. Available titles aren’t out of stock, or listed as a “long wait”, though selection is (at present) limited, and downloading an entire movie can sometimes take just as long as a trip to the local Best Buy.
The real obstacle facing Internet based services? Families really don’t want to sit around a computer. Sure it’s nice when traveling, or in a dorm room, but the majority of Americans now have giant HDTVs and plush, inviting seating (we worked hard to pay for those comforts, and by God, we aim to use them!). Streaming has largely not been the domain of the living room. Sure Apple, Vudu and Netflix all offered separate boxes that you could hook up to the TV, but too many individual set top boxes is confusing for most. And, truthfully, none of these boxes flew off the shelf.
Now we have networked Blu-ray Disc players. Queen of the living room (where the HDTV is King), they multi-task for just about any type of media you could want. Still have a library of CDs and DVDs? Check. Want to watch your favorite new movies in stunning high def on Blu-ray? Check. Don’t want to bother going out, so the reduced quality of streaming is okay? Check. Feel the need to fire up YouTube to see dancing kittens, local news anchors swearing on camera, and red necks setting fireworks off in their pants? Check. Check. And Check. Using your Blu-ray player is no longer an “event” – it’s a convenient content portal, and it might as well be on and in use almost as much as the TV or computer.
In the modern era of media consumption, formats are no longer about winning or losing the entire market. Blu-ray is amazing, but unnecessary without the large TV and surround sound. Digital content is quick and portable, but lacks quality. But why separate them? The new future is one where we buy or rent CONTENT, not a format (see Best Buy’s announcement of building CinemaNow into most of its products). For example, with the just released ‘UP’ Blu-ray, the 4-disc set includes a Blu-ray for the home theatre, a DVD for the car or kids’ room, and a digital copy for an iPod or laptop on the go. Sure we can’t be tethered to the living room, but when not out and about, Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players just make sense. And they make things simple. No one wants 800 components under their TV. Few as possible please, with a variety of services.
We’re in the infant stages of these cross-media platforms, but here’s a rundown on where to find these integrated streaming / download services that were featured at Blu-Con 2.0, as well as a recent Dolby event I attended:
Netflix streaming is subscription based, and included with rental plans over $8.99/month. It works with Roku, TiVo DVRs, Xbox 360, LG / Samsung / Insignia Blu-ray players, LG TVs, LG & Samsung Blu-ray Home Theater Systems, and now the Playstation 3.
Vudu is like on demand. Individual rentals and purchases. Check out on LG TVs (LH50 & PS80), Mitsubishi TVs (the Unisen Dimaond 249 series) and the LG BD390 Blu-ray Disc player.
Blockbuster Online services can be individual rentals or purchase, but I believe the service can be part of their subscription package. This is brand new, and available on TiVO DVRs and Samsung Blu-ray Disc players (BD-P1600, BD-P3600, BD-P4600), Samsung Home Theater Systems (HT-BD1250, HT-BD3252, HT-BD7200, HD-BD8200), and Samsung internet ready LED / LCD / Plasma TVs.
Roxio’s CinemaNow works with TiVo DVRs and LG Blu-ray Disc players (BD370 & BD390).
* Due to its subscription nature, Netflix is unable to stream newer movies due to distribution deals made with pay cable outlets, such as HBO. TV shows like ‘Heroes’ appear the day after broadcast, and Netflix does have an output deal with Starz, but Starz movies stream much later than the Blu-ray/DVD release of the movie. Blockbuster, Vudu, and CinemaNow each download, or stream new releases because one pays per rental.
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Myka’s New Media Player Now Available
Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 05:00 PM ET
Creators of the Magic Box, Myka has announced the availability of their new set top box that they’re calling the ION.
The ION is based on Ubuntu 9.10 and carries a full software feature set. The system supports the much beloved Boxee, which acts as a web video aggregator. Boxee on the ION can be synced with other Boxee installations. XBMC is also featured for media management tasks, and the ION sports a beta version of Hulu Desktop.
The base version of the ION sells for $379, and offers Ethernet connectivity and a 120GB hard drive. Wireless N access can be added for $40, and the hard drive is upgradeable to a full terabyte for $150. While both of those options come surprisingly cheap, adding a Blu-ray drive kicks the price up $225, more than a solid standalone player. With all the options, the Boxee runs $776.
The ION offers DVI and VGA outs, as well as HDMI. Myka offers an optical audio output, and says that the ION is fully capable of 7.1 channel audio.
Thanks to the use of a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom and NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400 M graphics processor – both extremely efficient – the ION operates without the use of fans. This makes the ION an impressively quiet machine, though certainly there’ll still be a bit of hum from the hard drive.
Myka has not stated which video formats will be compatible with the ION specifically, but they have said that it will play pretty much anything found online.
Source: Myka
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Motion Blur Solutions Don’t Work Says Study
Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 12:00 PM ET
DisplayMate, the company behind calibration and optimization software for a wide range of electronics, conducted a study that they say disproves the myth of motion blur.
Plasma got a bum rap for burn in issues, and even though it’s a non issue on new sets, the rumor persists. DisplayMate set out to attempt to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen with LCDs. The other problem of course, is the overmarketing of alleged fixes to the problem, such as 120Hz, 240Hz, and undoubtedly 480Hz display technologies.
“After extensive side-by-side objective testing with moving test patterns, moving photographs and live video we found that there was no visually detectable difference in motion blur performance for current mid to top-of-the-line LCD HDTVs, regardless of their Response Time, 60 or 120 Hz refresh rates, strobed LED backlighting, or motion enhancement processing,” says the study.
They also stated that while this blur was evident in the test patterns, it was undetectable visually when using typical video content. Any blurring issues that they did spot were found to be anomalies, or blurring in the source material, rather than blurring due to the television.
They sum it all up quite nicely. “As a result our bottom line recommendations are… If you stick with the mid to top tier models from the reputable brands, you should ignore Response Time specifications, not worry about LCD motion blur, and don’t spend extra for 120 Hz or higher refresh rates, strobed LED backlighting, or advanced motion blur processing.”
Source: Display Mate
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Netflix Discs for PS3 are Shipping Now
Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 10:00 AM ETTags: Netflix, PS3, Industry Trends (all tags)
Assuming you’ve requested your Netflix disc, it’s on its way now. If not, get on it!
The much anticipated availability of Netflix on PS3 is soon to be a reality for customers that ordered their discs from the company. The massively popular video streaming service has started shipping discs.
The initial availability of the service relies on the BD Live feature of a complimentary disc from Netflix. Sony has announced that a firmware update in early 2010 will enable users to access Netflix directly from the Xross Media Bar without the need for the disc.
The addition of Netflix streaming to the PS3 is being seen as quite the coup in the ongoing war between the PS3 and Xbox 360. Sources say that Netflix streaming could soon be coming to the Wii as well as soon as early 2010.
PS3 owners who haven’t yet ordered their disc need only to jump over to Netflix.com/PS3 and log into their account.
Source: Kotaku
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HD Advisor 35 Up
Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 03:00 PM ETTags: HD Advisor, Joshua Zyber (all tags)
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Editor's Note: Each Friday, High-Def Digest's own HD Advisor will answer a new round of questions from our readers. If you have home theater questions you need answered, send an email to HDanswers@gmail.com. |
Answers by Joshua Zyber
Restoring Older Movies
Q: I recently bought the Blu-ray for one of my favorite monster movies, 'Gojira'. I'd seen the original Japanese version on DVD and really loved it, so I was excited when I saw the movie at Best Buy for $12.99 and I snatched it up. Now, I understand the damage the original print suffered during post production, but it looked like the new transfer wasn't much of an improvement at all. I'm glad I bought it, because I didn't have a copy before, but it doesn't look like a lot was done to the new -- if it was new -- print. My question is if a movie with as much damage as 'Gojira' can be cleaned up for a Blu-ray release, or would it just be cost prohibitive to do a restoration of a film with this much original damage? Or was Classic Media just lazy and greedy in releasing this transfer?
A: The answer is most likely some combination of all those options. Unfortunately, the film elements for many older movies, especially foreign movies of a certain age, were often not stored or treated as well as they should have been. Any damage those elements have suffered over the years may be permanently ingrained into the movie. A full-blown restoration would require the rights-holders to compile the best bits and pieces from the camera negative and surviving prints to assemble a copy with the least amount of damage. Photochemical processes and digital clean-up may then be performed to correct any imperfections.
This is typically a time-consuming and expensive process. How far the studio is willing to go with this is usually determined by what resources they have at their disposal and how high their sales expectations may be. For example, a major studio like Warner Bros. can afford to pull out all the stops for a sure-fire seller like 'The Wizard of Oz'. However, a smaller studio like Classic Media may not necessarily be guaranteed that a perfect restoration of 'Gojira' would ever recoup their investment. As such, they try to make the best with what they've got.
Further, Classic Media is just the license holder for 'Gojira' in the United States. They do not own the film elements. Those are hold by the original production studio, Toho Co., Ltd. Classic Media is forced to work with whatever quality of source that Toho provides them. In most cases like this, the original foreign studio strikes the video master and simply gives it to the American licensee, who will author it onto a disc with English menus and subtitles. The licensee may not have any control over the film-to-video transfer at all.
Squeaking Noise from TV Speakers
Q: I have a bit of an issue with my home theater set up. I have a Samsung LN-46A650 television, a Sony STR-DG720 receiver, a Sony BPD-S560 Blu-ray player, and a Philips DVP5960 Region-Free up-converting DVD Player for my main hookups. My issue is that whenever I switch components on my receiver (i.e. Blu-ray to DVD player), my television's speakers let out a loud intermittent squeak every few seconds. The problem fixes itself once I have a disc playing or I shut my receiver off and then turn it back on. I have tried switching inputs on the TV and receiver and also trying different HDMI cables and there is no change. Is this an issue with my TV or my receiver?
A: I'm going to assume that you have everything connected by HDMI. It also sounds like you have your disc players connected first to the receiver, and then out from the receiver to the TV (which is generally the best option). Does your TV have a setting that will disable audio on the HDMI input? Does this still happen if you mute the volume on your receiver before switching from one source to another?
When all else fails, your best bet is the process of elimination. Disconnect everything and then reconnect one component at a time until you discover exactly what combination of elements is causing the issue.
Projector Zooming
Q: I've been thinking about buying a projector for my home-theater, but I have a doubt that really concerns me. How do I know what the projection area will be? In others words, how big will my screen be? As far as I know, there is a rule for projectors that, once the distance between the projector and the screen has been determined, one could not adjust the size of the projection, because the picture would get correctly focused on screen. How can I know if, for example, putting my projector 15 feet away from the screen, will I get a 50', 60' or 90' screen?
A: Most modern home theater projectors have separate zoom and focus controls. Once you've mounted the projector, you can zoom to make the image larger or smaller. The lens should allow you to dial in proper focus at any size within the zoom range.
In order to determine how large an image you can project, you need to know the projector's throw range and zoom ratio. Most manufacturers provide projection calculators on their web sites. If you can't find that, try looking up the model at Projector Central. Using the projection calculator, you can enter your distance from screen and determine how large an image you will project at any zoom setting.
Some questions that the HD Advisor receives are best answered with a consensus of opinions from our readers. If you can help to answer the following question, please post your response in our forum thread linked at the end of this article. Your advice and opinions matter too!
Speaker Feedback
Q: I recently re-did my family room into a multi-purpose media room, and I've come across an issue that I cannot seem to solve. When I am listening to anything, be it audio or film, when I am adjusting the volume I get feedback. I have an Onkyo TX-SR 875 and when adjusting the volume I get a "bump" sound through the sub-woofer, on every .5 increment. So imagine the volume rapidly increasing or decreasing, there is a rapid thump. Now I'm not sure if this is worth mentioning, but I ran dedicated power (20 amp circuit) for the Onkyo thinking that I would not get issues like this, but alas it was not to be. All cables were custom made and buzzed to ensure there would be no shorts in the cables. My speaker system consists of Athena Technologies (an API Company) S3 and P3 Series of speakers. Not sure if you are familiar with these speakers but they are modular. The S3 and P3 can be attached (via Ni-Cad railings) and run in full range, or be separated and run as, well, separates. Which means that I am running 2 subs. Now the Onkyo only having the one sub output makes me wonder if splitting it may in fact be the issue. I have tried bypassing cables, running the cables away from line voltage cables, I just cannot solve this and I hope you will be able to offer a solution.
Check back soon for another round of answers. Keep those questions coming.
Joshua Zyber's opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of this site, its owners or employees.
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Wal-Mart’s Pre Black-Friday Sale Offers Impressive HDTV Discounts
Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 12:00 PM ETTags: Walmart, High-Def Retailing (all tags)
Black Friday is only a month away, but Wal-Mart is kicking things off early.
There’s little disputing the glory of Black Friday. Sure, lining up at 4am is a pain, but the opportunity to get a ridiculous deal can be impossible to resist. Need a new Blu-ray player, HDTV, or just a handful of movies to add to your collection? Black Friday is the day for you. Though the last year or two have been less than impressive, this year is expected to be huge.
Wal-Mart gets things started early with some pretty solid pre-Black Friday discounts on televisions, and a less than impressive mark down on a Blu-ray player. On Saturday, November 7th, the simultaneously loved and hated giant of a chain will be offering one day only specials.
A 42” Sharp LCD is first on the list, (LC42SB45UT) for $498. It’s a 1080p television that offers a native contrast ratio of 2,000:1 and four HDMI inputs. The $498 asking price is around two hundred dollars less than online retailers such as Amazon.
If that’s not your thing, there’s also a 46” plasma from Panasonic (TC-P46U1) for $788. At around $300 under the typical asking price, the Panasonic sports a 1080p resolution, a native contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and a 600Hz sub field drive that helps to reduce motion artifacts.
A Sony Blu-ray player (BDP-S360) is selling as well, but with a $148 price tag for an item selling online at $151, high demand doesn’t seem likely.
Also of note is an incredible deal on the Xbox 360 Arcade unit. The normal $199 price will net you not only a 360, but a $100 Wal-Mart gift card as well. The Xbox Arcade does lack a hard drive but does include enough built in memory to run Netflix and save a few games.
Source: Wal-Mart
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The RVU Alliance Expands – Networked Entertainment to Benefit
Fri Nov 06, 2009 at 11:00 AM ETTags: RVU Alliance, Industry Trends (all tags)
The RVU Alliance is a newly formed group that was created to set the standards and specifications for secure content delivery over a home network.
Thanks to the addition of a group of members according to Motorola, Humax and more, we may be getting one step closer to a centralized entertainment experience.
To break it down simply, it goes like this. The RVU wants you to be able to view your content no matter where you are in your house. They’re creating the standards that hopefully, companies will follow in the future to allow viewing of all of your content no matter what set-top box, computer or game console you’re using. Needless to say, we’re fans.
Originally consisting of Broadcom, Cisco, Samsung, DirecTV and Verizon, the RVU Alliance added a group of members today who will be developing and promoting the technology. Motorola and Humax may be the most familiar names, as they make up a significant portion of the set-top box market.
Among the other members are Pace, a developer for the pay TV industry and Thomson, who provide services for content creators. Also joining are NXP semiconductors and Entropic Entertainment, who have a hand in the chips being used in various consumer electronics devices.
An announcement like this in November could easily mean big things at the quickly approaching Consumer Electronics Show this January.
Source: Press Release
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BD-Live Hopes to Connect Viewers to Movies AND People
Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 04:00 PM ETTags: BD-Live, Industry Trends, Blu-con, Michael S. Palmer (all tags)
By Michael S. Palmer
Reps from Walt Disney, Sony, Universal, and Fox gathered for a panel at this year’s Blu-Con 2.0 to discuss the present and future of BD-Live.
Currently, 4 million Blu-rays connect to BD-Live every month. 50% of users return to the various portals (1984-esque tangent: Sony remembers your player’s I.P. address, and thus knows if you repeatedly access digital content. Big Brother knows where you are at all times!).
I’ve always wondered why BD-Live features have been so lackluster. Apparently, the challenge here is education. Studios and retailers are already educating the consumer on alien terms like HDTV, HDMI, 1080p, 7.1 and Blu-ray. Creating a brand new social experience for BD-Live and having to educate the consumer even further is an uphill battle on top of an uphill battle. Which is why the current strategy for studios is to build upon technology and habits that already exist (via iPhone apps, and partnerships with popular websites like Facebook and IMDB.com). To them, BD-Live should be not only an extension / augmentation of the movie, but also of the consumer’s life.
Here’s a run down of strategies / features by studio:
How can they make it easy, dynamic, and interactive?
Their first BD-Live title was ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ and since then they’ve had the ‘Hannah Montanna’ movie tied to Radio Disney, and the recent ‘Snow White’ features include “living menus” that change appearance according to the time and local weather, as well as the ability to receive a phone call from a Disney princess.
‘Lost - Season 5’ will feature “Lost University” (http://www.lostuniversity.org/). LU, with its Polar Bear mascot, is a Blu-ray/BD-Live exclusive, and gives Lost’s rabid fan base a chance to not only learn about the show, but also to study the themes and mythology built into the Lost universe. Disney hopes that ‘Lost’ fans who have yet to go Blu will buy Blu-ray players in order to participate.
SONY: Every release since April of 2008 has featured BD-Live (and of course, it should, given that their parent company invented Blu-ray). Initially, the BD-Live link was to a portal for additional content downloads and a chance to fill out surveys to let Sony know how they’re doing. Snore.
Recently, however, Sony’s focus has been two-fold. 1) The chance to edit clips from the movies (as seen on ‘Step Brothers,’ ‘Year One,’ and the upcoming ‘Snatch’) and post them on Facebook. And 2) “MovieIQ,” which is a live interactive database about the movie’s cast, crew, and production. A nifty feature bound for ‘Julie & Julia’ (Dec. 8th) is the ability to choose and email yourself recipes from the movie as it plays.
UNIVERSAL: Admittedly arriving late to the Blu-ray world last year, Universal sees the BD-Live experience as something that should be “simple and sharable.” On their discs, look for “community screenings” (everyone around the country, or world, watches the film at the same time, chatting about it via BD-Live), and integrated Facebook / iPhone applications. Recently, for ‘Fast & Furious’ Universal released a car customizing iPhone app (build a car, and share with your friends online) that has proved popular.
FOX: Sharing similar buzz words as simple and social, Fox introduced “Live Lookup” with ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ a few months ago. Integrated with IMDB.com, it’s similar to Sony’s “MovieIQ”, but for my money, much more fluid and visual. Frankly, it’s a shame that we have to have two different versions of the same feature, but I guess simplifying would involve too many lawyers.
Fox is also looking to get into community screenings, citing the desire to “elevate catalogue titles to event status.” Seems like in addition to dressing up, throwing props, and singing along to the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, the first rule of the ‘Fight Club’ Blu-ray will be to not talk about the fact that everyone’s supposed to show up to watch the flick at the same time.
WARNER was not in this panel, but they are very excited to host global community screenings for ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ (Dec. 7th).
It’s clear, despite all efforts, that BD-Live has a way to go. Studios are researching their little hearts out to give us features like “Live Lookup,” and attempting to integrate their products into the arenas we already occupy. “Lost University” seems like a good start, but is admittedly only for die-hard fans. In the not-too-distant future, we could see e-commerce (the ability to buy products literally used in, or as seen in, the movie), editing movies in real time and inserting them into the film, putting your voice / likeness into the movies, or features akin to Google maps (posting/tagging user generated clips online that tie into filming locations).
Perhaps in addition to developing and selling their movies, bold new filmmakers will also create exciting opportunities for interactivity in watching their movies, which is usually very passive (except for popcorn consumption). Or maybe it’ll be you, dear readers, with the next kick ass idea. What do you want from BD-Live? What’s a “gotta have it” toy you’d love at your fingertips as your favorite flick unfurls in glorious high def?
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Touch Screen Displays Come to the Shower
Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 03:30 PM ETTags: Roca (all tags)
Ultra high-end bathroom company Roca – yes, there are ultra high-end bathroom companies – has created a water drop shaped shower and bath that features a wraparound touchscreen display.
Admit it, you’ve been watching a video on your zune or been listening to your favorite podcast on your iPod before a shower and thought “I wonder if there’s a way I can keep enjoying this entertainment while becoming clean.” Maybe you’ve taken a bath instead so you could read a book or watch a movie on your laptop, maybe you’ve ruined a perfectly good Bluetooth headset by taking it in with you, or maybe you’re one of those unfortunates that thought a Ziploc bag would be enough protection.
It’s one of the few parts of the house that seldom features entertainment, aside from one of those sad shower radios, even though we’re there for at least a few minutes every day. For those with deep pocketbooks and room for a strange bath/shower amalgamation, Roca has a solution.
Designed by We Chenghou, the Waterdrop is a combination bath and shower that incorporates a wraparound touchscreen display to control not only audio and video being fed into the unit, but the water intensity and temperature as well.
The Waterdrop isn’t in Roca’s official catalog yet, so the price is a bit of a mystery, but we’re guessing it’s not exactly cheap.
Source: Yanko Design
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