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Apple Announces the iPad Mini[teaser]This entry level tablet may not be as impressive in size as its big brothers, but it might be just what the "tablet as controller" movement needs. [/teaser] The iPad Mini is, well, it's exactly what you think it is. The new tablet from Apple is a smaller version of the iPad that offers similar capabilities at a lower price. It can come as a Wi-Fi only tablet or with 4G LTE depending on how much you want to spend and storage is likewise adjustable. The display isn't anything to write home about at 1024 by 768, so what does the iPad Mini offer the home theater crowd? With the increasing focus on using smartphones and tablets as controllers for Blu-ray players, receivers and TVs, it's easy to see where the iPad Mini might fill a niche. The iPhone and iPod are a bit too small for a layout with a large amount of options and the iPad is so big as to be unwieldy. The iPad Mini might be just what's needed. The iPad Mini starts at $329 for a 16GB Wi-Fi only version. Pricing tops out at $659 for 64GB of storage and 4G LTE connectivity. Source: ApplePosted Wed Oct 24, 2012 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
'The Hobbit' Will be Shown in Select Theaters with Dolby Atmos Sound[teaser]There's no word yet on whether there will be overlap between Atmos and 48fps theaters. [/teaser] Atmos is the latest innovation from Dolby and it has been receiving very positive reviews, even if most of the movies it's attached to haven't. That's a bit of a problem – it'd be really nice to see something epic with the new tech. You know, something that's almost guaranteed to be great so you can just sit back and enjoy instead of pick apart the awfulness. That chance comes on December 13th with the release of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.' One thing of particular interest is that this isn't the only new thing that's being put out there with 'The Hobbit.' The film is, in very limited release, going to be shown at 48 frames per second – double the traditional rate. We've reached out to Dolby to see if there will be any crossover here, but at this time we do not know if any of the Atmos theaters will also be showing the movie at 48fps. Source: Hollywood ReporterPosted Wed Oct 24, 2012 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
"Ultra HD" is Now the Official Name for 4K According to the CEA[teaser]Since they're in agreement with the ITU on the subject, it looks like we'll have a nice easy time with this naming convention. Now they just have to pass that message on to the general public. [/teaser] While it may not seem like a big deal, having the CEA and ITU agree on the naming convention for 3,840 x 2,160 televisions is really going to help the technology move forward. An industry standard name means a unified industry standard message, which means slightly less confusion from the kinds of folks that would otherwise be terribly out of their depths with new technology. You know, the people that don't read blogs like this one. Now that the whole naming thing is out of the way, companies can start showing off their new UHD sets to the general public and hopefully educate people as to the benefits of the new technology. Even if you're not the biggest fan of UHD, the adoption of the name means one other very good thing – we won't have to keep explaining to people that 4K sets don't actually have 4,000 horizontal pixels. One less complicated tech explanation out of the way! Source: EngadgetPosted Tue Oct 23, 2012 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
AMC Returns to Dish Today – Other AMC Channels Come Back November 1st[teaser]Dish ended up settling with AMC to the tune of $700 million in cash. [/teaser] Finally, the issues between AMC and Dish have been settled. The lawsuit that's been going on for quite some time is over and, more importantly to Dish subscribers, AMC is back on the air. That means Dish subscribers can resume watching shows like 'Breaking Bad,' 'The Walking Dead' and 'Mad Men,' or at least that they don't have to pirate them anymore. AMC isn't the only channel under the AMC Networks label. Sundance, IFC, WE tv and FUSE are all returning to Dish as well, though you'll have to wait until November 1st to tune in to those. AMC itself is available to watch today. Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Tue Oct 23, 2012 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
Japanese Newspaper Says Panasonic Will Stop Making TVs – Panasonic Disagrees[teaser]According to various sources, Panasonic is planning to switch its focus to iPad screens. [/teaser] The HDTV market is a brutal one. A few different companies dominate the top spot in terms of quality and not all of them are even turning a profit. It's easy to see why, given the opportunity, a maker like Panasonic would take an out. According to a Japanese business paper, Panasonic has been working with Apple to produce screens for the new iPad, which is apparently profitable enough a venture that the company could ditch TV production entirely. Panasonic says that this report is "basically speculative" and that the articles "contain a number of errors of fact or misinterpretations." This wording indicates that while the articles aren't 100 percent correct, they're also not 100 percent wrong either. Perhaps Panasonic is only exiting the LCD market. It would be an absolute shame one of the very few companies that makes quality plasma TVs. Source: TWICEPosted Tue Oct 23, 2012 at 07:00 AM PDT by: -
Bonus View Digest - October 19, 2012[teaser]We're getting closer to the end of October. As the colder weather rolls in we hope you'll spend a little bit more time indoors reading The Bonus View. Along with everything else we've covered this week – everything from TV premieres to new weekend movies – we've started up another tournament. This time we're trying to find out which movie monster is the best.[/teaser] Monster Madness As we get closer to Halloween we thought it'd be fun to start up a new tournament of death this time. We've already done TV and movie characters. Now we've taken on movie monsters. We've already posted the introduction to the tournament, The Beginning of the End of the World, along with the first set of matchups. If you haven't voted, get in on this. It's really fun. Gamera vs. Rancor – Predator vs. Pale Man and Giant Squid vs. Sharktopus – Killer Tomato vs. Piranha Blu-ray News Check out this week's Blu-ray releases in Josh's Blu-ray Highlights post. There's an eclectic collection of catalogue and day-and-date titles. Perhaps the biggest release is Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom.' Should you pick it up? Find out what Josh thinks. If you're a special packaging aficionado then check out Tom's post about the newly revealed Steelbook for 'The Amazing Spider-Man.' Theatrical News Yuck! That's really the only way to describe the one release that Luke saw this week. That movie is ''Alex Cross'' and it should be avoided at all costs. Tyler Perry will never be a believable action star. Luke laments having to see it and nominates it as one of the worst movies of 2012. In E's Trailer Park we get a couple teaser trailers. One for Disney's remake of 'The Lone Ranger' and the other for the fifth 'Die Hard' movie 'A Good Day to Die Hard.' TV Recaps This was a big week in television, namely because one of TV's most popular shows started back up with its season premiere. Want to know what the first episode of 'The Walking Dead's third season turned out? Want to join in on the discussion with fellow fans? Then come on over and check out Aaron's recap of the season premiere and make sure to follow along as we recap every episode of the third season. We also have recaps of 'Fringe,' 'Nashville,' and 'Arrow.' Special Features In the Mid-Week Poll we covered what your favorite special feature is and for the Weekend Roundtable we discussed Blu-rays that sorely need to be double-dipped to make them better. It is with a sad heart that we bid goodbye to one of our beloved readers. If any of you knew forum poster Kosty then you may want to come over and pay your respects. It's always sad to hear of someone passing on, especially at such a relatively young age. We here at The Bonus View would like to offer our sincerest condolences to Kosty's family and loved ones. Thanks for reading along with us this week. We wish everyone a happy and safe weekend.Posted Fri Oct 19, 2012 at 12:00 PM PDT by: -
Dolby is Working on Atmos for 7.1, 2.1 and Soundbar Setups[teaser]There's no ETA on when we'll start seeing it, but Dolby says that it's doable, maybe even without height speakers. [/teaser] If you've had a chance to hear Dolby Atmos then you may have the same question as Dolby does – how soon can Atmos be in home theaters? Dolby says that they're actively working on adapting the tech to existing home theater setups and that they may even be able to get away with Atmos on home theaters that lack height channels. It's not just 7.1 channel setups that Dolby is looking at either. They're checking out 5.1, 2.1 and even home theaters that use soundbars in order to find out if they can include a version of Atmos. The technology apparently scales very well, so expect to see something along those lines on home theater products before too long. Unfortunately, the "when" of it is a mystery as Dolby doesn't have any time estimates. Source: TWICEPosted Tue Oct 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
$99 Boxee TV Includes Online DVR Functionality for OTA and Basic Cable[teaser]The catch? You'll have to pay $15 a month to get any use out of it. Oh, and no local storage. [/teaser] When we first caught wind of Boxee's new set-top things looked pretty sweet. DVR capabilities for basic cable and over-the-air TV combined with streaming features and a low price – that's something we can all get behind. The reality of the Boxee TV is a little less impressive. There's no internal storage and doesn't appear to be a way to add it. The app count is down to just a few, streaming local media has been limited severely. In fact, only Netflix, Vudu, Pandora, YouTube and Vimeo will be available at launch. The one thing that the Boxee TV does that sets it apart is allow you to watch your content wherever you are, since it stores recorded shows online. The initial rollout starts in New York, L.A., Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington DC. Source: EngadgetPosted Tue Oct 16, 2012 at 09:00 AM PDT by: -
Best Buy Will Match Online Prices This Holiday Season[teaser]The company is doing what it can to keep competitive, including matching prices with online giant Amazon. [/teaser] How many times have you used Best Buy or another retail location to check out something you're going to buy online? Maybe you want to hear some speakers or look at that new TV before picking it up, or play around with a camera before shelling out the cash for it. According to Best Buy's research, 43 percent of us do that on a regular basis. Best Buy is attempting to counter that this holiday season by offering to match prices with online retailers – something they've shied away from in the past. This should prove to be an interesting experiment for Best Buy, which has been suffering from lagging sales as of recently. The company hasn't revealed full details on what sites they'll be matching, and what limits there are to the price match arrangement – you know there'll be a few. We do know that Amazon is in the mix though, so next time you go to Best Buy, have your smartphones ready to check pricing. Source: PetaPixelPosted Fri Oct 12, 2012 at 11:00 AM PDT by: -
SVS Announces the Ultra Speaker Series[teaser]The line includes a nearly four foot tall tower as well as bookshelf, center and surround speakers. [/teaser] Juat a few weeks after revealing the SB13-Ultra subwoofer, the folks at SVS have a whole new line of speakers for your consideration. The company says that intense testing was done on these speakers and the potential components in simulations before a prototype was even built, and that even the grille has gone through rigorous testing. The most noticeable speaker of the line is the $1,999 Ultra Tower, which boasts a woofer array with a pair of eight inch drivers, two 6.5 inch midrange drivers and a SoundMatch 3.5 way crossover. Also launching are the $1,199 Ultra Surround with isolated crossovers for each tweeter, $699 Ultra Center and $999 Ultra Bookshelf. The line is due out on November 20th. Source: Electronic HousePosted Fri Oct 12, 2012 at 09:00 AM PDT by:
