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Bonus View Digest - December 30, 2011[Teaser]We took a day or two off over at The Bonus View so we could celebrate the holidays, too. Believe it or not, even we need a break from writing about movies and TV. Yes, it's hard to believe... I know.[/Teaser] Since there weren't a lot of posts put up this week, I wanted to take the time on this Bonus View Digest to highlight a few of our favorite articles of the past year as well as some of the articles posted up this week that you should've took time to read. This year we tried a lot of new things, chief among them was our month's long tournament modeled after the 64-team March Madness bracket in order to find out which movie badass was the baddest ass in the cinematic world. It was called Movie Madness. Darth Vader ended up pulling away at the end, but not before a few surprises took place. Stay tuned, because in 2012 we're going to be starting up a tournament for TV characters and it promises to be every bit as fun as the movie tournament was. We also tried something we'd never done before and Live Blogged the Oscars. We're planning on doing it again when the award show rolls around next year, but for now you can head on back to the original post and check out the chat that took place. It really was one of the best times I had on the blog so far. We had our fair share of controversy on the blog also. Especially every time we brought up Michael Bay. Some thought we singled him out to pick on him mercilessly, while others thought it was fun conversation. Whatever it was, our Michael Bay articles posted some of the biggest comment numbers of the year. We talked extensively about theatrical 3D during the year, and if the technology will continue on or if it will die off. It sparked a heated debate in one of Luke's posts entitled Is Theatrical 3D on the Way Out? One of my favorite articles of the year was a short article about how the Alamo Drafthouse treats people who text in their movies. If you haven't seen the video you simply must click over to the original article and check it out. We held quite a few writer Weekend Roundtables over the year, where us writers were posed with a question or topic and we had to give our own two cents about it. These posts usually sparked most of the comments. A few of my favorite Roundtables were: Favorite TV Show Theme Songs, Bad Movies from Good Directors, and Best and Worst Comic Book Movies. This is just a sample of some of the Bonus View articles and features I really enjoyed this year. Hopefully, you'll visit them if you haven't had the pleasure of reading them, or revisit them and add to the discussions already taking place there. As for this week I'll give you a quick rundown of what we posted. Josh lambasts the National Film Registry for their inclusion of 'Forrest Gump' in their archives. E continues to make us jealous by recounting the steps he's taking to upgrade his home theater. Aaron shared his year-end list of his Top 10 Favorite TV Characters of 2011. Luke reviewed the emotional tear-jerker 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.' Finally, today is the last day that you can enter our 'Kung Fu Panda 2' Blu-ray contest. So do it now! It's been a fun year and I hope you join us again in the New Year as we'll be bringing you the latest and greatest in movie, Blu-ray, television, and home theater news. From everyone here at High-Def Digest we'd like to wish all of our readers Happy Holidays and a safe and fun New Year's. See you in 2012!Posted Fri Dec 30, 2011 at 02:00 PM PST by: -
XBMC Eden Beta is Available Now[teaser]The worthy rival of Boxee has launched its latest software - not pulling out of the HTPC space. [/teaser] With Boxee no longer officially supported, many HTPC users will be looking for a new media center alternative. The XBMC - originally created as the Xbox Media Center - just might be the way to go. The newest version of XBMC has launched in beta form and there are a significant amount of changes. The default skin got a nice redesign, speeds have been improved and AirPlay support has been added. Version 11.0 is also the first stable Apple TV2 and iPad release. You can download the media center directly from XBMC. Source: EngadgetPosted Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM PST by: -
LG Intros New 3D Glasses for 2012[teaser]Among the new designs is a pair of clip-on lenses and one designer frame. [/teaser] LG has announced a few new styles of 3D glasses for 2012 and each brings something a little different to the mix. The F310 is a more standard pair of passive 3D glasses but with an added curve to better match the wearer's face. It's also 20 percent lighter than last year's model, putting it at just 13.5 grams. LG's F360 boasts a half-rim frame thanks to designer Alain Mikli. Like the 310 model, these are curved for better vision and comfort. One boon for glasses-wearers is the F320, a set of clip-on lenses that turn your regular glasses into 3D glasses. It's a really nice new product and will - assuming the price is right - almost certainly sell to those watching 3D movies in theaters and not just home theater buffs. Source: EngadgetPosted Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 10:00 AM PST by: -
Boston Acoustics Launches the Compact SoundWare S 5.1 Speaker System[teaser]The satellites measure in at less than four inches in any direction and are designed to deliver plenty of power in a small package. [/teaser] It can be a hard concept to grasp, but it's true - some people don't want giant speakers taking up their living room or wall space. To be fair, some people just don't have the room to place regularly sized speakers but still want to enjoy surround sound. For those folks, there's the SoundWare S. The latest compact speaker system from Boston Acoustics was made as a step up to the SoundWare XS and aims to deliver better sound out of slightly bigger speakers. The system offers true two-way speakers with 3-1/2" mid-bass drivers and 3/4"tweeters. The SoundWare S also comes with a 10" powered 200 watt subwoofer with a 300 watt peak. The system comes in at $799. Source: eCousticsPosted Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 08:00 AM PST by: -
LG is Bringing a 55" OLED Display to CES[teaser]We can only hope that this living room sized prototype will bring the company one step closer to a nice big consumer OLED. [/teaser] If you've been paying attention to HDTVs over the last few years, you're familiar with the great potential of OLED sets. Of course, you're also probably jaded over the fact that we've not seen one reasonable OLED on the market yet. Tiny TVs price in the multiple thousands of dollars aren't exactly exciting. LG's new prototype offers a little hope as far as mainstream OLED displays go. To start with, it's not ridiculously small like most OLEDs. It's a 55" display - a popular size that fits nicely in most living rooms. LG uses an Oxide TFT manufacturing process in the making of these new OLED which they say requires a significantly smaller investment than the way folks have been doing OLED in the past. That means that we're looking at a nice step forward to a reasonably sized and reasonably priced OLED TV. Source: EngadgetPosted Thu Dec 29, 2011 at 06:00 AM PST by: -
Win 'Kung Fu Panda 2' on Blu-ray![teaser]Did Santa bring you all the Blu-rays you wanted for Christmas? What, no? Well, let's see if we can fix that by offering you the chance to win 'Kung Fu Panda 2' on Blu-ray. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea? We thought so! Read on after the break for all the instructions on how to enter.[/teaser] Thanks to our friends at Dolby Labs, we have two copies of 'Kung Fu Panda 2' to also give away. Each is a 2-disc Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy combo pack, so you’ll be covered no matter how or where you (or your kids) want to watch the movie. Now how do you win? That's easy. We’re going to do this one as a haiku contest. (Yes, we know that kung fu is Chinese and haiku is Japanese, but go with it anyway.) To win the prize, you must come up with a creative 'Kung Fu Panda'-themed haiku in the standard 5-7-5 format. That means 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and another 5 syllables in the third line. For example: Fat bear leaps through air With athletic grace. Too bad Gravity’s a bitch The winners will be chosen at our own subjective discretion based on whichever responses we enjoy the most. As mentioned earlier, we have two copies of the Blu-ray to give away. Entries are limited to 10 haikus per person. That should give you plenty of opportunity to craft a good submission, but will also help us to avoid any potential appearance of awarding prizes based on volume rather than quality. The deadline for entry is this Friday, December 30th. The winner will be announced next week. Good luck, everyone! Hop on over to the contest announcement to post your entries!Posted Wed Dec 28, 2011 at 11:15 AM PST by: -
Boxee for PC Receives its Final Update[teaser]User interface fixes, better network and file support mark the end of official Boxee software. [/teaser] It's a sad day for HTPC owner,s as Boxee - one of the big influencers in the space - is pulling the plug on the program. Today's 1.5 patch will be the final one issued by Boxee. The patch itself isn't anything too significant. It gives some better network and file support as well as an improved interface but nothing big. Boxee says the program is at around 85% of the functionality of the Boxee Box but due to licensing issues there's not much else they can do. Andrew Kippen talks directly to HTPC users in the post on the Boxee Blog. "Thank you for all your support," he writes. "We would not be where we are today without you. But we can’t stay here." Source: BoxeePosted Wed Dec 28, 2011 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
Sony Sells its Share of LCD Venture to Samsung[teaser]The sale will net Sony nearly $1 billion to gain cash and cut costs. [/teaser] After some speculation over Sony's plans moving forward, the company finally announced that it will be selling a nearly 50% share of a joint LCD venture to Samsung, making the South Korean manufacturer the majority shareholder by a good margin. "In the longer term, Sony will have the freedom to source TV panels from all suppliers," writes the DisplaySearch research firm. "With more panel sourcing flexibility, Sony can reduce the use of Samsung panels, and focus on differentiating its LCD TV products." Not only will this allow Sony to better separate its products from Samsungs, but it will let the company shift its market a bit. Instead of trying to please everybody all of the time, Sony is aiming at high-end sets for high-end consumers. Source: TWICEPosted Wed Dec 28, 2011 at 07:00 AM PST by: -
Ultra-D Technology Converts Video for use with Glasses-Free 3D[teaser]They'll be showing off the first products using their tech at CES next month. [/teaser] Glasses-free 3D is the next step in the evolutionary process. Whether it will actually take off in the mainstream or not is anyone's guess, but it's a clear step forward in terms of convenience and consumer demands. The folks at Stream TV are working to make glasses-free 3D even more convenient for companies that want to make it happen. Their new technology is called Ultra-D and it handles conversion of videos and pictures for glasses-free displays. It doesn't just do 2D video either - it converts other 3D formats to glasses-free 3D as well. "Our ultimate goal was to create a solution that addresses existing concerns impeding the adoption of 3D," says Stream TV CEO Mathu Rajan. "It seemed we were aiming for the impossible but we've made it possible and will be sharing these hard-won achievements with consumers in 2012." The first line of products to use Ultra-D technology will be shown at CES in January. Source: Stream TVPosted Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 09:00 AM PST by: -
Gilberto Sanchez Gets a Year in Prison for Pirating 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'[teaser]Wonder if he wishes he was famous for pirating a better movie? [/teaser] Every once in a while, some poor sap gets dragged out and charged criminally as a warning to would-be pirates. The latest is a man named Gilberto Sanchez, who you may know better as "that dude who put the Wolverine movie online before it came out." Sanchez put up an incomplete version of 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' up on MegaUpload where it was quickly downloaded and spread throughout the internet as these things tend to do. Sanchez ended up in court and, after admitting his guilt, sentenced to a year in prison. "The federal prison sentence handed down in this case sends a strong message of deterrence to would-be Internet pirates," says attorney Andre Birotte Jr. "The Justice Department will pursue and prosecute persons who seek to steal the intellectual property of this nation." Source: Home Media MagazinePosted Tue Dec 27, 2011 at 07:00 AM PST by:
