The new Yankee Stadium is going to be all tech-ed up by Cisco, according to an announcement made by Hal Steinbrenner on an impressive telepresence conference call this morning. The partnership has already yielded about $15 million of wiring and infrastructure for the stadium, with more promised. So what does this mean for you, the rabid Yankees fan, at the game? Well, they’re calling it a new “fan experience,” but for now, it essentially boils down to 1,100 HD video monitors all over the stadium doing things like playing “interactive” video, giving stats in real time, and offering the capability to do truly wild stuff like order concessions from your seat and see how long the line at the nearest bathroom is. If it sounds too good to be true well, it’s not — kind of. Most of these features will supposedly be available when the stadium opens, though only in the luxury boxes… but Steinbrenner claims that infrastructure is already in place which will grant the stadium to provide these extras for everyone in the home eventually. We also hear there’s going to be WiFi throughout the stadium, and that one 16 ounce Budweiser will run you $24.50. As long as we can count on them to use those thousand monitors to get people to do the wave while listening to “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” we’re there.

[Via The LoHud Yankees Blog; Thanks Joe P.]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, HDTV

Cisco teams up with Yankees to bring HDTV experience to the new stadium originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Technological progress marches forward, assimilating all those who resist — we know this well in our line of work, but sometimes you’ve got to stand up and state, “The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!” Take the digital TV transition in the United Says for example: all the analog Television signals will be shut off in February. It won’t be pretty, but it’ll be progress. Hawaii, though, has a dilemma: it just so happens that the analog towers that’ll be torn down are awfully close to the nests of the state’s cute and endangered petrel birds, whose nesting season also occurs in February. Hence Hawaii’s digital switch will occur a month early on January 15th, so you 17,000 affected Hawaiians have that much less time to grab converter boxes, or you’ll end up watching the next season of Lost in person on your beautiful beaches instead of your ancient tube TVs.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Hawaiian analog TV shutoff to come early, saving God’s creatures originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speak about putting all of your eggs in one basket. Silicon Mountain has evidently taken a note from Lumenlab with its incredibly multifaceted Allio. For starters, the 42-inch set arrives with a full-blown Computer within, including an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive and Windows Vista Home Premium. You’ll also find a smorgasbord of inputs, a number of USB ports, wired / wireless networking options and a 1080p panel; talking of the TV itself, it features a 2,000:1 contrast ratio, 400 cd/m2 brightness and twin 12-watt speakers. On top of all that, the California-assembled unit even includes a slim-line Blu-ray player, theoretically beating both Sharp and Funai to the market with Blu-ray-infused HDTVs. As of now, six different configurations are available (including a 32-incher) starting at $1,599, and the company is planning on offering “low-cost” versions with Ubuntu in the near future. Head on past the break for the full release.

Continue reading Silicon Mountain’s Allio: 42-inch HDTV with built-in Computer / Blu-ray player

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media Personal computers

Silicon Mountain’s Allio: 42-inch HDTV with built-in Personal computer / Blu-ray player originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2Wire’s announced a 7-inch square set-top box designed to “bridge TV and the web.” Called MediaPoint, it seems to be almost identical to every media streamer we’ve seen — it will multitask as a digital media player that delivers HD video and access streaming media on your home network via broadband. The box will boast HDMI ouput, WiFi, USB expansion, UPnP and DLNA compatibility. Sounds unbelievably enticing, right? Well, unlike most media streamers, you’ll have to purchase MediaPoint through a broadband service provider which will distribute the boxes under their own branding, and you’ll presumably have to pay a subscription fee — hopefully so you can enjoy some WWE Raw. Wow! So a product that’s pretty much the same as a bunch of things that already exist, but we get to deal with a cable / world wide web service provider? Sounds fun, where do we sign up? They’re expected to be available “very soon” though there’s no word on pricing plans for the box or the subscriptions.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

2Wire’s MediaPoint HD streamer box is special, just like everybody else originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Want to get a jump on your holiday shopping or find a couple of insane bargains to keep for yourself? A few retailers are offering what they’ve dubbed “Black Friday-style” price cuts for tomorrow — Saturday, November 8th. Walmart’s got a sweet 15.4-inch Compaq CQ-139WM (with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive) laptop for $298, in addition to a PlayStation 2 bundled with a $30 WalMart gift card for $129, and a PlayStation 3 with a $100 gift card for $399. Over at Kmart they’re offering up a rad 32-inch Sylvania LCD HDTV for $439.99 (they usually go for for $550). They also have several deals for Sunday, November 9th, including the Wii Fit for $89.99. Is it safe to assume that every Friday (not to mention Saturday and Sunday) until Christmas will be “black”? For the full, mind-blowing rundown, hit the read links.

[Via CNET, I4U News]

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Laptops

Walmart, Kmart announce Black Friday-esque deals for days other than Black Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Far from being the first (or second, or third) partnership aimed at getting 3D in the home, JVC and Sensio have jointly chosen EHX Fall 2008 to announce their loving new union. By joining forces, they’re purporting to introduce the “very first high-end 3D solution available on the consumer market.” Granted, this so-called solution won’t be cheap nor easy, as it will require a pair of JVC’s expensive D-ILA projectors and a media server integrating Sensio’s 3D decoding technology. At the show, the pair demonstrated the forthcoming system by utilizing two $9,000 (yes, each) DLA-RS2 beamers (pictured), though it’s never said whether or not any gaudy goggles are required for visualizing the third-dimension. At any rate, the kit won’t be available until sometime in 2009, but it’s quite possible we’ll get a sneak peek at CES in January.

[Via Electronic Home]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

JVC, Sensio team up on high-end consumer 3D projection system originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you one of those freaks of nature who prefer your fonts as little as possible in order to best take advantage of each last square millimeter of screen real estate? If so, point your retinas to Samsung’s latest marvel, the 23-inch 2342BWX. The LCD monitor boasts a thin black bezel, 5-millisecond response time and a mesmerizing QWXGA (2,048 x 1,152) resolution. Just to put things in perspective, that’s enough pixels to view two A4-sized sheets side by side with room to spare for Vista’s sidebar. Sammy’s expected to loose this in South Korea soon for ₩399,000 ($315), but trust us, the challenge won’t be procuring one, it’ll be making sure your GPU can handle it.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Samsung introduces 23-inch 2342BWX LCD with QWXGA resolution originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Late in August, we got wind of an elusive Aurea II HDTV that was in development from Philips. Now, we’re looking at the official result of that labor. The 42-inch Philips Aurea II (or 42PFL9903D, if you’d prefer) packs a 1080p panel, the latest version of the Perfect Pixel HD engine, a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and a wicked fast two-millisecond response time. Reportedly, the main differences between this set and the original Aurea is a thinner frame, more curvaceous corners and an ever-so-slightly updated design. For those with the cash to blow, it’ll be available for a stiff

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While not quite as brain-melting as Panasonic’s 150-incher and not nearly as sophisticated as its tru2way-enabled VIERA TH-50PZ80Q, Panny’s 11 Series is still worth a gander. Announced this day over in Deutschland, the line gets going with the 42-inch TH-42PH11EK/ES and 50-inch TH-50PH11EK/ES, which check in with a 1,024 x 768 and 1,366 x 768 resolution, respectively. Moving on to larger (or similarly sized) and (mostly) better things, we’ve got the TH-42PF11EK (42-inch), TH-50PF11EK (50-inch), TH-58PF11EK (58-inch) and the TH-65PF11EK (65-inch), all of which offer a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and a 30,000:1 contrast ratio. As for pricing and availability, everything smaller than 58-inches can be acquired now for undisclosed amounts, while the massive daddies should follow in December.

[Via Macrush]

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Panasonic unveils new 11 Series plasma displays in Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, not each station’s pulled out the Star Wars / Iron Man-style holograms for the 2008 election, but they’re all trying to put shiny new HD studios to full use and get as many eyeballs as possible until things are decided. NBC & ABC immediately jumped out front at 7 p.m. with data pouring in on the widescreen edges of their HD feeds, with CNN waiting until says were decided to begin updating their lists. ABC’s chosen to lean on its touchscreen display and forgo side graphics altogether, while despite Fox’s claim as “America’s Election HQ”, with totally bare shoulders and boring sets, we’re pointing our flatscreens elsewhere. PBS, despite airing the clearest, most high quality video available of three old guys at a table, has no slick touchscreens or HD graphics packages to talk of. Think about that as you check out the rest of the screens after the break, and during the next donation drive. Big Bird deserves superior.

Continue reading Election ‘08 coming home in HD like never before

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Election ‘08 coming home in HD like never before originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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