Dish Network Will Broadcast in 1080p, Streaming Blu-ray Quality Video Now Possible (But Unlikely) [Satellite]

Dish Network is upgrading their boxes’ firmware to display 1080p resolution. Given the lack of 1080p network source material, the existing 720p/1080i compressed HD signals, and the fact that there’s no standard limiting the compression quality—1080p can be compressed to crap like any other picture—it’s tough to believe this is going to be really useful for consumers. But maybe we are mistaken, because the company actually thinks that their 1080p quality is on par with Blu-ray discs:

Starting August 1, the recent blockbuster “I Am Legend” starring Will Smith will be available in Blu-ray™ disc quality 1080p resolution, only on DISH Network’s VOD service, DISH On Demand, at a discounted price.

Yes. Dish Network is actually promising I Am Legend in “Blu-ray™ disc quality 1080p resolution” over Video on Demand. Presumably streamed in real time, it would be a technological feat even if not part of normal programming. And while we bet Dish will make the image look as good as possible under the pressure to show off, whether or not it’s truly as stunning as a Blu-ray disc or meets some minimum 1080p prerequisite is yet to be seen.

In other news, Dish Network is soldiering on with their promise of 150 HD channels by the end of the year, and tomorrow will add 17 must-see HDTV channels including Lifetime Motion picture Network HD and Starz Edge HD. Read the presser for all the details. [Dish]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – July 31, 2008 – DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) this day set the bar for the next-generation HD standard by becoming the first in the pay-TV industry to offer high definition programming in 1080p, the highest and best HD resolution available.

This new functionality is part of DISH Network’s latest and unprecedented expansion in HD services, which includes the rollout of TurboHD, the industry’s first 100 percent, all-HD suite of programming packages. As previously announced, DISH Network will also launch 17 more national HD channels tomorrow, surpassing its goal of reaching 100 national HD channels five months ahead of schedule. DISH Network now plans to almost double its national HD channel count in less than one year and offer up to 150 national HD channels by the end of 2008, made possible by the current launch of Echo XI, the most powerful satellite in the company’s fleet.

“Over the years, DISH Network has maintained a very competitive HD offering in the marketplace, providing customers with a premium HD product including the best technology, signal and experience – at the best value – that no other pay-TV provider can come close to matching,” said Charlie Ergen, Chairman, CEO and President of DISH Network. “Our latest system upgrade coupled with the introduction of TurboHD further strengthens our position as the leader in digital TV and high definition TV, platforms we look forward to enhancing even more with mobile and portable options.”

DISH Network’s new HD services are supported by a proprietary “turbo-charged” system upgrade that, starting August 1, is being rolled out to all MPEG-4 HD and HD DVR receivers. The upgrade activates a very special feature of the set-top boxes, improving the current standard of HD delivery used by pay-TV providers such as the ability to output 1080p programming. By early August, all DISH Network customers with MPEG-4 HD and HD DVR receivers will have the only set-top boxes in the nation enabled to display 1080p content, allowing them to maximize the full potential of their 1080p-compatible HDTV sets.

To celebrate this new era in the HD viewing experience, DISH Network is offering subscribers a special deal in August to like the unparalleled picture and sound of 1080p HD programming. Starting August 1, the current blockbuster “I Am Legend” starring Will Smith will be available in Blu-ray™ disc quality 1080p resolution, only on DISH Network’s VOD service, DISH On Demand, at a discounted price. Subscribers might order the movie on DISH Network Channel 501. This marks the first time in history a pay-TV provider offers movies in 1080p, the highest resolution format available for HD video enthusiasts.

Consumers can sign up for the ideal HD programming and service in the industry with DISH Network’s new TurboHD programming packages, the only all-HD packages on the market, starting at $24.99 per month. TurboHD is available in three separate tiers and includes DISH Network’s award-winning and industry-leading HD technology, advanced equipment enabled to display 1080p programming, and the most-watched HD channels that might be viewed on any Television – analog, digital or HD.

Current DISH Network customers with MPEG-4 HD and HD DVR receivers are being automatically upgraded and will have their systems “turbo-charged” by early August with all the features and benefits of TurboHD. DISH Network customers looking to add the industry’s ideal HD experience can get a “turbo-charged” HD package for as little as $10 more per month.

The latest national HD channels added to DISH Network’s programming line-up are: ActionMax HD (DISH Network Ch. 313), CBS College Sports HD (Ch. 152), Lifetime HD (Ch. 108), Lifetime Movie Network HD (Ch. 109), Planet Green HD (Ch. 194), Encore HD (Ch. 340), HBO 2 HD (Ch. 301), HBO Comedy HD (Ch. 307), HBO Family HD (Ch. 305), HBO Latino HD (Ch. 309), HBO Signature HD (Ch. 302), HBO West HD (Ch. 303), HBO Zone HD (Ch. 308), Starz Comedy HD (Ch. 354), Starz Edge HD (Ch. 352), Starz Kids & Family HD (Ch. 356), Starz West HD (Ch. 351).

For more information about DISH Network’s 1080p programming, new HD channels and TurboHD system and packages, visit www.dishnetwork.com or call 1-800-333-DISH (3474).

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At a $300, or even $400 pricepoint, it was easy to come up with all sorts of reasons to own a mini-laptop like the Eee. But when those prices quickly grew to a baseline of $500, we all looked at these machines like $60,000 Kias with no wheels. Now Sylvania, a brand famous for its Wal-Mart connection, will start selling a little laptop of their own called the Sylvania g netbook MESO. Featuring an Atom processor, 8.9″ screen and 80GB hard drive, the personal will start at $299. UPDATE: Oops, we were informed that the $299 figure was just a “market benchmark”—so don’t get too excited just yet. It could be just as high-priced as its competition. [Ross Rubin via bbGadgets]

Via [gizmodo]

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Dynolicious is an all-purpose automotive performance meter, utilizing the built-in accelerometer in the iPhone and iPod touch to record your driving characteristics. BunsenTech, the makers of the software, claim that it can record 0-60 times within .08 of a second, accurately estimate your current speed and monitor and record any directional G force. The system seeks to perform almost each function of (much) more costly dedicated monitoring units, which seems like an awfully tall order for a $12.99 piece of cell phone software.

Fortunately, bloggers more experienced with the dedicated units have dispelled fears that this app is a waste of money. Dynolicious can actually do what it claims, and presents its data in a useful and attractive way. Realtime speedometer graphing and skidpad display may not be much more than pretty toys, but a bevy of data analysis tools can properly process your driving after it’s done. Entering your car’s weight and estimated power even allows Dynolicious to fulfill its namesake, calculating actual wheel horsepower and drivetrain efficiency with surprising accuracy. Data is recorded for as many automobiles as you want, and vehicle mods can be noted and taken into account over a course of multiple tests.

Some reviewers are scoffing at the $12.99 price, and others are pointing to the cheaper g-tac, though it only records straight-line performance and doesn’t offer almost as complete of a feature set. Perspective is important though, and considering the high cost of roughly comparable dedicated systems and the amount of money avid car tuners spend on their rides, the price is a veritable bargain. This is one of the most creative uses of the iPhone’s hardware I’ve seen that actually delivers.

[Dynolicious, App Review Marathon]

Via [gizmodo]

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The battle between the Nuviphone and the iPhone for the love of geolocation fanatics everywhere will not be happening this year, after all. The GPS-enabled Garmin Nuviphone, which many industry observers expected to be one of the hottest multimedia phone…

The battle between the Nuviphone and the iPhone for the love of geolocation fanatics everywhere will not be happening this year, after all.

The GPS-enabled Garmin Nuviphone, which many industry observers expected to be one of the hottest multimedia phone releases of 2008, has been postponed until the first half of next year. A few people have already presumed that Garmin’s inability to set a specific Q1-2009 date guarantees that we won’t see it until after March. That would give it a launch about six months later than its original announcement promised.

In a statement released prior to its quarterly meeting later this day, Garmin said the decision to postpone the release was made in light of “carrier specific requirements [that] will take longer than anticipated.” At the moment, there is nothing specific about what those requirements entailed. Rumors recommend that AT&T and T-Mobile are in the running to carry the phone.

GPS enthusiasts are excited about the Nuviphone because of its maker: Garmin is the market leader in the GPS industry. However, its delay might be expensive, as new GPS-enabled phones from LG and HTC might have similar features. Also, Apple’s new iPhone 3G includes a GPS unit.

According to Bloomberg, Garmin expected the phone to ‘account for as much as 10 percent of its fourth-quarter sales,’ which led to their cut of sales forecast for the full year. As a result of the news, Garmin stock took an immediate dive in the Nasdaq trading floor earlier this morning, its biggest drop in eight years.

The key thing now is for Garmin to hit that new date before its becomes a nominee for next year’s Wired Vaporware Awards. And no one wants to hang out with Duke Nukem Forever on that dastardly list.

See also:

• Garmin Nuviphone Previewed at Singapore Tech Expo
• Man Tracked With GPS Cellphone for Five Months: Loses Job

Via [wired.com]

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What’s superior than stealing highly guarded secrets through your special digital camera glasses? How about stealing said secrets to AC/DC’s Night Prowler? An otherwise gaudy but inconspicuous set of Oakley Thump knockoffs, these Spy Camera+MP3 Sunglasses capture shots through a wireless shutter control—1.3MP photos saved in 2GB of storage—and they play your favorite MP3s for up to 6 hours through the rechargeable lithium ion battery. If only these were around when we were ten, oh the parliament buildings we could have pretended to infiltrate. $165. [brando]

Via [gizmodo]

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Hands On With the Microsoft Surface Sphere Prototype [Surface Sphere]

Microsoft’s Surface Sphere operates a lot like the original Surface, utilizing a projector surrounded by a ring of IR cameras, which is then covered by a semi-opaque globe. The IR cameras detect when the beams are being blocked, and transmits it as contact. Using it, I found there are still a few early glitches, but this is an astonishing piece of technology and far along for a prototype.

Admittedly, this is a very early, and very rough demo, but the use of IR technology means that navigating the Sphere isn’t quite as smooth or intuitive as a multi-touch display. Similar to the HP Touchsmart, I noticed that contact with the sphere had to be deliberate to get an accurate response. And one notable hurdle the Surface Sphere will have to overcome is light sensitivity. Flash photography affected the input mechanism, tricking the computer into thinking a giant hand was touching it.

Similar to the original Surface, pics and video tiles can be shuffled around the Sphere. The coolest demo was by far the Pong-style game, where blockades could be put on the globe spontaneously using your hand or a Post-it note. There was also a neat demo where you could flick the sphere like a globe to make it simulate rotation, then drag your fingers across to create a paint trail. This has the potential to be pretty awesome.

The large question is why a sphere when so many of us are looking for a more practical application for a surface table, not a less practical one? Walking around to use a UI could be complicated and annoying for the average PC user. Researchers said the sphere was the most challenging surface possible, and if they could get Surface-style multi-touch working on that, they could get it working on anything. Maybe they could use it to model Trident data on a touch globe. They also said that academics could make good use of it, and I concur that I have the ability to see this being useful for classroom collaboration. The obvious uses are in public and retail spaces, for advertising and marketing. And a fun implementation is that it could be used for multiplayer gaming, because you can’t see the whole sphere at once.

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When the iPhone was first revealed, a long year and a half ago, Steve Jobs proclaimed that it was “The best iPod we’ve ever made”. That was probably true. But with the new iPhone Remote application, this may no longer…

When the iPhone was first revealed, a long year and a half ago, Steve Jobs proclaimed that it was “The ideal iPod we’ve ever made”. That was probably true. But with the new iPhone Remote application, this might no longer be the case. Tom, from The Small Wave, took a look at the native iPod interface and the new Remote interface, and the Remote app wins.

The shot above shows the different approaches to playlists (iPod on the right). The small amount of extra information makes a large difference here. You can tell which are normal playlists and which are smart, and you get a nice number telling you how many songs are in them. Here’s the song listing comparison:

This is even better. Now you can see which of your 70 versions of Stairway to Heaven you’re about to play (I recommend the Dolly Parton). Finally, Tom points out that there’s a search feature. Allowed, dealing with a 16GB iPhone music library is a lot easier than dealing with your 100GB iTunes library, but search seems such an obvious addition now that we’ve seen it, we’d like for it to find its way into the native iPod interface.

That’s not to say that it ever will. ITunes still notably lacks the iPod’s ability to flip over an album cover in Cover Flow mode to see a song listing. That should have been ported over a year ago. We’d be surprised if at least some of these tweaks don’t make their way across at some point, though.

Dear Apple: Please Make the iPhone’s Native Interface Like the Remote App [The Small Wave via Daring Fireball]

Via [wired.com]

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Netflix Streaming Will Always Be Subscription-Based, Never Pay-Per-View [NetFlix]

Subscribers hoping that Netflix would get into the pay-per-view space will be slightly disappointed, as its CEO reiterates that they’ll always be in the subscription business. Reed Hastings says, “We don’t plan to enter the pay-per-view segment, where Apple, Amazon, Sony and others focus, or the ad-supported segment, where Hulu, YouTube and others compete,” which is probably a smart idea, seeing as all those companies are already crowding each other for the limited amount of room. Best to stay put where you’re in good shape. [Hollywood Reporter]

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Hands-On With Ortlieb’s Bike Panniers
The word pannier comes from the French for bread basket, panier, itself from pain (bread). Further back, we’d the Latin pānārium. Now we use it almost exclusively to refer to the useful bags slung beside the wheels of our…

The word pannier comes from the French for bread basket, panier, itself from pain (bread). Further back, we had the Latin pānārium. Now we use it nearly exclusively to refer to the useful bags slung beside the wheels of our bikes. They keep the weight, and therefore the centre of gravity, low, so the bike remains stable even under load.

Yesterday, in preparation for an upcoming trip, I bought a set of Ortlieb Back Roller Plus panniers. At €110 ($170), they weren’t cheap, but they come with a five year guarantee and I know owners who have had them for what seems like forever. So, it’s a set of bags that hang of the back of the bike. What’s so special about these? Features, of course. Read on to find out just what neat tiny tricks are hidden inside.

The German made Ortliebs are fashioned from Cordura fabric. As you can see in the picture, I’ve an older model which has a rubberized fabric instead (which to my eyes looks way better). The bags have a roll down top instead of a zipper and once rolled down (with the aid of a stiff plastic strip inside on lip), they can be clipped shut. In this say they are waterproof, and will even float. If you actually submerge them, water will get in, but that’s pretty unlikely. In the picture you can see the rolled and unrolled states. Hanging from the front is the detachable shoulder strap, which makes these good for grocery shopping, too.

Round the back are the fittings. At the top are the hooks which grip the rear carrier, and below is a little plastic widget that grabs the carrier’s down-bar to halt it flapping around. These are adjustable, as we shall see in a moment. First, close-ups:

The lower part is adjustable by hand. It simply unscrews and you slide it into place. The actual lever-arm clicks into position each 15 degrees. With this, you can make it fit pretty much any rack. The top hooks need a tool, even though the newer models don’t. I’ve an older one…

… seen here being adjusted with my trusty new Topeak Hexus. Once they’re in place, you can see how the bag fits onto the bike:

The best, and most gimmicky part of the Roller Pluses is the locking mechanism. The sequence above shows how it works: The hook surrounds the bar so it can’t jump off. By pulling on the carrying strap, the jaws open (and they are jaws. Look at it. It has the face of a bird). This is great when pulling it off, but if the bag is empty, you’ll need two hands to actually put the bag on the bike. The weight of an empty bag (1.85 lbs each) isn’t enough to pull the jaws open.

The last detail on the outside is this hook, near the bottom of the bag. When riding, it provides a place to hook the shoulder strap to stop it ending up in the spokes. What it’s really for, though, is to attach another optional bag on top.

Here’s the inside shot. All models of the Back Roller bags since 2007 have an internal pocket. In fact, it’s a double pocket, one mesh and one soft fabric. These will stop your keys ending up at the bottom of the bag.

The bags only come in pairs, which partly explains the highish price. But then, I’m not expecting to ever buy panniers again. In use, they slip on and off easily, but when in place, stay locked pretty solid. The roll top takes a tiny getting used to: it’s certainly not as swift as a zipper. It does mean, though, that the bag can be resized to fit any load, minimizing movement inside. I also like the shoulder straps, even though both the strap and the shoulder grip are a tiny thin for more than short trips (or light loads).

As ever, the proof will be in the use. The upcoming trip will take care of that, but first, a visit to the liquor store. If these things can take a full load of beer (10.5 gallons), then I’ll be happy.

Product page [Ortlieb]

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Contest Reminder: Win an iPhone [Contest]

Today’s almost the last day to enter our Made in Eureka contest. Lock up the children and send the spouse over to their parents’, because tonight is your night to design your own entry. See our contest page for details.

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