December, 2010 | HD TV PROFESSOR

Month: December 2010

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

It's a time to look back and look ahead. It's been a busy year in the HDTV and home entertainment world, and next year promises to be even busier! I want to take a quiet moment to thank you for your support of HDTV Almanac. I'm glad to know that so many of you find the content here to be useful and informative. And it's great that so many of...

NeTVs to Dominate by 2014

December 30, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

According to a report in the Media Daily News, a research study by Futurescape predicts that 54% of all flat panel televisions shipped worldwide in 2014 will have network connectivity so that they can access content from the Internet. The study also forecasts that by five years from now, 40% of all U.S. homes will have at least one television set connected to the Internet. These numbers are not surprising...

DirecTV Raises Rates

December 29, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

The number one complaint about cable companies appears to be the increased subscription fees with no change in the service. The DirecTV satellite service is following in a similar trajectory. The company just announced a 4% rate increase, effective February 10. This is similar to a rate increase that they announced a year ago. According to the company, the increase is needed to pay for higher channel carriage fees from...

HDTV Bargains Still Out There

December 28, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Did you miss the Black Friday specials? Feeling a little regret that you didn't grab one of those door-buster deals? Don't be glum; as predicted, there are plenty of deals available this week as retailers make a last-minute effort to get inventory out of their warehouses and off their books before the start of the new year. I'm not saying that any of these following examples are necessarily the best...

Rovi to Acquire Sonic Solutions

December 27, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

The story broke last week that Rovi will acquire Sonic Solutions for more than $700 million. And you are probably saying, "Who cares?" It helps to know who these two companies are. Rovi used to be called Macrovision, and they are responsible for the copy protection schemes that prevent you from copying (or at least make it more difficult to copy) published DVDs. They also provide on-screen program guides. Their...

Hulu Holds Off on IPO

December 24, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Hulu has changed the way that many Americans watch television programming these days. It is currently owned by News Corp, Walt Disney, NBC Universal, and Providence Equity Partners, but the company had been looking to going public with an IPO to gain its independence. Those plans are now on hold, even though the company is on track to earn $260 million for 2010. The problem apparently is that Hulu has...

FCC Pleases Few with Net Neutrality

December 23, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Here's the problem in a nutshell. People are watching more video over the Internet than ever before; by some accounts, Netflix streaming alone accounts for 20% of all Internet traffic in the U.S. at peak times. Streaming video can place a strain on the available bandwidth for some service providers, such as cable companies. The streaming video companies do pay for access to the Internet for their data, but in...

No New Google TV at CES

December 22, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

How can life possibly be hard for a company with a net worth of more than $5 billion? Well, Google apparently has stubbed its toe and is struggling to make the best of it. The problem is with Google TV, which was to be the company's universal solution to all things video. It is intended to provide a single, simple access point for all programming, whether it is broadcast over...

FLO TV Spectrum Sold

December 21, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Qualcomm will sell its nationwide licenses for the 700 MHz broadcast spectrum as it pulls the plug on its FLO TV mobile television service. AT&T will pay nearly $2 billion for the rights to these radio waves. Along with this announcement came the news that Qualcomm will shut down the mobile television services that it has been providing to AT&T and Verizon for their privately-branded services. AT&T will reportedly use...

Please Support HDTV Almanac

December 20, 2010 | Author: Muneeb Mannan

Last year, HDTV Almanac was honored with a "Golden Retrevo Award" for 2010 for its coverage of HDTV and home entertainment technology topics. As 2010 draws to a close, Retrevo is getting ready to choose the winners for 2011. And once again, HDTV Almanac has been nominated for the award. This year, they are asking readers to vote for their favorite candidates. If you think that HDTV Almanac has been...