BRIAN'S $15 BILLION BET

First, let's review the terms of the bet:

* Comcast is wagering about $15 billion (approximately half in cash and half in equity shares in its cable networks) in exchange for half of the New NBC Universal.

* If Comcast gets more than $15 billion back from the New NBC Universal in a reasonable timeframe, the bet will have paid off.

Comcast gets to keep half of the cash flow of the new NBC Universal each year, less interest costs. In 2009, a crappy year, New NBC Universal will generate about $3 billion of cash flow. Subtract, say, $1 billion of interest payments (on $9 billion of debt), and you're left with net cash flow of about $2 billion a year. Comcast's share of that, therefore, will be about $1 billion a year.

Some scenarios:

* Let's assume the New NBC continues to grow. Comcast will get its money back in 10 years. Any more cash or remaining value in NBC from then on will be upside.

* Let's assume that the new NBC Universal never grows again. Comcast will get its money back in 15 years.

* Let's assume that the New NBC Universal starts shrinking but doesn't completely fall apart. Comcast will get its money back in 20 years.

* Let's assume that the New NBC Universal completely collapses. Brian Roberts will be proven to have been an idiot.

So that's the bet.

Now, what is Brian Roberts really thinking?

He's thinking: I've got cash coming out of my ears, I know the world is changing, and I've decided to buy myself a hedge.

A hedge against what?

A hedge against two things:

* Further extortionist increases in cable content carriage fees
* The gradual conversion of cable into dumb pipes that just deliver Internet access and IP-video

THE HEDGE AGAINST CABLE PROGRAMMING FEE INCREASES

Specifically, Brian Roberts is thinking that he's sick to death of that bastard Bob Iger at Disney holding him up for higher carriage fees on ESPN, et al, every few years. And, before he bought NBC, Brian was sick to death of that bastard Jeff Zucker holding him up for higher fees on CNBC, et al. Etc.

Now, in the future, if anyone does any holding up, Brian Roberts is:

1) going to cash in, too (because now he owns a lot of cable programming), and

2) going to have more leverage in telling Bob Iger, et al, to take a hike. Until now, if Brian Roberts wanted to tell Bob Iger to take his ESPN and stuff it, he would risk losing a significant percentage of cable subs who are sports addicts. Now, Brian Roberts will be able to say to Bob Iger, "Actually, we've decided to make ESPN a premium channel, because most of our subs are happy with the many offerings of NBC Sports, including our new NBC Sports ESPN-killer. So if you want to jack up your fees, that's fine, we'll ask our subs to pay you for ESPN directly." At which time, Bob Iger, no fool, might say, "I think we'll stick with our current fees."

Either way, Brian Roberts is okay.

Those two hedges, by the way, may well help either the New NBC or the Old Comcast drive more dollars to the bottom line. If this happens, Brian Roberts will get his money back even faster.

THE HEDGE AGAINST CABLE BECOMING A DUMB PIPE AND PROGRAMMING GOING A LA CARTE

Eventually, the current cable TV business is toast. There is NO WAY today's teenagers are going to be shelling out $150 a month to get 500 channels they don't watch when what they do watch is available for free over the Internet. Eventually, therefore, this whole "carriage fee" game is done—or at least radically changed.

But it's going to take a while. At least 10 years.

And all those future adults who are going to be watching TV for free over the Internet in 10 years are still going to need Internet access (or else how are they going to watch?). And Comcast is in a great position to keep providing it.

So, regardless of what happens, Comcast won't go to zero. But if programming goes a la carte, providers like Comcast won't get to mark up channels by buying them at wholesale prices, bundling them together, and selling them at retail anymore. Instead, they'll have to settle for getting, say, $50 a month for providing your Internet access and phone and just letting all the video providers sell to you directly.

Now, providing a fat dumb pipe is not a bad business. And Internet access might be so important at that point that Comcast might be able to jack up prices to, say, $75, with no programming fees (which would be less than you pay for your internet access and phone now).

But it might be a worse business than the one cable has today. In which case, Brian will have hedged his bets by taking a big chunk of cash and buying something else with it.

OF COURSE, THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A GUARANTEE

How can Brian Roberts lose?

A couple of ways.

First, he can blow the execution, like AOL Time Warner did. But this is a business that Brian already knows, and it won't involve smashing two completely different cultures that hate each other together. So the execution risk is less.

Second, cable can become a dumb pipe AND the TV programming business can blow up like the newspaper business—causing Brian Roberts to lose on both sides.

If that happens, Brian Roberts would have been better off selling the whole thing and buying a fertilizer company.

But Brian Roberts is a media mogul. And there isn't a media mogul on earth who would give up being a media mogul to run a fertilizer company.

As it turns out, Xfinity is just a rebranding of TV Everywhere—a free service that allows you to play your tv content on up to three authenticated internet devices. We already knew that would be rolling out in December, but Zats has specified an exact date of December 12th.

As for remote DVR scheduling, details are a little hazier. Comcast has "promised" that the feature is on the horizon, but no specific dates have been announced. [Zats]

In claiming the Hulu is safe from potential fees, Burke is speaking of behalf of the Comcast's recently absorbed NBC Universal, which has a 27% stake in the Hulu venture—the same as News Corp and ABC. In other words, while Comcast execs are now privy to whatever discussions are going inside Hulu, they can't really guarantee anything without cooperation from the site's other partners. Including the one that's loudly demanding that Hulu develop some kind of pay service, soon.

In other words, Burke's answer assures one thing: that nobody, especially Hulu, knows exactly how the site will change over the next year. [Silicon Alley Insider]

This is hardly a surprise. After yesterday's news that GE would buy its NBC stake from Vivendi for $5.8 billion, the closing of the deal was basically a formality.

Now comes the next phase of hard work. The deal is expected to take a year to fully close, as the government scrutinizes it.

Google's game here is obvious: by analyzing this anonymized sea of TiVo viewer data, they can help customers target their ads more accurately. Ad buyers also win, because they have a better sense of exactly how many people are actually seeing their ads. Guess who doesn't like this plan!:

Now, with TiVo's data, collected from millions of digital video recorders across the country, Google can tell exactly which of those commercials are being bypassed. If all the commercials are being skipped, the channel gets no money. It's easy to see why TV executives get heartburn over this.

Between my cable box's DVR function and my computer, I rarely watch live TV. And when I do, I usually end up flipping around during commercials. I know I'm not alone, and I know this is causing problems for networks, who are pushing more and more of their advertising into show, instead of between them.

Google, which already licenses similar data from Dish Network, is giving us a preview of how this kind of thing will work for everyone in the future—soon, data detailing what people are and aren't watching will be too present, too obvious to ignore, and networks will have to acknowledge that hey, nobody is watching ads anymore. In the long term this will make advertising more effective and efficient, but it could also kneecap TV ad sales as a whole. Or not! Says Google:

Our system makes it easy for people to buy TV ads. We're lowering the barriers to entry, which has the effect of growing the market.

Somehow I imagine "lowering the barriers for entry" isn't on the top of NBC's to-do list right now. Google will kill all. [LAT]

They have also significantly upped the price to $18,700—and that's just for the TV, stand and center speaker. Of course, just because you can afford a TV like this doesn't mean you should. Consider the following blurb from the press release:

BeoVision 7-55 integrates the sophisticated Bang & Olufsen BeoSystem 3 video engine, which delivers superior signal processing due to the VisionClear package of picture improvement technologies. In addition, Bang & Olufsen has included double frame rate technology, also known as 120 Hz, with motion compensation and progressive scanning backlight. These technologies significantly reduce the inherent blur typical of LCD screens. With BeoVision 7-55 the picture is clear and sharp even during fast-moving scene

Just the other day we were considering the issue of motion blur in LCDs and how the problem has been all but eliminated in most mid to high end sets. Who knows how much they tacked on to the price tag by exaggerating the importance of technology that probably doesn't do any better than an LCD you bought for a fraction of the price. I mean it's a good looking piece of equipment, but it's not worth all that money just because it looks cool and it was made in Denmark. [Bang & Olufsen via PR Newswire]

In other words, bumping up the refresh rates beyond 60 Hz may have eliminated the problem of motion blur, but some complain that the activation of the ME/MC circuit that kicks in when LCD sets achieve these high refresh rates desegregates the picture. As the video put together by HDGuru illustrates, this is a very real problem.

That having been said, LCD buyers have a few options. Most sets offer an option to turn off ME/MC, although that will result in lower motion resolution. You could also opt for a plasma set that doesn't suffer from this issue. It also reinforces a point I made with yesterday's article—you don't need to spend extra money on a LCD just because it advertises 240Hz. You probably won't see any additional benefit with that set than you would with one that tops out at 120 Hz. Check out HDGuru for the full details and results of the test. [HDGuru]

But don't hold your breath on it happening yet: Peter Kafka has "yet to hear of a single programmer that has made a firm commitment." As he points out, while networks are constantly looking for new revenue, like those asshole aliens in Independence Day moving from world to world consuming every natural resource, they're nervous about the idea for a lot of reasons.

A lot of it has to do with the icky, sticky relationships between networks and cable operators, where everybody's worried about losing out as people start to watch more and more TV content online, not in their living room—where streaming video eats up bandwidth, and advertising revenues aren't nearly as rich (which is why Hulu wants to figure out new ways to get you to pay).

While these little complications might slow the process down, the exodus is inevitable. There's no stopping this. The internet is the new cable: Netflix, Hulu, BitTorrent. Apple might not get to launch it in a few months, but it will happen. Just give it time. The actually crazy part, if you ask me, is that the Apple TV might even live up to its name. [Hulu]

• CBS Audience Network: Featuring a variety of shows from CBS Primetime, Daytime, Extras, and TV Classics, including full-length episodes of current TV shows, CBS Classics TV shows, short clips, and Web originals.
• Full Zune Video Podcast Library: Thousands of hours of entertainment with full TV episodes, webisodes, clips, and videos from providers including ABC News, CBS News, CNBC, CNET TV, Comedy Central, Current TV, The Discovery Channel, Fox, G4 TV, HBO, MSNBC, NBC, Showtime, and Revision 3, along with some of the best user-generated videos on the Web. Some video podcasts are also available in HD.
• MSN and msnbc.com: Clips as well as full length episodes from TV shows such as Arrested Development, news and weather from MSNBC, editor picks and most popular videos, five day weather forecasts, news, video playlists, music videos, movie trailers and more.

If you haven't already noticed the upgrades in your Windows 7 Media Center menu, you can manually update by going into Tasks >>Settings >> General >> Automatic Download Options.

The idea is simple, but the politics aren't. All white spaces networks do is stick data into the unused frequencies that neighbor television signals, but broadcasters are afraid that TV signals aren't robust enough to handle data being packed in so tightly. This trial will be the first real-world test of that belief.

Hopefully all will go well and the tech will be able to provide rural communities with the broadband they've been hurting for. [Ars Technica]

Image via FutureAtlas

The thing I like most about the BeoVision 10 is not the 40-inch LCD panel or the big integrated speaker system or the brushed aluminum frame. The thing I like most about the BeoVision 10 is that it can be hung on the wall, and then it can automagically rotate on one of its sides to fit your angle of vision. So I would be able to see it in the living room and in bed. This is how it works:

Yes, naff, but cool anyway. [epn.dk via Engadget]

"Filming the bouncing toad was very challenging; the remote mountain plateau is one mile high and 26 square miles in area, whilst the toad is one inch long and very elusive. The tarantulas which prey on them are also very hard to find. To give the crew the best chance of finding and filming them, the expert on these creatures came on the shoot. He searched for a week before the crew's arrival to find both species and a location where they could come together and where the toad would demonstrate its bouncing-ball method of escape. This allowed the cameraman to set up his slow-motion camera in the right place. The scientist was able to ensure that the toad was never in danger of being harmed by the tarantula as a result of us filming them. The technique was a total success - the toad tucked its legs in, rolled and bounced, allowing the crew to film its method of escape in slow-motion detail."

"A Jesus Christ lizard running on water is so fast that a human would have to run at 65 miles per hour to achieve the same trick. The speed makes it an enormous challenge to film. After consulting with a scientist at Harvard University who has made a ground-breaking study of the lizard's water sprint, the crew decided that as well as filming the behaviour at normal frame rates they would attempt to capture the close up details of the lizard's run with a slow-motion camera filming at 2000 frames per second (i.e. slowed down by 80 times).

It's very hard to predict exactly where and when a lizard will run, what's more it's all so quick that once the lizard is spotted it's gone in a blur! Learning from the scientist's observation methods was essential and as a result it was decided to film the details of the sprint would need some degree of control to ensure that the crew had some idea of where and when the lizard would run. They travelled to Belize, home of the lizard, to work with local animal experts who had some lizards in natural forest enclosures. If, and when, these lizards decided to run, they always ran along the same stretch of water, where the cameraman could station his camera.

The key to success was using the latest digital slow-motion camera that continuously records into a memory buffer, so that when the cameraman hits the trigger button he downloads the action that took place a second or so before that moment. Whenever a lizard sprinted past the cameraman over the water the cameraman hit the trigger, desperately trying to keep the lizard in the frame and in focus. The final end result of this was stunning, slow motion shots of the lizards, with every drop of water visible as they sprinted through the surface."

OK, we don't actually have any notes on how this was shot. But the macro shot of water beading up on the gecko's hydrophobic skin is gorgeous.

The above clips are from Episode 2: Reptiles and Amphibians. The series is playing now on BBC One.

Again, Microsoft's sponsorship of the show means that it will air commercial-free. Let's hope the final version makes sitting through 30 minutes of this actually tolearable. [win741 via Ars Technica]

The show, which will have some live-action performances of the unbearable musical numbers featured in MacFarlane's animated sitcoms, will supposedly "feature unique Windows 7-branded programming that blends seamlessly with show content." In case you don't remember, or are lucky enough to have repressed this memory, MacFarlane actually teamed up with a giant corporate sponsor once before, and it led to humor abortions like this:

Anyway, it's not totally clear how Windows 7 will be integrated into the special (tentatively named "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show"), but based on the Burger King disaster, it might not be much more than a halfhearted mention here and there and a few "this isn't a commercial" commercials in between sketches. The special will air November 8th at 8:30 PM (PST and EST), and I give that time specifically so you know to avoid all television that day. [Microsoft]

Hellboy, Buffy and a bunch of other Dark Horse IPs are now available in GelaSkin form (heck, there's even some Bettie Page thrown in there for good measure). iPhone skins go for $15 while 13 and 15-inch Macbook/general laptop skins cost $30.

You've likely seen the iconic art before, but that's alright. I could stare at Sarah Michelle Gellar's estranged cousin for days.
[Dark Horse via Lost at E Minor]

According to TechCrunch, UK company INQ is developing the full-out Spotify phone for telecommunications provider Telia. And with recent news that Spotify service is expanding to television (in Sweden), the handset would be a notable multimedia force—even if the iPhone app makes an easier upsell.

So theoretically, if Spotify made its way to the US, and if the Spotify phone made its way to the US, we'd all have Spotify phones. Yes, all. Every single citizen of the United States of America. [TechCrunch and TechCrunch UK and image]

The king of rat genociders was Mokhairul Islam who killed 83,450 over nine months on his farm. Impressive, when you consider second place took out fewer than half of that, only 37,450 of the bastards. For his efforts, Mokhairul received a measly 14-inch color TV. Which is apparently all the thanks he needed, since he's sworn to keep killing them. But seriously, the guy deserves at least a Vizio plasma or something.

Oh I forgot the really gross part—to prove that he'd really murdered that many rodents to collect his TV, he kept the rats' tails. That means he had a room somewhere filled with 80,000 rotting rats' tails. Ewwwwwwww. [Telegraph]

In fact, while the 10 biggest cable operators have deployed 16.7 settop boxes with integrated CableCards to date, they've only issued 443,000 standalone CableCards. And during the last two years, full CableCard devices have been installed 38x more often than CableCards alone.

(I'm also betting that the percentage of population that orders more than one CableCard for dual/quad tuning is greater than the percentage of population who orders more than one cable box, which means the CableCard-exclusive population may be even smaller than it seems...but I could be wrong.)

It's tough to tell why CableCards haven't been more popular. Then again, limited VoD options and a lack of consumer education might both have something to do with it. [Multichannel News via EngadgetHD]

What makes CNN Mobile interesting is its video content, which is split between on-demand clips from the network, and an intermittent live feed from CNN.com, which kicks on during major news events:

[CNN] has packed the app with recorded video "news" clips — for example, "Take a Look at This!" featuring a "crazy burger like no other!" — and will sometimes offer a live stream of its separate CNN.com news feed. (We're tuned in right now. The picture quality is fine; the programming isn't as sharp as the TV network.)

The complaint is that the occasional live news feed is from CNN the website, not CNN the network, meaning that you're getting second-tier content. I don't really take issue with this as much as Frommer does, since the live stream, as I understand it, is meant to air breaking new or scheduled event content that'll look the same no matter how it's packaged like speeches, disaster footage, anticipated milestones, etc. But the larger point? Why can't we use the app to tune in to CNN whenever we want?:

Cable giants like Comcast and Time Warner Cable pay big bucks to distribute channels like CNN in your area — perhaps $7 or $8 per subscriber, per year — and have no interest watching their monopoly evaporate thanks to the Web, the iPhone App Store, or any other distribution vehicle they don't control. And because CNN gets a huge portion of its revenue from these cable subscriber fees, it has an economic incentive to preserve the status quo, even if it means offering its iPhone app users an inferior product.

So, our TV apps will be crippled senseless until the cable industry, as we know it today, ceases to exist. Good evening! [Silicon Alley Insider]

In the October 7 premiere episode, Adam and Jamie test the classic physics textbook theory "bullet dropped versus bullet fired." In a scientifically complex experiment so difficult no one has ever tried it before, they ask: If one bullet is fired and the other is dropped simultaneously from the same height, which will hit the ground first? Or will they hit at the same time, owing to gravity? Meanwhile, Kari, Grant and Tory test an old saying: can you really knock someone out of their socks? In true MYTHBUSTERS fashion, their tests involve a crash test dummy, a boxing ring, a nitrogen cannon, a battering ram and, of course, explosives.

Additional premiere episodes this fall tackle myths, legends and sayings both well-known and obscure, including:

* Does a muddy car get better mileage than its clean cousin?

* Does duct tape really have the strength and sticking power to lift a 5,000-lb. car into the air? Can you build a sailboat made entirely from the stuff? Or a working cannon?

* Will mixing your drinks really make your hangover worse than if you stick to one type of alcohol?

* If a car drives over a cliff, would it really explode in a fireball upon hitting the ground below, as in nearly every action movie with a car chase scene?

* The team also tackles fan favorites from previous seasons, including testing whether a hot water heater can explode through your roof (this time, from the basement), and whether you can shoot a gun around corners. Also, the team finds a new, bigger way to test the famous snowplow split.

[Warning: Video clip is US-only. Sorry, foreigners.] In the first episode of the show's sixth season, which aired last Wednesday, Mistry was assigned to open 15 clams in the Quickfire relay race—sounds easy enough, except Mistry had never opened a clam before. Her leg of the relay race, the first of four, was as far as her team would get, as the winning team blasted through all four legs before Mistry could finish her clams.

She did fine in that day's Elimination Challenge, but lacking a basic skill like opening clams is a good indication that the Great Nerd Hope of this season won't be making it too far. Still, her Twitter feed shows that at least she's got a sense of humor about the situation. [Gawker]

Once balanced at a 70-degree angle upon reclaimed oak, your LCD will gleam with a new stature. Just as glasses can make a dumb person an instant intellectual, so too can the TV easel turn reality TV into episodic documentaries—a chronicle of human struggle to find a plus-sized soulmate while overcoming the occasional bungee jumping into water to grab things challenge.

This is Cannes-level shit we're talking about.

I know it's expensive, but there's no other way. We can't turn the feed off. It'd be like yanking out one of those metal rods that connects your skull to the Matrix. Our bodies would go limp on the couch, unable to lift themselves from the...wait, maybe life wouldn't be so different after all. [Restoration Hardware via Uncrate]

But first, the extender: The Moxi Mate is a small $399 ($199 for now, if purchased in a bundle or by an existing Moxi HD customer) satellite box that plays back recordings from your Moxi HD from afar, over your home network. It's not all that feature-rich—no wi-fi built in, no scheduling of recordings, no support for more than one Moxi Mate at a time—but if your goal is to stream your Moxi library around the house, at least you now have a way to do it.

About that library. Although the hardware on the main box hasn't changed, Moxi's software update, which should push out tonight, gives your box the gumption it needs to take onboard much larger drives via the e-SATA port, as well as a new optional browsing interface called Grid Guide, which gives users a more familiar, cable-guide-like experience than Moxi's novel—but good—regular UI. Another, smaller update is Switched Digital Video support by way of an adapter, if your cable company's into that kind of thing.

At any rate, the core offering may have grown an extender, but it hasn't really changed. The whole system has the same strengths—a strong interface, good performance, and clear superiority over cableco boxes—as well as the same weaknesses—dependency on PlayOn for online streaming, the learning curve— so unless Moxi Mate tips the scales for you, or you've got $1000+ to drop on storage to build an absurdly large video bank, your current impressions probably still stand. [Moxi]

Phonevision wasn't exactly a home theater PC or a Roku box, and actually had more in common with something like Pay Per View: It had three scheduled showings each evening, and you called and ordered one of the few options offered at a cost of one dollar per film. The set-top box would unscramble the picture and allow the movie to be watched on your TV. It was also limited to about 300 test subjects in the Chicago area, but they apparently loved it and Zenith was very excited about the prospects of moving "the theater into the living room." But what, you might ask, were the choices on this very early service?

The 300 Phonevision subscribers had an initial choice of April Showers, a 1948 musical starring Jack Carson; Welcome Stranger, a 1947 Bing Crosby comedy, and 1948's Homecoming, with Clark Gable and Lana Turner.

Interestingly, while the industry called Phonevision a "massive flop," Zenith president Eugene F. Macdonald loved it and considered it a rousing success, though it never penetrated very many markets and was officially cancelled in 1969. [Time, image from Early Television]

It's like the time Vince McMahon tried to pawn off a fake Razor Ramon and Diesel on us. Or the time the Fresh Prince's Aunt Viv inexplicably became four shades lighter over the course of a season (Vitiligo?). Or maybe more relevant, the time Cartoon Network aired all those new episodes of Dragonball Z, and Goku sounded like he was severely constipated.

The point is this: if you're bringing the show back for the rabid, already-established fanbase who knows the show best, how are you going to recast all the main voices and think the fans won't care or notice? It wont work. [CrunchGear]

The semi-apology came in the form of an email, in which a Hulu rep told users that the move was a compromise:

Everything we do is with an eye toward achieving our long-term goal of maximizing the content you can access as conveniently as possible in a way that 'works' for the content owner. In the short-term that may require us to make some tough decisions...

Hulu won't go so far as to directly blame specific companies, but it sounds like one—or a few—of their many partners signaled that PS3 streaming was a threat to their relationship, somehow. But yeah, how?

Distribution availability across platforms — theaters vs. TV vs. recorded media like DVDs vs. online streaming vs. mobile phones — was always implicitly or explicitly controlled in that world... the windowing strategy is still dominant in the business. Billions of dollars flow in across these different windows, and entire companies are organized around them.

This is actually pretty clear cut. Content providers are uncomfortable with the concept of video streaming on the PS3, because the console is typically connected to a television. This content delivery gray area is enough to somehow screw with, or simply muddy, their licensing arrangements or somesuch, so they're exercising caution.

As frustrating as that is, it's also a bit reassuring; far from a sign of a concert rollback of digital streaming rights, this is just a minor hiccup during a long, still-advancing transition. As Señor Hulu said, upstarts like Hulu need to be sensitive to media companies' old-fashioned sensibilities in order to change them. Full letter is reprinted below. —Thanks, Kip!

Thanks for writing. In order to answer your question, some context might be
helpful.

For decades, the TV/movie industry has built its business model on a windowing
strategy. Content rights are granted for limited time periods across specific
distribution channels. For example, a movie starts in theaters, then moves to
pay-per-view and DVD, then to pay-cable channels, later to broadcast, and so on
down the line. Similarly, TV shows are available on TV first, then in repeats,
then to DVD and possibly syndication, etc.

Distribution availability across platforms — theaters vs. TV vs. recorded media
like DVDs vs. online streaming vs. mobile phones — was always implicitly or
explicitly controlled in that world. But a few factors have made the barriers
between those platforms more permeable: the rise of the web, increased broadband
availability, the ease of digitizing video, and the increase in the computing
power of devices like gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile phones.

However, in the near-term, the windowing strategy is still dominant in the
business. Billions of dollars flow in across these different windows, and entire
companies are organized around them. Nothing productive comes from flouting that
reality (except to law firms who work on the occasional lawsuit).

We do, however, expect these windows to converge over time. There's no
way around
that, and we're working hard with all of our partners to guide and
participate in
this important transition in the business. Everything we do is with an
eye toward
achieving our long-term goal of maximizing the content you can access as
conveniently as possible in a way that "works" for the content owner. In the
short-term that may require us to make some tough decisions, but we only do so
when we believe it improves our long-term prospects to build a more enduring,
legal solution to that same problem.

We hear your frustration, and solving it remains our full-time job.

In theory, a standby PS3 uses about $250 a year when in the off standby position. An Xbox 360 uses a little bit less than that. Both those consoles use a little bit of power to maintain the wireless receiver (and USB charger, if you're charging a controller) while the main power is off. If the Tricklesaver shuts this off when the TV is off, you theoretically won't be able to charge your controllers or turn on your console wirelessly.

The solution is to just turn on your TV before you activate your console. But there's not much you can do about that controller charging. It's also $35, which is kind of steep for something that only has space for one TV and one console. [PR Web via Go nintendo via Oh Gizmo]

Update: Reader Jonathan notes that the PS3 uses only 2 watts in standby, and if you're to calculate that out, that's only about $5 a year. Not quite $250.

You see, the television was turned to a German station that broadcasts a Yule Log-esque fireplace in the early morning hours, so a remote was the right tool for the job. Ahh senility...where everyday and everything is an adventure. [AP / Thanks getmstevedave!]

This is more than a simple survey. In the past, we've learned of major breaking news from sources that now seem incredibly reliable, like television, radio and newsprint. None of those media can be brought down by increased traffic. But while it's clear the Internet is taking over the flow of information, it's not clear that right now, it can handle such large news.

I myself heard about it from a friend, who had read it on the National Post's website, a major Canadian news network. But what did I do then? I hopped on my computer and Googled the shit out of it. Soon, when we ask "where were you when you learned of this event?", we may not be talking about geographical location, but URL.

So, readers, tell me: Was it Google? Twitter? Word of mouth? Suspicion based on the all-MJ set the DJ played at your favorite bar last night?

Television broadcast ads during The Simpsons cost $20-$40 per thousand viewers. On the web, the rate jumps to $60.

Shows like The Simpsons and CSI are now commanding higher ad rates on Hulu and TV.com than on television. It's a byproduct viewers being twice as likely to recall web ads than TV ads, according to Neilsen. (Which I would argue is a byproduct of Hulu showing us far fewer ads.)

But before we all declare TV dead, remember that Hulu has only 37 seconds of ads per "30-minute" show while a Fox broadcast includes a whopping 9 minutes of sales pitches. So there's still technically more money in TV, which will change as soon as Hulu begins cramming 9 minutes of ads into each program.

Lots more on the story here: [Bloomberg via PCWorld]

Intended to be a bit less intense than BSG's post-apocalyptic doom and gloom, Virtuality is about 12 astronauts on Man's first starship, the Phaeton. They're on a 10-year journey (feeling confident, aren't we Mr. Moore?) and will kill the time by plugging in to their own customized virtual reality worlds—a sort of holodeck meets the Matrix. That killing of time seems to be the focus of the show.

Our sister site io9 has been covering Virtuality quite a bit over the last year from inception to production, so they're a good resource if you'd like to read more about the pilot and potential new program. [io9]

* Wait, another promising sci-fi pilot is coming to Fox? Never mind, it's doomed.

It's been a long road, paved with delays, misunderstandings, and altercations with the rare Hawaiian dark-rumped petrel. We'd love to hear your experiences: Has anybody actually tried it out? Good experiences? Bad? Let us know in the comments. [DTV]

The Monster MCC AV50 Home Theater Controller, $50 next month, is a "tabletop universal remote control" that has a "Web-based setup." We have no real grasp of what these descriptions indicate, but assume the device to be bulky as hell (that's the "tabletop" part) and have a simple onscreen setup (that's the "web" part).

Maybe there's a market for such big, easy to use controllers, but why anyone would want to wield a QWERTY-like keyboard without the keyboard is beyond us—especially one this ugly. Indeed, it's hard to believe that this announcement was coupled with Monster's new, aesthetically pleasing HDMI cables. [Gearlog and PCMag via Crunchgear]

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Looks like Conan agrees with Nintendo that intentional or not, it's pretty great. [Kotaku]

As mentioned, the Lechner Distance chart illustrates that there are specific distances at which the human eye has the best chance of processing all of the detail that HDTV resolution has to offer. According to the data collected in the poll, many of you are probably sitting too far away, especially those of you who sprung for a 1080p set.

Poll results in the 1080i/1080p group for sets under 40-inches indicated that a whopping of 60% of respondents were sitting over six feet from the screen. This is definitely too far away to see all of the detail.

For sets between 40 and 52 inches, 43% of you are sitting over eight feet from the screen. Again, too far away to see it all.

For sets over 52-inches, 35% are sitting between 8 and 10 feet, while 30% are sitting over 10 feet away. To put it in perspective, a 60-inch 1080p set should be about 8 feet (or closer) from you to get the full experience. Even a huge 70-inch 1080p TV should technically only be nine or so feet from your head!

In case you haven't yet checked out the full chart at HDGuru, here are the optimal viewing distances—based on screen size—for some common-sized 1080p HDTVs:

1080i/p
• 28-inch set: 3.7 feet
• 32-inch set: 4.2 feet
• 37-inch set: 4.8 feet
• 40-inch set: 5.2 feet
• 42-inch set: 5.5 feet
• 46-inch set: 6 feet
• 50-inch set: 6.5 feet
• 52-inch set: 6.8 feet
• 60-inch set: 7.8 feet
• 63-inch set: 8.2 feet
• 70-inch set: 9.2 feet

Analysis
You will notice that we didn't go into detail about those of you who responded to the 720p portion of the test, and that's because, by and large, you are watching at about the right distance. 720p TVs can be set out farther than 1080p, yet because they're cheaper, they find their way into smaller living rooms. Because of the interplay of these two factors, 720p sets are all the more likely to be set up at an optimal viewing distance.

But 1080p, considered better, winds up in larger living rooms, but not always at larger sizes. The joke is, by keeping it as far off as we noted above, you are not much better off with that fancy 1080p set than you would have been, saving some cash and going with 720p.

A final observation is that 6 to 8 feet is far and away the most common distance across all TV sizes and resolutions for you folks—we don't know what it means except that there are other factors besides Lechner distance that play a larger part in the decision to place the TV, and that most of us—Giz editors included—are unaware that we are not getting the full bang for our HDTV buck.

The situation can be easily remedied by consulting the Lechner chart and whipping out a good old tape measure. In some situations this may not be possible given the dimensions of a room, so it is up to to decide what your priorities are—like should I move the TV to a smaller room, or go out and buy a bigger TV? [Original Survey]

Jason insists they're slaves. Regardless, there's a lot of fancy movement going on. The orange-clad gurus are all arranged in concentric circles, referencing the Pre's ripple effect whenever you touch the screen. All of this is capped off by plenty of Palm Pre glamour shots and the indentured servants moving around to form fancy patterns (not unlike Nintendo's 1989 ad for Super Mario 3).

To be fair, the visuals in the ad are actually pretty neat, even if a bit self-important. It's also hard for me to criticize anything that uses M83's "Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun" as the soundtrack. So Palm, I'll give you a B+ for your commercial. [Facebook]

The resolution you see is determined not just by the screen, but by its size and how far you sit from it, as detailed using the Lechner Distance chart. For example, if you sit 12 feet away from your 1080p TV, it would have to measure 92-inches in order for you to see all the detail.

Later, you can use it to set the optimum viewing distance between your couch and TV. But first, tell us how you have your gear set up now.

720p TVs

1080i/1080p TVs:

[Image via Flickr]

According to the poll I ran earlier this week, it seems that you guys are also poised to make a break from your cable service. It seems pretty clear that this sort of technology is what the future holds for television, but do cable providers have anything to worry about right now? Do you plan on ditching cable for online content like Hulu?