tv

It was first shown at January's Consumer Electronics Show--and then leaked on Buy.com just days ago--but the Sansa TakeTV is now official. It's not the first device designed to put PC-based digital videos on the TV, but what sets SanDisk's TakeTV apart is its simplicity: just drag and drop videos to the flash drive from your PC, and then plug it into the included video dock to watch them on your TV. The straightforward operation is a notable counterpoint to most other PC-to-TV digital video alternatives, which involve either cumbersome direct hook-ups (video and audio runs … Read more

MySpace.com is testing out the director's chair with a new Web-based series, Roommates, which debuts Monday at 1 p.m. PDT. Through December 21, a new three-minute episode of the show will be available each weekday on the MySpaceTV portal and through the Roommates profile page.

The series, co-created by MySpace and new-media production studio Iron Sink Productions, marks the first time that the News Corp.-owned social-networking site has been behind the development of a scripted Web show. Roommates is a show within a show, as four recent college graduates move to Los Angeles and enlist in … Read more

NEW YORK--Marshall Herskovitz, co-creator of the upcoming Web series Quarterlife, calls his decision to distribute the show on MySpace.com a "deal with the devil."

At a Thursday screening of the first six eight-minute episodes of the show as part of the CMJ Music Marathon and film festival, Herskovitz--best known as one half of the team that created the critically acclaimed TV series Thirtysomething and My So-Called Life--emphasized his aim to bring creativity to the world of professional online video.

"What I'm seeing on the Internet right now is really boring, and I think these big companies are missing it in a big way," he explained in a question-and-answer session following the screening. "All these new things, Hulu and even Joost, they're creating these platforms as though that's the goal. But they're not creating interesting programming. They're reusing content from television."

He continued: "There aren't any very good ideas coming out of it, and I haven't seen anything that really interests me."

Then, according to Herskovitz, there's the YouTube problem.

"People are quite fascinated by user-generated content on the Internet right now, and I'm not against that. And we want that on our site. But I believe that user-generated on the Internet, just like reality shows on television, are not completely satisfactory," he asserted. "There are reasons why we've had classical storytelling for 2,500 years, and across so many cultures. And there are reasons why we've had a film grammar for the past 100 years about how we shoot a film, and there's a place for that."

Which is why he and Zwick saw a window of opportunity for Quarterlife, a series about a half-dozen 20-somethings working in "creative" industries like acting, writing and filmmaking. Divided into eight-minute episodes, the Web series will be the center of a planned social network for fans as well as young creative people in general.

… Read more

AUSTIN, TEXAS--I'm sitting in the lobby of the Radisson hotel downtown with a bunch of the folks putting on Maker Faire.

One of them is Make magazine editor Phil Torrone, who, among other crazy ventures, was the co-genius behind Roomba Frogger, when he and fellow hacker Limor Fried modified a Roomba vacuum cleaner and wirelessly directed it to run back and forth across an Austin street like the iconic classic video game during South by Southwest 2006.

This morning, however, Torrone is tired, as it's only 8 a.m. But he's got a goal, and it's … Read more

It's nice to see that some things never change. In the old days, when many households had only one television set (horrors), it wasn't uncommon to keep it on a cart to be wheeled from room to room as needed. That need apparently still exists today, as evidenced by this cabinet from Amsterdam-based Two Eyes TV.

The updated version is much sleeker, of course, needing to accommodate a set that's only a few inches thick as opposed to the 30-inch-deep models of yesteryear. And the LCD or plasma screen lifts from the portable cabinet automatically when turned … Read more

Star Wars, one of geek realm's most hallowed stories, is giving birth to a TV series, according to published reports.

George Lucas, the Star Wars creator is looking for writers to help pen a live-action series about the lives of robots, according to a story published Wednesday in Los Angeles Times.

Does this mean C-3PO and R2-D2?

Lucas isn't saying yet but the producer/director told the Times that there won't be any Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker.

"The Skywalkers aren't in it, and it's about minor characters," Lucas said in an interview … Read more

If there's one thing you can be sure of about Jon "Neverdie" Jacobs, it's that he's always up to something crazy.

A couple of years ago, he became the first person to ever pay $100,000 for a virtual asset--a space station in Entropia Universe that he insists is profitable. More recently, he bought one of the valuable banking licenses in that virtual world, paying tens of thousands of dollars more for it.

Now, Jacobs' newest effort is a reality show that will focus on the finalists of the Massive Multiplayer Online World Championships. This, … Read more

See what we mean about personal weather stations? They're everywhere, we tell you. Not only that, but just one isn't enough for some inflicted with OCMD (obsessive-compulsive meteorological disorder).

To wit: The "TV Weather Station" doesn't just provide the usual temperatures and forecasts; it can track up to 11 weather conditions at the same time. You can even get microclimate information up to 200 feet away from any part of your property so you can decide whether it's a croquet or a Slip 'N Slide day.

Unlike the typical standalone devices, according to OhGizmo, … Read more

A story for your grandchildren: In ancient times, there were these things called armoires--once used for clothing, they evolved into big and bulky cabinets where people hid their big and bulky TVs. But now that plasma, LCD and even OLED sets (the ultimate anorexic model) have completed the television set's swan-like transition, it's understandable if their proud owners no longer want to keep their TVs under wraps.

For these unabashed exhibitionists there's a new Sharp home theater system, a self-contained credenza with built-in speakers, subwoofers and amplifier outfitted with Dolby technology throughout, according to Tech Digest. Sound … Read more