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Premiere

Putting TiVo Premiere in context

TiVo announced its fourth-generation DVR with much fanfare at a March 2 media event in Manhattan--at the top of Rockefeller Center, to be specific. Media invitations to the event included the teaser: "The DVR was just the beginning."

What TiVo delivered was...an incremental update of its existing product. If you look beyond the slick new enclosure, the biggest improvements were an improved interface (using, for the first time, Flash-enhanced HD graphics and the full range of the wide-screen real estate); an enhanced search system (it simultaneously searches TV listings and Web-based video sources); and the addition of Pandora's music service.

The backlash was swift: "It's a big pile of disappointment and missed opportunity," said Matt Burns at CrunchGear. "[G]iven TiVo's inaugural role and leadership in [the] space, not to mention the tens of millions spent annually on R&D, I have to say I'm somewhat underwhelmed," proclaimed tech blogger Dave Zatz.

"It may be too early to say TiVo's dead, but it's not [too] early to see it's bleeding from a self-inflicted foot shot," tweeted Gizmodo's Wilson Rothman (though the Gizmodo coverage was decidedly more upbeat). CNET's Molly Wood (see embedded video) says she'd like to buy one, but she cautions: "I don't know that this is going to save TiVo."

Is the TiVo Premiere really that bad? To be clear, we won't know for sure until we can conduct a hands-on review (the product ships in April). Even the live demos at the TiVo launch event weren't really enough to draw a conclusion: with a DVR, you need to live with it for a few weeks (minimum) to fully experience its ups and downs. Still, we can draw some early conclusions from which features TiVo chose to include--and which the company omitted.

Here's the primary grievance list against the new TiVo:… Read more

iPhone rosary app helps you count your blessings

My dad is never without his rosary beads. He wants to go to heaven, you see. He believes it's better than Birmingham, England. He refuses to listen when I tell him that everywhere is better than Birmingham, England.

When I was younger, he would use one of those long strings with groups of 10 Hail Marys separated by 1 Our Father and a crucifix at one end. He then graduated to a little metal ring that just had the 1 bead for an Our Father and 10 for Hail Marys and fitted around his finger.

This was worrisome, because … Read more

TiVo unveils Series4 'Premiere' DVRs with enhanced online integration

NEW YORK--TiVo on Tuesday officially announced two new DVRs that offer an updated user interface and enhanced integration and search capabilities for online video. The TiVo Premiere and TiVo Premiere XL models will cost $300 and $500, respectively, when they ship in April; like all previous TiVo models, they'll also require a monthly, yearly, or lifetime service fee as well.

The new Premiere models, details of which had been rumored and leaked in previous weeks, are the first Series4 models from the DVR manufacturer. The fourth-generation products boast an updated interface and feature set.

The highlights: … Read more

TiVo to unveil new DVR on March 2?

Looks like those of you waiting for the next TiVo won't have to wait much longer. The company sent out a press invite for a March 2 event in New York with the teaser "Inventing the DVR was just warming up."

Anticipation among hard-core TiVo fans over the possible release of Series 4 TiVo has been building for the last few months and it did make our list of the most anticipated tech products of 2010. A bit of info has leaked about a possible next-gen TiVo system, which may or may not be called the Premiere. … Read more

And the winner of premiere week is...CBS

The first week of the new television season is history, and CBS came out the winner. More viewers watched CBS premiere week than any other network, and CBS was the only network to be up over last year. A mighty accomplishment considering the extraordinary amount of competition in the media space. (Spoken like a true marketing guy?)

Now the race goes into its next phase: solidifying the hits and attracting more people to the other shows. We watch the week-to-week trends and see what direction the ratings are headed. Obviously, up is better! So we keep the marketing machine turning, … Read more

Hands on preview: Adobe updates its Elements

Time again for Adobe's annual update of its consumer photo- and video-editing applications, Photoshop Elements (Windows | Mac) and Premiere Elements (Windows only). We're up to version 8 now, and while there's no killer must-have new capability--unless you consider automatic sync across multiple computers--the two products still provide solid mass appeal for their respective markets.

As in the past, you can buy the pair together for $149.99, which is a far more attractive buy for video-editing shoppers than Photoshoppers, and in fact the combination makes quite a nice bundle for home videographers. Independently, they're $99.99 each. Tack "Plus" to the name of the product for another $40 and you get an extra 20GB on the otherwise free Photoshop.com membership (along with ongoing new template and tutorial content), which will then cost you $50 annually to renew.

The latter becomes key if you plan to take advantage of one of the nicer new features, the ability to sync your videos, photos, music, projects, and PDF files across multiple systems using Photoshop.com as the hub. (In case you missed it, Photoshop.com rolled out video support last month in preparation for this release of Pre.) While Adobe doesn't make a Plus membership a requirement for doing so, you'll very quickly max out your free 2GB without it.

After allowing the product to languish for a while, with 8 Adobe brings the Mac version of Photoshop Elements up to parity with the Windows version and with the buzzy new features in iPhoto, including face recognition and geotagging/mapping. Unlike iPhoto, however, there's no direct upload to Facebook, though it supports a broader number of services, including Kodak EasyShare Gallery and Smugmug. Annoyingly, those choices are buried as More Options on the Share pane (likely because the interface decision was based on the technology used--implemented via an API rather than core program code--rather than where the user will look for them).

Like most current facial recognition implementations, Adobe's is only moderately accurate. For instance, in many photos it correctly identifies one person, but didn't detect others and thought inanimate objects were faces. The batch detection and labeling where you confirm different faces in groups of selected images is better, but still a little clunky.… Read more

The 404 339: Where Wilson refuses to apologize to thousands of Star Trek fans

If you've ever wondered what it would take for Wilson to finally snap, well...it's today. After getting a load of flack for "spoiling" the "Star Trek" movie on last Friday's show, Wilson retaliates. You gotta hear this. We also take a crack at the Guitar Hero reality show, Disneyland noodies, chatting with strangers, and wolf shirts guaranteed to give you magic powers!

After forcing Wilson to bite his tongue re: "Star Trek" spoilers, we talk about Disney laying off employees in charge of screening mid-ride pictures for nudity before they're displayed and sold to the parkgoers. Larger men are particularly excited about this because it means that they can finally let their moobs fly free, but something tells me parents won't appreciate the sneak peek.

We go into detail about why this might be a bad idea, although I had no idea they even employed people for this specific job in the first place. What do you even call that? Nude-person-picture-watcher-outer? Get a real job, Grouch.

Well, well, wellllll--look who decided to join the Konami code party: FACEBOOK. Literally weeks after ESPN used the code for its unicornery, Facebook comes along and does it to its site too, but on a much smaller and more irritating level.

Now, when you enter in the famous code (I shouldn't have to tell you what it is), a couple of cheesy colored orbs pop up on the screen and follow your cursor around like an annoying little mutt. Granted, I don't know how they could have topped UNICORNS and RAINBOWS, but they could've at least tried.

Here's where it gets ugly. Calls From the Public today is sponsored by Wilson freaking out on everyone for getting mad at him about spoiling a certain cameo...actually two. We got several voicemails and countless e-mails about our Tang-a-lang, but when we give Wilson a chance to apologize to our beloved fans, he lashes out and says a few things that might rile you all up.

Now we all know that Wilson gets a lot of hate on the show, but it was a joke! That said, listen to today's show and let us know what you think. Leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404CNET or e-mail us at the404[at]CNET{dot}com!

EPISODE 339 Download today's podcast |  Subscribe in iTunes audio Subscribe in RSS Audio |   Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

CNET's 404 Podcast sets phasers to fun at 'Star Trek' premiere

The 404 Podcast crew scored tickets for an advanced screening of JJ Abrams' new "Star Trek" movie! We had a lot of fun interviewing all the hard-core "Star Trek" fans, and even battled a few overzealous Enterprise crew members.

Will we successfully stump the Trekkies with our in-depth knowledge of Borg cube transwarp conduit projections, or will they overpower us with a temporal chroniton field? Watch the video below to find out!

Don't forget to check out our live videocast every morning at 11 a.m. ET or head over to CNETTV.com to watch … Read more

Panasonic Premiere plasmas are great, but not quite as good as Kuro

Despite the fact that Pioneer has exited the HDTV business, we still consider its Elite Kuro plasma TVs, such as the PRO-111FD, the best-performing televisions we've ever tested. Now Panasonic has released a new lineup of so-called Premiere plasmas that takes direct aim at the Kuros. While they deliver a superb picture, they still fall a bit short of the mark.

We reviewed the 65-inch member of the series, model TH-65VX100U ($9,995 list), and there's a 50-inch version coming in late February, model TH-50VX100U ($4,995 list). Aside from their high price tags, these displays must overcome the fact that Panasonic announced a slew of new plasmas at CES that use the company's next-generation NEO PDP panels, which consume less power and deliver even deeper black levels, according to the company. Before somebody asks, no, the Premiere series does not use the new panels.

Still, there's a lot to like about these expensive displays. Picture quality is excellent, with deep black levels and superb shadow detail, although color accuracy (along with black level) didn't match the Kuro. The Premiere plasmas have the same build quality we lauded on Panasonic's standard professional monitors, like the TH-50PF11UK. They also share some of the same "professional" characteristics, such as the necessity to purchase a separate stand and speakers if you need them, and relatively sparse input selection.

Read the full review of the Panasonic TH-VX100U Premiere series.

… Read more