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The 10 most cutting-edge products of 2008

This year still has several weeks left on the calendar, but it's not too early to look back at the past 10 months and evaluate how we've progressed on the consumer tech front. Rather than look at the best products of the year, however, I decided to focus on the ones that were the most cutting-edge. As such, I've looked back at everything we've covered this year, and I've done my best to winnow down the list and come up with 10 products I think are at the cusp of... something. They may not be fully baked, and they may be overpriced, but they're at the forefront of their respective categories. Of course, I've surely missed some worthy products, so feel free to agree or disagree and add your own selections in the comments section below. … Read more

Review: LG BD300 puts Netflix and Blu-ray in one box

Even for home theater fans, standalone Blu-ray players can be pretty boring. There are some major differences between the players, such as what Blu-ray Profile they support, but you rarely see any new or standout features.

The LG BD300 is different in this regard, as it's the first Blu-ray player that is Netflix-Internet-streaming-ready. It allows you to stream content available on Netflix's "Watch Now" service directly from the player to the TV, which is much more convenient than watching it on your computer.

Netflix aside, the BD300 is also a pretty solid Blu-ray player, although it … Read more

Digital City: Episode 2

It's the highly anticipated second episode of Digital City, our ongoing conversation about technology and urban spaces. Look for a new episode every Monday, available here at digitalcity.cnet.com or on iTunes. Listen now: Download today's podcast Digital City rundown Episode 2

Market Meltdown continues!!! World Stock Markets have lost $26 Trillion since the peak of almost exactly one year ago.

Apple -- $92 -- was north of $160 a couple of weeks ago Sirius -- 39-cents! Seriously! GameStop $27 -- was $60 last Xmas season Take-Two -- $11 -- was $25 or so for most of … Read more

The 404 202: Where it's hot as hell and Jeff is hungry

Several times throughout today's show, The 404 almost causes the universe to implode. Our Earth-shaking collection of topics today include a story about Viagra missiles, iPhone flaws and young love, divinely drunk intervention, and more Ryan Gosling/Ryan Reynolds confusion...which witch is which?!

One of the more ridiculous stories on today's show is about a man that somehow managed to smuggle a fake, but extremely realistic looking missile into New York with a sticker on the side that proudly read "VIVA VIAGRA." After driving around New York, making stops at Times Square and the Trump Tower, the man ended up in front of the Pfizer corporate building where the company promptly slapped a restraining order and a cease and desist warning on his man-made missile. The craziest part about this story is the fact that one man somehow drove through the Midtown tunnel and several New York police officers with a missile attached to his truck.

Is that all it takes? The man claims that ""New York City cops are smart. They know the difference between a mock-up and the real thing," and that's all well and good, but what about scaring the sh*t out of thousands of New Yorkers? Mass chaos isn't so fun. Do you think The 404 should pull a stunt like this? Clearly it'd be pretty easy to set in motion, and you know we need the publicity! Any suggestions? Leave us a comment and and let us know!

EPISODE 202 Download today's podcast … Read more

Microsoft unveils new Xbox Live 'experience'

Whether you're one of the legions of hard-core Xbox players or someone who's only played with the game console casually, get ready for an all-new Xbox Live.

Since the first announcement of the new approach to the massively popular service at E3 in July, some longtime fans have fretted that Microsoft is morphing it into a place for purely casual players at the expense of those for whom Xbox Live is nearly as much a home as where they actually live.

Well, based on a demo I got recently of the (not quite finished) new version of Xbox Live, I'd have to say, fret no more.

Dubbed the new "Xbox Live Experience," this re-launched service--which is rumored to be launching in November, but which Microsoft will only say is due "before Christmas"--really does seem to have something for everyone: an easy-to-use graphical interface complete with deeply customizable avatars that casual players will enjoy, and all kinds of new functionality that will actually reward the dedication of the hard-core Xbox player.

Microsoft readily admits that there may be a bit of a transition period for those core players--a time during which a lot of griping might be heard--but the company fully expects a gradual realization on the part of those players that the new service takes the existing Xbox Live and adds all kinds of new community and interactive functions to it.

And, again, I would have to agree.

To date, the Xbox Live interface has been based on what are called blades, essentially pages of information stacked on top of each other in such as way as to maximize the number of choices Xbox Live players have and the directions in which they can go. They can see lists of games to play, choose to watch a movie, go into a section to buy add-ons for games, and so on. The new interface largely does away with the blades era and moves into a more advanced motif of full windows that spread out on the screen and stretch off into the distance, allowing users to shuttle through them, left to right or right to left.

But that's getting a little too far ahead. … Read more

Consecutive movie watching: It's a skill

Everyone's good at something, right? After 123 hours and 10 minutes of nonstop movie watching, we've found the best: Netflix's Popcorn Bowl event, in which participants watched multiple movies without sleep until they either gave up, broke the Guinness World Record for longest consecutive movie-watching session, or began to bleed from their eyes.

The event was held at Times Square in New York. It began on October 2 at noon EDT and ended on Wednesday at 3:10 p.m. EDT.

What began with eight participants at the outset was cut down to only two after 57 movies were viewed, … Read more

Netflix to charge $1 more for Blu-ray

We knew it was coming, but Wednesday Netflix made it official--starting in November, those who rent Blu-ray movies will be charged an extra dollar, in addition to standard subscription fees. The move is hardly a surprise, considering Netflix's CEO mentioned that a surcharge was coming in April, but home theater fans may still be taken aback since the company has never charged more for Blu-ray Discs before. Here's a screenshot of the e-mail subscribers received if they rent Blu-ray movies:

While $1 seems like a reasonable surcharge to us (Blu-ray movies do cost more), some subscribers may have … Read more

Vudu's HDX upgrade delivers the best downloadable video quality to date

Last week, we told you about Vudu adding a new "HDX" video quality tier to its video-on-demand box. Unlike the 1080p HD downloads already available on the box, HDX 1080p significantly ramped up the bitrate, offering considerably better picture quality. We've had a chance to check out portions of three HDX movies--Lord of War, surfing documentary Step into Liquid, and The Chronicles of Riddick--and the result was extraordinary. Simply put, Vudu's HDX represents the best Internet-delivered video we've seen to date. … Read more

More companies bracing investors for current quarter

With only a week into the fourth quarter, the number of companies that have already rejiggered their financial forecasts--even before they've reported their third-quarter results--has gone up two-fold, according to a company that tracks earnings estimates.

SAP and Netflix are two of the latest examples of companies that have retooled Wall Street's expectations for how to perceive their fourth quarter financial performance, even though they have yet to announce their third quarter results that ended on September 30.

To date, 43 companies have issued preliminary guidance for the fourth quarter, and while the aggregate numbers are low, it … Read more