A viewer watching a 3D display at CES 2009.
(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET)A new television network featuring 24-7 three-dimensional content will be coming to your home in 2011. The venture is backed by Discovery Communications, owners of the Discovery Channel and its family of networks, Sony, and Imax.
According to the companies, all three firms will hold equal share in the joint venture. The goal, the companies wrote in a joint release, is to drive "consumer adoption of 3D televisions" and become a "long term" leader in the 3D home marketplace. When it launches, the network will be available only in the United States, but the companies did say they would explore international opportunities in the future.
So far, the 3D network doesn't have a name. But when it launches, the companies said it will feature "content from genres that are most appealing in 3D, including natural history, space, exploration, adventure, engineering, science and technology, motion pictures and children's programming from Discovery, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Imax, and other third-party providers."
As you might expect, Discovery will oversee network services and television rights. Sony will handle advertising sales and work with the industry to license television rights "to current and future 3D feature films, music-related 3D content, and game-related 3D content." Although Sony didn't say so in the release, it's probably safe to assume that all 3D content related to Sony Pictures, Sony BMG, and Sony's game studios will make their way to the channel.
For its part, Imax will "license television rights to future 3D films, [engage in] promotion through its owned-and-operated movie theaters across the U.S., and [offer] a suite of proprietary and patented image enhancement and 3D technologies."
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Assuming that regulatory approval is secured, the network should go live in 2011.
But that's not all
ESPN will also be delivering the first 3D television network to the home in June this year, USA Today is reporting.
Dubbed ESPN 3D, the channel will deliver more than 85 live sporting events in three dimensions. It won't run reruns, so the channel will be dark when no current sporting event are being aired. The USA Today says ESPN 3D will broadcast the Summer X Games, NBA events, as well as college basketball and football games.
To access either of the new 3D networks, users will need a 3D-capable TV, as well as 3D glasses. In other words, the barriers to entry are a bit high, but it's a new technology that has some excited. Now we'll just have to wait and see if it can become a new standard in the marketplace.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Streaming video continues to be largely MIA on the iPhone, but streaming audio? Ho, boy--it's an embarrassment of riches. Pandora, Slacker, Rhapsody. NPR News, Public Radio Player. The only thing missing? A killer sports app.
It's missing no more. ESPN Radio streams ESPN shows, podcasts, and even live college football games from stations around the country.
This is sports radio done right. ... Read More
Ace reporter Caroline McCarthy from CNET News joins the show today to bring us bacon chocolate from Foodzie. It's kind of like, Etsy but for food. Wilson doesn't partake in the bacon, but he munches down on the bourbon chocolate. Jeff's not a fan of swine cocoa, but Justin can't get enough of it.
(Credit:
Wilson G. Tang/CNET)
However, Justin's not a fan of Apple's iPhone warranty policies. Apparently, he dropped his iPhone into a puddle of something. We're not exactly sure what, but we're pretty sure you can't drink it. Anyway, because of this whole ordeal, he's decided to become Justine.
Additionally, ESPN.com tries to be cool when it briefly enables the "Contra code" for its Web site. The hack lasted for about 45 minutes before it got shut down, but we give the site props for making unicorns and rainbows cool again.
It's Tuna Tuesday again, and we get a phone call from Tina. Finally, Twitter has become popular enough to ban at work. We get around it with this new Web app that fakes an Excel document with all your Twitters.
Be sure to check out Jeff Bakalar's appearance on Dan Levy's podcast "On the DL." He talks about tech and hockey. Lastly, a show about supercute kittens and puppies uses The 404 music loop. Didn't know the music could go both ways.
EPISODE 330
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They came for the NASCAR news, they stayed for the unicorns.
(Credit: ESPN screenshot by Jennifer Guevin/CNET)ZOMG! Sports lovers who also love glittery pink unicorns with rainbow manes and tails were so in luck earlier Monday. Entering the Konami cheat code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, enter) at the official ESPN Web site made the cutest little ponies EVER pop up all over the site. And more clicks led to more unicorns.
But that's not all. Visitors also got their headlines in hot pink and the Comic Sans font--enough adorable to make any 10-year-old girl forget about Hannah Montana.
It's a good thing we found out about this little bit of awesomeness before some meanies at ESPN appeared to disable the cheat. Luckily, we captured a couple of screenshots so we can plaster the unicorns all over our desktops.
Thanks, Kotaku, for sharing the magic.
(Credit:
MediaMall Technologies)
Continuing the trend of media servers that play nice with home video game consoles, PlayOn! has apparently raised the bar. With the new beta software released to the public yesterday, Windows XP and Vista users can now stream video from sites like Hulu and YouTube directly to their Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and HP MediaSmart TVs.
The technology is fairly simple; the software grabs RSS feeds from video content providers and pushes them through over your home network. With support already encompassing ESPN and CBS, it would appear that PlayOn! brings us a few steps closer to officially ditching our cable or satellite boxes. Netflix support has also been promised to be included in a new version of the software as well as Nintendo Wii compatibility by year's end. There does seem to be a catch however--after the 60-day trial period, you'll need to pay $30 if you want to keep the software.
We had a chance to quickly set up PlayOn! with our Xbox 360 last night and were surprised as to how easy it was to get going. We were able to watch plenty of Hulu content but couldn't access any of the movies the site has to offer--only TV programs were available. Image quality was acceptable for streaming, but we did notice an occasional lag in playback. Look for more impressions and how-tos using PlayOn! in the coming weeks.
We got an e-mail Tuesday announcing that ESPN's Wi-Fi remote was going on sale just in time for Father's Day. The remote is simply called ESPN The Ultimate Remote, which shouldn't be confused with another heady remote, Logitech's The One.
While The Ultimate Remote did make an appearance at CES in January, we really hadn't heard anything about it. It looks somewhat like one of Logitech's last-generation Harmony remotes, but it's apparently made by tvCompass, "a provider of digital media solutions."
On paper anyway, ESPN The Ultimate Remote looks like a serious contender. The release notes that the remote not only "manages your home-theater components, set-top boxes, and IP equipment with intuitive 'location-free' setup using a standard wireless connection," but you also get one-touch access to Internet content with an electronic program guide (EPG) for TV listings, a weather widget, mobile Internet browsing, and e-mail and text messaging. The only thing missing seems to be an RF option for accessing components hidden in a cabinet or a closet.
The remote's list price is $300.
The ESPN MVP will look exactly like the Mobile ESPN user interface seen here
(Credit: CNET Networks)Those with long memories in the mobile space might remember a little MVNO called Mobile ESPN that debuted some time in early 2006. The sports-based carrier catered especially to sports fanatics who wanted a cell phone that delivered real-time sports scores, sports videos, news stories, stats of favorite teams, and more, via an innovative ESPN-themed user interface. However, Mobile ESPN had to pull the plug only after a few short months, presumably due to lack of consumer interest.
Well, sports fans can now rejoice, because ESPN has partnered with Verizon to resurrect the Mobile ESPN experience via an ESPN MVP application exclusive to V Cast subscribers. The software application will look identical to that of the Mobile ESPN user interface, complete with sideline navigation, game casts (graphical illustrations of games as they're taking place), video clips, highlights, and more. And the best part is that the whole thing will be available for free as long as you have a V Cast subscription. Supported handsets at launch will be the LG Chocolate, the LG VX8300, the LG VX8600, the Motorola Razr V3c, the Motorola Razr V3m, and the Motorola Krzr K1m.
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