While going into a store and finding a DVD or Blu-ray to rent may not be what’s popular anymore, other services like Netflix and Hulu are seeing quite the attraction, thanks to the fact that you don’t actually have to go anywhere other than your computer, TV, or maybe as far as your mailbox to watch a movie. Then, there’s services like Redbox that allow you to rent a movie for cheap, on a daily rate, and then return it back to the kiosk when your’e finished with it. But, Flix on Stix wants to take that idea, and make it a bit more useful for those who may not want an actual DVD to take home, or have to worry about returning it.

The idea is a pretty simple one. Instead of letting people rent movies on a DVD, Flix on Stix wants to let people use their own USB flash drives, or let them use one offered by the kiosk itself, to watch whatever movie they want. While there are talks about offering pre-loaded USB drives via the kiosk, it seems that the most likely event will be making customers bring their own, and then transferring the film onto it.

Price wise, Flix on Stix is aiming low. $1 for three days; $2 for six days; $3 for nine days; and $4 for 12 days. And, as we mentioned above, you won’t have to worry about returning the flash drive to the kiosk. Instead, the company behind the idea wants to include software with the rental that would make it automatically refuse playback after a certain amount of days.

All of the kiosks will be installed with USB 3.0 ports, making it possible for those who have spent the money on a USB 3.0 flash drive to have quick installs of their movies. However, unless a major price shift happens by the time Flix on Stix happens, it’s likely to assume that the majority of people won’t have USB 3.0 drives. That means some long waits at the kiosk as you’re movie downloads and installs onto your flash drive. Will anyone really want to wait that long, when Redbox is remarkably quicker, or they can just use Netflix? There’s no word on when, or if, this idea will really hit the market any time soon, but if someone can put enough money behind the idea, we won’t be surprised to see these vending machines pop up in some big cities.

[via UhGizmo!]

As someone who loves to sit down in front of the television after a long day’s work and watch a movie or television show, I typically spend some time each month heading down to Best Buy or browsing Amazon to find out what the latest entertainment releases are. It has become a habit that at least so far, I’m unwilling to give up.

But over the past year, my buying decisions have changed, and I’ve officially ditched DVD in favor of Blu-ray or streaming services.

[Image credit: John Ward]

Now, I know that some are probably wondering why it took so long. After all, Blu-ray has been around for quite some time, and the technology is being embraced in a big way to the detriment of DVD. But as I mentioned, I’m an entertainment addict. And far too many of my favorite films or television shows were still only available on DVD through 2009.

But this year, due mainly to my entertainment preferences, all that changed. Everything I wanted to buy was available on Blu-ray, which of course, prompted me to choose that copy. Moreover, much of the older content that I enjoy could be readily streamed through Netflix or other streaming services.

That resulted in a conscious decision on my part to stop buying DVDs. And at least for now, I just don’t see myself buying a DVD version of a film or television show at any point in the future.

To some extent, that’s a good feeling. DVD was ideal for me as I emerged from the darkness of the VHS days. But after I bought my first HDTV, became inundated with HD channels that made me cringe when I went back to SD content, and Blu-ray launched, it was becoming clear to me that DVD just couldn’t do the job anymore. I needed to go with the new technologies. And I needed to do it quickly.

Although I’ve mostly accomplished that goal, I should note that DVDs aren’t entirely gone from my life. Just last week I watched a few episodes from my series collection of The Sopranos, which I have on DVD. It was disappointing.

That said, I’ve spent the past year replacing much of my DVD content with Blu-ray versions of the titles. I already have a copy of The Godfather Trilogy on DVD, but I bought the Blu-ray version to round out my collection. I did the same with several other favorites, including Saving Private Ryan.

And all that fails to mention the times when I just don’t feel like going to the collection of discs to find a particular film, so I simply stream it from Netflix.

Simply put, DVDs just aren’t that big a part of my life any longer. They once ruled my entertainment experience. But like many others, I’m sure, they’ve quickly lost ground to the newer options that provide more quality and convenience.

And at least so far, I couldn’t be happier about it.

Ohmygod! Notion Ink Adam is available for pre-order right this second and it’s cheaper than expected! Then we’ve got some electric butterflies, Dell’s deletion from an Intel Android tablet list, and some Robonaut hands. You can feel free to fix your MacBook Air screen glitch, check out a sassy extended video peek at the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, and read about how Don found 2010 to be the year he forgot about DVDs. THEN get your Google Cr-48 Chrome OS notebook delivered today, check out Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and win a FREE Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z. Such a bunch o stuff for your salivating talon teeths!

R3 Media Network

SlashPhone
LG LU3000 Heading to South Korea
myTouch 4G Dock Lands In T-Mobile Retail Stores
iPhone 3G Goes Free via Best Buy Mobile On December 10th

Android Community
Madden 2011 Demo Upgrade is $9.99, Coming to the Android Market Q1 2011
HTC Legend Update to Android 2.2 Now Live Across Europe
New “Mute A Twitter User” Feature On Twidroyd Excellent
Galaxy S will get Android 2.3 Gingerbread confirms Samsung India
Amazon offers cloud services integration for Android with new SDK
Gingerbread launcher hits Android Market for Froyo devices
Twidroyd Factory Equals Twitter Goodness for Android
LinguaSys TGPhoto Translation App for Android translates foreign signs for you
Nexus S updates to be OTA not via Samsung Kies
AT&T Dell Streak Froyo update not due until January 12?
Samsung coy on Galaxy S Gingerbread update despite apparent hardware compatibility
Over 300,000 Android devices activated per day confirms Rubin
Seesmic Brings Salesforce Chatter To Android

SlashGear
Notion Ink Adam pre-orders from 1.30pm EST: Price-cuts & more
Samsung India confirms Galaxy S Android 2.3 Gingerbread plans
Sony Ericsson pico-projection phone patent app hides its own display screen
Apple Sandy Bridge testing tips huge CPU/GPU refresh
Electric Butterfly in a Jar is not cruel
WikiLeaks Kindle ebook appears on Amazon [ITS ALL PUBLIC]
Jawbone THOUGHTS puts PTT on iPhone
Computer casemod puts gaming rig in a bomb disposal robot
Samsung and Ambarella from ASIC collaboration for hybrid camera SOCs
Intel expecting 35 Atom tablets in 2011; Dell’s Intel Android plans quietly deleted
GM touts Robonaut 2′s hands
MacBook Air screen glitch fix released
Sewell unveils cool HDdeck to convert USB to HDMI
Lite-On eNAU608 8x external DVD burner gets interchangeable designs for lid
Lava A10 smarpthone uses IPS touch screen
Halo JC 3 Phono preamp is now shipping
Stem Innovation debuts TimeCommand alarm clock dock for Apple gear
Epson and Thinxtream offer free app for PrintJinni printing from iOS4.2 devices
Sceptre launches a new 37-inch 1080p HDTV
Pioneer Network Vision head-up display for in-car PNDs due 2012 [Video]
Samsung 2.3 Gingerbread update for Galaxy S uncertain despite Nexus S similarities
AMD Radeon HD 6970/6950 due third week of Dec, undercutting GeForce GTX 580?
Sony Ericsson PlayStation Phone on sale March 2011 tips insider
BlackBerry PlayBook poses for lengthy video demo
VGA dead by 2015 say Intel, AMD & PC/display makers
iTunes 90-second song previews added to US iTunes store
iPhone gaming evangelist Graeme Devine leaves Apple
Google accuse US Government of Microsoft favoritism
Prima plan release-day digital movies for $500 a pop on $20k system
Android activation rate now over 300,000 per day; blazes past iPhone
2010: The year I forgot about DVDs [COLUMN]
Google Cr-48 Chrome OS notebooks being delivered today
SlashGear Lenovo ThinkCentre M90z Giveaway [FEATURED]
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Unveiled
Lenovo IdeaPad Y460p/Y560p notebooks & IdeaCentre K330 desktop outed

To see more wrap-up posts, follow the following tags: [The Daily Slash] or [SlashGear Morning Wrap-up]

Consider this my official holiday gift guide column. I’m not going to do a round-up of all my favorite gift ideas. I’m not going to recommend which phone you should buy, which laptop, which Lexus, or whatever. There are plenty of great gift guides to tell you all that (and I’ve even worked on some of those, myself). I’m not even going to recommend a specific product. I’m just going to tell you to buy a Blu-Ray player. I don’t really know which one to buy, and I don’t even have one myself. But it’s become the number one item on my list, and it should be for you, too.

[Image credit: Bill S]

A Blu-Ray player will make everyone happy. Everybody likes movies or TV shows, sold by the season. Personally, I think we’re in a golden age of television. Though there is plenty of garbage on the tube every night, the good shows are more thoughtful, complex and interesting than ever before. They have huge budgets behind them, talented actors, and clever writing. Of course, I’ll bet critics say this every few years about their current wave of programming, but then won’t it be fun to have something to look back on later? To pop in a copy of “Lost” and tell your kids how cool it was, even though it hardly stands up better than the old episodes of “The Prisoner” (which is pretty good, actually)?

Movies look better than ever, and the best way to watch movies is Blu-Ray. Hands-down. You get the fantastic picture, the surround sound, the interesting extras, all in one convenient package. Plus, if you’re like many people I know, you’ve already taken advantage of the huge glut of large screen TVs that are so inexpensive right now. I bought my first HDTV, a 36-inch Panasonic plasma, for nearly twice the cost of today’s 55-inchers. Instead of searching through your cable lineup for HD content, or trying to grab some HD channels over the air, go buy some movies that will look great on your set and make you truly happy with your purchase. Or, better yet, in addition to channel surfing, make your Blu-Ray library a part of your entertainment lineup.

Does it sound like I’m shilling for the Blu-Ray industry? I swear I’m not. Like I said, I don’t even have a Blu-Ray player myself, but I’m going to get one soon, for good reason.

You might have heard that Blu-Ray is already a dying technology. After all, you can watch streaming movies, in HD, from Netflix. You can download HD movies from iTunes or other online services. You can rent movies on your Xbox console. So why on earth should you buy a Blu-Ray player?

Because the technology behind digital media is not there yet. It’s getting close, but there is still a long way to go. First of all, storage has never been cheaper, and storage capacities for digital players is rising exponentially, even as costs are dropping. But there still isn’t enough storage to hold all of your movies.

A downloadable HD movie will take up about 4-5 GB of storage space. But that’s usually a 720p movie. That should look great on your 30-inch desktop monitor, but on your 55-inch HDTV? It won’t deliver the quality you’re aspiring to. Larger movies will consume more space, but many download stores aren’t even offering full, 1080p movies yet. Plus, if you have a more advanced sound system, current downloads won’t take advantage of your system’s capabilities. It isn’t hard to find a solid 7.1-channel surround setup for under $300, so I’d bet these advanced home theater systems are going to become more prevalent in homes. But with current downloadable content, you won’t hear everything to its full potential.

A Blu-Ray movie, which is to say a high-definition, 1080p movie with 5.1-channel (or better) surround sound and all the bells and whistles, takes up between 10GB and 15GB of space, approximately. I have a laptop computer with a 320GB hard disk drive. Many laptops are crammed with 500GB or more, and it isn’t unusual to find a desktop in the 2TB range. So, that should be enough storage space, right?

Not really, especially not if you’re a movie collector. Even if you could download movies at this quality level, you would quickly fill up a hard drive. Throw in the photos, the music, the home movies, the applications and documents that we all keep on our computers, and you aren’t left with enough space to hold more than a handful of high quality films. Want to keep an entire TV series at hand? Think again.

You could always buy an external drive, but those can be a hassle, especially if you want to watch movies while traveling. Portable drives spin at a lower RPM, and they usually aren’t meant to handle the heavy load of constant media streaming. In fact, the biggest problem with all hard disk drives is that they are almost guaranteed to go down at some point. Hard drives are like tires. They wear out over time. If you’ve ever had a drive crash irreparably, and I’m assuming most of you have, you know what I mean. So, are you going to keep a backup of all your saved digital movies? You’ll need another external drive just to make sure your films are safe for as long as you want them. And even then, drives always die, eventually.

Netflix and other streaming services are great, and great value, but even with today’s faster networks, the streaming services are too heavy for the bandwidth load. Some cable and Internet providers are starting to push back, and there’s no telling which way the net neutrality wind will blow. It could shift with every incoming administration. Even at today’s data rates, you can’t be sure you’ll get the best, HD quality content, and even if you do, it won’t live up to the quality of a Blu-Ray disc. It won’t even come close.

I still have the first DVD I ever purchased. It was The Matrix. I watch it from time to time. Sure, physical media can get scratched or cracked, but with just a modicum of care, they can last for decades. My copy of The Matrix has outlasted 4 different hard disk drives. I used to have a backup of the movie on my computer, but the hard drive went down, and when I went to restore the drive from a backup, that backup was corrupted (damn you, Time Machine!). Now I use 3 separate drives to backup my work computer, but I don’t bother keeping my digital media files stored on all three. They would simply take up too much space.

A good Blu-Ray collection can grow to massive levels, and still be enjoyable years down the road. There is also something so much more pleasant about physical media. Would you rather have shelves on a bookcase devoted to Blu-Ray discs, with their cover artwork and glossy cases, or would you rather flip quickly through a list of titles on a machine? Even with all other considerations being equal, which they are not, I would rather be able to stand in front of my titles and have the sensory thrill of pulling each off the shelf, checking out the cover and the details on the back, and replacing it. It’s extra work and some organization, but that’s a trip down memory road. Organization on a computer? A few clicks and a bunch of typing. Blech.

The real reason I’m pushing Blu-Ray so hard is because I worry about the technology. Blu-Ray players are cheap, but they obviously aren’t catching fire like the industry hoped. That’s why so many players are filled to the brim with extra, unnecessary features, especially connected Internet features. Skip those, if you like. The real benefit is in the movies themselves. Blu-Ray players can be found easily for under $100, and Blu-Ray discs cost about the same as early DVD movies. As they become more popular, and as they have more competition in digital HD downloads, those prices could come down.

One strange phenomenon of digital media? Nobody wants to sell it cheap, at least not yet. Books, music, movies, these all cost about the same for digital versions as they do for a real physical copy. The most you’ll pay for a physical copy of Iron Man 2 on Blu-Ray is about $20, for an edition without all the collectible tchotchkes. That’s the same price you’ll pay to download an HD copy from iTunes, except that the Blu-Ray is higher quality picture and sound. Like I said, on your laptop screen, or on your iPad, you won’t notice the difference. But if you care about quality and you own some nice home theater equipment, you’ll see a difference.

I would still hold off on the 3D movie purchases, I think that glasses-free 3D technology is just around the corner, so I wouldn’t spring for the current line of 3D sets just yet. Personally, I’m planning on buying a PlayStation 3. I’ll probably watch more movies on it than I will play games. It’s network connected, and it can receive firmware updates easily, so I think it’s one of the more future-proof players around. Case in point, the PS3 got an update in September to handle 3D Blu-Ray movies, if you decide to spring for a more advanced TV set.

But, by all means, go buy a Blu-Ray player. Remember what it was like when you have a treasure trove of high quality films and TV shows at your disposal. Future proof your collection against dying hard drives, and save some money on cheaper films while you’re at it. Now is the best time to buy, and the future is still a long ways off.

Hooray on top of hooray, it’s like Christmas came super early, we got our hands on and unboxed a Google Nexus S and you’re all invited to sit by the campfire and watch! Joy! Then prepare yourself for a better way to leak as WikiLeaks staff members declare their intention of creating a separate site by the name of Openleaks. Next, get super pumped up and take a look at a leaked five year plan for Blizzard Entertainment – can you say Diablo III? SEE Facebook turn down a $15 BILLION DOLLAR offer from Microsoft. And SEE the Netbook category Go Extinct via Ben.

All this and MORE today on The Daily Slash!

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Tangible Digital Music via C60 by IDEO [SEVERE WANT]
Google Hotpot NFC stickers will work with Nexus S [NFC 4 LYFE]
Notion Ink prompting concerns with lack of hardware demo, sky-high return fees [Updated] [WATCH OUT]
Google smash, freeze & burn 25 Cr-48 Chrome OS notebooks in praise of the cloud [Video] [DIE!]
Speakal outs Cool iPig iPhone dock system [OINK]
Windows Phone 7 Launcher On Android [NEATO]
Google Nexus S unboxing & hands-on [Video] [HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY]
Wine Vending Machines in Pennsylvania [NEXT, WHISKEY DISPENSERS]
Gorillaz to Release FREE Album on Christmas Day, Entirely Recorded on iPad [GORILLAZ FA FREE]

SlashPhone
HTC Legend Gets Android 2.2 Update Across Europe
Android 2.3 Update To Hit Samsung Galaxy S Smartphone
Costco to Stop Selling Apple Devices

Android Community
Epic has no immediate plans to bring Infinity Blade to Android gamers
Dell confirms AT&T-locked Streak Froyo update in Jan 2011
Google NFC Hotpot stickers will pull Places into your Gingerbread phone [NFC]
Howard Stern content coming to XM Radio app
Notion Ink doubts surface: questions first, pre-orders later [Updated]
LG Optimus One Series Will Receive Android 2.3
Motorola Android Tablet In The Wilds, With Specs?
Droid X Update Available Now 2.2.1 (Blur 2.3.340)
4G Tablet Planned by T-Mobile for 2011
Froyo now available for Vibrant on Bell, Virgin Mobile and SaskTel
LG Boasts Over 2 Million Sales of its Optimus Series
Wirefly Brings Android Home For The Holidays With Big Sale
80 Percent of Verizon Phones sold are Android, BlackBerry devices in steep decline
Windows Phone 7 Launcher On Android
Google Nexus S unboxing & hands-on [Video]
“Exploding” DROID 2 more likely damaged after a drop tips Motorola insider
Angry Birds “Bad Piggy Bank” in-app payments announced

SlashGear
Novatel sue ZTE and Franklin Wireless over alleged MiFi patent infringement
US military force removable media lock-down to prevent WikiLeaks sequel
DZdock was created by an 11-year-old
Microsoft add Windows Phone 7 download reports to App Hub; pull forward royalty payouts
Gran Turismo 5 sells like donuts at a police convention
Apple iTunes Rewind 2010 highlights hot trends in iOS apps
Anonymous to stop DDoS attacks and start spamming Wikileaks content?
Patriot Memory launches Supersonic USB 3.0 drive
GelaSkins launches skins for new MacBook Air models
iKit unveils cool FM transmitter for iPod/iPhone with touchscreen
UMID is no more according to Dynamism
Engineer builds working reproduction of Greek Antikythera Mechanism from Lego
HTV Evo gets Ballistic HD case protection
Speakal outs Cool iPig iPhone dock system
RJI survey looks into how people use their iPad
Orbotix Sphero remote-control game ball due at CES 2011
Amazon WikiLeaks ebook back on sale as retailer denies hypocrisy
First “Operation Payback” DDoS arrest made; WikiLeaks denies involvement
iPad 2 dual-camera rumors refuse to die: “slimmer, lighter & better resolution”
Google smash, freeze & burn 25 Cr-48 Chrome OS notebooks in praise of the cloud [Video]
Mathmos Smart Astro lava lamp adds LEDs to 60s classic
Mac App Store will lack in-app payments & Game Center at launch
Sprint 4G tablet plans confirmed: PlayBook, HTC EVO Shift 4G or something else?
Notion Ink prompting concerns with lack of hardware demo, sky-high return fees [Updated]
Second Windows Phone 7 update due at MWC 2011 tip developers
Rock Paper Robot “Float” table is tactile bundle of magnetic cubes [Video]
Tangible Digital Music via C60 by IDEO
World’s Earliest Computer Made of Lego
Grand Theft Auto Creators Sued by Shagg for $250 Million Bucks
Dr Dre’s Beats Headphones Go Bieber
Wine Vending Machines in Pennsylvania
Openleaks to be Launched by Former WikiLeaks Staff
Skyara Sells Experience
Blizzard China Leaks Five Year Plan, Manager Resigns
Thing-O-Matic is Inexpensive Star Trek Replicator
Microsoft Offer of $15 BILLION Rejected by Facebook
The Netbook Category Will Go Extinct
Gorillaz to Release FREE Album on Christmas Day, Entirely Recorded on iPad
Jenga App for iOS Devices: Mini Review [JUST A MINI]
Qualcomm FLO TV rebate program unveiled ahead of service shutdown

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

Philips has outed a three-strong lineup of new music entertainment systems, including a multiroom audio HiFi, a component HiFi system, and an AirPlay-compatible wireless speaker system that looks like the eggs from Alien. The Philips WiFi Multiroom HiFi kicks things off, with wireless support, USB access for digital tracks on a hard-drive, and a choice of the integrated color LCD touchscreen or iOS/Android remote apps for controlling it all.

As for the Philips Harmony Component HiFi, that slots into the company’s 8000 Series DVD line-up and has an integrated iPhone/iPod dock, CD, DVD, and USB support. No WiFi, but you do get a 2 x 80W RMS Class-D digital amp.

Finally, the bulbous Philips Fidelio SoundSphere packs WiFi for streaming Apple music over AirPlay, as well as a local dock for getting content off your iPod or iPhone. It will go on sale in May 2011, priced at €799 ($1,115); no word on pricing or availability for the other two systems.

Press Release:

Philips introduces Wi-Fi Multiroom Hi-Fi System with best-in-class High-Fidelity sound

Barcelona, Spain – Philips is taking the sound quality of wireless Multiroom systems to the next level: the new Philips Wi-Fi Multiroom Hi-Fi System offers crystal clear sound from the latest so-called ClariSound speakers, while giving you access to all your favorite songs anywhere around your home.

With the MultiroomMusic function it does not matter where you are in the house; you can enjoy different songs in different rooms, or play the same tunes in every room by a simple touch on the screen. You can easily stream all your music wirelessly from the Multiroom Music Center to the different Music Stations placed anywhere in your home.

Pristine sound from ClariSound speakers
Philips’ new Multiroom Hi-Fi system will fill the room with pure sound through the new ClariSound speakers. To reproduce high-end frequencies perfectly, the soft-dome tweeter of the ClariSound speaker is positioned on top of the speaker box, allowing sound to travel along the speaker baffle. This helps recover the richness and wideness of the original performance.

For these speakers Philips also makes use of a glass fiber woofer cone, which produces a more natural sound thanks to its lightweight design. An innovative front-firing bass port, filled with acoustic material, ensures pure and tight bass reproduction.

A world of music at your fingertips
The Philips Multiroom Hi-Fi system gives you access to all your music, independent of source or format:

· Listen to all your digital music collection stored on the external USB Hard Disc of the system. With up to 2000 albums available anytime at the touch of the screen, you do not even need to turn on your computer to access your favorite tunes
· Explore over ten thousand Internet radio stations from around the world as well as online music subscription services at the touch of a button. Alternatively, you can listen to your favorite local FM radio stations in the traditional way
· Wirelessly stream music and pictures from PC, MAC or your home server in excellent sound quality without having to worry about wires
· Additionally, you can play your favorite tracks from the CD/DVD player, connect any other USB device for more music content or add an optional dock to play and charge your iPod or iPhone

Simplicity in usability
While the full color touch screen of the Multiroom system allows you to easily navigate through your content and enjoy album artworks, you can also turn any iPhone, iPod Touch or Android smartphone into a comprehensive remote control by using the complimentary AV remote app. Using the app you can wirelessly browse and play any source of music the Multiroom system offers. You can download the app for free from iTunes AppStore or Android market place.

The connectivity and convenience of the Philips Multiroom Hi-Fi system enables you to easily access all your favorite songs without any hassle and anywhere in your home. Coupled with the sleek design and premium finish, it sits perfectly within the home where it will fill the rooms with quality, authentic sound from any source you like.

Press Release:

New Philips Harmony Component Hi-Fi system range delivers authentic sound reproduction

Barcelona, Spain – Philips introduces its new Harmony Hi-Fi range, delivering music-lovers an ideal combination of authentic sound reproduction, premium design and a simple user experience.

As part of the Harmony range, the new 8000 series DVD Hi-Fi component system offers impressive sound quality for a compact system thanks to the new ClariSound speakers, which offer the finest balance between natural sound, detailed precision and bass tightness.

Pristine sound with true-to-life details

To reproduce high-end frequencies perfectly, the soft-dome tweeter is positioned on top of the speaker box, allowing sound to travel along the speaker baffle. This helps recover the richness and wideness of the original performance and thus offer a wider soundstage.

For these speakers Philips also makes use of a glass fiber woofer cone which ensures a more natural reproduction of voices and instruments thanks to its lightweight design. An innovative front-firing bass port, processed with acoustic material to reduce turbulence, ensures pure and tight bass reproduction.

The system comes with an innovative integrated dock which plays and charges iPad, iPod and iPhone, even in its protective case. The system is designed with a 2 x 80W RMS Class-D digital amplifier, and lets you enjoy your CDs, DVDs (with HDMI output delivering 1080p upscaling) and music content from your USB storage devices.

Combining the finest materials like pure aluminium for the casing, real wood for the speaker boxes and glass fiber woofers, giving a unique design identity to the speakers, the new Philips Harmony 8000 series DVD Hi-Fi component system enables you to experience natural, true-to-life sound right from your living room.

Press Release:

New Philips Fidelio SoundSphere uses Wi-Fi and supports Apple’s AirPlay®

Barcelona, Spain – Philips today unveils the merging of two of its most successful product lines, SoundSphere and Fidelio, in order to bring music lovers the ultimate, full-fidelity listening experience. Combining the impressive functionality of its docking speaker range Fidelio, the superior sound quality of the Philips SoundSphere technology and Apple’s AirPlay®, the Philips Fidelio SoundSphere docking speakers delivers authentic sound – while your device simply stays in your hand.

With Airplay, the Philips Fidelio SoundSphere docking speakers give you both an amazing sound and hassle-free access to all your music from iTunes.

The Sound is in the Design The amazing sound quality of the Philips Fidelio SoundSphere docking speaker lies in its design. The curved design of the separate speakers with their unique free-floating tweeters on top of both speakers mean Philips Fidelio SoundSphere delivers sound in all directions for a deeper and wider audio impression with minimized interferences.

The Sound is in the Air The Philips Fidelio Soundsphere docking speaker utilizes Airplay1 to seamlessly play music over a home Wi-Fi network from iTunes on Mac and PC, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. With AirPlay, you enjoy all your music via the brilliant speakers of the Philips Fidelio SoundSphere without plugging in cables or even docking your device.

The Philips Fidelio SoundSphere docking speaker integrates perfectly with your iTunes, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch and gives you an authentic sound experience everywhere in your home through a unique combination of technology, design and functionality. Philips Fidelio SoundSphere will be available from May 2011 with a recommended retail price of 799 EUR.

Netflix may be offering family plans with the option for multiple simultaneous streams later this year. A message lifted from Netflix’s investor relations FAQ page this morning seems to support speculation that the company is heading towards a more full on streaming model. They are looking into various service options to offer including one that encourages multiple accounts in one household.

Currently, Netflix offers a $7.99 streaming-only service that gives you one stream at a time or a one-DVD plan that offers unlimited streaming but doesn’t allow for multiple simultaneous streaming. However, they do offer multiple simultaneous streaming of up to four at a time with a four-DVD monthly plan.

Their new offering later this year may be to simplify things and focus on pushing households to sign up for either additional streams or multiple accounts under one umbrella family plan.

The Investors FAQ message reads:

The evolution toward individual memberships will take time, and we are still thinking about how to best do it. One option would be to allow an account to add additional concurrent streams (using the analogy of our DVD business, it would be like choosing a higher-priced plan that allows a subscriber to have more DVDs at home). Our $7.99-per-month plan is for one stream at a time, and later this year we expect to be able to offer consumers some account options to watch multiple simultaneous streams. Or it could be that there is a price point that would encourage multiple accounts in one household.

Netflix may also be looking beyond the household, hoping to boost individual memberships in the future as well. Individual plans could involve streaming content to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets along with having more social integration with Facebook. This may all be in the horizon for the company as they aim to ramp up their service with improved recommendations for a more personalized experience.

[via VentureBeat]

Coming this summer, those red kiosks that seem to guard the entries of every pharmacy and grocery store across the nation will begin offering game rentals on top of their current DVD movie rental service. Redbox announced today that it will fully deploy game rentals at its kiosks starting in June. It had began experimenting with the model in limited regions last year.

The move is not surprising considering that rivals such as Netflix, and previously Blockbuster, have all added game rentals to supplement the diminishing income from movie rentals. The company plans to place games in over 21,000 of its kiosks, with a rental price of $2 per day for games. The company currently charges $1 per day for DVD movies and $1.50 for Blu-Ray movies.

Game titles will be available for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The company has decided to exclude handheld games such as those for the Nintendo DS and 3DS, placing their focus for now on the home console market. Just like with Redbox movies, customers can pick up games on the go or reserve online ahead of time. Alll titles will be available at the kiosks on their first week of launch but not necessarily on their street date.

[via Gamasutra]

The movie rental and sales market is taking a huge hit this year with DVD sales and rentals at big chains like Blockbuster falling down the rabbit hole. The movie market is seeing the same thing today that the music market saw years ago when digital tunes first started taking off. The desires and habits of consumers are changing whether the movie companies and rental chains like it or not. Consumers used to buy physical copies, and today many are choosing to stream.

DVD sales dropped 20% in the US over Q1 2011. Studios are blaming the timing of Easter and a bunch of movie release during the same time frame in 2010 for the decline in sales. The bigger picture shows something different than that in my mind. While the overall DVD sales market plummeted to $500 million under what it was last year, spending on streaming and subscription services grew significantly. These services grew to the tune of 33% during the quarter.

This is s a clear indication that consumers want digital movies. Those that don’t want digital films also are starting to prefer kiosk rentals with the rental of DVDs through outlets like Blockbuster dropped 36%. I think it’s time for the movie industry to stop trying to prop up the inevitable end of mainstream physical store rentals and end the wait periods for movies to hit kiosks like Redbox and digital rentals like PPV and Netflix. I would like to see a study on how many consumers simply don’t watch a film when they have to wait 30 days to rent at Redbox or see it on a streaming basis.

Nintendo made a surprising announcement recently that neither DVD nor Blu-ray will be making its way to the company’s upcoming Wii U console.

As expected, fans on both sides of the debate jumped on the story. Some said that Nintendo’s decision to nix Blu-ray in the Wii U proved that the company just didn’t know what it was doing in the gaming space any longer. Those who came out in defense of Nintendo said it makes perfect sense, since streaming is the future, and the console will likely support Netflix and other similar services.

Although I can see both sides of the argument, I’m a little perplexed by Nintendo’s decision to not offer Blu-ray in the Wii U. Yes, I understand the company’s licensing argument and I can see where streaming would be more important, but whether we like it or not, physical media isn’t going anywhere. And Blu-ray will be with us for the long haul.

As far as I’m concerned, every next-generation console, including the Wii U, the PlayStation 4, and the Xbox 720 (or whatever those platforms will be called) should be running Blu-ray.

When I think about a game console, I no longer consider it as a device that only lets me play video games. Instead, I see game consoles as full home-entertainment platforms that allow me to enjoy different types of content depending on my mood.

So, if I want to play a video game, I can turn on my console and do so. But if after I’m done playing for a while, I want to watch a movie, I should be able to pop a disc into the device and be entertained. And just in case there’s something on Netflix that I want to watch, I shouldn’t have any trouble flipping over to that app and firing it up.

As much as Nintendo seemingly doesn’t want to admit it, the gaming business is about more than just video games nowadays. It’s why Xbox Live and PlayStation Network are integral to the experiences of using the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. And it’s also why Microsoft is doubling down on television content with the upcoming availability of live TV on its Xbox 360.

My ultimate goal in the living room is to eliminate all the many devices I currently have connected to my television, and get down to one or two products that let me do everything. As I’ve mentioned on SlashGear before, I believe the PlayStation 3 helps me get closer to that goal than any other device — gaming or not — on the market. And it’s my hope that the PlayStation 4 will capitalize on that even more.

By not offering Blu-ray or DVD playback in the Wii U, Nintendo has left itself open to unnecessary criticism. And if Microsoft and Sony can deliver that playback along with improved game experiences, should we really expect Nintendo’s console to be the next generation’s winner?

Sorry, Nintendo, but the times are changing. And it’s about time you realize that.

Onkyo knows you love a flagship, and so it’s packed more than the average abilities into its new top-tier Blu-ray player, the BD-SP809. As well as playing Blu-ray – including 3D titles – DVD and CD discs, the BD-SP809 will play DivX HD, MP3 and WMA files from USB drives or, indeed, stream photo, audio and video content over a network thanks to DLNA 1.5 compliance.

There’s also on-demand media streaming support, including Netflix, Blockbuster, VUDU and Film Fresh, in up to HD quality, and Onkyo has used Marvell’s Qdeo processor for 1080p upscaling, deinterlacing and noise reduction. Ports include two HDMI outputs, so as to make hooking up – and flicking between – an HDTV and a projector more straightforward.

DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD, along with THX certification, round out the key specs, though as you’d probably imagine there are plenty of other ports on the back including digital and analog audio outputs.

And what would you pay for this rich, creamy, uncommonly good Blu-ray player (disclaimer: we haven’t actually tried it; it could be rubbish)? Onkyo will be asking $599 when the BD-SP809 lands in August.

Back in April we talked about Netflix considering some major changes to their pricing plans and today the company has officially unveiled those details. But they’re not quite what we were expecting. The most popular DVD-rental service in the country has decided to unbundle their DVD and streaming plan so that each must be separately subscribed with a result of costing more.

The unlimited DVD and streaming bundle used to cost customers $9.99 a month, but will now cost $15.98 a month as customers will have to separately subscribe to the DVD plan for $7.99 a month and the streaming plan for another $7.99 a month. Additionally, the company has announced new DVD plans of $7.99 a month for 1 DVD out-at-a-time or $11.99 a month for 2 DVDs out-at-a-time.

The reasoning behind this move? Netflix explains that when they first unveiled their unlimited streaming plan and treated DVDs as a $2 add on, they didn’t realize that there was still quite a large demand for DVDs. Since it did not make financial sense for their business, they are now separating it from streaming to more accurately reflect the cost of the service.

The new pricing plan will take effect immediately for new customers but will not be instated until September 1 for existing customers.

[via Netflix Blog]

Netflix might have committed a major blunder earlier this week by announcing that customers who had previously paid $9.99 per month for unlimited DVD rentals (with one DVD out at a time) and unlimited streaming will now need to pay $15.98 for the same service.

In essence, Netflix is saying that those who want DVDs and streaming won’t get anything new or better, but they will need to pay more for that right. And as expected, a large group of the company’s customers have come out in criticism of that.

[Image credit: katiescrapbooklady]

But so far, its competitors, including Amazon, Hulu, and even Redbox, haven’t said a word. In their secret meetings behind closed doors, though, you can rest assured that they’re happy to see Netflix make that decision, since they undoubtedly believe it might have a beneficial impact on their operations.

Then again, it might not. Sure, customers who have DVD-and-streaming plans won’t be happy by the news, but do we really think it will be enough to push them to other services? Amazon, Hulu, Vudu, and all the other Netflix streaming competitors still don’t have the same quality of content (or service) to justify a changeover. Plus, folks that have been paying $10 per month and decide to ditch DVDs will see their monthly charges drop a couple bucks.

So, while I understand that some people are upset to see Netflix’s rates rise, we need to remember that its streaming business likely won’t be negatively affected. In fact, I can see the company adding more streaming-only customers in the coming months as it starts offering the plans to new customers, and eventually, existing customers.

The way I see it, the only competitor to Netflix that benefits here is Coinstar. That company, which owns and operates Redbox, is now offering a far better value proposition to customers. Rather than pay $7.99 for DVDs each month, Netflix customers can sign up with Redbox and pay just $1 per day per DVD rental. As long as the respective user typically only rents a handful of DVDs each month, they might just make out well in the deal.

But even then, the impact might or might not be major. As soon as a customer buys eight films from Redbox, they’re matching Netflix’s price. And if they want more, the financially prudent move would have been to stick with Netflix.

Simply put, I’m not quite sure Netflix will lose out with its new plans. It might lose some customers that hate the thought of subscribing to a service that has offered up a 60 percent price hike, but over time, many folks might just realize that even at $15.98, Netflix might still be a better option than the competition.

In the end, it’s an individual choice based on individual preferences. But if a current Netflix user is both a heavy streamer and a heavy DVD renter, opting for the competition’s offerings still might not be the best idea.

If you have a massive collection of CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs that you’d like to have automatically stored and archived for easy access, then you might consider a robotic disc loader like the new Kaleidescape M700 Disc Vault. The M700 Disc Vault is a movie server that swallows your discs into a precision carousel, copies the content onto the Kaleidescape System, and easily plays back what you want when you want it—no more wasting time rummaging through your collection.

It can physically store up to 320 CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Discs. You simply insert a disc and it will automatically copy its content to the Kaleidescape System. After the M700 is finished copying, you can eject the CDs and DVDs from the vault to store elsewhere or leave them inside. Their digital copies can be played back even with the original discs removed. But for Blu-Ray Discs, you must store the discs inside the M700 inorder to playback the content.

There is a front display panel that indicates the import progress, number of discs stored, and the number of available slots. There are also buttons that let you eject all CDs, all DVDs, all Blu-Rays, or all discs. Multiple M700 Disc Vaults can work with the Kaleidescape system such that you can store thousands of CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray Discs. And, the integrated Kaleidescape M-Class Player provides pristine playback of the content stored.

However, all this convenience does come with a hefty price and is geared for the more serious home theater enthusiast with deep pockets. The M700 Disc Vault retails for $5,995 and when paired with a 1U Server for a complete Blu-Ray movie server, it will cost you $15,990. Visit the product page for more info.

This Wednesday, Britain will signal its intent to legalize copying of CDs or DVDs onto computers and/or digital music players for personal use. This word comes from a government source speaking with Rueters this Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011. This move will be on a recommendation made to review Britian’s intellectual property framework as carried out by Professor Ian Hargreaves earlier this year at the request of Prime Minister David Cameron. Digital music converters around the country realize it’s been illegal all this time, say “oh dear me,” and continue on with their day.

According to this same government source, Business Secretary Vince Cable will announce the government’s response to Hargreaves report on Wednesday. One of the most clear reasons why this set of findings done by Hargreaves, professor of digital economy at Cardiff School of Journalism, is that there’s room for 8 billion pounds (aka $13 billion USD) to be added to the economy. This change of law would shake up Britain’s 300-year-old ruling on copyright which Hargreaves says are obstructing innovation and growth.

Business Secretary Vince Cable will indeed signal the government’s agreeing to Hargreaves’ recommendation to legalize “format shifting” of legitimately purchased copyrighted works such as music, said the same source as mentioned above. This same practice has been legalized in most European countries save Britain, Ireland, and of course Malta. This changing of law will allow consumers to copy data from CDs to devices such as iPods or personal home computers, but does not allow for the sharing of content over the internet without the copyright owner’s permission.

This ruling will extend over Hargreaves recommendation to introduce an exception that includes copyright for parody, this meaning comedians such as, for example, Weird Al, would be able to parody someone else’s work without seeking permission from the holder of the copyright of the original work. Would that this weren’t already a law in the USA for many years now, we’d be without such classics as “Eat It,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Perform This Way.” Of course the law works a bit differently here in the USA than in England where the law is, instead, not written down with pen and ink.

Finally, the government has not yet spoken on how the introduction of a central digital copyright exchange will be rules upon, one where a licenses in copyright could be bought and sold – as per Hargreaves recommendation again.

[via Rueters]

If you were sad that Borders closed this July, and with it all of the data on which books you purchased when, you may be in luck, because Barnes & Noble owns that data now. During the bankruptcy court which saw the sales of Borders assets across the board, personal data (preferences in reading material, DVDs, music, etc) of some 45 million Borders customers included, Barnes & Noble saw the opportunity and grabbed for it, and just this last week, that court approved such a sale. What does that mean, exactly? Will they now know everything about my LIFE? Not exactly.

According to former Borders customers (thanks everyone who sent this in, by the way,) Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch sent them an email [which can be seen here] that the surviving books and media company acquired the customer data which included “the subject matter of your DVD and other video purchases” amongst other tidbits. Lynch wrote that they sought out the purchase of this data in order to “try and earn your business.”

Massachusetts State Attorney General Martha Coakley has released a statement that noted the following as specifically what is included in the data in question:

Information customers shared with the Borders website, including name, address, and e-mail address.

Information collected from customers in the Borders Rewards loyalty program, including customer name, address, e-mail address, and purchase history. This purchase history will not include the titles of video materials (like DVDs or VHS tapes) purchased by customers.

E-mail addresses from customers who requested to receive special offers from Borders.

You should note here, of course, that credit card information and any and all financial-related information is not included in the Borders database nor in this sale of data. To quell fears that they’d just been bamboozled by the companies in the deal, Lynch added the following in the letter to customers:

It’s important for you to understand, however, that you have the absolute right to opt-out of having your customer data transferred to Barnes & Noble. If you would like to opt-out, we will ensure all your data we receive from Borders is disposed of in a secure and confidential manner. Please visit www.bn.com/borders by October 29, 2011 to do so.

Sound good enough for you?

Netflix has backtracked on much-criticized plans to rename its DVD rental service Qwikster, announcing that while the business will still be split from the streaming media service, both will operate under the Netflix brand. “This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster” Netflix said this morning, after it had become “clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult.”

“Consumers value the simplicity Netflix has always offered and we respect that,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in a statement about the about-turn. “There is a difference between moving quickly — which Netflix has done very well for years — and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.”

It’s ironically a repeat of just what Hastings said caused Netflix headaches back in July, when the company announced pricing changes that saw some packages increase in cost each month. At the debut of Qwikster, Hastings admitted that the company’s business evolution had happened faster than its communications, and that he needed “to be extra-communicative.”

The company now says that price changes are done with, and the focus is on increasing the number of streaming options. Previously customers had been warned that they would need to manage their preferences and ratings on two separate sites if they subscribed to both Netflix and the defunct-before-it-started Qwikster, each being operated entirely distinctly.

Netflix reported its Q3 earnings results today and although the numbers were positive, they won’t remain so in the upcoming months. CEO Reed Hastings has admitted that the company’s recent stumbles, including price hikes and the now canceled plans for Qwikster, were ill received, tarnishing the company’s “hard-earned reputation.”

Actual revenue reached $822 million, up 49 percent year-over-year, while profit hit $62 million, up 63 percent from the same period last year. However, the company projects to be hit with a loss of between $60 to $70 million in Q1 of 2012 due to its expansion into the UK and Ireland.

Partly due to the price hike, Netflix lost 800,000 subscribers last quarter in the US, leaving it with 23.8 million subscribers, of which 21.5 million subscribed to streaming and 13.4 million subscribed to DVD rentals. The company noted that only seven percent of new Netflix streaming customers chose the DVD option.

Netflix is set to lose Starz content, but Hastings downplays this, saying that Starz only accounted for six percent of actual viewing time on Netflix. Hastings also claimed that neither Amazon Prime nor Hulu Plus were threats as one has less content and the other only shows recent TV content.

[via TechCrunch]

If you need a new HDTV for a smaller room with little space, you might want to consider the new 19-inch offering from Sceptre. The new TV is called the E195BD-SHD+ and it weighs in at under 7.3 pounds on the stand. The TV is interesting because it has an integrated DVD player on the side so you don’t need another component in the room to watch movies.

The 19-inch screen supports resolutions of 1366 x 768 and has three HDMI ports on the back, which is a lot for a small 19-inch set. Sceptre claims that the TV is the fist in the industry of the screen size that offers three HDMI ports. The extra ports allow the TV to be used as a computer monitor as well. The actual viewable image size is 18.5-inches.

The set has brightness rating of 250 cd/m2 and a contrast ratio that is typically 1000:1. The panel response time is 5ms. Other than the three HDMI ports the TV also has a USB port, headphone port, SPDIF, RF port, and a VGA port. Other connectivity includes composite and component. The TV is available now for $249.99 at retail stores around the country.

Samsung has taken the wraps off of its latest multimedia-sharing device, the Samsung Optical SMART Hub, an external DVD burner that can share files via WiFi, USB and ethernet connection to your tablet, smartphone, smart TV or computer. Resembling a slightly oversized external drive,at 150 x 198 x 25 mm and 430g, the Optical SMART Hub works alongside a new Android app (with iPhone, Kindle and smart TV apps in the pipeline) for remote access.

Plug into your home or hotel broadband connection and the Optical SMART Hub works as a wireless router. Up to four devices can access content at any one time, and there’s a USB port for hooking up external drives too. Allshare DLNA support streams direct to compatible TVs and other gadgets, and you can remotely burn CDs and DVDs from your PC, Mac or laptop.

If you’ve been considering carrying an external optical drive for your ultrabook, MacBook Air or other ultraportable, then Samsung’s option might well kill a few birds with one glossy white stone. The Samsung Optical SMART Hub SE-208BW will gon on sale this quarter, priced at $129.99.