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Audio Video News
YouTube to Do More Movie Rentals
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 28, 2011  | 
YouTube is planning to move further into movie rentals, enlarging a small existing operation to include more major titles.

What, you didn't know YouTube does movie rentals? The Google-owned site started renting indie films in partnership with the Sundance Film Festival in January 2010. But now the push is on to make YouTube's rental service more of a mainstream operation like Netflix or iTunes.

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Audio Video News
Buy Panasonic Stuff, Get Avatar
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 27, 2011  | 
Panasonic's exclusivity deal with the Blu-ray 3D release of Avatar has a new variation. Now you can buy a Panasonic Blu-ray player or compact system and get the hot disc. Previously it was available only to purchasers of Panasonic Viera TVs.

The BD 3D Avatar remains unavailable in stores.

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Audio Video News
The Droids you're looking for?
Michael Berk  |  Apr 26, 2011  | 

Sony's PSN and Qriocity network outage may be ongoing, but the company's pressing forward on the mobile hardware front.

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Audio Video News
My, Netflix, How You've Grown
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 26, 2011  | 
Was it only yesterday when Netflix was a babe in the cradle, with giant Blockbusters and cable operators looming over it? My, Netflix, how you've grown. You've all but defeated Blockbuster and now you're bigger than the country's largest cable TV and satellite radio operators.

The latest Netflix quarterly earnings report shows 23.7 million subscribers. While this is short of estimates, it's still enough to propel Netflix past Comcast, with 22.8 million subscribers, and Sirius XM, with 20.2 million subscribers. This has got to make the cable industry in particular nervous.

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Audio Video News
A hostile and retaliatory measure with great hubris
Michael Berk  |  Apr 26, 2011  | 

The Beastie Boys have struck back against bootleggers (who've been distibuting an unauthorized copy of the final mix of the upcoming Hot Sauce Committee, Part 2), posting a full stream

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Audio Video News
PlayStation Network, still on the fritz
Michael Berk  |  Apr 25, 2011  | 

Things are still looking bleak for the PlayStation Network; the gaming network (along with Sony's Qriocity streaming music-and-movie service) has been down

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Audio Video News
High-rez that bites
Michael Berk  |  Apr 25, 2011  | 

Sure, we love Diana Krall too, but here are a couple of reminders (courtesy

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Audio Video News
It's Official
Michael Berk  |  Apr 25, 2011  | 

Nintendo has confirmed-with a concise press release in the always-refreshing company style-that the rumored Wii 2 (well...a successor to the Wii, of

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Audio Video News
Will Feds Grab DTV Spectrum?
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 25, 2011  | 
A clash is shaping up between DTV broadcasters and other potential users of their spectrum. Broadcasters are getting ready to defend the spectrum they received in the DTV transition which concluded in 2009. But some in the federal government say much of that spectrum that would be better used for expanded cellphone networks and a new generation of wireless internet service.

What The New York Times describes as "an old media vs. new media lobbying battle" is now underway.

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Audio Video News
Directors Oppose 60-Day VOD
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 22, 2011  | 
Twenty-three film directors have signed an open letter condemning DirecTV's Home Premiere video on demand scheme, which would make movies available on satellite video on demand 60 days after their theatrical runs.

Home Premiere "cannibalizes theatrical ticket sales," said the letter, which was published online by the National Association of Theater Owners and as an ad in Variety. The letter is aimed at four studios who have embraced the DirecTV plan including Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century-Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros.

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Audio Video News
Let Me Ride
Michael Berk  |  Apr 21, 2011  | 

Having captured the headphone market with the his ubiquitous red-cabled cans, Dr. Dre announced yesterday at the New York International Auto Show that he'd extended his Beats by Dr.

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Audio Video News
Discs Still Spinning
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 21, 2011  | 
Has streaming killed the shiny disc? The NPD Group says otherwise. A typical household spends 78 percent of its home video budget to purchase and rent DVD and Blu-ray. The 77 percent of consumers who report watching a movie on disc is unchanged from last year.

NPD's "Entertainment Trends in America" report puts streaming at 15 percent, with VOD and PPV comprising the remaining 8 percent. Spending on home video overall has dropped by 2 percent.

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Audio Video News
Geek of the Week: Rob Sabin
Scott Wilkinson  |  Apr 20, 2011  | 
Rob Sabin, Home Theater's new editor, is this week's guest on the Home Theater Geeks podcast, where he talks about living on the real Jersey shore, his 25 years in the audio/video publication and installation business, his plans for the magazine and website, universal remote controls, 3D, streaming content versus Blu-ray, 4K displays, multichannel versus simulated surround, 3D-audio systems, and answers to chat-room questions. Check it out!
Audio Video News
Disc Rental Window Brings More Sales
Mark Fleischmann  |  Apr 20, 2011  | 
For more than a year, Warner Bros. Pictures has been experimenting with a 28-day window that delays DVD and Blu-ray rentals to the likes of Netflix and Redbox in hopes of boosting sales. The results are in: Best Buy says the window works as planned, especially in the first four weeks of a title's life.

What does this mean for Netflix and Redbox?

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Audio Video News
Sonos' AirPlay play
Michael Berk  |  Apr 19, 2011  | 

Whole-house connected audio veterans Sonos today announced both AirPlay support and a full-featured (and free) controller app for the Android platform.

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