ABC (720p) has The Middle at 8 p.m., Better With You at 8:30 p.m., Modern Family at 9 p.m., Cougar Town at 9:30 p.m. and the series premiere of Off The Map at 10 p.m.
NBC (1080i) has Minute to Win It at 8 & 9 p.m. and Law & Order: SVU at 10 p.m.
CBS (1080i) has Live to Dance at 8 p.m. and The Defenders at Ǫ p.m.
Showtime (1080i) has Inside the NFL at 9 p.m
TLC (1080i) has My Strange Addiction at 9 & 9:30 p.m. and Toddlers & Tiaras at 10 p.m.
History (720p) has 10.0 Megaquake at 9 p.m.
TBS (10Ȱi) has House of Payne at 9 & 9:30 p.m.
ESPN (720p) has college basketball with Pittsburgh/Georgetown at 7 p.m. and Duke/Florida State at 9 p.m.
ESPN2 (720p) has college basketball with Louisville/Villanova at 7 p.m., Kansas/Iowa State at 9 p.m. and Nevada/Idaho at 11 p.m.
After many years of waiting we’ll finally get to experience Formula 1 racing the way we should, in high definition. Sky Deutschland and the BBC have already confirmed they will carry the new HD feed, and formula One Management has confirmed it will be available to all host broadcasters and will include all track sessions in 42 Mb/s MPEG-2 form. The widescreen PAL feed we’ve been watching has been good enough to fool a few into believing what they saw on Speed HD and others was true HD, but we can’t wait to see the difference when the season kicks off.
The wintry storm has us longing for the sunnier climes of Las Vegas. While we can't physically go back, we can reminisce with a recast of our first-ever live CES webcast from last Friday.
Watch the recorded version of our CES panel and tell us what you think in the comments section below. We'd be especially interested to know if you, our readers and audience, would like to see us do more of these kind of Web shows on a regular basis. So feel free to send us your feedback!
And to ensure you don't miss the latest (including live Web-based broadcasts) from Consumer Reports, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Verizon will soon offer a version of the Apple iPad tablet that’s specifically designed to work on its network, reported Bloomberg Businessweek yesterday. No word yet on pricing or timing.
According to the story, Francis Shammo, CFO of Verizon Communications (parent of the wireless unit), said in an interview that the coming Verizon iPads will contain an embedded chip that allows them to connect directly to the carrier’s network. The carrier does currently sell the iPad, but users must use an external Wi-Fi device in order to connect via Verizon.
While it held off from integrating Google TV into its new Smart TV platform, Samsung is apparently testing the platform in two upcoming products: a new Blu-ray player and a separate set-top box. As we previously reported, LG will also be introducing a set-top box, called the Smart TV upgrader, for its Smart TV platform, though it doesn’t support Google TV.
At CES, Samsung didn’t reveal many details about the new products, which will let users surf the Web and access other online content using Google’s Android operating system and its Chrome browser. One reason, perhaps, is that Google is reportedly updating the Google TV software following a lukewarm reception to the first products to integrate it.
Both the new Blu-ray player and set-top box will bring Internet access and other Web-based content to TVs that currently lack it. They will include a variety of Internet apps and services and come with a newly developed remote control with a full QWERTY keyboard and the ability to search using voice commands, thanks to an integrated microphone.
Pricing for the new devices wasn’t revealed, but the company said prices would be available in the first half of this year. We’ll be interested to see what new Google TV features will be included in the device, and whether Samsung moves to adopt Google TV more broadly in its other Web-enabled devices.
While we still wait for the Oscar hopefuls to hit Blu-ray, we might stop and enjoy one of the two 3D titels this week such as the day and date Piranha 3D or The Universe: 7 Wonders of the Solar System. 3D not your thing, well then perhaps you prefer the classics? Good thing for you there are a few to enjoy for the first time all over again in HD, like Dances with Wolves, The Endless Summer, Once Upon a Time in America or even the 30th anniversary of Raging Bull.
The Verizon Wireless iPhone 4 has plenty in its favor, especially compared with its AT&T sibling. But it may be quickly replaced by a newer, cooler version more quickly than is customary even for the die-young life expectancy of most smart phones.
That's our bottom line on the new device, which launches on February 10. Here's a detailed scorecard of the good, bad, and unknown about Verizon's newest phone.
Pluses:
It's on a fine carrier. Where AT&T was the lowest-rated carrier by readers in our latest annual survey of cell-phone service, Verizon remains among the most satisfying (among the major providers that offer contract service).
It adds new capabilities, at least for an iPhone. The AT&T iPhone can't be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot to provide other devices with a data connection, but the Verizon version can—and will serve up to 5 devices.
Drawbacks:
It's middle-aged. The Verizon iPhone 4 is essentially a retooling of the AT&T version, made to work on the Verizon's CDMA network technology rather than the GSM technology used by AT&T. With Apple likely to ship a new iPhone generation in June or July, as it always has for the iPhone, this is a transitional phone to tide Verizon through until the summer.
The smart phone market has changed in ways that make the iPhone 4 show its age. It works on third-generation data network at a time when carriers—Verizon among them—have launched faster 4G networks and phones that work on them. And the iPhone 4 has a 3.5-inch screen in an era where the number of smart phones with 4-inch-plus screens has swelled.
It suffers CDMA's shortcomings. Because it uses this network technology, the Verizon iPhone 4 will lacks a few tricks that GSM phones, including the AT&T, can do. You can't simultaneously access the Web and place a voice call on a CDMA phone. And where you can use GSM phones with relative ease in much of the world, the same isn't true of CDMA phones, which won't automatically roam onto wireless networks abroad.
Question marks:
The pricing for iPhone 4 plans. The Verizon phone will cost the same to buy as the AT&T version, but the cost of service for the device was not announced. We expect, however, that Verizon will use the phone's launch to make its promised switch from unlimited data plans to the tiered or metered plans now used by AT&T.
That may not necessarily mean higher costs for data than with an unlimited plan; the AT&T metered plans actually lowered bills for many users, according to our analysis.
The new phone's reception performance. There's reason to expect that the retooling of the iPhone 4 for CDMA has remedied the signal-loss problems we experienced under some conditions with the AT&T version of the phone. But the phone's antenna remains external, like that of the AT&T iPhone 4, and we plan to test the Verizon version for signal loss to confirm that there are indeed no such issues with it.
Whether Verizon's network will be up to an onslaught of iPhones. Verizon says it's ready for the data demands of the iPhone. And the company is starting from a strong position, according to the satisfaction data from our latest survey of readers about their cell phone experiences. In almost every city we surveyed, Verizon received top scores for satisfaction with data service, while AT&T received the lowest.
But a few factors may affect Verizon's ability to deal with the additional impact a boatload of iPhone users may have on its network. For one thing, some iPhone owners are data hogs, with consumption that's significantly above owners of many other smart phones. If a lot of folks jump ship from AT&T, in addition to the new iPhone users who've held off from buying one till now, that could impact Verizon's service. We'll be especially curious to note any change among our readers in Verizon's data performance, when we compile next year's cell-phone satisfaction survey.
Bottom line: You may want snap up this new offering if you've been waiting breathlessly for the iPhone to come to Verizon and don't much care about 4G speed, a bigger screen, or other features found on current cutting-edge phones. Or if you're prepared to pay an early termination fee to trade in the Verizon iPhone 4 for its successor when it appears.
The less iPhone-addicted consumer, on the other hand, may want to hold off for a newer version of the iPhone before even considering whether to buy one.
CES is over so we’re back at home and back on our regular podcasting schedule including a live audience. Check in with us while we recap the madness from Las Vegas and some of the biggest developments of the week that was, from ultrawidescreen TVs to Media Center to Slingbox, it’s all waiting for you to press the play button.
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…The new Goggles 1.3 client for Android can scan barcodes almost instantly. All versions of Goggles can now recognize print ads in popular magazines and newspapers. Finally, Goggles has also learned a fun new trick for Sudoku fans.
Amazon Promotes Gold Box Daily Deals With New iPhone App (TechCrunch)
…Called Amazon Deals, the free app features the daily deals listed on Amazon Gold Box. Consumers can browse deals, shop directly from the app itself and also receive notifications if certain products go on sale.
Farewell to Coupon Clipping? New Location-Enabled Grocery Coupons Alert You at the Store (ReadWriteWeb)
…Now, instead of browsing through the newspaper for coupons to clip, you can opt to receive a real-time alert on your mobile device of the coupons available to you, as you enter the grocery store itself.
…To help make today’s young scientists the rock stars of tomorrow, in partnership with CERN, The LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American, we’re introducing the first global online science competition: the Google Science Fair. It’s open to students around the world who are between the ages of 13-18. All you need is access to a computer, the Internet and a web browser.
Health IT Sees Key Market In Family Caregivers (InformationWeek)
Mobile devices, personal health records are among technologies most valued by people caring for elderly or disabled family members, finds survey released at CES.
Social media on full display in wake of Gabrielle Giffords shooting (Tucson Citizen)
…If it was not already obvious, it should now be crystal clear to Tucsonans how news coverage has changed. The flow of words is immediate, and that has implications, some more obvious than others.
About Digital Dirk's Dispatches Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, sifts through hundreds of blog posts and news articles daily to bring you the Digital Dispatch—a compilation of the most important and interesting tech news for consumers. If you have a tip on a story you want to share, leave a comment below.
What we’re watching tonight:
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