Tag Archives: 2012LondonOlympics

Must See HDTV (August 6th – 12th)

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Must See HDTV August 6th 12th

This week continues to be all about the London 2012 Olympics, with most shows diving out of the way of NBC's ratings juggernaut. We do have a few premiers and several season finales though, so give the schedule a close look to make sure you don't miss a favorite's wrap-up. Also on deck is a healthy slate of preseason football, while we've got most of the national broadcasts listed, you'll want to keep an eye out for your local team. Also worth noting? A slew of flicks hitting Blu-ray this week including personal favorites Clue and Adventures in Babysitting. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

Olympics
For a second week in a row, it's all about the Olympics, in one way or another. Either you're watching and keeping up with early starting schedules from London or you're not watching, and your favorite summer shows are on hiatus. No matter which side you're on, things wrap up this weekend with the Closing Ceremony, although not soon enough for NBC to try to slipstream two sitcom premieres off of the Games' popularity with Go On and Animal Practice.
(All Week, NBC & NBCOlympics.com)

Shark Week
Discovery's Shark Week kicks off its 25th year Sunday night with two specials,including Air Jaws Apocalypse and Impossible Shot. This time around the big hook is internet integration since it's hosted by "internet celebrity" Philip DeFranco, has tie-ins with Discovery's iPad app for second screen info, and encourages voting on the Facebook / Twitter page to determine what the robotic Sharkzilla will crush next. Whatever, as long as they bring the sharks, we'll always be there.
(August 12th, Discovery, 9PM)

Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell
Produced by Chris Rock, this comedy series has been pushed as hard by FC as NBC is pushing its new premieres for the week, but with Chris Rock as a producer and the network's track record (Louie, Wilfred -- we'll forget Brand X and the Charlie Sheen show) we actually might check it out. Six episodes long, its run begins this week broadcasting Bell's commentary and sketch comedy -- check out a quick behind the scenes look embedded after the break.

Continue reading Must See HDTV (August 6th - 12th)

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Must See HDTV (August 6th - 12th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Must See HDTV (July 31st – August 5th)

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Must See HDTV July 31st August 5th

London 2012 Olympics
If TV broadcast tape delay and streaming restricted to pay-TV subscribers isn't entirely ruining your experience, the first week of the 2012 Games has started off with a bang. There's plenty of sporting action to go around and the world records have already started falling. Live coverage is early in the day for US time zones, while NBC is keeping some of the more anticipated events off TV and only online until its prime time airing later.

For viewers we have a few tips, like using Google to search Olympics + [sport] to get a minute by minute schedule of the events in your local time so you don't miss 'em on the live stream. Also, check your cable or satellite provider, most have expanded options to help you catch all the sports, while Cox and DirecTV are doing the multiview thing, Comcast has added Olympics specifics filters to its remote apps, and Time Warner Cable has added more channels to its streaming iPad app.
(All week, NBC channels and online)

Total Recall (Mind-Bending Edition)
The Paul Verhoeven / Arnold Schwarzenegger classic is back on Blu-ray and should be better looking this time around. So, why opt for this one instead of a ticket to the remake this weekend? Beyond the obvious reasons, it's also cheaper, currently listed at $7.99 on Amazon.
($7.99 on Amazon)

NFL Preseason
It's finally time for football again, and while it's just preseason action, we'll be ready to see the Saints take on the Cardinals Sunday night from Canton Ohio. Also worth checking out, the HOF induction ceremony Saturday night as DB Jack Butler, C Dermontti Dawson, DE Chris Doleman, DT Cortez Kennedy, RB Curtis Martin and T Willie Roaf take their place among the other all-time greats.
(August 5th, NFL Network, 8PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (July 31st - August 5th)

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Must See HDTV (July 31st - August 5th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yahoo shows off Beyond Gold Olympics app for its connected HDTVs

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Yahoo show off Beyond Gold Olympics app for its connected HDTVs

While NBC has already shown off its official Olympics apps for mobile devices, Yahoo is readying an onscreen companion app for connected TVs built on its widgets. While smart TV platforms and boxes are practically everywhere, Yahoo's is built into HDTVs from several manufacturers, and the app is available for TVs from Sony, Vizio, Samsung and Toshiba. It gives users access to Yahoo Sports coverage with video, news and analysis including daily updates on the games and a real-time medal count. If you have a TV with the Yahoo Connected TV store, it should be just a few clicks of the remote away, and content updates are scheduled to start coming in early next week. We're still waiting to see the second screen action we previewed at CES put to use, but maybe this event is just the reminder the world needed that this is on more TVs than Google's effort and actually exists unlike the often-rumored Apple HDTV.

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Yahoo shows off Beyond Gold Olympics app for its connected HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 06:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NBC lays out 2012 London Olympics broadcast plan on TV, internet, apps and in 3D (video)

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NBC lays out 2012 London Olympics broadcast plan on TV, internet, apps and in 3D

Love it or hate it, we're stuck with NBC as our Olympics broadcaster in the US, and the company recently laid out its full plans for the 2012 Olympics in London this summer. The good news first: NBCOlympics.com will live stream every single event (they'll even be on YouTube, and in the UK the BBC has its own plans) for the first time ever including streams of each of its channels, encompassing 3,500 total hours and the awarding of all 302 medals. The bad news is that if you're not a cable subscriber, many of those hours will not be available to you, and even if you are, you're looking at a (likely convoluted) authentication sign-in process. That's a little bit of pain, sure, but it should mean what we've been asking for -- the ability to watch all Olympics events as they happen, not tape delayed for prime time after viewing grainy bootleg streams over the internet. Also new for the internet are multiple streams for the same event, so for example, viewers can select a particular gymnastics apparatus or track and field event at will.

On mobile devices, NBC also has plans for two different apps on phones and tablets, with one that brings live video streams and another with highlight clips. It didn't specify what platforms they would be available for, but we'd assume the usual suspects (iOS, Android) will be first up. On pay-TV cable, satellite and telco providers it's also providing dedicated channels for basketball and soccer, although it's up to your provider to pick them up. The same goes for the 242 planned hours of 3D coverage it's producing in partnership with Panasonic, which will unfortunately air on 24 hour tape delay, just like the HD broadcast was back in 2004 (we've got chips.... and salsa!). For the full breakdown of all 5,535 hours of coverage across NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo and everything else check out the press release after the break, plus an Olympics preview trailer. While there are some limits for cord cutters, sports fans with pay-TV should be ready to experience the best Olympics coverage ever with the ability to watch what we want, instead just what's on the TV schedule.

Continue reading NBC lays out 2012 London Olympics broadcast plan on TV, internet, apps and in 3D (video)

NBC lays out 2012 London Olympics broadcast plan on TV, internet, apps and in 3D (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 May 2012 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Samsung giving free Olympics tickets to early Galaxy S III buyers at London store, hopes you’ll vault the queue

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Are you a Londoner so taken with the Galaxy S III that you want to pre-order one before you've even held an in-store dummy unit? Samsung wants to give you a little something something for your eagerness: namely, Olympics tickets. The first 50 who pre-order the giant phone and pick it up at the Westfield Stratford City store on May 29th will get free passes to watch the home team run and leap its way towards a few medals. If you're hoping to claim the reward, though, be prepared to get into the kinds of lines that Samsung skewered in ads just a few months ago. Customers are being asked to show an hour ahead of the 6PM on-sale moment, and the limited slots for ticket winners could easily Samsung repeat its sale-driven Australian lineups in the northern hemisphere. There's no word yet on whether or not the promo will make the leap to Mobile Pin pop-up stores, but we wouldn't be surprised if Samsung spreads the perks around.

PSA: Samsung giving free Olympics tickets to early Galaxy S III buyers at London store, hopes you'll vault the queue originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 16:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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O2 UK offers Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y in Olympics versions, S Javelin sadly missing

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Are you so enthused with the 2012 Olympics that special tablets and non-stop TV coverage won't fully scratch the itch? O2 UK is letting you flaunt your British competitive pride every time you check Twitter by selling Olympic editions of Samsung's Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y. Either comes with a choice to drape your Android gear in a Union Jack or the Team Great Britain logo. If cosmetic patriotism isn't enough, O2 is making it meaningful by contributing £1 from every sale to future athlete training along with giving a chance to win two tickets to attend the London games, a special event and even the training camp. The bundles are ready to go now, although we're slightly bummed that there isn't an extra-long S Pen to commemorate the javelin toss or pole vault.

O2 UK offers Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Y in Olympics versions, S Javelin sadly missing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC chief Peter Chou to run Olympic torch relay, invade hostile territory

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Peter Chou of HTC

The Summer Olympics in London are quickly turning into mobile-themed games: along with Samsung's official role in handling mobile payments, HTC is now stepping up with its own, if modest, contribution to the athletic get-together. CEO Peter Chou will be one of the Olympic torchbearers and carry the flame on July 6th, three weeks before the opening ceremony in Stratford. Officials say the torch run is to honor Chou's contribution to the mobile industry and the benefit he represents to Taiwan, although we can imagine that Chou wouldn't mind crashing a Samsung party with a torch in one hand and a One X in the other. He may just want to steer clear of Samsung's Mobile Pin stores while he's at it.

HTC chief Peter Chou to run Olympic torch relay, invade hostile territory originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 22:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung and Visa pull the starting trigger on Olympic payment collaboration

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Samsung and Visa pull the starting trigger on Olympic payment collaboration

Well, it's been no secret that Samsung was hoping to cash in on this summer's Olympic fever. In fact, we all but knew its latest and greatest smartphone was going to be the handset-maker's Olympic Games Phone. Today, however, the union has been made official via an announcement with Visa. Trialists and Athletes sponsored by the brands will have access to a special edition "showcase device" with Visa's payWave payment application onboard. The collaboration is, of course, a drive to push the penetration of contactless payments in both the UK and the world stage. Payments under £20 won't need a passcode, and users will also be able to check their balance and purchase history from the app. It's estimated there'll be about 140,000 contactless terminals in the country by the time the Olympic tanks roll in, so plenty of places to pick up that official merch for the family back home.

Continue reading Samsung and Visa pull the starting trigger on Olympic payment collaboration

Samsung and Visa pull the starting trigger on Olympic payment collaboration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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