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Boxee TV is already beginning to show up at Wal-Mart, and now there's a good reason to head there sooner, rather than later.

Boxee has released some additional promotional details for early adopters of Boxee TV. If you purchase a Boxee TV during the holiday season, you'll get three months of free month of "No Limits DVR" service, plus you'll get a reduced $10 monthly fee for the lifetime of your subscription.

Early adopters will also get three months of free Netflix, for both new and current subscribers; if you're a current subscriber, three … Read more

The official length of last week's thrilling Giants-Cowboys game was 3 hours and 25 minutes, although by my calculations there was only an hour of football worth watching.

That's not commentary on the quality of the game, but rather the endless stream of commercials, "analysis," and challenges that end up taking twice as long the actual football action. For DVR users accustomed to zipping past every commercial, watching a live NFL game can be an unbearable slog, even if the game itself is great. That's why I gave up watching NFL in real time years … Read more

The Walt Disney Co. has announced plans to make "Star Wars VII" for release in 2015, but it has yet to announce who the director will be.

Meanwhile, George Lucas will stay on as a creative consultant at Lucasfilm and the now-Disney-owned company will now be run by mega-producer Kathleen Kennedy.

But are you looking forward to a new movie? The second trilogy wasn't well-received by critics -- or long-term fans -- both of whom complained that Lucas had lost touch with his audience, with creations like Jar Jar Binks as exhibit A.… Read more

The Consumer Electronics Association has decided on a name for 4K resolution: Ultra HD. I guess this leaves room for future resolution increases, with names like Uber Ultra HD (UUHD), Super Ultra Definition (SUD), and, of course, Fantastic Ultra Brilliant Amazing Resolution (FUBAR).

But 4K is still largely just an increase in resolution, which is only one aspect of picture quality, and not the most important.

Here are three things more important than an increase in resolution.… Read more

Streaming video may be the epitome of instant gratification, but that's only after you actually find the content you're looking for. You may know you want to watch "True Grit," but it's not easy to remember whether it's available on Netflix, Amazon Instant, or any of the other countless services available.

That's exactly the problem the newly announced Roku Search is designed to fix.

The feature upgrade will allow owners of Roku boxes to search for TV and movies available on Netflix, Amazon Instant, Vudu, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and HBO Go via one simple interface. The Roku Search channel will be rolling out to supported players (Roku LT, Roku HD and Roku 2 boxes) over the week and sits right next to the settings menu on Roku's home screen.… Read more

Even after two articles, and a tremendous number of page hits, there still seems to be lots of questions about HDMI cables. I credit this to the complexity of the topic and the mountain of misinformation out there, rather than any particular failing of the writing on my part. Judge as you see fit.

But the fact is, a recent reposting of my original article lit off a bevy of new questions. Instead of expanding on that already bloated article, I figured a new one would be a better idea.

On to 3D, 1.3/1.4, getting physical, and more...… Read more

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime stopped by CNET's New York office on Thursday to talk about the company's upcoming console launch, the Wii U. The system marks the first new home gaming hardware introduced to the U.S. market in six years.

The Wii U also represents a major shift in strategy for Nintendo, deviating from the strict games-only design of previous systems. The Wii U will not only be just for playing games, but also controlling your TV and discovering and streaming other content from the Internet.… Read more

It's best not to watch that freaky, edge-of-your-seat slasher flick with a full bladder. But pee happens -- and sometimes it's hard to anticipate nature's call before settling in at the multiplex. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to miss a key scene (or screw it up for your aisle-mates) when you darted to the bathroom?

Fear not, cinephiles -- there's an app for that.

It's called RunPee, and fortunately it has nothing to do with marking your trail to find your way home from your morning jog.… Read more

The display format formerly known as 4K will now be called "Ultra High Definition" in the home, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced in California today.

The CEA said it chose Ultra HD to denote that it has a higher resolution than the existing 1,920x1,080 pixels of full high definition.

To qualify as Ultra HD, a display needs to have a resolution of at least 3,840 pixels horizontally and at least 2,160 pixels vertically, the CEA said. Additionally, the product will require at least one 4K-capable digital input and display 4K content natively without … Read more