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Exclusive deals make 3D TV audience even smaller

NEW YORK--Just having the latest and greatest 3D-enabled TV won't guarantee you a virtual court-side seat this weekend when CBS Sports broadcasts the U.S. Open tennis tournament in 3D. You'll also have to subscribe to DirecTV's satellite TV service.

Avid sports fans can now feel like they're part of the action in their own living rooms thanks to 3D TV broadcasts of live sporting events, such as the U.S. Open. But exclusive distribution deals limit who gets to see what.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Tennis Association, which hosts the U.S. Open and … Read more

The 404 653: Where we smell a Mo Wood rant (podcast)

Molly Wood is back in New York for a new Web show on CBS called Eye on Parenting, so of course we invite her on the show to chat with us about Gmail voice calling, the new Digg layout, and an ironic Twitter post from Gizmodo's Brian Lam that segues into a live in-person Molly rant!

Google just announced that it's adding the ability to place real live phone calls and send text messages straight from your Gmail window. Internet calling isn't new by any means, but where you formerly had to arrange a specific time to … Read more

Comic-Con fandemonium!

CBS recently crossed into a new fan frontier with its first-ever booth and extensive presence at Comic-Con. For the uninitiated, Comic-Con is a wildly popular comic-book convention that's been drawing huge crowds for decades. In recent years, the four-day consumer event in San Diego has broadened its offering to also include horror, sci-fi, movies, television, and online entertainment.

People from everywhere flock to see the coolest comics and costumes, to sample movie and TV previews, to snag exclusive giveaways, and to get a glimpse of their favorite stars. Attendees are passionate entertainment lovers in the truest sense: they spend … Read more

BlackBerry Torch on the horizon

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Research in Motion unveils the Torch Android overtakes iPhone in smartphone market CBS content finally coming to Hulu? Connecticut Attorney General warns Amazon, Apple over e-book prices Mac Office 2011 gets a release date

The 404 615: Where we let the bedbugs bite (podcast)

New York has the highest bedbug infestation rates out of any city in the States, but the latest invasion at our sister CBS building here in New York City has us all feeling terribly itchy this morning.

Well, it's either that or all the McDonalds breakfast we consumed for our annual Eat-McDonalds-right-before-the-4th-of-July-3-day-weekend holiday. Check out this Youtube video of our trip that Wilson shot, edited, and uploaded all on his new iPhone 4!

Always the smart one on the show, Jeff went for the sausage, egg and cheese sandwich, while Wilson took two bites of his breakfast burrito and … Read more

Introducing the CBS Attic

"The distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." -- Albert Einstein

One of the ways we envision the future is by taking clues from the past. As marketers and entertainment aficionados ourselves, the team at CBS enjoys collecting, studying, and learning from media artifacts. The conference room in our New York headquarters is regaled with all kinds of television goodies--from vintage advertisements, televisions, and radios to boxes of TV tubes to classic TV Guide magazines from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. It's a treasure trove of information and memorabilia that we lovingly … Read more

An up-close look at the CBS 'Upfront'

Recently, those in the television and advertising communities celebrated the "upfronts." For anyone unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the third week of May each year when the television networks host massive presentations in New York City to introduce their new shows and fall schedules to the advertising community.

Upfront presentations are so named because they kick off the upfront buying season, when advertisers can buy commercial time in advance for the new season, negotiating for the shows and the rates.

Just as geeks and analysts hold their breath to see what amazing new devices will be … Read more

The 404 588: Where the pain in Spain is mainly a stock market drain (podcast)

Jill Schlesinger of CBS MoneyWatch is back on the show today to talk to us about all things financial and technological in a way that only Aunt Jill can.

First up, we get to Twitter and social networks. A few weeks ago, Jill met with our bosses upstairs and the first question out of their mouths wasn't "How are you doing?" but rather, "have you broken a thousand Twitter followers?" Strange times that Twitter followers equals your worth to the company, but it's true. If you want to help Jill, you can follow her … Read more

Google offered Viacom $592 million for content

Not long after Google acquired YouTube, the search engine offered nearly $600 million in guaranteed revenue if Viacom--the parent company of MTV Networks, Comedy Central, and Paramount Pictures--licensed its TV shows and films to YouTube, records show.

News of Google's offer was revealed in documents released on Friday by a Manhattan federal court and reviewed by CNET. In March 2007, Viacom filed a copyright lawsuit against Google and YouTube and it has become one of the most watched legal disputes in the tech sector.

In a deposition given by Google co-founder Larry Page on October 1, 2009, a Viacom … Read more