television

Apple's much-expected TV set effort could truly be a big-screen affair, with a new report that says the company is gunning for a set beyond 40 inches in size.

In a story tracking the landscape of connected TV sets, ahead of next week's Consumer Electronics Show, USA Today notes that all eyes are on Apple to jump in the race, despite the fact that the company doesn't plan to be at the annual event.

The interesting tidbit comes from an unnamed source who worked at Apple, and told USA Today that "Apple is said to be … Read more

Netflix ended an exceedingly difficult 2011 by announcing a big number.

The company said earlier today that during the fourth quarter of 2011, more than 2 billion hours of television shows and movies were streamed by users across 45 countries.

Unknown, however, is how that compares to prior quarters. "We haven't made that comparison but suffice it to say 2 billion hours is a big number and a high mark," a company spokesman said.

In October, Sandvine reported that Netflix accounted for nearly one-third of peak downstream traffic in the U.S., making it a bigger bandwidth … Read more

Looks like LG has already given up its TV goodies for CES 2012.

First, it said it's bringing the world's largest (at least for now) 55-inch OLED TV, and now along for the ride is an 84-inch 3D ultra-defiinition 4K TV, another world's largest.

The 3D UDTV has four times the "resolution clarity" of a full HDTV (3,840x2,160 versus 1,920x1,080 pixels), which is nice and it apparently will make LG's 3D experience that much better. The extra resolution won't matter much for consumers right now, though, because you'll … Read more

It's not every day you can claim making the largest of the thinnest TV screens on the planet--which is precisely why LG is drumming up excitement for its 55-inch OLED TV panel at CES 2012.

What's the big deal? The 5-millimeter-thick display is light, pencil-thin, and promises high definition with no after image--that motion-induced blur you may see in an LCD screen. In addition, it boasts a contrast ratio of over 100,000:1.

What's more, LG is setting up a stepped-up pricing war, strongly hinting that its world's-largest OLED display won't cost an arm … Read more

It's not too late to walk into a store and walk out with a sweet present.

To wit: Best Buy has the Dynex DX-32E250A12 32-inch LCD HDTV for $199.99 plus tax. If you're not in a hurry, or don't have a Best Buy near you, shipping is free!

This isn't an all-time low, but it's close. Last month, Amazon was selling a 32-inch Haier model for the same price--but that one is now up to $250. (And speaking of last month, did anybody score that 42-inch Sharp HDTV for $199 on Black Friday?)

Anyway, … Read more

Launched on August 1, 1981, with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star," MTV had a huge impact on 1980s pop culture.

Before MTV arrived, music programming was mostly limited to bands playing a song or two on the late-night talk shows or "Saturday Night Live." Amazingly enough, most big cities' cable providers weren't on board for the MTV launch; NYC and LA didn't offer the network until 1982. MTV's "I want my MTV!" ad campaigns helped rectify the situation, but MTV's initial rise was painfully slow. The network went … Read more

It's the end of the year show! And we celebrate that, and Hanukkah, with a very special Rumor Has It today.

Instead of rounding up the week's hottest rumors, we've rounded up the year's hottest rumors. Bam! And we bet you can guess what's on our list.

We cover the ones that did come true, the ones that didn't, and the ones that were so annoying, we wanted to scream. Why won't some of these rumors ever die? At least they keep us in business.

What was your top rumor that did come true, didn't come true, or annoyed you to death? Let us know in the comments.

We don't have a show next week, but tune back in January 3, 2012 (!), for the first Humiliation Day of the year. Augh! … Read more

As 2011 draws to a close, Apple has once again decided to take a look back at some of the top content on iTunes this year.

Dubbed iTunes Rewind, the roundup lists, among other content, the top-selling movies, apps, books, and music during the year, as well as Apple staff's top picks in each category.

Apple doesn't provide sales figures in Rewind, and it's worth noting that its lists are based solely on iTunes sales. But it still provides solid insight into what we were interested in this year.

Read on to find out which shows, movies, … Read more

Could you imagine watching football and not being able to see crucial moments played back again?

Well, thanks to CBS Sports, none of us ever has to miss a play. Forty-eight years ago on December 7, 1963, CBS made sports tech history as it introduced the first-ever instant replay during the Army-Navy football game. Before that, all viewers at home could see was the real-time action, as captured by one camera. There were no highlights, no zoom in, and no slow motion. It was a long, drawn-out viewing experience.

Looking for a way to change that and to help viewers … Read more