LG‘s upcoming OLED TV panel measures 55 inches and comes with a contrast ratio of over 100,000:1, the company has announced.
The panel is also just 5 mm thin and has a color gamut that is “wider” than that produced by LCD panels. All of these characteristics make it a candidate for bringing OLED TV technology to the masses in a market that’s still dominated by LCDs.
“Although OLED technology is seen as the future of TV display, the technology has been limited to smaller display sizes and by high costs, until now. LG Display’s 55-inch OLED TV panel has overcome these barriers,” said Sang Beom Han, CEO and Executive Vice President of LG Display.
Of course, we’ll hear more of this panel at the next CES, along with those WiDi-supporting CINEMA 3D Smart TVs LG has announced earlier this month.
When we discovered last week that zombies account for $5.74 billion of the U.S. economy, we weren’t surprised to see The Walking Dead top the cable list for most social TV show. Now if only zombies cared as much about money as they do brains…
The following chart breaks down the stats on the TV shows with the most social buzz. Be sure to check in every Monday for new social TV stats by following the “Social TV Charts” topic. Then sound off in the comments below why you think shows like Bad Girls Club jumped to spot number three this week. We’ll admit, we’re stumped.
The data below is compliments of our friends at Trendrr, who measure specific TV show activity (mentions, likes, checkins) across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and Miso. To see daily rankings, check out Trendrr.TV
In the opening moments of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, the second part of Abigail Disney’s PBS series Women, War & Peace, peace activist and social worker Leymah Gbowee breaks down the impact the war in Liberia has had on her family, remarking, “My children had been hungry and afraid their entire lives.”
In a film full of remarkable statements, this one struck me as being particularly poignant. The film chronicles the work of the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. Organized by Gbowee, this movement brought together thousands of women from across religions to petition for change and an end to war. It worked. Not only is the movement credited with ending the Second Liberian Civil War, it led to the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as president of Liberia, the first female head of state in Africa.
Gbowee, Sirleaf and Tawakkul Karman were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in peace-building and women’s rights advocacy.
At a breakfast earlier this week, I had a chance to ask Gbowee some questions about her journey, the importance of technology and the impact the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement has had on younger generations.
In the western world, we often take for granted the ubiquitous nature of connectivity and technology. In Liberia, activists like Gbowee had to get the word out to other women via radio and word of mouth.
The biggest limitation right now for women in areas like Africa and other parts of the developing world is the lack of access to technology. Beyond just not having the technical resources, women in these countries also don’t have education or experience using these devices.
Gbowee said that those of us in the western world — and she made a point to say that this has to go beyond the U.S. — need to look at investing in places without technology. The first step is assessing the needs, the existing setups and the goals in each area.
Setting a Better Example for Young Women
Gbowee also expressed to me the importance that those of us — especially women — who do have access to technology are using that technology responsibly.
Setting a good example for women all over the world and not simply “parading themselves over YouTube” is a good start. The more young girls in the developed world can embrace the positive, the better shot media as a whole has at “reversing the trend of negative portrayals of women.”
She went on to say that these sorts of positive influences could empower women in a whole new way.
The Internet is now the main national and international news source for people ages 18 to 29, a study from the Pew Research Center reports.
In 2010, 65% of people younger than 30 cited the Internet as their go-to source for news, nearly doubling from 34% in 2007. The number who consider television as their main news source dropped from 68% to 52% during that time.
Of all 1,500 American adults surveyed, 41% say they get their national and international news from the Internet, up 17% from 2007. Sixty-six percent cite television — down from 74% — indicating the trend is spreading among other age groups.
Forty-eight percent of those 30-59 cite the Internet as their main news source, up from 32% in 2007, while television went down from 71% to 63%. Though the number of those in the 51-64 age group who consider television their main news source (71%) is about the same, those who turn to the Internet (34%) is nearly equal to the number who cite newspapers (38%). The amount of people 65 and older who get their news from the Internet has risen from 5% to 14%, but television remains the chief source for 79% of respondents.
These numbers fall in line with the rise of the personalized news stream online. Both Facebook’s News Feed and Twitter launched in summer 2006 but didn’t catch on until 2007. Both sites have seen explosive growth since 2008. Tweet counts have increased from 5,000 daily in 2007 to 90 million daily in 2010, while Facebook went from 30 million users in 2007 to more than 500 million users today.
In addition, the television viewership culture has shifted in the past few years. Between media streaming services on the web and, more recently, Internet-TV connection devices like Roku and Boxee, people have more viewing options than ever before. With the ability to personalize what news and entertainment you consume, these television watching methods have become more desirable for many.
Which is your preferred news source? Internet or television? Tell us in the comments below.
Kimmel used Wednesday’s episode of his Jimmy Kimmel Live show to declare November 17, 2010 National UnFriend Day [NUD] — a new holiday he hopes will inspire Facebook users to unfriend the social networking contacts that aren’t real friends.
Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel believes Facebook is cheapening the meaning of friendship.
“NUD is the international day when all Facebook users shall protect the sacred nature of friendship by cutting out any ‘friend fat’ on their pages occupied by people who are not truly their friends,” according to the show’s website.
Admittedly, Facebook friending does seem to be out of control. Facebook was once the social networking site we chose over MySpace to connect with our real friends; but over the years, many of us have accumulated dozens, if not hundreds, of Facebook friends that are, in fact, not actually our friends.
Kimmel may have a point, but this rather funny joke of a holiday seems to be more a late night comedy sketch than an event manufactured out of real concern for the status of friendship. Still, National UnFriend Day is good natured — at least for those not being unfriended — and we might even take the day to cut some friend fat of our own.
Netflix just added a streaming-only subscription plan for some U.S. customers. It costs at least $7.99 per month and it gives you all the Watch Instantly content you can handle, but it doesn’t include any DVD rentals.
It appears to be available only to a few customers at present, as we’re not able to see a streaming-only plan on our account or when creating a new one. But tech blog Engadgetclaims that many of its writers are able to access the plans, albeit (strangely) at different prices. On one computer they’re offered a streaming-only plan for $7.99 per month, but on another it’s $8.99.
In either case, it appears that this test also brings a bump in DVD rental plan prices. The existing $8.99, $13.99 and $16.99 plans (for one DVD, two and three, respectively) have all gone up one dollar, presumably either to differentiate the DVD and streaming plans or even to subsidize streaming users.
As is the case with existing accounts, these streaming accounts work not just on your computer but through Netflix-enabled devices like Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and others, and the Starz library is included.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said on a few occasions that he believes Netflix will ultimately be a streaming company. With enhancements to the experience on PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and iPhone along with these new streaming plans, the company is getting closer to that reality.
It already exclusively offers streaming plans in Canada, its first market outside of the United States. No word yet on when the plans will roll out for all U.S. customers.
Netflix could pay up to one billion dollars for the rights to stream recently-released feature films from Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount in a deal with cable movie channel upstart Epix.
The Los Angeles Times says the deal has been discussed for months but it’s still facing a few hurdles. Not the least of these is the fact that cable providers (which Epix is fighting an uphill battle to woo) would be less inclined to carry Epix if it also offers its content online outside of its own private portal.
However, Epix might do well to place its bets on online media instead of traditional cable in general if it’s in this for the long haul.
If the deal goes through, the LA Times claims it will last five years, help Epix meet its goal of breaking even in 2011 and retain movie studios’ option to also sell and rent their films on iTunes even as they’re showing on Epix. Competing movie channel HBO doesn’t give its partners the same options.
Films currently on Epix include Iron Man, Star Trek, Saw VI, The Cove, and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Epix has also tried making original material, including a Steve Jobs parody created by a Seinfeld writer.
The LA Times report doesn’t clarify whether or not all titles available on Epix will also be available on Netflix. Netflix could definitely use the influx of current, mainstream movies; many of the Hollywood blockbusters it streams today are provided by a similar deal with the cable movie channel Starz.
We had a chance to visit the Dream House in Los Angeles that the cast of Simon Fuller’s Hulu reality show If I Can Dream calls home. We got a sneak peak at the significant technology powering the show as well as a tour of the house from the talent themselves.
We’ve been following the If I Can Dream project since its inception as the first direct-to-Hulu original series. The show, helmed by the creator of American Idol, follows the lives of a group of young Hollywood hopefuls as they navigate the trials and tribulations of the entertainment industry.
Earlier, we got a chance to see firsthand how the series is put together at the show’s DREAM Studio command center; we also got to meet the cast and find out a bit about what it’s like to live a life online and on camera 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Check out the video below for a window into the technology integrated into both the Dream House (including the Twitter TV!) as well as the Ford Fiesta used by the cast to whisk them off to rehearsals, acting classes, gigs, photo shoots and even the occasional date.
MTV is using a novel approach to generate buzz for their upcoming new television series The Hard Times of RJ Berger: the company is launching a casual game that will tie into the show via episodic content.
The “Chain of Thought” game centers on the theme that it’s “difficult to talk to one’s crush.” Players get points and level up by completing “conversation challenges” in which objects must be connected in the correct order to produce a sentence that elicits a positive response from the crush character. The game introduces new users to the show about an unpopular 15-year-old boy who deals with a sudden influx of newfound popularity at school and wants to figure out how to talk to his object of affection, Jenny.
The title also features a “build mode” that brings in an aspect of user-generated content. Players are invited to set up their own conversation challenges along with positive or negative responses, and see them played out in a level of their own creation. The idea is to help break the ice with an actual crush or at least have fun with a friend who knows about the situation — and MTV hopes that aspect of the game will encourage players to virally share it with their friends.
We spoke with VP of MTV Digital Colin Helm and Supervising Producer at MTV Digital Tom Akel about the project and wanted to know what led to the idea behind introducing a game before the series launch. Early on the team was looking for a way to “raise awareness outside of what we normally do.” As one of the first scripted shows that MTV has produced in some time, they had the benefit of a longer lead time with available assets including visuals and scripts. Using a viral casual game to promote a television series seemed like a timely play in the context of interactive digital entertainment.
As the TV show progresses, new “episodes” of the game will be unveiled as well, featuring actual dialogue and plot themes from the series. This type of tight integration between a television show and its companion game is a novel approach to episodic content, and we’ll be interested to see how much repeat interest is generated from the series to the game and vice versa.
The game itself is live now, so if you have a chance to check it out on MTV.com be sure to let us know what you think in the comments. The Hard Times of RJ Berger series itself premieres on June 6 at 11 p.m., and you can check out a trailer to get a sense of the show as well.
Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live Last night, realizing the dreams of more than 500,000 Facebook users. Reception from fans and critics alike was mostly positive, and a day later White’s gig is leading Google searches and Twitter conversations.
NBC and Hulu have both posted videos from the various sketches that ran during the show, plus some backstage peeks, promos, and web-exclusive sketches from the dress rehearsal. We’ve gathered all the videos we could find and brought them into one place for you to enjoy.
The episode was hosted by White, but it also played host to numerous female luminaries from Saturday Night Live’s past, including Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler and more. You’ll see them reprise classic roles in several of the videos below. Note that these NBC and Hulu-hosted videos are only viewable in the United States.
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MTV is using a novel approach to generate buzz for their upcoming new television series The Hard Times of RJ Berger: the company is launching a casual game that will tie into the show via episodic content.
Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live Last night, realizing the dreams of more than