elgato eyeTV HD: Beatweek 2010 TV Accessory of the Year

If you thought the new AppleTV would win this category, think again. While Apple’s own TV accessory does a great job with playback of iTunes content, elgato’s eyeTV functions as a DVR for your computer, allowing you to record live TV, which is what most TV viewers tell us they want from a TV accessory. And now with the eyeTV HD, you can record in HD too.

Buy now: $169 at Amazon.com.

Sony attacks iPhone gaming in new television ad

If smartphones like the iPhone 4 are the future of mobile gaming, then Sony and its PlayStation Portable “PSP” platform at least aren’t going quietly. Sony’s new television ad directly attacks the quality of iPhone gaming (the product isn’t named specifically, but it very much looks like one of the participants in the commercial is holding an iPhone 4), claiming that it’s not up to the level of the PSP, which is a dedicated gaming device. The strategy, presumably, is to convince iPhone users who are serious about mobile gaming that they still need to continue to carry a PSP in their other pocket if they want the full-on gaming experience, as opposed to the App Store games that are available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Curiously, the games which Sony has chosen to highlight as being reasons to own a PSP appear to be of no higher quality or sophistication than what’s widely available for the iPhone, although the games flash by too quickly in the ad to be easily identified by name. Still, it’s clear that Sony isn’t taking Apple’s App Store phenomenon lying down.

Hulu iPhone app price tag angers fans, should not have been a surprise

The Hulu Plus app for iPhone is free, but unlike the television content on hulu.com, the content available through Hulu’s app comes with a price tag. This should be a surprise to precisely no one. The original Hulu business model, in which users could watch full length television episodes for free on a website an exchange for sitting through the embedded ads, is failing for the same reason that the traditional network television business model is failing: viewers skip ads. Unlike with a DVR, where viewers can fast forward through the ads, Hulu viewers don’t have such an option. But they do have the ability to mute the ad and go do something in another program on their computer, such as checking their email, in order to kill the fifteen seconds during which Hulu’s ads run. So it’s not a surprise that with Hulu’s ads being ignorable and advertisers not getting their money’s worth, the service is now looking at pay-for models, and decided that the iPhone userbase would be its testbed.

It’s not a bad idea in theory, as iPhone users are the type who are willing to pay $200-300 for the cellphone they want, as opposed to the majority of the population who still chug along on whatever free flip-phone was tossed at them during contract renewal. But Hulu has apparently mistaken taste for chumpiness, as the company thought it could suddenly get iPhone users to pay for a service whose one and only claim to fame was that it was free.

Hulu’s problem is that by offering a crappy television experience through a lame webpage for years and using the “but it’s free!” mantra to build an audience, Hulu ended up attracting the kind of users who won’t pay for anything unless they absolutely have to (and yes, a portion of the iPhone userbase does fit this description). Now that the free model has been proven not to work, Hulu now faces going back to its overly thrifty audience with its hand out, asking for money that it’ll never get from them. Worse, by virtue of gaining a “crap but free” reputation, Hulu will now have significant difficulty marketing its pay-for service to those members of the public who are willing to spend their money but only on quality stuff. If Hulu had charged a bit for its service from the start and had used that revenue to improve its user experience, the company might now be able to sell its product to those who are willing to open their wallets. But once you’re known for being a “crap but free” kind of service, you’re generally stuck with that model for better or worse.

Keep in mind that Hulu is owned by the television networks themselves and was started simply so those networks could have a bigger bargaining chip when it came to negotiating with Apple about television shows in the iTunes Store (its the same reason, in fact, that the major record labels convinced Amazon to launch AmazonMP3, which not coincidentally, is now being held back by its “crap but cheap” reputation). As Hulu has only ever existed as a pawn in a larger tactical strategy, its original business model is no longer working, and its sudden attempts to move to a different strategy are being met with outrage by existing users and indifference among potential new users, one wonders how much longer Hulu will be around one way or the other. On the other hand, the iTunes television model, in which users pay two to three dollars to “own” an episode that they’ll most likely only watch once before discarding, hasn’t exactly been a success either.

So even though it’s killing the television industry financially, driving the highest quality shows off the air, and pushing us further into reality TV hell, most of us will continue to stick with our DVRs until something finally gives. But considering how thoroughly Hulu is being run through the shredder today by iPhone users who have made it clear through their posted App Store comments that they have no intention of ever paying a dime for something as crappy as Hulu, one has to wonder what if anything will save television.

New iPad TV ad suggests Apple can ramp up inventory

Apple has rolled out a new television ad for its iPad which foregoes the music soundtrack of the previous in favor of a narrator who confidently explains the various kinds of things that the tablet computer can be used for in general terms while the accompanying shots of the device in action go into greater detail. The ad begins by asking “What is iPad?” before answering the question with words like thin and beautiful and phrases like “lasts all day” before highlighting what is perhaps one of the iPad’s greatest by-design strengths: “You already know how to use it.”

Interestingly, the commercial references the ” tow hundred thousand” of App Store apps that are compatible with the iPad, rather than the five thousand or so apps that are specifically optimized for the iPad’s larger screen.

The newest iPad television ad suggests that Apple is indeed interested in educating potential users on the kinds of things that the device can be used for, as opposed to the company’s earlier strategy of seemingly preferring to allow users to figure that out for themselves. This suggests that Apple now considers the earliest round of “early adopters” to have passed and is now going after the mainstream who are likely looking to identify specific practical uses for the iPad before buying. This broader strategy comes even as the company faces inventory issues resulting from higher than expected initial U.S. sales, suggesting that Apple believes it can effectively ramp up inventory as needed.

Conan O’Brien returns to television this Sunday night

Conan O’Brien won’t get to return to television on a nightly basis until his new late night talk show on TBS launches in November, but the former Tonight Show host – who hasn’t appeared on television in any capacity since being forced out of the show earlier this year less than a year after taking over the reins – will finally surface this Sunday night in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes. The appearance, which seemingly disproves theories that had NBC barring Conan from showing his face on television at all until September, will include the obligatory discussion about his NBC departure as well as the topic of Jay Leno, who effectively forced Conan out by accepting the opportunity to return to the 11:35pm time slot after bombing at 10pm. In the interview, Conan says that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t have done what Leno did, “but that’s me, you know.”

Fringe reverts to monster of the week formula after brilliant episode

Fringe is at its best when the ever-twisting back story of its characters is revealed in a consisten slow drip over the course of an episode; while most episodes feature a “monster of the week” or a bizarre death to be investigated by Olivia and the Bishops, but the cases are rarely as memorable as what we learn about the characters themselves. Last week the show took a bold leap when it spent the entire episode revealing the story of how Peter and Walter and the alternate universe actually played out when Peter was a kid. It was one of the series’ best episodes to date – and yet it was almost too much goodness, like too much of your favorite candy on Easter morning. But it was a long time in coming, and a brilliant payoff for fans.

So this week’s episode was bound to be something of a letdown. While advertisements teased the notion of present-tense advancement of last week’s past-tense revelations, the episode started off with its usual monster of the week. While the initial interaction between Peter and Walter seemed promising, the whole thing was quickly derailed in favor of chasing down the mystery of the dead bodies and the gooey stuff found on the floor of a warehouse.

The show is what it is; no reason to have expected it to do anything other than revert to its standard formula. But last week’s episode, in showing what Fringe can be at its absolute best, made this week’s standard episode pale in comparison – even with the payoff ending, which we won’t reveal in case you didn’t see it – which will change the show forever, if the producers don’t pave over the revelation come next week.

Green Day lights up a Fuse for Earth Day

Fresh off the launch of their American Idiot broadway musical soundtrack, veteran punk rockers Green Day are taking over an entire television network – for a day, at least. Fuse TV has declared today to be “Green Day Earth Day” and has turned the reins over to Billie Joe, Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt. Fans will be treated to a day long marathon of Green Day videos, interviews, documentaries, and other band related goodness. It all started at 11:00 eastern time this morning, and is happening right now.

Can’t find Fuse TV? Check out channel 339 on DirecTV, 158 on EchoStar, or check this list for cable.

Green Day’s release of the American Idiot soundtrack this week follows 2009′s release of its own 21st Century Breakdown.

Leona Lewis and Colbie Caillat want you to wear cotton

If you don’t spend much time thinking about which kind of fabric your clothes are made of, Cotton Incorporated (we didn’t realize the material had been turned into a corporation) wants to change that and has tapped pop stars Leona Lewis (Bleeding Love) and Colbie Caillat (Bubbly, Fallin’ For You) as spokes-singers. Each star has her own commercial, already airing on television, featuring vocals. According to Cotton Inc.’s Advertising Director, “Their unique interpretations of the classic song are central to the strategy, which is to keep cotton fashion current and aspirational in the minds of young women.”

Colbie Caillat has appeared on the cover of Beatweek Magazine twice, most recently in August in a cover story interview in which she discussed her sophomore album Breakthrough and more; you’ll find that interview right here.

Alyssa Milano, Neil Patrick Harris on The View today

Alyssa Milano, who’s turned out to be have of the most thoughtful and useful celebrity presences on all of Twitter, will appear on The View today to talk about her new TV series “Romantically Challenged” which debuts on ABC tonight. Milano plays a single mother in a small town (if Pittsburgh qualifies as a “small town”) whose life is summed up by the title of the show.

The actress, who has more than three quarters of a million followers on Twitter despite the fact that she tweets several times per hour, often tweets about technology, humanity, and baseball. We’d put her on our “Follow Friday” list if, you know, today were a Friday.

The other guest on The View today is Neil Patrick Harris, who’s a fun follow on Twitter as well. You might know him from Dr. Horrible or a little show called – what is it? – oh, right. How I Met Your Mother.

Fun fact: we really had to stop and think for a moment before it occurred to us that both Neil and Alyssa are former child actors.

Vaguely related Beatweek interview: in late 2009 we spoke with Neil’s Dr. Horrible co-star Felicia Day (come to think of it, maybe she’s the queen of Twitter). In any case, you can check our Felicia interview right here.

Train to perform “Hey, Soul Sister” on Regis today

Train, the San Francisco based band who are seeing their biggest chart success in years with current single “Hey, Soul Sister” will be performing the song on Regis and Kelly this morning. The band, who’ve scored hits over the years with songs such as Drops of Jupiter and Calling All Angels, have named their latest album Save Me, San Francisco in honor of their hometown.

Today’s television performance precedes a marathon touring effort which will kick off April 30th in Oklahoma and run non stop through September 4th in Illinois, with tour dates on both coasts in between plus a side trip to Australia and New Zealand in June.

Train previously performed “Hey, Soul Sister” on CSI: New York, with lead singer Pat Monahan portraying a fictional singer in the accompanying episode.

Sharon Osbourne will also appear on the Regis episode.

New iPhone ad features Target

Apple and Target have been paired up for some time in an exclusive music arrangement in which certain albums are only available digitally via iTunes and only available in retail physical form at Target’s stores, but the partnership has taken on a more public slant in Apple’s latest iPhone commercial on television.

The “Shopper” ad, which involves a man attempting to pick out an espresso maker for his wife as surprise gift, during the course of which he sends photos to her sister via his iPhone for advice on color choices, then scopes out the best price on the espresso machine using the “Red Laser” barcode scanning app, and determines that the cheapest price can be found at Target – and then uses the iPhone’s built-in Maps application to find the nearest Target store.

It’s not clear whether Target was selected at random, or due to the two companies’ existing relationship, or whether Target is officially a part of the advertising campaign – and as usual, we’re not expecting Apple to talk about it.

The ad can be viewed on Apple’s gallery site.

The Flaming Lips to perform Dark Side of the Moon on Jimmy Fallon

The Flaming Lips, in the midst of touring after releasing two new albums in the past six months, will stop in New York City tonight to perform a song from Dark Side of the Moon tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The cut comes from The Lips’ recent studio recreation of the classic Pink Floyd album along with their touring partners Stardeath and White Dwarfs, who will also join The Lips on Fallon for the live performance.

The “Dark Side” re-imagination, which also features Henry Rollins and Peaches, will be released on vinyl tomorrow as part of National Record Store Day, and then on compact disc in early May. The album has already been available in iTunes for a couple of months.

The Flaming Lips appeared on the cover of Beatweek Magazine in January as lead singer Wayne Coyne discussed the Dark Side project, recent album Embryonic, and more. Stardeath lead singer Dennis Coyne also recently spoke with Beatweek about his band’s new album The Birth.

photo by J. Michelle Martin-Coyne

IMDb app comes to iPad

Movie buffs who enjoy watching movies on their new iPad can also use their shiny new device to research those same movies, thanks to the release of the official IMDb iPad app, based on the ubiquitous Internet Movie Database hosted at imdb.com. Technically, the new “iPad app” is merely a revamp of the existing IMDb app for iPhone and iPod touch into a “universal” app optimized to also operate at full-screen size on the iPad; the app remains a free download and all but the site’s “Pro” content is available via the app. IMDb provides information on an overwhelmingly large number of movies and television series including actor, cast, and production information.

The IMDb app is currently the second-most popular free app in the Entertainment category of the iTunes App Store, behind the eminently vital “Shut Up Button” app.

IMDb for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch can be found in the App Store.

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Meet the band from the iPad TV ad

April 3, 2010 by Beatweek · Leave a Comment 

Can’t quite put your finger on the song that’s featured in Apple’s iPad television commercial that first aired during the Oscars and is now going to bombard you across every TV station for the rest of 2010. Meet Danish rock outfit The Blue Van, whose song “There Goes My Love” provides the soundtrack to the soon to be ubiquitous television commercial. The song comes from the band’s third album, Man Up, which was released last year. On previous U.S. tours, the band has opened for the likes of The Pretenders and Jet, the latter of which was previously featured in an Apple TV ad during the iPod era.

If The Blue Van’s music already sounds familiar, it may be because their music has made previous television appearances on Scrubs, CSI New York, and oddly enough, a Samsung cellphone ad campaign.

The band boats of having more than ten thousand copies of “There Goes My Love” through iTunes as a result of the first handful of times the iPad ad aired prior to this weekend.

A full-length performance of “There Goes My Love” by The Blue Van can be viewed on YouTube.

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Tagged: iPad commercial, iPad theme song, music, song, television, The Blue Van, There Goes My Love