Now that Netflix has revealed exactly how many subscribers it has lost over the last few months, we’re wondering what’s next for the video service and its competitors like Amazon. In other pay-TV news, we have an upgraded UI on the way from DirecTV and new social media hooks from AT&T that could signal a change in the way we watch TV. Before closing things out with our picks of what to watch this week, we even had some time for new ultra HDTV standards, mobile app consolidation for FiOS and Sony’s PlayStation 3D Display.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

16:18 – Netflix US subscriber count drops by 800k in Q3, 21.45 million still streaming
18:24 – Netflix to expand to UK, Ireland in ‘early 2012,’ looks to challenge Lovefilm
24:19 – Amazon Prime Instant Video expands its library with even more video from PBS
27:23 – BBC’s global iPlayer app adds AirPlay streaming, should just be on Apple TV
30:00 – DirecTV shows off its new HD UI with a website and trailer, still no release date
33:55 – U-verse TV gets social with help from Miso, TV Foundry, Wayvin and BuddyTV Guide
40:00 – Verizon’s My FiOS app puts your entire living room under one Android roof
42:39 – Playstation 3D Display hits shelves November 13, Sony answers your burning questions
44:50 – Ultra HDTV technical standards agreed on, more pixels is a good thing
52:30 – Must See HDTV (October 24th – 30th)

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Engadget HD Podcast 271 – 10.25.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this month, we found out that after a software update HTC’s Android handsets had a serious security flaw — any app could gain access to user data, including recent GPS locations, SMS data, phone numbers, and system logs. To its credit, HTC responded quickly to the security issue, and now an OTA update with the fix is going out to those on the Now Network. Sprint users with an EVO 4G, 3D, Shift 4G, Design 4G or View 4G can get the download, as can Wildfire S owners. The patch available now for a manual download, and more info on the fix can be found at the source below.

[Thanks, Korey]

Sprint issues OTA fix for HTC Android handset vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s taken a long time for Nokia’s MeeGo-packing N9 to make its way into our top secret labs (the N9 moniker was first applied to early E7 prototypes), but it’s here in our dirty little hands, at last, and it’s glorious — well, as glorious as a stillborn product can be, anyway. The N9 is the latest and greatest in a long line of quirky, interesting, yet ultimately flawed touchscreen experiments from Nokia that includes the Hildon-sporting 7710, a series of Maemo-based “internet tablets” (770, N800, N810, N900) and most recently, the N950 MeeGo handset for developers. What makes the N9 special is that it represents Nokia’s last flagship phone as an independent player. MeeGo is already dead, and future high-end devices from the manufacturer will run Windows Phone and use Microsoft’s services. So, is this the company’s final bittersweet hurray? Did MeeGo ever stand a chance against Android, iOS and Mango? In its attempt to stay relevant, is Nokia throwing out the baby with the bathwater? Most importantly, how does the N9 fare in today’s merciless dual-core world? Find out after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N9 review

Nokia N9 review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Psst. Hey, do you carry a spare Smart Cover around with you? Well, if you’re an unscrupulous sort, you can actually use it to bypass the lock screen of any iPad running iOS 5. This multi-step security hole will let you browse whatever’s running behind the passcode screen, whether that’s email, apps or the homescreen. To take advantage of the flaw, hold down the power button on the locked device until the power off slider appears, then whip the Smart Cover on, open and tap cancel. Fortunately for iPad owners, the rest of the tablet remains locked-down, but the main problem here is any sensitive information left on-screen. If you unlock the tablet to the main screen, you won’t be able to open new apps, although anyone feeling particularly nefarious can apparently delete apps from that meticulously arranged home screen. See how it’s done in the video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Smart Cover can unlock password-protected iPads running iOS 5 (video)

Smart Cover can unlock password-protected iPads running iOS 5 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MetroPCS may be top contender for AT&T’s post-acquisition assets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, so much for that. Samsung’s Executive Vice President of Product Strategy — Won-Pyo Hong — didn’t say a whole heck of a lot on stage here at AsiaD, but he did clarify one thing near the end of his interview: he has ‘no idea’ where those earlier rumors came from. With “those rumors” regarding the matter of designing the Galaxy Nexus specifically to avoid patent troubles with Apple. According to Dr. Hong, the actual development of the Galaxy Nexus started with Google before the initial lawsuit hammer fell between the two outfits, making it impossible for the suits being flung back and forth today to have any impact on that decision.

We believe it. These phones are designed months — if not years — in advance, and the actual process from concept to shipping takes a relative eternity. Furthermore, the original source (linked in More Coverage) only tied the quotes from Sammy’s Shin Jong-kyun loosely to the Galaxy Nexus, and we’re guessing that Samsung takes a look at all potential legal implications before shipping any product. In other words, the company’s probably doing everything it can — including paying Microsoft for every single Android device sold — to avoid these nasty legal battles, but the Galaxy Nexus wasn’t engineered just to sidestep another fight with the lawyers in Cupertino. And now you know.

Samsung’s Won-Pyo Hong: Galaxy Nexus wasn’t designed just to skirt Apple patents originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Case in point: the guy on the right. Sure, he’s probably a mild-mannered, law-abiding citizen, but with NEC‘s Tele Scouter strapped to his spectacles, he looks just a wee bit sinister, doesn’t he? The system he’s wearing consists of a paperback-sized computer powered by an ARM 500MHz CPU and an AirScouter display mounted atop a pair of glasses. The display, manufactured by Brother, projects images upon the naked eye, but NEC insists that it won’t completely block a user’s field of vision. To the viewer, in fact, these projections appear as if they were displayed on a 16-inch, 800 x 600 screen standing one meter away. According to NEC, the idea is to allow employees to view manuals or other important documents while working with their hands, though that kind of multi-task wizardry certainly won’t come for cheap. The Tele Scouter will begin shipping on December 26th, with the device priced at

Even though it’s been a week that’s all about cellphones, there’s still plenty of HD news to decipher, from last week’s comments to our review of the Logitech Harmony Link. If you know us, you know Harmony = rant, but you’ll probably want to tune in just to see where Logitech’s latest effort to connect all our devices simply succeeds, and where it failed, failed and failed again. Apple, Intel, Boxee, Google, Roku, Slingbox and Crestron are all other names coming at the connected living room from a different angle and unsurprisingly, they’re all here. Give a listen to find out what they’re up to, plus our picks of what to watch on your HDTV this week.

Get the podcast
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS - AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes.
[RSS - MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
[MP3] Download the show (MP3).

Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

21:30 – Logitech Harmony Link review
30:00 – Crestron debuts free, paid mobile apps for Android devices
37:00 – Photo Stream, NHL, AirPlay mirroring and more added to Apple TV with software update
44:15 – Apple reportedly trying to add movie streaming to its iCloud
48:19 – Hulu owners ‘terminate sale process’, won’t sell to anyone
49:35 – Boxee Box adds music streaming from Spotify, just press play
51:17 – Google TV 2.0: app developers get final add-on for Android SDK
55:19 – Intel may be giving up on smart TVs, ceding market to ARM
56:35 – Roku announces $50 LT model, will add HBO Go streaming to all of its boxes this month
01:00:17 – SlingPlayer app now available for Honeycomb tablets, priced at $30
01:01:23 – Transformers Blu-ray 3D release coming to Japan in January, still no release date for US
01:02:30 – Must See HDTV (October 17th – 23rd)

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Engadget HD Podcast 270 – 10.18.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Before there was Google+ there was Google Buzz, the company’s big effort to stake a claim in the social networking space. That, of course, didn’t exactly work out for the search giant, and it even managed to spark some lawsuits and attract the eye of the FTC. Now Google has finally swept it under the rug in a bit of fall cleaning, stating in a blog post today that Google Buzz and the Buzz API will be shut down “in a few weeks,” and that it will now focus solely on Google+ instead. Also getting the axe is Jaiku, a social networking service that Google acquired in 2007, as well some of the social features on iGoogle, and the company’s Code Search service, which will officially be shut down along with its API on January 15th of next year. And, if that wasn’t enough, Google also confirmed that today’s the day that the Google Labs site will be shut down (its demise was announced this summer).

Google finally pulls the plug on Buzz amid ‘fall sweep’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dutch court turns down Samung’s request to block Apple products originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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