Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.

Anyone who caught the series premiere of Grimm, NBC’s new fairy-tale-and-crime-procedural would have seen another sort of unearthly fusion: a Palm Pre device ringing like an iPhone. The phone then switches to the typical webOS interface we’ve long admired, picking up reception on AT&T along the way. We’re torn over whether they’re using a Pre 2 or another Palm family member, though the screen looks too dinky for it to be the mythical Pre 3. But in a world of monster hunters and big bad wolves, we guess anything’s possible.

[Thanks, Ben]

Screen Grabs: Palm Pre-iPhone hybrid appears on Grimm, doesn’t look half bad originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments
Engadget

Fall TV season is in full swing, and viewers are using Twitter and Facebook more than ever to chime in on their favorite shows. Question is: Which of the new pilots got the most traction on social networks? We asked the folks over at Trendrr.com to find out, and they produced this neat little infographic for us:

Note: The data aggregates tweets, public Facebook posts and check-ins from GetGlue and Miso.

Today, word came out that NBC is cancelling The Playboy Club, which makes you wonder how the other shows with less than enthusiastic levels of social feedback will fare in the weeks to come. Of course, social feedback doesn’t always translate to ratings, as different target audiences use social media differently, but it’s nonetheless an interesting indicator.

Watch this space for a follow-up, and in the mean time, feel free to sound off in the comments: Which shows have done really well in your social networks, and which ones have tanked?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Here Come the Social TV Apps
• Welcome to the New Paradigm: TV Makers Rule
• Macrovision Becomes Rovi, Launches Liquid

alt=''
border='0'
/>

GigaOM

A couple of interesting messages just appeared from the Hulu Support Twitter account. In several recent responses to subscribers complaining about ads that Hulu plays as part of its premium subscription service, the account tweeted:

“We’re currently an ad-supported service but looking into the option of a higher price ad-free version.”

Hulu has never entirely ruled out an ad-free model, but the tweets come as a bit of a surprise, since Hulu has long maintained its reliance on ads, even for its Hulu Plus service. Rather than going ad-free, like Netflix has done, Hulu Plus has a slightly lighter ad load but also gives subscribers access to a wider library of content.

In an February blog post, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar talked up the value that Hulu provides to content owners in terms of ad revenues, comparing Hulu’s effective ad rates versus those from broadcast DVR and cable DVR. In a more recent blog post, however, Kilar was more bullish on the company’s Hulu Plus subscription service, saying that the company would soon have a million paying subscribers.

The consideration of an ad-free service comes as Hulu has been put up for sale by its owners, which include Fox, Disney and NBC Universal. The message was also tweeted after Fox announced plans to put up a pay wall which would restrict access to shows for eight days unless a viewer has proven he or she is a cable subscriber.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Connected Consumer Q1: The Over-the-Top vs. Pay TV Battle Heats Up
• Defining Hadoop: the Players, Technologies and Challenges of 2011
• Welcome to the New Paradigm: TV Makers Rule

alt=''
border='0'
/>

GigaOM — Tech News, Analysis and Trends

What’s more revolting: FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker resigning to become NBC-Comcast’s top lobbyist, or FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski applauding the move? Vote now.

Wired Top Stories

NBC News compiled an interesting infographic detailing how people watched the Royal Wedding last week, including data about live video streams, tweets and Tumblr notes. Check it out:

For a closer look at the world-wide online video traffic and the protocols used to stream all that content, also check out our posts Royal Wedding Breaks Records, Not the Internet and Flash & Mobile Are Big Winners of the Royal Wedding.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req’d):

• A 2011 Connected Consumer Forecast
• Report: The Live-Stream Video Market
• Connected Consumer Tuned In to TVs in Q4

alt='The cloud-optimized networks of tomorrow run on Brocade Ethernet fabrics today. Assess Your Cloud Readiness. Download Forrester Study »'
border='0' width='300' height='250'
/>

GigaOM

Starting Thursday, Comcast will add TV shows from ABC and Fox to its video on-demand library, making it the only provider that offers shows from all four broadcast networks (including NBC and CBS) as soon as the day after they air. There’s a list of all the TV shows Comcast will be offering in the press release after the break — no Modern Family or House? weak — so the next time you forget to DVR Cops, you’re covered. Also, now that DirecTV has broken the seal on premium VOD early release movies, Comcast also mentioned it is still in negotiations to provide similar access to flicks. With no specifics to announce it’s possible the pricing or windows could differ from what we’ve seen so far, so we’ll just advise Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast Video Services Marcien Jenkes to take a long look at our poll results before signing anything.

Continue reading Comcast is first with VOD from all four major networks, still negotiating for early release movies

Comcast is first with VOD from all four major networks, still negotiating for early release movies originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Comcast Voices  | Email this | Comments
Engadget