Gadgetory

this week on the CNET tech review how to make phone calls from your Gmail inbox a gaming console prize fight rematch we count down the top 5 movies on blu-ray and TiVo's new remote slides its way into our hearts it's all coming up right now hi everyone I'm Molly wood and welcome to the CNET tech review where we collect our hottest videos of the week and tell you what's good and what's bad in the world of tech plus offer some life-changing tech wisdom in the form of the bottom line let's start with the good first up this week is a brand spanking new TV from Vizio that I want here's David Katz Meyer with a few reasons why you may also want to make it the centerpiece of your home entertainment system I'm David Katz my senior editor at CNN and this is the Vizio xvt 3sv series it's the 55 inch version right here there's also a forty seven and a forty two in the series this review will apply to all the screen sizes this Vizio is flagship 2d TV for 2010 it has doodles of features we'll get to those a little bit but I first want to point out Vizio has redesigned this TV got rid of that silver speaker bar found on previous models this one is all black including the bottom where the speakers are subtly blended in along with the rest of the black it's also a lot thinner if you look at it from the side it's about three inches deep which isn't quite as thin as some of those other LED based LCD TVs out there but it's still pretty slim this TV does use LED technology with local dimming again we'll talk about that a performance section but feature wise the real thing to talk about here is the via Vizio internet apps system system includes the usual suspects such as Netflix Amazon video on-demand Vudu all those things could be streamed live to the TV there's also a Rhapsody music subscription service which is exclusive to vizio it also includes Pandora and host of other non streaming apps including a Wikipedia search there's Facebook eBay and a bunch of other things you can do this TV including play games etc etc new apps are downloaded into the bar I get a little notification icon which is pretty cool there's also the bar that appears along the bottom of the screen here it does also appear over other apps so for example you can check out Facebook or write a tweet while you're watching a Netflix stream which is pretty much occlusive to vizio as well that's sort of multitasking the TV has built-in Wi-Fi so if you don't have a Ethernet right at your TV you can use your Wi-Fi connection it does work pretty darn well though you know we do prefer Ethernet for the most robust connection the other exclusive to this TV is the remote control it opens up here to have a full QWERTY keyboard so you can actually type and do search terms and passwords and that sort of stuff a lot easier than you would with a typical TV that requires you to use a virtual keypad and the TV's remote control so this remotes a real step up for this thing TV also has bluetooth so you don't have to aim the remote directly at the TV and it also should interface with some Bluetooth devices such as headphones and some other stuff in the future of izya we'll be adding that functionality it'll also be adding the functionality to stream from the USB and your home network although it doesn't do that yet most other TVs in this league do inputs are extensive on the vizio you got five total HDMI four on the back and one on the side as well as one component video input and a PC input in terms of other features that picture settings on this TV are relatively sparse for a very high-end TV it has simple to point grayscale adjustment although we found it as a plenty of adjustments for most people and oodles of picture settings there's actually nine different picture presets you can play around with one other cool thing about the picture settings is that it is integrated directly into the apps interface you get that nice slick one menu system where everything is pretty much accessible from one button and it all makes it really easy to find in our lab test the video performed very well it does have nice deep black levels again thanks to that led with local dimming technology it does produce a nice deep shade of black that's especially visible in dark rooms and dark scenes it does have a little bit of blooming where the light leaks into black areas in some scenes but that's really not that distracting and relatively rare another strengths of this TV is the color accuracy it's accurate of both up and down the grayscale in dark and light areas it also has very good color points and solid saturation so all told some of the best color we've seen this year we've seen from off-angle the vizio does tend to wash out a little bit of that blooming does intensify the vizio screen is also excellent for bright rooms so if you're in a room with a lot of lights that hit the screen the mat does a very good job of cutting that down and reducing glare it also preserves black levels relatively well so for bright rooms the vizio is a solid choice anyway that's a quick look at the vizio XV 2 3sv series and I'm David Katz Meyer once you've got your new TV I'll set up one of the best ways to enjoy it is to pop in a blu-ray movie but which one Bryan Cooley's here with this week's top 5 to help you decide let's face it when a blu-ray disc is a poor transfer or just a crappy movie to begin with it really isn't worth the money I'm Brian Cooley and in this episode of top 5 we're going to run down the blu-ray titles that'll make you glad you decided to buy yet another set of silver discs these guys are worth it according to the savvy eyes of CNET's David carnal and the home video editors in New York and they're ranked by sales figures from amazon.com as of this early August 2010 number 5 is close encounters it's been 30 years wow that long that means this is now a bona fide classic and I need to start getting my prostate checked anyway this 30th edition on blu-ray includes all three spielberg cuts has been remastered within an inch of its life and is going cheap like 12 bucks just please please don't make the sound your ringtone is it please midnight number four Escape from New York this one was semi low-budget back in 81 so now it doesn't exactly max out the abilities of high definition but we like that it rescues the tale of New York as a giant supermax prison from the realm of mediocre DVD editions that came before this and it may be coincidence that the CNET editors who nominated it are based in our New York office or they're trying to Telegraph something to our HR department number three is life from the BBC an incredible HD look at the lengths that living creatures go to to evade death procreate and obtain nourishment sounds like a pretty good weekend to me take our tip on this one get the original version narrated by Sir David Attenborough not the US version voiced by Oprah no offense though number 2 here's an old one 2001 a Space Odyssey shot back in 1968 now I still don't really understand it but that doesn't matter you can score this blu-ray disc for under $10 and get a really nice transfer with the only downsides being that it will absolutely kick your TVs ass especially black levels and you'll probably run around at work the next day talking like how until someone says stop it by the way if you're watching this episode and feeling like some kind of loser for not having a blu-ray deck don't instant research tells us even out to the year 2013 blu-ray player sales are still gonna lag some 10 million units a year behind standard DVD players and about 18 percent of folks in the u.s. say they would like a blu-ray deck but that cost still remains a big hurdle both the cost of the player and buying all those new discs like our number one choice our number one blu-ray pick is avatar this one needs no introduction we are actually cool with the 2d version so good is its visual quality perfectly formatted to fill an HD TV screen without bars or any weird ratio mashing this disc is probably the one you're gonna put on to impress your friends with your home theater if you're that kind of a dork just enjoy the movie by the way check out our CNN editors entire list of top 40 blu-ray discs that this list was pulled from you can find the link to that at the top 5 blog I'm Brian Cooley thanks for watching see you next time of course you can only watch those movies so many times so you'll need to find something else to do with your big sweet TV like play video games now that the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 have both dropped down a weight class can the ps3 hold on to its title in a prizefight rematch let's check in with Brian Tong and find out what's up price five fans I'm Brian Tong and we're bringing you an epic battle that has stood the test of time it's a Throwdown showdown for game console supremacy between Microsoft's Xbox 360 slim and Sony's ps3 slim our judges for this fight are seen at senior associate editor Scott the bottom line Stein associate editor Jeff never backs down Bakalar and you know who really a big Tom will take all three judges blind scores and average them out to the nearest tenth the final prize fight score could be an average of all rounds using the same decimal system we're going six rounds deep for this face-off round one is designed both consoles are bringing their slim and spelt streamlined designs to the prize fight ring the Xbox 360 is sleeker slimmer and improved in every way over the original we like the glossy piano black finish and its new edgy style but you still have that sizable AC adapter the ps3 slim is the sleeker of the two and more travel friendly but it's matte finish takes away some of the sexy and it still kind of resembles a George Foreman grill and it feels a lot more generic compared to the new xbox slim sometimes makeovers really make a difference and the 360 slim takes this design round for the first time with a four and the ps3 slim gets a three next round is steeper the standard Xbox 360 slim rocks a larger 250 gig hard drive finally brings built-in Wi-Fi you'll get HDMI and wireless controls but its proprietary hard drive is still a head-scratcher now the biggest difference between these two consoles is blu-ray the ps3 slim has been rated one have seen its top blu-ray players and it's now a real advantage plus you also have a user replaceable hard drive it's 160 gigs gives you a little less storage it has built-in Wi-Fi HDMI and it's Bluetooth capability allows you to connect many third-party accessories including almost any Bluetooth headset plus the system is already 3d ready for movies and games through software updates the ps3 throws its first with a perfect 5 and the xbox360 gets a 3.7 Tucker averaging two rounds Sony leads by one tenth of a point but there is plenty of fight left round three is online service for Microsoft Xbox Live service is the gold standard for online gaming on a console it's going to cost you $50 per year but its ease of use the size of the community and access to integrated services like Netflix last.fm Facebook and Twitter and more make it the total package Sony's PlayStation Network is absolutely free and you really have to give them credit for that but it's not nearly as developed and after all this time I'm still waiting for cross game chatti PlayStation Plus is a new $50 annual service but you're really paying for exclusive content instead of new online features using Netflix still requires a disk it's built in web browser does allow you to watch YouTube content and PlayStation Home still isn't a place where I spend my time Microsoft strikes back with a perfect five of its own and Sony gets a three point three round four is up next and it's the only reason we're all here for the game both consoles are packed with franchise titles that each side wishes they could have the 360 can brag about the bloody battlefields of Gears of War the unlimited adventure that is fable and the world of Halo and Master Chief but it's lost some of its momentum the ps3 arguably boasts a stronger and more diverse exclusive franchise library with their modern-day Indiana Jones in the Uncharted series god of wars epic story and scale little big planets creative community heavy rains unique control system and so many more now when it comes down to downloadable games the Xbox Live Arcade has a much deeper and diverse library of games from the past and it continues to release awesome new exclusives like limbo the PlayStation Network isn't on the same level with its downloadable game library but it can still hold its own with offerings like flower but there just aren't enough of them you can still play most of your original Xbox titles on the 360 slim but backwards compatibility on the ps3 slim is non-existent both consoles have games that make each one just as drool-worthy as the other and the judges call this round a tie at or points a piece so after four rounds the Xbox has taken control leading by four tenths of a point but we've still got two more to go round 5 is graphics performance the 360 elite and PS 3 both have titles that showcase their graphical prowess even if it's subtle the 360 Slim has shown to have a slight advantage when comparing the same third-party titles but then when it comes to console exclusive titles the ps3 really flexes its technical muscle now Jeff and Scott called this round even but if we're talking about the best graphics available why don't you sit down and play God of War 3 or uncharted 2 and show me an Xbox game that can best them the ps3 gets a slight edge with the 4.3 and the xbox gets a 4 now this is still anyone's prize fight the sixth and final round that decides at all is value both of these consoles are $2.99 at their entry level and you guys can argue all you want about who has the better games and who has the better graphics but when you're talking about value it really comes down to one thing and it's the ps3's blu-ray player that will support 3d content into the future and makes the ps3 slim more than just a gaming console and if you want to play online with your xbox you'll still have to pay 50 more dollars per year and look final round the ps3 slim gets a perfect 5 and the Xbox 360 gets a 3 point 7 so let's averaged out the scores for all six rounds and after a back-and-forth battle where both sides held the lead we are tied tied at 4.1 points a piece now you know we can't walk away like this and this prize fight has to have a winner so we're gonna break this down by hundreds of a point so do the math for yourselves people but after a six-round thrown out the sony ps3 slim holds on with a four-point 102 4.0 6 in the closest prize fight in CNET history and is your prize fight winner can't go wrong with either of these consoles and if you're lucky enough get both of them but Sony's blu-ray player that used to seem like a gimmick in the past is now the difference maker I'm Brian Tong thanks for watching I will catch you guys next time for another Priceline dude that was a nail-biter but I have to agree that blu-ray player is always gonna give ps3 the edge what are you waiting for Microsoft HD DVD is dead it's time to let go okay folks it's time for us to take a quick break but stick around we'll be back with a batch of handy how-to tips right after this welcome back to the CNET tech review our weekly digest of all things good and bad we've seen here at CNET TV this week let's continue on with the good on Wednesday Google announced a new service that lets Gmail users make phone calls directly from their inbox no phone necessary here's Jessica Dolkar to show you how it all works hello everyone I'm Jessica's all-court wispy net here to show you how to get started making phone calls from right within Gmail comm if you're a gmail user in the US the first thing you do is look to see that the service has been added into your account check the left side bar where your google chat app sits and make sure you see the call phone link right under your name and status field after you click it Google may ask you to install a chat and video plugin first just follow the prompts if the plugin is installed click that call phone link and you'll see a dial pad pop up in the bottom right corner of your screen next start typing the phone number you'd like to call since the calling feature is also integrated with your Google address book you can also type a person's name to search for your caller we recommend having a headset with a microphone attached to make your calls if you don't have a mic on your computer or your headset your callers won't be able to hear you to check through your call history just click the tab to the right of the dial pad and scroll through your history of calls calls are currently free to the US and Canada but to make an international call you'll need to buy credits to add more credit click the blue monetary amount that's on the top right of the dial pad and select add credit note that you will need a free Google Voice account to buy credit for international calls there's more good news you can also receive calls on your computer that you will need that Google Voice account to do so here's how you set up Google Voice to receive phone calls in Gmail login to Google Voice or sign up for a free account by typing voice google.com into your browser then click settings in the upper right of your screen and select voice settings in the phone tab cast your eyes to the bottom of the list of forwarding phones where you should see Google Chat as an option click the check box next to the google chat listing and then look for the confirmation message at the top of your screen Google Voice treats the phone call feature in Google Talk just like another number where you'd forward your incoming calls after that you should be able to accept incoming calls in Gmail now keep in mind that this is currently only for us Gmail users and be sure to also check out our how-to videos on using Google Voice that's it for this how-to I'm Jessica's Dahle court showing you how to place and receive calls from your Gmail inbox catch you next time free calls to landlines in the US where do I sign up oh wait she just told me never mind let's go ahead and move on to the bad this week in the bad we've got a couple of good how-to videos to help you fix some bad problems in a minute I'll show you how to make Facebook Places a little less stalker friendly but first if you've been leaving voicemail messages for Brian Tong and you're wondering why he hasn't been calling you back he has a pretty good reason what's up guys Brian song here with cnet.com and if you're just like me which you aren't you're having problems receiving voicemails on your iPhone lately now the last one I received was about a month ago in July and I can assure you my mom leaves plenty of voicemails for me on my phone now if you suspect her visual voicemail isn't working dial into your voicemail directly by holding the number one on your dial pad and you'll hear a status update now that's a lot of booty calls you don't want to miss so let's show you how to achieve your missing voicemails go into your settings then general scroll to the bottom to find a reset and you'll want to select reset network settings if you have a passcode lock which you should enter it in press the magic button and your phone will restart this method can potentially help if your phone is having trouble accessing network data for things like surfing the web and downloading email or retrieving your voicemails it will also reset all the Wi-Fi networks your phone automatically connects to so you'll have to re-enter those passwords as well if this doesn't work select the reset all settings which is also work for me but you'll have to reenter things like your iTunes password but it will not erase any content on your phone now let's give it a few moments and voila there are my voicemails ready for me to listen to one month later i'm brian song with your how-to for retrieving your missing iphone voicemails use it wisely hi I'm Hollywood from cnet.com here to show you how to disable Facebook Places by now I'm sure you've heard about places which lets you share your location with your Facebook friends by checking in when you go somewhere not surprisingly not everyone is a fan for one thing you've been opted in by default which is what Facebook always does and for another thing it's possible that your friends could be checking you in places even if you don't so let's check in to your new places privacy settings and figure out how to find out what you're broadcasting and how to turn it off under account click privacy settings and now click customize settings down here you'll see new options for places I check in which should be defaulted to friends only hey I mean at least it's not everyone also there's a checkbox here labeled include me in people here now after I check in now in small type it tells you that your check-in will be visible to both your friends and strangers who happen to be checked in nearby this box is checked by default so if you don't want strangers saying that you're in the restaurant with them uncheck it if you don't want to broadcast your location to anyone next two places I check in click the drop down menu and choose customize under custom privacy you can click the drop down again and choose only me and yes that is way more steps than it should take next make sure your friends aren't broadcasting your location under things others share there's an option that says friends can check me into places now on my account the default was select one but some people said that it was enabled by default for them either way you can enable that option or since we're not actually sure what select one defaults to just specifically choose disable and there you go now don't get me wrong I think Facebook Places is a potentially useful and fun feature but as with all things Facebook does I just really want them to ask me first first thing on how to I'm Hollywood and you're welcome hey Facebook ever heard of opt-in why is it that every time you implement a new feature that shares our info with the world it's up to us to go through the settings with a fine-tooth comb to figure out how to turn it off not cool and now it's time for this week's bottom-line besides my son and maybe Angry Birds there are a few things I love in life more than my Tivo so let me say that I was nearly beside myself when I heard about this latest announcement from TiVo the slide remote hi I'm John Falcon for CNET and this is the TiVo slide remote control this remote is specifically designed for use with TiVo series 3 and series 4 DVRs at first glance it just appears to be a shortened version of the classic TiVo p-nut remote but as the name indicates you can slide open the top to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard the keyboard comes in handy on a TiVo for doing text searches of upcoming TV shows movies and online media it's far more convenient and faster than using the cumbersome on-screen keyboard for text input and anyone who's used a smartphone keyboard will find it easy to use all of the keys on the remote are hard plastic not the mushy rubber buttons you sometimes find on similar remotes keys have a satisfying click when you depress them and they're spaced far enough apart that even someone with larger fingers won't have trouble typing the keyboard even has a dedicated 10 digit number pad and a five-way directional pad for navigating menus on the top of the remote we were impressed that TiVo was able to include all of the buttons found on the larger standard remote all the keys on the top and on the keyboard are backlit as well when using open or close the TiVo slide feels great in your hand and all the topside buttons are within range even for those with smaller fingers even better than the keyboard and the overall our ganache light is the fact that it's a Bluetooth remote a USB dongle to supply that fits into your TiVo DVR and there was for us anyway no setup required it was truly plug-and-play since bluetooth is an RF or radiofrequency technology that means all of the remotes TiVo control functions work without the need for line-of-sight which you otherwise need for infrared remotes in other words as long as you're within 30 feet of your TiVo you can control it regardless of where or whether you're pointing the remote directly at it so go ahead and hide your TiVo away in a cabinet you'll still be able to control it unfortunately that Bluetooth functionality doesn't extend to other devices that the TiVo slide can control a TV and an audio receiver the remote can be programmed using a help screen on the TiVo to control nearly any brand of TV or audio receiver unfortunately there's only one power button and one input toggle the system works fine if you only need to control the TV but if you want to control the TV and an AV receiver you've got to split the difference in other words you're probably still going to need another remote on hand the TiVo slide remote is powered by two double-a batteries which are included and is compatible with TiVo series three and series four models the price is $90 that's not cheap to be sure and we really wish it was included with the current premiere models or at least the premiere XL that said if you're already a devoted TiVo owner who's sticking with the DVR for the foreseeable future the TiVo slide remote is a must-have accessory I'm John Falcone for CNET and this is the TiVo slide remote the bottom line this week must-have accessory that should have been included in the box come on TiVo Vizio is doing it alright that's our show for this week everyone join us next week on the C net tech review and we'll have all the news from Apple's September first music event until then there are tons of great videos available every day at scene at tv.com see you next time and thanks for watching