Toshiba Blu-Ray Wifi Frogloot

The Toshiba Blu-Ray player with Wifi is on sale at daily deal site FrogLoot.com this is the player that has the built in apps like Netflix and Vudo. Check price by clicking here!

LG Smart TV Upgrader (SP820)

The first generation of LG Smart TV Upgrader has been out for a little over a year and a half. The product has change a bit since the first generation and price is about $75 more than the original. The LG Smart TV Upgrader is a media stream that adds advance functions to your HDTV. When you attache the Upgrader to the TV you will be able to find a great deal of apps that bring in such service as Netflix Vudo or YouTube. If you are on the fence about cord cutting than this types of devices can bring in much need content for those who want to give up cable TV. The unit is easy to set up and very simple to navigate with. The included remote makes moving around and work with the apps as easy as possible.The SP820 uses built-in Wi-Fi to connect to your home network so you can instantly stream content to your TV using premium apps from LG. Use the included Magic Remote to point and click your way through menus using simple movements and gestures. We had this unit up and running in minutes all the apps that I use for online video were built into the app and social media is also well integrated. The unit is able to play back various video and audio file formats and with USB getting your personal content to the unit was a breeze. If the price wasn't at $179 I would say go out and get one, but at this price I think the Boxee Box from Dlink is a better buy. As with any technology you might start seeing the unit appearing in stores in a couple of months at a much lower price. Until then if you need a decent media streamer with apps than the LG is more than capable of being a great extender to add to your television.

Windows 8 For Entertainment

If you have updated to Windows 8 you might have noticed that in the store there are media apps. Instead of going to Hulu for example through your web browser you would install a Windows app. The dedicated app is not much different than actually going on the site, but the interface for most media apps are clean and easy to use. Why use apps? If you have a touch screen computer than having the app installed is like using any type of tablet like Android or iOS. As Windows moves to a more tablet like experience you will have all your media apps in one area at the click of a mouse. On my touch screen computer this is a nice feature, but on my laptop without touch I rather just go to the web site. Exploring the new app store in Windows 8 you will find many great apps to consume free media as a cord cutter there is a nice collection of apps to pull your favorite content into one spot.

HP Envy 23 All In One

Those who have small space might want to consider getting an all in one PC instead of a television. The nice thing about all in one computers is that they do not take up much space and can provide a great deal of entertainment power in a convenient package.

The HP Envy come with a 23 HD display with the ability for touch. If you have the newest model with Windows 8 touch is a must. We installed everything we needed to get this baby working as our new entertainment center. The computer has a built in DVD drive which served us well for a season Dexter. We also signed into Netflix and Cinema Now. The picture was very sharp and the video played back very smooth. If you are looking to play music the HP Envy comes with Beats Audio. The built in speaker system take full advantage of the Beats technology. The computer also makes a great gaming system. With Intel or AMD prossesors depending on the model you pick it this system can handle almost any task you through at it.

The HP Envy also comes with built in Adobe software to make editing pictures and movies a breeze. I had been putting off editing some videos shot on my smartphone, but using the Envy made it a quick process to upload my videos sort and edit in just a couple hours. There are other all in one's in the same price range, but I think HP did a great job on this all in one and it looks great.

Read more reviews here!

Roku Canada

Without much fanfare the popular US based media streamer was launched in Canada. At present you can find a Roku box at most Walmarts and online through Amazon.ca with two different models available. If you have not heard of Roku the company makes a little box that connects to your TV to bring online content to the big screen. The box have built in channels such as Netflix and Crackle. You won't find the same channels as in the US due to copyright issues. There are many channels to pick from on the Canadian box, but no Hulu. Is this a worth while purchase? I wold say yes at less then $100 it will bring in a lot of content. If you are looking to reduce you cable bill or cut the cord this is another great solution that will provide hours and hours of TV viewing without a huge cable bill. You can learn more about Roku at www.roku.com for the different types of boxes available.

Glasses Free 3D TV

The sale of 3D TV up until now has not been of great significance.  It could be that consumers are either confuse about the technology or that they hate having to wear the 3D glasses. Well it looks like consumer electronics companies are try to solve that hurdle. It difficult to get consumers to accept a technology that they are not sure is full baked. If I were to buy a new TV 3D would not be the selling point. The ability to connect to the Internet and get content apps would be the deciding factor. At the CES show in Las Vegas Toshiba will be introducing a new television with technology that will not require the 3D glasses. This might be the turning point for 3D television. The ability to watch 3D content should be simple and consumers should just be able to stumble onto the built in feature.

Here's an excellent summary from CNET's Stephen Shankland on how 3D TV without glasses works.

3D works by showing separate views to the left and right eyes; the brain reconstructs the 3D world from the two images. Toshiba's TV uses numerous tiny lenses to direct two different views in slightly different directions so each eye sees something different. That's easier to do with a single viewer at a fixed distance to the screen, but harder with multiple viewers. Toshiba's 55LZ2 divides the overall viewing area into nine separate regions so people can use the 3D over a broad range of angles.

It's not quite as easy as regular TV, though. Before watching, a button on the remote control launches face-tracking software on the TV to detect viewers' positions to best control the picture.

The price tag for these new television sets is not within most consumer range. With time and more development of the technology we should see reasonable priced televisions in the market place in the next few years.