Movie Theater Archive

  • New NEC technology detects pirated online videos “in seconds”

    New NEC technology detects pirated online videos “in seconds”

    Software that helps to detect "illegal" video content on the web automatically isn't really new, but NEC claims its technology has two selling points that sets it apart from similar solutions: speed and accuracy. The company says its system can identify pirated video material in a "matter of seconds", with a detection rate of 96% and at a false alarm rate of just five in one million cases.

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  • Avatar fast becoming the most pirated Blu-ray movie of all time

    Avatar fast becoming the most pirated Blu-ray movie of all time

    Call me crazy, but wasn't the point of Avatar to go see it in 3D on the big screen? Otherwise, why bother? Be that as it may, Avatar is on track to hold the distinction of being the most pirated Blu-ray release of all time. Nice job, guys!

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  • ‘Yeah, but does it run Crysis 2?’

    ‘Yeah, but does it run Crysis 2?’

    The World's video game press gathered in New York on Tuesday for the world premiere of Crysis 2, the sequel to the game whose memory lives in on the question, "Yeah, but does it run Crysis?" It's no coincidence that Crtyek, the game's developers, and EA, the game's publisher, chose New York to show off the game, with Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli calling the city "symbolic of the pride of mankind." Clearly he hasn't been to the more rubbish sections of Queens. Yes, you're in an altogether different type of jungle this go-round.

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  • Sony Pictures learns the hard way: You don’t make friends with salad

    Sony Pictures learns the hard way: You don’t make friends with salad

    I love how this is controversial. Sony Pictures (creators of Spider-Man) chairman Michael Lynton has suggested that movie theaters offer healthy snacks in addition to their usual parade of garbage, and people have reacted with blind rage. How dare you tell me how to live my life, you pinko liberal communist! It's like, really? What is so terrible about not covering your popcorn with metric tons of liquid "butter"?

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  • An Oscar win for Avatar tonight is a win for 3D technology as a whole

    An Oscar win for Avatar tonight is a win for 3D technology as a whole

    Tonight's Oscars are as much about technology as they are good movies. Granted, movie-making has always been about embracing new technology—critics complained when movies first appeared, when they added sound, when they added color, etc.—but Avatar can be looked at as nothing more than a glorified tech demo. A win for Avatar tonight is a win for 3D technology, end of.

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  • Dear Hollywood: You don’t have to worry about people pirating 3D movies (for now at least)

    Dear Hollywood: You don’t have to worry about people pirating 3D movies (for now at least)

    There's a story going around that 3D movies are harder to pirate. Really, then what's this: Coraline.3D.1080p.BluRay.x264-REFiNED? Are people incapable of buying a pair 3D glasses from Target or wherever it is people buy these things?

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  • Koreans watch Avatar in “4D”

    Koreans watch Avatar in “4D”

    One important factor that can explain Avatar's success at the box office is certainly the 3D experience viewers can have when they walk into the right movie theater. But what about watching Avatar in "4D"? In Korea, you can. The nation's leading multiplex chain, CJ-CGV, runs a handful of so-called "4D plexes" where the experience includes moving seats, laser lights or wind. In the case of Avatar, CJ-CGV uses a total of 30 different "real-life" effects to add some excitement to the movie.

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  • Robots taking over role of backseat driver

    Robots taking over role of backseat driver

    Meet AIDA, the Affective Intelligent Driving Assistant. This is a prototype robot that utilizes sensors inside and outside the car to create "a platform comprising of a personal robot and an intelligent navigation system that aims to bring an innovative driving experience." I don't own an automobile, so practically every driving experience is innovative to me right now! Rather than traditional destination-oriented GPS navigation, AIDA posits "a navigation system that mimics the friendly expertise of a driving companion who is familiar with both the driver and the city." Hopefully AIDA won't complain about my driving the way all my friends do. Video and more inside!

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  • IR technology would prevent in-theater video recording

    IR technology would prevent in-theater video recording

    There's an old Seinfeld episode where Jerry agrees to become a bootlegger. His skills at recording the screen with a tiny, hand-held camera are top-notch, so he's roped into helping out the little kid on the street who can't get into R rated movies. You know the episode I'm talking about, the one where Elaine dances all weird. (Here comes the horrible segue-way!) If this new technology is widely adopted, episodes like that won't ever happen again.

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  • OMG!!1 HALP ME!: 911 Center in Iowa now accepting texts

    OMG!!1 HALP ME!: 911 Center in Iowa now accepting texts

    You know, sometimes you’ve just gotta call 911. But all that talking; it’s such a damned pain. Sure, there’s a guy beating another guy to a pulp in the movie theater. But come on, people are trying to watch a movie! They don’t want to hear you blabbering away on your phone! Fortunately for the folks [...]

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  • PlayStation Home could stream TV shows, movies in the future

    PlayStation Home could stream TV shows, movies in the future

    We don’t typically cover PS Home updates at the ‘Gear, but the Sony PS team just dropped a tiny morsel of goodness and I feel compelled to tell you about it. The Movie Theater in Home is getting revamped with a 10-screen layout that PS Home Community Manager CydoniaX says could one-day stream full-length TV shows and movies. Nothing is set in stone so we’ll throw this one on the backburner for now.

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  • Prison software sniffs out cell phone signals

    Prison software sniffs out cell phone signals

    locatorAdmittedly, I've never been in prison (putting technology bloggers in with regular inmates is NOT safe for the inmates) but I'd undoubtedly try to smuggle in a cell phone and, at the very least, a netbook of some type. Apparently cell phones are a big problem in prisons nowadays and body orifice scanners (see previous coverage here) may not have quite caught on yet.

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  • Morgan Stanley report shows that teens don’t use Twitter, don’t buy music (but still go to the movies)

    Morgan Stanley report shows that teens don’t use Twitter, don’t buy music (but still go to the movies)

    There's a fantastic report coming out of Morgan Stanley that analyzes the way teens consume media in this day and age. The source was a 15-year-old boy; he interns at the company. The results will the music industry, make Hollywood very happy indeed, and put to bed the notion that everyone is head over heels in love with Twitter.

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  • iPhone 4.0 could quite possibly not have “life event”-based notifications

    iPhone 4.0 could quite possibly not have “life event”-based notifications

    Welcome to the world of the future! In the future your iPhone will be able to tell you where you are and then adapt to those locations, turning things on and off (ringer, etc.), changing wallpaper (from Megan Fox to cute kittens in church), and from earth to space when you go on an intergalactic trip to free the citizens of Mars from the evil Cohaagen. Perhaps you ringtone could change to this? Basically this is a patent for something folks have been thinking about for years - targeted messaging based on time and location. Advertisers would love this but I doubt many of us want to be reminded by our iPhone to turn off our Shout The Devil ringtone while talking to the Dalai Lama.

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  • Video: Transformers 2 in one minute

    Video: Transformers 2 in one minute

    Don’t want to waste $37 to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen at the movie theater? Most critics wouldn’t blame you although a lot of fans are enjoying the summer flick. But anyway, watch the video above and save yourself some cash. It tells the same story and has a proportionate amount of explosions.

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