Given the high price of Blu-ray boxed sets, the news from Video Business that some series are going backwards from having Blu-ray editions to DVD only really isn't that surprising. Specifically cited are Rescue Me, Damages and Nip/Tuck, with numbers indicating the average title sells only 5% of its copies in HD. Series that appeal to early adopting Blu-ray owners and HDTV fans like Fringe, Lost and Terminator:SCC naturally do better on Blu-ray, regardless of price, but with the exception of fanatics who will either pay up or wait for a sale, it's not surprising that most people would rather keep an extra $15 - $30 in their pocket and just grab it on standard def.

Some TV series reverse, go from Blu-ray back to DVD-only releases originally appeared on Engadget HD on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michelle Obama seems to be single-handedly thrusting unknown designers into the fashion stratosphere. First, there was Jason Wu who, before the now infamous Inaugural Gown, was known only in fashion circles.

Sophie Théallet is the latest no-name to get noticed arguably from being a favorite of today's jackpot when it comes to celebrity endorsements, the First Lady. Earlier this week the French-born designer, who specializes in boho-luxe designs (read: very expensive and pretty hippie-like dresses), won the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund which gives $200,000 to deserving upstart designers. While the honor is voted upon by members of the CFDA, it certainly didn't hurt that only months before, Michelle Obama wore Théallet's dresses to a number of events including Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral.

So who is Sophie Théallet? Turns out, she's one of those behind-the-scenes stars of the design world. According to her bio, she was tapped by Parisian department store Le Printemps to design her own collection right out of design school. After that, she paid her dues as an assistant designer to Jean-Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaïa where she was dubbed his right hand woman.

Three years ago, she moved to New York and started freelancing for various fashion brands. In 2005, she launched resort line Motu Tane with beauty guru Francois Nars.

Continue reading The Fashion Statement: The Obama Effect

Filed under: The Fashion Statement

The Fashion Statement: The Obama Effect originally appeared on Luxist on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The trailer we've placed below the break for XBLA's Zeno Clash: Ultimate Editiion is a failure. It's not that you won't get a good idea of the first-person-brawler-slash-shooter's gameplay -- you will. It's that the clip doesn't come within a million miles of communicating just how skin-crawlingly creepy the experience of playing Zeno Clash is.

Just for the record, it's kind of like taking a shower in Neil Gaiman's bathwater after its been filtered through David Lynch's birth certificate. Cr-eepy.

Continue reading Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition trailer isn't creepy enough

Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition trailer isn't creepy enough originally appeared on Joystiq Xbox on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The ultimate NASCAR gift guide ESPN (blog) Without further ado, adieu or ahem, here's the 2009 edition of the NASCAR Holiday Gift Guide. In October, my former coworkers at NASCAR Media Group, ...
Read More... [Source: nascar - Google Blog Search]

Well, we've been watching UFC for the past hour, and we're totally ready to knee the Spike Video Game Awards in the face. By which, of course, we mean "give our expert analysis, keeping you informed on breakout news that comes from the event while occasionally making fun of the oblivious celebrity presenters."

Joining me for this event is Benjamin Gilbert and Xav de Matos. I'm not entirely sure they've covered a gaming awards show before, so I wholly expect one of them to be broken by the end of the proceedings. Kevin, our fairly seasoned veteran, is on the show floor, giving us first-hand scoops. Jump past the break to follow our coverage, and make sure to leave a comment with your own clever, possibly even pithy observations.

Watch: The 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards

Continue reading Liveblogging the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards

Liveblogging the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Mac, PC, Meta (about Joystiq)

The Spike TV Video Game Awards were the source of a lot of new game announcements and reveals last night, but they weren't the only source of major news items in PC gaming this week. Let's look back at the past seven days at Big Download:
Exclusives

• Big Versus: In our latest Big Versus, we pit Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare against Modern Warfare 2.
• Interviews: We chat with the people behind the upcoming shooter The Scourge Project and also with the head of Smoking Gun Interactive.
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed PC review: We give our final verdict to the PC port of LucasArts's action game.
• The State of Mac Gaming: Part 3: It's the third part of our four part series that examines Mac gaming.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature checks out X-Com Apocalypse.
• Freeware Friday: Our free PC game column checks out the unusually titled Magic Planet Snack.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: December 7 - 13

The Best of Big Download: December 7 - 13 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Economy, Amazon.com Inc.

E-commerce sales for the holiday are doing so well that it is almost certain they will post a gain for the holiday season.

According to Comscore, the online research firm, "For the holiday season-to-date, $19.9 billion has been spent online, marking a 3% increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw above average online spending growth of 4% versus a year ago, as two individual days surpassed $800 million in spending, led by Thursday, Dec. 10, with $852 million."

Are the sales coming at the expense of "brick-and-mortar" stores, or are they really net sales that augment sales at retail locations? The trend is probably not good for conventional retailers.

Continue reading E-commerce spending picks up speed

E-commerce spending picks up speed originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: People, Investing, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs , Bank of America

On Sunday night's 60 Minutes, President Obama punched up his ongoing rhetorical battle with Wall Street, declaring that "fat cat bankers" have shown little "shame" about their out-sized compensation packages. Today, investors will see if the leader of the free world backs up his words with deeds as Obama meets with top financial executives.

In the interview, Obama suggested that many banks are paying back their TARP money early solely to free themselves from government restrictions on pay. He used fairly strong language, in what appeared to be a nod to the populist outrage over Wall Street bailouts.

Continue reading Obama takes Wall Street to the woodshed -- but will he follow through?

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Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch

When Apple launched the App Store, there were no in-app purchases, but it quickly became apparent that some mechanism for buying stuff within an app itself would be needed. I remember thinking a store of virtual gifts seemed like a no-brainer, but the in-app purchase block was a show-stopper.

Kisky Netmedia isn't the first company to enable in-app purchases, of course, but Little World Gifts [iTunes Link] is precisely what you'd expect to evolve on the iPhone: a little store of 3D trinkets which you can purchase and share with friends. Little World Gifts (which we covered a few weeks ago) would be relegated to a "gee whiz" factor were it not for the Facebook component. My purchases appear in the Facebook LWG app (as seen in the gallery below) and from there I can share with my friends who also enable the Facebook app. No iPhone required. Uh oh.

The implementation is simple: you see a series of little shelves with little 3D items, and you can buy them. Some are simply 3D objects you can rotate and zoom in a little staging area, while some have associated animations (none that I tested had sound). You will need a network connection to browse this store, as new items may appear periodically. I found the store pretty easy to use, as most in-app purchases tend to be low friction. Viewing an item is a little tricky sometimes, and you have to intuit to double-tap to bring up a "close this view" button, but the models are quite wonderful to behold.

You can send gifts to people via the app or into Facebook, and there's even a tracker to see who has picked up their gift. As I said, this is the practical evolution of virtual gifting on the iPhone, and via Facebook, frankly. I can envision a raft of new, branded stores popping up, too. Perhaps someday your Sims could wear Abercrombie or your virtual villagers in Pocket God could get a dancing Elvis? I'd be happy to ship toxic waste to Farmville.

Currently the gifts on the store are rather limited and have a holiday theme. I'm sure there will be more items to buy as time goes on, but I'd love to see a "real" market a la Second Life, where users could build their own 3D trinkets and sell them on this store. Hey, maybe we could resurrect the 3DMF format? Who threw that virtual tomato?

The Little World Gifts app is free, of course. The gifts normally range from $.99 to $3.99 or more (or less), but for a short time all gifts are only $.99US to celebrate the app's debut.

TUAWSend virtual 3D gifts with Little World Gifts originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though the Bjork-filled trailer for Spec Ops: The Line may have left you eager to start shooting up a sandy Dubai, we have to recommend that you save at least some anticipation for late next year. According to publisher Take-Two, the Yager-developed shooter isn't due until the 2011 fiscal year, which kicks off on Nov. 1 of 2010.

Yes, it's a long way off, but don't get depressed! Your friends at Joystiq have a wonderful way of filling your quota for desert-based e-murder in the interim: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. With Game of the Year list time just around the corner, has there ever been a better moment to revisit the most points-laden diamond skull hunt of the year? We think not.

Spec Ops: The Line not dusting up until Nov. 2010 at earliest originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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