Just over a year ago, we heard that AT&T would be sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into the Carolinas in an attempt to "upgrade its fiber network, further broadband deployment, and deliver internet-based technologies to customers in North Carolina and South Carolina." Now, we're beginning to see signs of life. According to this nondescript job posting on Craigslist, AT&T is scouting residential field agents specifically for U-verse in the Raleigh / Durham, NC region. Sure, this could very well be a hoax of some strange kind, but we can't possibly be more hopeful that it's not. Hey TWC -- is this enough to get you to add a few HD channels to your absolutely abysmal selection in the Triangle?

[Thanks, Jonathan]

There are a few must-do things when you wind up in the City of Brotherly Love: see the Liberty Bell, check out Independence Hall, scarf down an authentic cheesesteak and... peek the HD Video Wall at the Comcast Center? Shortly after wowing locals and making customers suddenly aware of where their money was going, the official visitor site for the Great Philadelphia area is now pushing the wall as a can't-miss tourist attraction. Comical though that may be, we can't say that it's really that absurd -- after all, who wouldn't want to see 2,000 square-feet of beautiful LED action when waltzing through a city on vacation? On that note, have any of you actually stopped and checked it out?

[Via Gadling]

Say what you will about Bose's price to performance ratio, that company knows how to move iPod docks. The Bose SoundDock and SoundDock Portable have an astounding hold on the premium end of the iPod accessory market, and the SoundDock Series II followup likely won't be breaking that streak. The new Series II dock has a slightly refined look, more akin to the SoundDock Portable than the original, includes an aux-in jack (at last), and can charge the iPhone 3G -- a sore point for folks who've been charging their iPods and iPhones just fine on the original SoundDock for years, only to have the legacy-free iPhone 3G do them in. The Series II dock also includes the Portable's more advance remote for browsing playlists and such. Price is $299, it should ship starting in September.

Just that fast, the folks behind PlayOn's Hulu / YouTube / soon-Netflix streaming software have gone to version 2.58.3152, including support for 64-bit versions of Windows and fixes for a few niggling video playback bugs experienced a few days ago. If you've somehow avoided grabbing the free beta software, go ahead and check it out (if you must, there's also our gallery for a the Buckaroo Banzai-YouTube-clips-streamed-to-PS3 future that awaits), but for any already on the bandwagon please be sure to uninstall the previous version and reboot first. Let us know, was it as easy as Head-on (apply directly to forehead) or has the pain continued?

Welp, at least we now know one company that helped Singulus beat its Blu-ray duplicator sales estimates. Germany's CDA, which was still producing 3X DVDs as of mid-February, has finally realized that Blu-ray is the victor and the sole remaining high-def format that anyone cares about. Thus, it's finally investing in a production line for Blu-ray Discs that will boast capacities of 17,000 single-layer and 12,000 dual-layer units per day. In somewhat related news, the outfit is also expanding its DVD capacity to meet "growing demand." Clearly CDA hasn't been listening to the analysts, or else it has a darn good phase in / phase out plan for 2012.

When you're an industrial giant like Mitsubishi, it pays to cover your bets. In addition to the recently-announced MZW-, MXW- and MX-series LCD TVs, it is also showing off an unnamed 40-mm thick LCD TV prototype. As we've seen in the war of supermodel svelte TVs, getting down to these levels requires that the tuner is moved to an external box (those chunky boxes in the pic). The elegance of the panel just can't be spoiled by ugly cables, so just like we've seen with the Hitachi Wooo LCD TVs, the signal will get the wireless treatment. A production model of this TV is slated for a fall release, in a size over 40-inches. That's right around the corner, so we've got a feeling more details will be flowing soon. Meanwhile, hit that link for more pics.

[Image courtesy TechOn]

We've heard for some time that Samsung planned to have two Blu-ray players in its lineup, but it's been well over a year since there's even been a peep about the BD-P2400, now out of nowhere the BD-P2550 shows up at Best Buy stores all over the country for the premium price of $499. According to Best Buy's website, the new model has many of the missing features from Sammy's latest BD-P1500, like 7.1 analog outputs and the sought after Silicon Optix HQV video processing. What does appear to be missing though, is the elusive BD-Live, but with the included network connection and USB port, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine that either Best Buy failed to mention it, or it's coming in a firmware update. Although $500 Blu-ray players aren't for everyone, it's good to see Blu-ray manufacturers offering multiple models for those in need of premium features.

[Via Format War Central]

Oh noes! Merely months after Freeview execs were celebrating the surprising uptick in Freeview HD users, in flies word that bandwidth is already becoming an issue. You see, Freeview was initially launched as a "satellite only service using MPEG-2 video compression software," while the HD terrestrial component uses MPEG-4. Transponder space on the Optus D1 satellite is "rapidly being used up, and any further expansion of data bandwidth would require Freeview broadcasters to purchase more space from Optus." If the old MPEG-2 system was suddenly canned and replaced with MPEG-4, every last satellite Freeview user would be forced to buy a new set-top-box. We shouldn't have to explain the glaringly obvious problem with that scenario. Thus, the only stop-gap solution is to simulcast the signals, which obviously requires oodles of bandwidth. Unfortunately, broadcasters are gun-shy about dropping even more cash to expand the available space without assurance of a good return on their original investment, so as of now, expansion plans wait while bigwigs figure out where to get more funding.

Planar has remained mostly quiet since CES, but given that CEDIA is within spittin' distance, it's no shock to see it making waves once more. Today, the outfit has revealed its first 3-chip HD projector, the DLP-based Viper. Other specs include a native 1,280 x 720 resolution, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 2,000 lumens and 10-bit independent dual image / motion adaptive processing. You'll also find an RS-232 port, twin HDMI 1.3 sockets and a jaw-dropping $15,495 price tag. It's shipping immediately for those with the requisite coin. Full release after the break.

For fans of the now-deceased Nickelodeon GUTS, we've excellent news. We've received word that Nickelodeon will soon be launching its first HD program to be produced entirely in high-def to subscribers of DirecTV and Cablevision. The show, dubbed My Family's Got Guts!, will be shot and edited in HD at Universal Studios Florida and will be hosted by E!'s Ben Lyons. Looking for a date to circle in your datebook? Try September 15th.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Next month's CEDIA show is interesting -- a lot of companies that cater to the custom install crowd introduce some interesting gear. Sure, a lot of it is pricey, but it's fun to look, right? Knoll is bringing a pair of products to the show; first up is the $8,500 HDP460 projector which we first heard about in March. The spec that gets our eye is the "D6500K color accuracy even with ambient light" -- this crowd definitely speaks our language. In another product category entirely, Knoll's GS8 (8-channels, $1,178) and GS12 (12-channels, $1,238) amplifiers with Eco-System circuits promise to keep your green lifestyle intact. The voltage rails only deliver current to channels actually in use; any of the channels that aren't delivering audio are actually turned "off," not simply muted or placed in a standby mode. When there's no audio flowing, the amplifier uses only 4-Watts. Sigh -- gone are the days of class A amplifiers that double as space heaters.

Typically speaking, we won't cover every single film that hits Blu-ray -- particularly since it's pretty much the only high-def format to choose from (CH-DVD notwithstanding) -- but the anime industry is still struggling to pump out a healthy amount of BD titles. That being the case, we're all the more elated to see that Aquarion Movie will be landing on the format on December 5th in Japan. Reportedly, the disc will feature a 16:9 version of the flick with the MPEG-4 AVC codec along with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 channel audio. Buyers will also get a 28-page booklet, HD remake of Episode 27 and audio commentary for the special features. As for a US release? We're still waiting in tense anticipation.

[Via ActiveAnime]

Though probably not as niche as Rural Free Delivery (RFD HD), World Fishing Network HD still has a pretty narrow audience. That being the case, there's still some logic to pushing the channel in rural parts of America or in regions with nearby fishing outlets. Call us crazy, but New York City is not the first place that comes to find when someone mentions deep sea fishin'. Nevertheless, Verizon has just announced that WFN HD has arrived in the Big Apple on FiOS TV, giving transplants an easy way to get back in touch with their small town roots. There's no word on when the station will hit other FiOS TV areas, but we'd bet it'll be making the rounds soon enough.

Now that AMIMON is being taken seriously in the high-def arena, we're hoping to see a number of these releases in the not-too-distant future. Merely months after Sharp announced that its X-Series LCD HDTVs would arrive with wireless HD technology built right in, Mitsubishi has declared that it too will offer sets in Japan that can communicate with WHDI-enabled equipment sans cabling. The TV itself will have an AMIMON chip embedded within, though it will arrive with a separate HDTV receiver unit that connects to the LCD in wireless fashion. Model numbers, prices and all that jazz has yet to be divulged, though the Japanese will evidently be able to buy one of the elusive packages as early as "this fall." Full release after the jump.

Add two more to the growing list of news stations in America that have made the switch to high-def. Word from respective locals informs us that WHNT (the local CBS affiliate) in Huntsville, Alabama is now broadcasting news in HD, while KMGH (the local ABC affiliate) in Denver, Colorado has done the same. Any others out there needing recognition while we're on a roll?

[Thanks, Mike and Steven]