Theatre Times

From Kodak’s press release:

KODAK Theatre HD Player

Kodak also unveiled next-generation functionality for the KODAK Theatre HD Player, further enhancing the device as a hub for wirelessly delivering personal content, online entertainment, and much more to HDTVs.

Revolutionizing the way images and videos can be enjoyed in HD via a set-top box, the KODAK Theatre HD Player is an interactive device utilizing a groundbreaking “Point and Play” motion-sensing remote control to display personal content – pictures, video, podcasts, music – and Web-based content on a HDTV, while wirelessly connecting to a household’s private Wi-Fi network.

New features delivered by the KODAK Theatre HD Player include:

YouTube designed specifically for viewing on an HDTV. Consumers with YouTube access can search for videos by keyword, author, featured, top-rated and more; flag, rate and save videos; and maximize them to full screen.

Net Video access to online entertainment. View hundreds of the latest free on-demand video feeds on the web—categories include news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, comedy, family, and nature; add videos to your queue and mark favorites; browse feeds by newest, latest by category, most popular, or the entire selection.

Discovery collage views, a unique new way to rediscover the photos collected on your PC. Select “Today’s Collage” and the KODAK Theatre HD Player locates and displays pictures relevant to today’s date and two weeks forward, such as holidays, birthdays, and special family events; “Random Collage” searches for pictures on your PC and rotates randomly through your entire collection. Pictures you may have forgotten are found and displayed in full HD, and whenever one catches your interest, simply select it to see more from that date or event.

The KODAK Theatre HD Player retails for US $199.99 (MSRP) at Kodak.com and Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Buy.com, Frontgate.com and Sears.com.

Big, beautiful HDTV screens fill the room with light and sound — until they are switched off. Then it’s like a black hole, sucking the light from your life. I’ve seen people drape rugs and blankets over the screen because it’s such a large black space. Your Theatre player can handle this problem nicely and in many ways. Of course you can play your own slides shows and let that fill the space. But you might be like me, and plenty of other people, and maybe your day to day pics at home are not necessarily all winners. Maybe you just want a change. Maybe your PC isn’t on for serving the pictures. Whatever, Flickr offers a cool option.

In Flickr, there is a category called Interesting Photos. This is simply highly rated pictures from the huge Flickr catalog of photos. Most are very good and some are really great. Select this icon, then pick a photo from the screen. Then move your pointer to the bottom of the screen and select play. Photo after photo. And you can accompany it with your music or Internet radio music.

You can start the slide show with fewer steps by clicking on the upper right corner of the Interesting Photos icon. Same shortcut as for other photo features.

This also works if you don’t have a Flickr account at all. It also works if you haven’t linked your Theatre to your Flickr account. And if works if you don’t have a PC server working, it only needs the Internet access — like Internet radio.

You can find Flickr under Pictures & Videos –> Online –> Flickr. You may have to click through a screen urging you to connect your account, but you can simply click OK twice and use the Interesting Photos.

Another tip: Once inside Interesting Photos, you can do a text search and get hundreds of great photos with a word or phrase. So enter “fighter jet, ” play music from Top Gun and sit back — with no black hole.