The 54-story tower planned to house The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Los Angeles and JW Marriott when it opens in 2010 will also include an 8,000 sq ft screen on its eastern face, without disrupting the view of guests inside. The result of a deal between property owners AEG and sponsor Panasonic, the 50-foot by 160-foot screen will live in the neighborhood of the new Yankee Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys new home. No word on the exact res, but there will no doubt be plenty of HD as the entire complex, including Staples Center and Nokia Theatre, is getting Panasonic screens installed as part of the deal. Our reservations are already in, check after the break for an illustration of the future layout.

Hey, remember that AccuWeather portal that launched earlier this month on AT&T's U-verse? Looks like the outfit is on the rollout train, as it's bringing the service to U-verse TV subscribers in both Columbus, Ohio and Los Angeles, California. For those unaware, the free Weather On Demand service is an "interactive feature that allows U-verse TV customers to find the weather information they want, in the city they want, at the time they want -- all at the touch of a button." 'Course, you could just look outside and / or trust the weatherman, but where's the fun in that?

Read - Columbus rollout
Read - Los Angeles rollout

Slowly but surely, the residents in and around Los Angeles, California are catching up to their even-more-southern California brethren in the TWC HD department. Beginning November 19th, a whole gaggle of new stations will be arriving in a whole slew of new areas. As for channels, look for Animal Planet HD (451), Travel Channel HD (452), Planet Green HD (453), The Weather Channel HD (454), FX HD (456), Bio HD (457), Science Channel HD (460), Toon Disney HD (461), Cartoon Network HD (462), FOX News HD (465), FOX Business Network HD (466), ESPNU HD (467), SPEED HD (468), NBA TV HD (470), NHL Network HD (471), Tennis Channel HD (473), Lifetime Movie Network HD (475), Hallmark Movie Channel HD (476), HBO East HD (481), Cinemax East HD (482), Showtime East HD (483), The Movie Channel West HD (484), Starz East HD (485), INDemand Sports HD (732) and INDemand Sports HD 2 (733). Phew. Check the read link for all the specific areas for which these are destined. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Thanks, Scott]

Los Angeles residents could already turn their attention to KABC to catch the local news in high-def, but as Anchorman proved, there's nothing like a little competition to keep everyone on their toes. As of this week, both KTTV (FOX 11) and KCOP (MyNetworkTV 13) have made the switch to HD, meaning that you now have two more options for catching the latest in depressing anecdotes in stunning high-definition. 'Tis a shame this does nothing for that sting left by the Phillies.

[Thanks, Eric]

Getting to the NBA Finals has its perks. 'Course, being situated in Los Angeles, California doesn't hurt either. Either way, LA Lakers fans who can't get enough of HD sports are really in luck, as the club's entire 2008 - 2009 season (we're talking preseason, regular season, the whole shebang) will be aired in crystal clear high-definition. Between KCAL HD, FSN HD, TNT HD, ESPN HD and ABC HD, every last Lakers game, home and away, will be available (at least in the greater LA area) in HD. C'mon NBA -- how about we make this the norm rather than the exception?

[Thanks, Pete]

[Image courtesy of BBallOne]

We're hesitant to say that the flood gates are open, but it looks like AT&T is pushing its Total Home DVR software out at a pretty regular clip. Just days after introducing it in the Bay Area and merely hours after dumping it on Dallas / Fort Worth residents, AT&T is now bringing the U-verse update to customers in Los Angeles, Fresno and St. Louis. In short, the software refresh enables users to play back any recorded SD or HD program on any connected TV in their home at no extra charge. Who's up for placing bets on the next locale to get the good news?

No longer will you be ridiculed by nearly everyone else in Southern California, West LA residents -- Time Warner Cable has just dropped its latest dozen HD channels in your area. According to a local, he asserts that the SDV conversion has finally been completed in the region, enabling Discovery HD (418), Golf / Versus HD (423), ESPNews HD (426), CNN HD (432), HGTV HD (433), Food HD (434), Disney HD (435), ABC Family HD (436), TLC HD (437), A&E HD (438), History HD (439) and National Geographic HD (440) to be seen at long last. Also of note, USA HD (450) and CNBC HD (451) were added for additional Olympics coverage last Friday, though we'd expect those to vanish in under a fortnight. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Update: Exact neighborhoods and corresponding launch dates now after the jump. Thanks, HD!

While TWC is busy rolling out SDV in San Diego, the carrier is also gearing up to do some reshuffling and add a full dozen high-def channels in Southern California. Aside from a few SD slot changes (which are detailed in the read link for those who care), the real news comes with the arrival of HGTV HD (433), Food Network HD (434), CNN HD (432), History Channel HD (439), A&E HD (439), Golf / Versus HD (423), Discovery HD (418), TLC HD (437), Disney Channel HD (435), ABC Family HD (436), ESPNews HD (426) and National Geographic HD (440). According to the most recent programming alert, all of the HD stations "will be launched in all areas," but there's no telling how quickly each market will be hit once the rollouts begin on July 9th. Keep a close on that EPG, SoCal. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Thanks, Tony]

Far from being the first time Time Warner Cable has upset its subscriber base, the Los Angeles city attorney's office is pulling a Dee Snider and refusing to take the carrier's lackluster service anymore. In a 25-page lawsuit, the city is alleging that the operator "caused major havoc and distress" two years ago when it "failed to live up to its part of the franchise cable agreement requiring that a company answer subscribers' calls within 30 seconds and begin repairs of service interruptions within 24 hours of notification in 90% of its calls for service." The suit claims that no more than 60% of customer calls were answered in time, and cable / internet service was said to be "so intermittent and inferior in quality that it was not much better than no service at all." Not surprisingly, TWC representatives chose not to comment on the whole ordeal, but the outfit could face civil penalties of tens of millions of crisp US dollars in the case. Should've picked up the phone, TWC -- it would've been easier than picking up this tab. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Image courtesy of Web 2 Concepts, thanks Scott]

Oh, these self-centered fiber-based programming providers. Stopping every so often to pat themselves on the back each time some sort of milestone is reached. The latest reason to celebrate is the one year anniversary of serving up U-verse in the greater Los Angeles, California area. AT&T has just announced that over 50 communities in LA have access to its service, and while that's all fine and dandy, we'd actually prefer to hear a definitive date for when that highly-coveted 2HD / 2SD functionality will be rolled out nationwide.

Looks like the Padres and Diamondbacks aren't the only MLB clubs out west with lots of HD comin' up, as the Joe Torre-led Los Angeles Dodgers will be seen quite clearly in nearly every single game this season, too. Apparently 100 of the team's games will be broadcast in HD on FSN Prime Ticket, while 50 more will be aired in high-definition on KCAL 9 (CBS). And just think -- we figured the Blue Jays were doing something special.

[Image courtesy of Frederic J. Brown / ESPN, thanks Pete]

Go on, you New Yorker you, give yourself a much deserved pat on the back. According to recent findings from The Nielsen Company, NY residents are "leading the nation in adopting high-definition television." Reportedly, some 17.5-percent of households in NYC are pulling in HD content of some kind. Notably, Los Angeles has the highest amount of HD-equipped homes, but only 17.1-percent of 'em are actually putting their equipment to good use and receiving an HD station. Taking home the bronze is Washington, D.C., with 16.8-percent of its domiciles enjoying HD programming. Nationwide, 13.7-percent of dwellings are HD-capable, but only 11.3-percent (that's 12.7 million homes) are actually receiving HD signals in some form or another. Seems like we've got quite a ways to go to hit that 50 million mark by next year.

It seems DirecTV is getting the MPEG-4 AVC party started a little early. We knew New York and LA were going to get local channels in high definition, but we thought it would take until January, we were wrong. Starting today, both cities can enjoy their local programming via satellite as long as you have the right equipment.

Subscribers who already get their local channels in HD via MPEG-2 equipment don't worry, nothing has changed (yet) for you.

New York channels:

• WABC/Channel 7
• WNBC/ Channel 4
• WCBS/Channel 2
• WNYW (FOX)/Channel 5

LA Channels:

• KABC/Channel 7
  
• KTTV (Fox)/Channel 11
  
• KCBS/Channel 2
  
• KNBC/ Channel 4