It's two things that are inevitably tied to one another each Sunday -- LCD TVs and alcohol. Now, Micro Matic is bringing them together like never before, and only the most serious of in-home bartenders need apply. The v-POD comes in a couple of shapes and colors to best suit your needs, with the stainless steel Kool-Rite boasting a half-dozen taps, stereo speakers and an inbuilt 10-inch LCD. Now, if only these were available with slightly larger HDTVs and price tags nowhere near the three grand mark, we'd be talking.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

If you're a live event nut but live in the sticks, listen up: Sony is about to bring live performances to digital theaters with its new Hot Ticket program. Sony will broadcast Broadway shows, concerts, and sports events to around 500 digital theaters, live and in HD digital projection for about $20 a seat. The venture will launch with Cirque du Soleil's final performance of Delirium from London and for the two of you who haven't seen it yet, Rent's final Broadway performance will be shown in September. We have to admit, though, this could create some fun SuperBowl parties with rival factions on either side of the aisle, Congress style.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) expected Super Bowl XLII to drive over two million HDTV sales, and drive it did. According to a recent study by Frank N. Magid Associates, around 5.5 million US households brought home an HDTV for the very first time during the 2007 - 2008 holiday and Super Bowl season. Of course, these two events weren't the only reason so many folks opted to make the leap to a high-def set -- the study also credits the looming digital TV transition as an encouraging factor. It's also noted that the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing may convince even more folks to spend that incoming stimulus check on an HDTV, further boosting the percentage of US households with at least one HD-capable set. Now, if all of these slow-to-move cable carriers would get their acts together and provide a decent array of HD channels to enjoy, we'd be set.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

Not that this is a surprise or anything -- after all, it's pretty safe to assume that homes with HD became that way due to an urge to watch more HD programming -- but some recent ratings numbers from Nielsen help substantiate the notion that high-def capable domiciles are more likely to flip on the set. For instance, this year's Super Bowl managed a 43.3 rating overall, yet racked up a 47.6 rating in homes with HDTVs. Additionally, broadcast TV stations had an 8.9 rating in HD homes in December of 2007, while non-HD households rung up just a 6.8 rating. Still, not all of the news was rosy. At the close of last year, about a quarter of US homes had an HD set, while just 13.6-percent of those were classified as "HD capable and receivable." SD content stretched across an HD panel? Oh, the humanity.

[Via MultichannelNews]

Tell your pastor to stop looking over their shoulder, a higher power (Roger Goodell) has decided the NFL will no longer object to live showings -- regardless of screen size -- of the Super Bowl. With the caveat that the event must be free, and held on premises the church uses "on a routine basis", this makes the local ministry and sports bar odd bedfellows enjoying exemption from the NFL's rule against public viewing on screens 55-inches or larger. With more and more churches adding big screens, this could have become a PR nightmare for the NFL, but with HDTVs continuing to grow, we suspect this isn't the last we've heard about this issue.

[Via ESPN; warning, registration required]

Update: Check out the senator's press release concerning the letter received from Commissioner Goodell (Thanks Taylor!).

If you'll recall, we took an in-depth look at exactly what it took to deliver Super Bowl XL to the masses, and just days after Super Bowl XLII concluded, we're now finding out what hardware is to thank for bringing Super Bowl XLII to (most of) us in glorious high-definition. Reportedly, the bulk of the praise should be directed to mobile production company Game Creek, which brought six HD production trucks and 25 HD cameras to Glendale for the big game. Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Also on location was an HD vehicle from NEP Supershooters that featured a Sony BVP900 and 950 HD cameras alongside a plethora of switching equipment and audio consoles. Needless to say, there was more kit at this single game than can be covered here, so go on and hit the read link below to get a better understanding of just how massive the production process really is.

When a program nets some 97.5 million viewers, the last thing you want as a broadcaster is trouble with your transmission. Nevertheless, reports are already starting to flow in from towns in which their local FOX affiliate or cable provider somehow bungled what's likely to go down as the biggest night in US sports for 2008. One report out of Kinston, North Carolina, noted that multiple disruptions during kickoff and most of the third quarter had customers at a local restaurant "cursing at the television." As for a particular family near Springfield, Missouri, it's actually considering "canceling the cable service" after SuddenLink's mishandling of the game forced them to watch it via "rabbit ears." Any of you experience unforeseen outages during Sunday's matchup? If so, are you planning a revolt at your carrier's doorstep, or have cooler heads prevailed?

[Image courtesy of WiredVision]
Read - Television reception leaves many Super Bowl viewers in the dark
Read - WYDO Explains Fox Fumble During Super Bowl XLII
Read - Family upset about cable loss during Super Bowl

You could almost see this one coming -- a Super Bowl with one team attempting to do what no other team in league history has done? Yeah, that'll draw folks in. A game decided in the final minutes of the fourth quarter helps too, and according to research doled out by Nielsen, Sunday's tilt between the Giants and Patriots was indeed the most watched Super Bowl ever. Reportedly, some 97.5 million viewers tuned in on average, with 105.7 million fixing their eyes on the game between 9:30PM and 10:00PM EST. More interesting, however, was TiVo's research data, which showed that more folks (in its sample, at least) were interested in watching / rewinding commercials than actually pausing to gaze into Brady's eyes. Oh, and for those curious, E-Trade's "Baby" spot snatched the number one rank this year in term's of ad popularity (sorry, Toshiba). Hit up the read links below for oodles more data about the game.

[Image courtesy of Getty Images / WNBC]
Read - Nielsen's research data
Read - TiVo's research data

Restaurant and bar owners, fret not, you're free to broadcast tonight's matchup between the Giants and Patriots on a screen larger than life, but for churches, movie theaters, casinos and the like, throwing that Super Bowl XLII party is likely a no-no. After a well publicized tilt last year between the league and Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, it seems that Goodell and company aren't backing down from the 55-inch image restriction nor the stipulation that the big game cannot be used to "promote a message." According to a recent article at The Wall Street Journal, many venues are renaming the event, scaling it back or simply not having a single large gathering in order to stay within the guidelines. One more reason to just blow it out at your place, we guess.

[Image courtesy of ChristianPost]

Believe it or not, there actually are a few upstanding citizens around the globe who couldn't care less about tomorrow's so-called "big game." Granted, if you live in America, you're likely in the minority there, but we digress. For those of you adamant about not watching Super Bowl XLII tomorrow (and anxious to never hear it spoke of again), why not tell us how you'll be getting your HD fix on Sunday evening?

We've polled you fine folks before to get your take on whether sporting events are better seen live and in person or on an HDTV, and while responses tend to vary, one particular Giants fan recently made the decision to enjoy Super Bowl XLII from the comfort of his own home rather than jetting down to Arizona with a pocketful of Benjamins. Said fan has yet to miss a New York Giants home game in 17 years, but after mulling it over with his better half, they collectively decided to plunk down two large on a new Samsung and made plans to host a sure-to-be-riveting party. Of course, judging by recent HDTV sales and home theater installations in the New York region alone, it's pretty safe to say that they aren't the only ones making this choice. Our only concern is that the fan somehow believes his TV purchase will last (read: not be replaced) "for 15 years" -- something tells us he was misinformed.

NFL fans calling Lufkin, Nacogdoches or a surrounding locale home may be thrilled to know that SuddenLink and the Longview, Texas FOX affiliate (KFXK) have finally decided to put their differences aside and shake hands. Merely days before Super Bowl XLII kicks off from nearby Arizona, the station has apparently landed an agreement with SuddenLink (cash very likely involved, by the way) that will enable the cable company's subscribers to finally receive FOX in HD on channel 705. Better still, these very customers will also be able to tune into Fox Sports Network HD on channel 750 if they decide to plunk down $7.95 per month for the SuddenLink HD Plus package. According to Gene Regan, director of corporate communications at SuddenLink, the firm still plans on juicing up its lineup with additional high-def options in the near future, but unfortunately for Austin-area folks, there's still no end in sight to the drama keeping NBC HD off of your EPG.

We already knew that pigskin fanatics in 223 countries would be able to catch Super Bowl XLII this Sunday, but thanks to Raytheon's Global Broadcasting Service (GBS), even sailors and Marines stationed aboard ships in the Pacific Ocean will be able to catch the Giants attempt to mar the Patriots' currently unblemished record. The aforementioned technology has been in use for over a decade delivering "high-speed, multimedia broadcasts of mission critical information to military and government decision makers," but this weekend, it'll be used to bring home entertainment to folks far, far away from home. Sadly, it doesn't sound like the broadcast will be in HD this go 'round, but we suppose any football is better than none at all, right?

[Via DailyWireless, image courtesy of ProJo]

It seems like just yesterday that we were stoked to hear that Sky would be broadcasting Super Bowl XLI in HD across the pond, but a release this year put forth by THX is proclaiming that out of the 223 countries in which Super Bowl XLII will be shown, 28 of them will have the luxury of seeing it in high-definition. Additionally, Neural Audio Corporation, THX and the NFL have teamed up to deliver the international HD broadcast of the big game in Neural-THX Surround. For those still unfamiliar with the technology, it takes the 5.1 sound from the field, beams it over stereo channels to minimize bandwidth usage and then gets decoded by specially equipped receivers to deliver "5.1 surround" in the living room. Still, the trio of entities are pretty jazzed about the whole idea -- you know, considering it's the first time ever that international viewers get even a shadow of true surround sound for the Super Bowl.