 We've teamed up with the HD Guru himself, Gary Merson, to publish the absolute best five TVs you can buy right now. As you'll see (and might already notice above), there are some surprises on the list.
Panasonic Z1 
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 There are two ways for a device to access YouTube: either through the regular web interface, i.e. Flash, or for cleaner integration, through its back end APIs. As of December, Google is shutting off the tap. UPDATED
The news comes from the COO of Syabas, the company that makes the Popcorn Hour set-top box. Up until now they'd had a "loose agreement" with the 'Tube: They could stream video from YouTube for free, but YouTube could change the terms of the deal whenever they want. Which they did!: More...
 Black Friday is a week away, and thousands of markdowns are already announced. Our master list of Giz-friendly deals—a hefty read—includes similar items priced differently at different stores. Keep it refreshed, cuz we'll be updating it all week.
UPDATE: We had to add a Page 2 with TVs, Video Games, Printers and Software More...
 The Xbox 360's Elite's $300 holiday pack already includes Pure and Lego Batman, and GameStop is adding your choice of CoD 4 or Bakugan Battle Brawlers. The $300 120GB PS3 bundle gets Little Big Planet and God of War Collection.
Painfully, the ad makes it look like the God of Collection is two separate games. A quick comparison of Black Friday console deals from the big guys: More...
Trade in Your DVDs, Plus a Couple Bucks, and Get the Blu-ray Versions...Steve Ballmer Acknowledges Apple's Gains, Remains Cocky...Sanyo to Build Houses Powered by Solar Energy and Li-Ion Batteries...Sony Announces Vague "iTunes-Like" Store on PlayStation Network for Books, Movies, Music... 
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 Google made an announcement! It was an OS, in case you haven't heard. But it was also something else: a long-term, high-risk bet about the future of the internet. Here's what Google needs to happen for Chrome to make it.
Just to be clear, I'm not talking about Chrome OS 1.0. You can build that now and (maybe) install it on your netbook, and should be able to buy on hardware next year. All that stuff is, to borrow a word that Google loves to misuse, is a beta. A test. A trial. A first step toward a larger vision, which Google has been hinting at since they branched out from search: In the future, we will live on the internet. We'll be able to do all the things we do on computers now, and probably more, while connected to the cloud. And it'll be great. More...
 You can buy an HDTV, a nice big one, for six hundred bucks. Or you can pay six thousand. It's presumably somehow better. You're probably wondering, "What the hell makes it better?" Here's the breakdown:
To be clear, we're only looking sets that are at least 46 inches—go big or go home. And though there are some nice 720p plasmas out there for amazing prices, the majority of TVs we're concerned with are 1080p—it's the standard now, even in cheap HDTVs, and probably the only resolution you'll see next year. More...
 The Ear Force X4 was a rare and wonderful product, the only Xbox 360 wireless surround sound headset to integrate voice chat smoothly into the mix. Now the sequel, the Earforce X41, is even better.
The Price $180 (technically $200, but Amazon sells 'em cheaper) The History Read our X4 review if you've never heard of these products before. This article will make a lot more sense. More...
 Because browsing the web on your video game console is so painless and intuitive, there's a rumor out there that Sony is looking into bringing Firefox to the PS3. Cool, I guess. [Playstation Insider via Technabob]
 Yesterday we lamented that the Android-powered X10 lacks a certain je ne sais quoi, despite its beautiful 4-inch display, Nexus UI, and 1GHz Snapdragon processor. Now more bad news: The NYTimes reports it'll cost about 6000 Swedish kronor ($880) off-contract.
No wonder they "desire to have a carrier relationship" to subsidize the price. Sony's long had a tough time cracking the U.S market on its own, and the X10 deserves better. More...
I've been wondering why there hasn't been drooling, crazy-eyed hype for Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10, which sounds like a wet dream on paper: Android, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, awesome 8MP camera, massive 800x480 display and a very pretty interface. I know now. Well, rather, I know that it's definitely something about the phone itself. It's missing that spark, the emotional drippings of OMG, that say, the Droid has. The X10 is perfectly fine. It's just that everything outwardly belies the specialness of what's going on inside. The all plastic-build feels just slightly better than cheap, the shape is kind of awkward unless you have gorilla hands, the design—it all just feels, well, incredibly ordinary. More...
 Unlike many other Black Friday retailers, Walmart has some legitimately sweet gadget deals going on—like a Magnavox NB500 Blu-ray player for $78 and a whole mess of HDTVs.
* Indicates a doorbuster item Computers More...
 Sony Ericsson's custom interface for Android on the X10—and other OSes, like Symbian and Windows Mobile in time-is going to be called Nexus. Like other custom UIs du jour, it'll integrate a bunch of services, like for social networking.
Example: Sony Ericsson Timescape, the "signature" Nexus app, sounds a lot like HTC's Sense in that it pulls in a bunch of services like Facebook and Twitter for your contacts, but it's more straightforwardly organized around timelines, which you can break down by service, events or whatever. There's also an infinite button. For infinite discoveries. More...
Embattled cell phone handset maker Sony Ericsson is closing its North American headquarters in North Carolina and cutting jobs as part of a global consolidation.
Maybe you know someone in film school, or just some guy who really likes going to movies and cutting YouTube mash-ups? Here's what you can buy them—and also what you shouldn't: BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.  Flip Ultra HD: We tested basically every pocket camcorder in existence, and this was the best one we found. It shoots 720p HD and is easy enough for your grandma to use. If you're buying a gift for someone looking to experiment on a budget or simply shoot vacation videos, this is a great little cam. $150 [Flip]
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 How's this for a quick turn around. Facebook integration for the Cross Media Bar interface was only confirmed on Monday, but it arrives today with firmware 3.10—a day after the 360 added Twitter and Last.fm. Watch the preview:
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Bookworms are creatures of comfort who crave for little more than a peaceful corner and a good read. Here are some gifts ideas for them. Feel free to contribute your own suggestions (or argue with mine). BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here. 
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 A well balanced Hobomodo diet: a free medium cheese pizza from Papa Johns, a helping of Stacy's delicious Simply Naked pita chips, and some Lipton Tea to wash it all down.
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 Somehow we missed Sony Computer Entertainment America's fourth wall-breaking patent application earlier this month, but here's how the concept would work: Using a PS3, you'd control an on-screen avatar to throw tomatoes at actors, and even kick their ass…literally.
"Avatars displayed to a user, in response to user gestures in the real world, e.g. in response to manipulation of a game controller or other such expedient [PlayStation Eye or wand-based motion control?—Ed], may toss tomatoes that stick to the actor's face or bounce off the actor's face and roll along a table that appears in the movie or television show." More...
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