Features of the new LG DP570MH Mobile Digital TV. The industrys first truly portable, battery-operated Mobile Digital TV in the United States. Plays DVDs and audio CDs. Get info at EZDigitalTV.com

If you've been looking for a sign that streaming movie services are becoming mainstream, consider this: Walmart says it's acquiring Vudu, the streaming music service now available on a number of TVs and Blu-ray players. The service—which recently added an apps-style element that provides widget-based access to content such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and The New York Times, among others—enables broadband users who own a Vudu-enabled device to receive online content directly on their TVs without a PC.

In our tests, Vudu's proprietary HDX format was clearly the best-looking streaming movie format we've seen, and the only one with a 5.1-channel Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack. Vudu originally provided its services via its own settop box, but told us at CES that it was getting out of the hardware business now that more companies were offering Vudu-enabled TVs and Blu-ray players. At CES, Vudu said that it was adding Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, and Toshiba to its existing partnerships with LG Electronics, Mitsubishi, and Vizio.

—James K. Willcox

Sigma DP1x compact camera
Photo: Sigma

Although Sigma has been known mostly as a manufacturer of lenses compatible with just about all major SLR brands, it also produces cameras. At the show, the company announced three new ones—an SLR and two advanced compacts—plus five new lenses. Here’s a rundown:

• Sigma has updated its sole SLR. The new model, the 14-megapixel SD15, continues to use the unique Foveon X3 direct image sensor, which has a unique design. But it has a larger, sharper (460,000 dots) 3-inch LCD, stores photos on SD memory cards, and has a more powerful processor that can fire off more photos in burst mode. Sigma claims you can shoot 21 RAW files in a stretch, although it also states that the capture rate is the same 3 frames-per-second as most other SLRs. The company also said it has made the graphical user interface easier to use.

• The company also unveiled two new advanced compacts the same 14-megapixel Foveon sensor as the SD15, improving the quality of photos the new DP1x and the DP2s should deliver in low-light. But unlike the new Micro Four-thirds types of compacts, neither can take interchangeable lenses. The DP1x has a wide, 28mm fixed focal length lens. The DP2s has a 41mm fixed lens. Like the SD-series SLRs and previous DP-series point-and-shoots, both have advanced features, such as the ability to capture RAW files as well as many manual settings, including manual focus.

• Sigma also debuted five SLR lenses, three of which include a new type of glass element (called FLD) that Sigma says will improve image quality. The three are an 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 wide-angle lens, a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom (with image stabilization) and a 17-50mm f/2.8 zoom (with image stabilization). The other two new lenses are 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 zoom with image stabilization and a prime (non-zoom) lens, an 85mm f/1.4. All are available with mounts for most major SLR brands, including Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Four-thirds cameras, as well as Sigma’s SD15.

Sigma didn’t provide pricing or availability on any of these new products.

—Terry Sullivan

Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• CircuitCity.com: Samsung HMX-U10 High Definition 1080p Pocket Camcorder $99.99 Free Shipping
• Newegg: Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB Internal SATA Hard Drive + BlacX HDD Dock $109.99 Free Shipping
• HP:
  HP tm2t Core 2 Duo SU7300 ULV 12in
  Touchscreen Tablet (4GB/500GB/Radeon 4550/TWO 6-Cell Batts) $909
• Cambridge Soundworks: Cambridge SoundWorks Coupon Code 25% off Speakers & Multimedia Systems
• Lenovo: Lenovo IdeaPad Y550 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2GHz 15.6in LED Laptop (4GB/320GB) $599

• Dell Home: Philips 42PFL5704D/F7 42 inch LCD HDTV (1080p, 120Hz) + HDMI Cable $699 Free Shipping
• Amazon : Archos 8GB Video MP3 Player for $69.99 w/ Free Shipping
• B&H Photo Video : Sony 120GB High Definition Digital Camcorder for $529 w/ Free Shipping
• Buydig : Nikon Digital SLR Camera w/ 18-55mm Zoom Lens + 4GB SD Card for $469 w/ Free Shipping
• Buy.com : Seal Shield Antimicrobial Wireless Dishwasher Safe Keyboard and Laser Mouse for $49.99 w/ Free Shipping
• Shop4Tech : 17% Off Entire Purchase w/ Coupon FT17
• goHastings: goHastings.com Used Video Game Clearance: From $1 + $3 s&h
• Best Buy: Best Buy printable coupons: $5 to $20 off select console games for members
• History Channel: MonsterQuest Season 2 + Season 3 FREE (6 Discs total) $19.99
• Meijer: New Release - Nintendo Wii Sports Resort Game w/ Wii Motion Plus $41.58 Free Shipping

Related: TV Ratings and buying tips; Computer Ratings and buying tips; Pocket camcorder guide; DVD & Blu-ray player Ratings and buying tips; Video game console buying tips and video: "Choosing a video game system"; Camcorder Ratings and buying tips.

Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in
exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely
informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or
products becoming unavailable as the day progresses.

These posts are not an endorsement of the featured products or
the Web sites that sell them—though some of the sites may be included,
and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics (both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas.

For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides.

Combing through hundreds of blog posts and news articles daily, Dirk Klingner, our technology-trend watcher, sifts through the noise to bring you the tech news most important to consumers. If you have a tip on a story you want to share, leave a comment below.

Shopping smarter with Google Shopper (Google Mobile Blog)

We're happy to announce a new Android application called Google Shopper. Shopper lets you find product information quickly by using your phone's camera. It can recognize cover art of books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, along with most barcodes. You can also speak the name of the product you're looking for. Use Shopper to make smart decisions about what to buy, what price to pay, and where to buy it. You can star items for later and share them with friends. Shopper also saves your history so you'll always have product and price information at your fingertips, even when you don't have a signal.

The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (Engadget)

…Now get this, skeptics: there are already several corporate customers using refrigerator-sized Bloom Boxes. The corporate-sized cells cost $700,000 to $800,000 and are installed at 20 customers you've already heard of including FedEx and Wal-mart — Google was first to this green energy party, using its Bloom Boxes to power a data center for the last 18 months.

Soccer Ball Generator (Soap Creative)

…a group of Harvard University students developed sOccket, a soccer ball that turns energy from a kick into electricity.

Lighter side: Google before you Tweet (Design Is Mine)

Features a poster with an modern update to common advice.