It’s pilot season, but unlike the pilots that the average television network reviews in private before making series runs, an unlikely source is giving viewers the chance to examine their offerings and determine what gets a potential season order.  Amazon has 14 television programs as part of its inaugural “pilot season.”  Amazon has ordered 8 adult shows and 6 children’s programs, and impressively, none of the projects seem to be B-list or syndicated television shows.

Instead, Amazon has followed the Netflix route and produced some high-quality A-list television shows, or at least attracted A-list talent.  Among the notables in Amazon’s crop of pilots are John Goodman, Jeffrey Tambor, and Bebe Neuwirth in front of the cameras and writers from The Daily Show and the Jim Henson Company as creators and behind-the-camera talent.

“There’s no automatic or mechanistic way that will influence the choice of which shows get a series order, but we’ll put it all together and figure out what story it’s telling and it will play a major role in deciding which shows get ordered,” says Amazon Studios director Roy Price.  ”We’re trying to develop or find shows that will be popular with Amazon customers, so who better to ask than Amazon customers themselves.”

The programs, if picked up, will get 13-episode seasons with episodes being about 22 minutes in length (the length of an average sitcom without commercials).  The shows are available for watching at Amazon’s Instant Video page.  The episodes are expected to be made available for Amazon Prime customers (and those willing to pay to download the episodes), assuming any shows get picked up from this batch.

Your next television won’t be a 4K television after all.  The Consumer Electronics Association (CSA) has decided that, at least here in the United States, 4K TV won’t fly.  Instead, in the United States, 4K televisions will now be called Ultra High Definition televisions.  After all, they’re definitely more definition than a standard HD television, and why take something that has a legitimate meaning like 4K when you can replace it with something that’s more expressive yet says significantly less?

“This new terminology and the recommended attributes will help consumers navigate the marketplace to find the TV that best meets their needs,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA.

Here are the government standards for 4K TV: at least a 3,840 by 2,160 display, at least one 4K Ultra HD input, and the ability to display 4K product natively without any upconverting.  Basically, in order to be an Ultra HD TV, it needs to have all the abilities of a standard HD TV, just amped up for 4K content.  Of course, there is no 4k content out there right now aside from one movie and no real 4K televisions on the market, but that’ll all change soon.  I have no doubt 4K will be the star of the next Consumer Electronics Showcase in January.

Image:  Doctor Who Tumblr

Remember the 84-inch Ultra Definition television on display at CES circa 2011?  Well, it’s back, and it’s coming to market.  Sony has announced plans to bring the ultra-HD 4K television technology to the United States.  Sony is bringing an 84-inch 4K television to the US for the holiday season.  Coming December 2012, you’ll be able to buy a television four times as as large as the standard 42-inch television and with four times the definition.

The 4K television is called that because it has nearly 4000 pixels onits horizontal edge.  The TV’s pixel count is a staggering 3,840 by 2,160 pixels.  The set will upscale your current HD content:  TV, DVD, and Blu-ray, to make the most of the extra-high definition brought by the television.  This means a larger picture that’s even sharper than your old HD TV was.  A standard HD TV is only 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, and that’s the best HD TV on the market.

“We always get this question when we launch beautiful new technology:  Where’s the content?”  asked Sony Electronics CEO Phil Molyneux.  ”Did we bring the content to market?  Yes, we did.”

Currently, the only thing that can support 4K resolutions are computers, and that takes a little work for the end user.  Still, if you want the best picture possible and a future-proof TV, this is the best possible way to do it.

You could tell that iTunes had arrived when it stopped being something you did online and something you saw everywhere.  When iTunes gift cards became hot gifts, the go-to replacement for the generic cash gift cards of old, because people love free… whatever, and iTunes sells just about everything imaginable in the entertainment media industry.  That’s a tough nut to crack, but Google is giving it a go with Google Play.  Unfortunately, Google Play is the sort of thing you can’t give a gift card for… or is it?  That’s right; Google Play gift cards are coming to a store near you!

Google has announced the gift cards, and said that they will be in meatspace via the stores Target, Gamestop, and Radioshack.  The gift cards will also be available online at Wal-Mart’s website, but not in stores yet.  The cards come in three denominations:  $10, $25, and $50.  While the cards aren’t good for magazine subscriptions, app subscriptions, or hardware/accessories, they’re good for basically everything else Google Play sells.

“You can use them to purchase your favorite music, movies, books, apps, games and more,” said Google’s press release.  ”You can even use them to purchase in-app goods in your favorite games.”

While I’m not a fan of using BitTorrent and doing torrent downloading illegally, I am a fan of how the technology can be used legally.  Sourcing bits and pieces of a huge file from tens of thousands of people, speeding it up for me and reducing bandwith costs for those who share?  Yes, please; sign me up for that.  Fortunately, torrenting is perfectly legal, if you’re torrenting legal material.  If you’re a fan of the Internet Archive and its millions of free and legal movies, concert recordings, television, radio programs, and the like, then I have good news for you.  The Internet Archive is adding over 1 million torrent files to their website.

Check it out yourself.  As new files are uploaded, they’ll get torrent options,  I imagine more popular older files also have torrenting options as well.  While it’s a weird collection of stuff, it’s still got some interesting content within the archives and it’s definitely worth checking out because if you don’t like it, you haven’t spent any money.

One of the biggest criticisms of this year’s Olympics coverage is the significant delay between the time major events finish and the time they are broadcast on television.  London is 6 hours ahead of the east coast of the United States, so it’s only natural that NBC would want to put together a package of events to broadcast in prime time viewing hours, but to hold events for hours rather than broadcast them live and then rebroadcast them has landed NBC in the critical eye of the Twitterverse.  NBC has been offering live streaming of events, but even NBC’s live stream isn’t that live.  As it turns out, NBC’s live stream coverage has a significant delay.

The worst part of it all is that NBC has been spoiling its own coverage.  On the live streaming app, event results are pinged to the app during or before the events even start.  On the television front, a promo for The Today Show spoiled the results of Missy Franklin’s gold medal backstroke race minutes before the race started.  If you’re not going to give me events live as they happen, at least try not to spoil them for me when I’m watching your very programming!

Assembly Bill 1536 is a hot topic in the state of California.  The bill, currently on the desk of California Governor Jerry Brown, makes some interesting amendments to the traffic code.  Namely, it would legalize hands-free devices for sending and receiving text messages and emails while driving.  Just what the world needs, ANOTHER excuse to text when you should be driving.

“Today marks a huge victory for drivers as this bill will allow Californians to communicate safely and responsibly while on the road,” said Assemblyman Jeff Miller, the Republican representative from Orange County who wrote the bill.

California is the second state to pass a law allowing the use of hands-free devices while driving, after Idaho.  Interestingly, the bill itself is not directed at telephone users, but at dashboard systems, in-car navigation devices, and other things that may make noise or require some degree of human interaction to function.  The bill’s language was left intentionally vague, indicating that according to Assemblyman Miller, “Something is either hands-free or it is not.”

That helps narrow things down, doesn’t it?

When it comes to classic monsters, there’s only one name:  Universal.  Universal was the home to the classic monsters:  Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Wolf Man, Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many, many more.  Those classic films are available on DVD, but that’s old news these days.  Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection contains 8 restored classic monster movies on 8 Blu Ray discs in one beautiful movie set.

Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Claude Rains, and many, many more classics are back and better than ever in beautiful new HD transfers for your beautiful new HD television.  Within this set, you will find the following films:  Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera, and Creature from the Black Lagoon.  Amazingly, Creature from the Black Lagoon is being released in its original 3D, which means that fans with a 3D TV will be able to see the movie as it was originally intended to be seen.

The 8-disc set is scheduled to hit stores on October 2, just in time for Halloween!  It can be had (on Amazon at least) for $112.

Comedian Mark Malkoff is a Netflix power user like no one I’ve ever seen before.  He had a challenge for himself:  watch as many movies on Netflix as he could in 30 days.  The goal was 250 movies; Mark Malkoff watched a staggering 252 movies in 30 days!  From April 16 through May 15, all Mark Malkoff did from 10 AM through 2 or 3 AM was watch movies.  Over 404 hours later, he accomplished his goal on the final day.  More importantly, he made a video of his journey.

Say what you want to, this is dedication.  This is impressive.  Sure, everyone WANTS to do this, but no one actually does it.  Well, except for Mark Malkoff.