Entourage – one of our favorite shows is now entering its 8th and final season.

The story of the rise and fall (and hopefully rise) of a young Hollywood movie star, his insane agent and his group of buddies is the anti-Sex and the City. These final 8 episodes follow Vincent Chase’s return to show business after his fall from grace last season due to drugs and alcohol and dating porn stars.

Damn, mom was right!

HBO has a weird way of ending their series if you remember shows like The Soprano’s – no movie continuation appeared for that show unlike Sex and the City but that’s the plan with Entourage. So we’re guessing Vinnie, Turtle, E, Johnny and Ari will make it through the last episode alive and figuring a way to have even more fun on the big screen.

Will it work in a 2 hour format? Financially it seemed to have worked for Carrie Bradshaw and her girlfriends but will it work for the boys?

If you haven’t started watching Entourage you can catch up on the original 7 seasons on iTunes with seasons ranging around US$24/HK$200 on the US app store or head into your favorite physical plastic disc retailer and pick up the box sets or Blu-rays for a song, since Season 8 is not airing yet in Hong Kong or available on iTunes.

Eat your lunch while watching Hollywood Sunset a 30-minute tribute to the final season of Entourage produced by HBO:

Apparently people are too busy partying to watch TV in the US so when all the mainstream shows go on a break, all the crazy shows come out.

We’re looking forward to the final season of Entourage (returns July 24), another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (July 10) and the return of True Blood (June 26) but what else is coming out that will have us timeshifting? We pick out 5 shows that already have us from “hello”:

Wilfred
Starts June 23
Seems the Ring did more to Frodo than we thought, as Elijah Wood hangs out with a stoner dog from Australia. Yeah, it’s too hard to explain so check this out:

Falling Skies
Starts June 19
If you enjoyed ET or Super 8 it seems Steven Spielberg can’t stay away from this alien-in-a-small-town genre and with Noah “Steve Jobs” Wylie and the bodacious Moon Bloodgood we can’t imagine missing this interesting looking sci-fi show:

Louie
It’s season 2 of the Louis C.K. show! Just watch it:

Torchwood: Miracle Day
Starts July 18
If you’re a Doctor Who fan you already know what this is, if you’re not this might bring you into the fold. A team of time travellers are trying to find out why humans have stopped dying:

Children’s Hospital
The cast of this comedy is so awesome, and the jokes so strange that it’s a must watch for people who enjoyed Hot Tub Time Machine as Rob Corddry is a doctor with clown make-up in a children’s ward. Yes, this will offend just about anyone and anything:

To help promote the Philips’ Ambilight LED TVs the electronics giant has partnered with renowned film producers, Ridley Scott Associates (RSA) – founded by Sir Ridley Scott to produce a series of films that would show off the winning attributes of their new line of Philips TVs and Ambilight technology.

The project called Parallel Lines is a unique series of five short films. The thematically linked films are available to view online at www.philips.com/cinema from today. They are part of a new global campaign demonstrating the cinematic capabilities of Philips TVs and were each created in a different genre, with a different storyline, but all following the same dialogue.

More than 45 submissions were received, and five ground-breaking short films were produced whose genres range from drama, action, animation, to sci-fi and thriller. The five film directors are Greg Fay, Johnny Hardstaff, Carl Erik Rinsch, Jake Scott and Hi-Sim.

“I’m impressed by the films and the way the directors tackled the challenge of following a single dialogue. They have interpreted it creatively and their technical execution is impeccable,” comments director and founding partner of RSA, Sir Ridley Scott.

Since April, the 5 ‘Parallel Lines’ films have been watched over 5 million times through http://www.philips.com/cinema and http://www.youtube.com/philipscinema.

Our favorite video is this one, entitled: “The Gift:”

For those not familiar with Philips Ambilight series of products they generally include what can be basically described as a multi-coloured night light. The TV’s do feature what are undeniably the best images that we at Neonpunch have seen from a TV. However by prepared to pay a premium for these TV sets or if you have been a really good boy or girl maybe Santa will put one under the tree for you this Christmas.

The most eye catching television set had to be the Cinema 21:9 Platinum Series the widest most stretched out side ways TV you’ve ever seen. Unfortunately there’s still no word on when it will be available (except for Philips saying very soon) and how much this set will cost is also a Sir Ridley Scott Sci-fi mystery in itself.

Philips Ambilight TV 7000 series

• 46” – HK$20,890
• 40” – HK$18,890
• 37” – HK$14,890
• 32” – HK$12,890

For full details Click Here

Philips Ambilight TV 8000 series

• 52” 3D Ready – HK$38,890
• 46” 3D Ready – HK$26,890
• 40” 3D Ready – HK$22,890
• 37” – HK$16,890
• 32”- HK$14,890

For full details Click Here

Philips Ambilight TV 9000 series

• 46” 3D Ready – HK$35,890
• 40” 3D Ready – HK$29,890
• 32” – HK$18,890

For full details Click Here

Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new pizzas, to seek out new toppings and new cheeses, to boldy cut pizza where no man has cut before!

The Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter is eight-and-a-half inches of awesome. The zinc-alloy body is chrome-plated and the saucer-section is a laser-etched stainless-steel blade, all in the shape of the original NCC-1701 Enterprise.

Yes, this officially licensed Star Trek collectable is everything you hoped it would be. Laser etched stainless steel blade and solid metal construction make it perfect for battling Romulans in the neutral zone or precision pizza slicing. You can purchase the pizza cutter at ThinkGeek.com for HK$200/US$24.99.

Admit it, you do this too – you’re watching a movie or a TV show and you somehow manage to end up doing something on your iPhone or iPad. Maybe you saw an actress and want to check the IMDB app to see where you know her from, or you saw someone eating a pizza and now you want to order one.

In the US, there is a new show on ABC called My Generation (starring Michael Stahl-David from Cloverfield and Jamie King from Sin City – geek shout-outs!) that merges the typical 1-hour drama with the iPad and with amazing results.

Download the My Generation app for iPad then let it sync with your TV by grabbing the audio. Now the fun begins!

My Generation is a new American TV series (but also a song by The Who) that is based on the Swedish original. Its a show done like a documentary – it starts back in 2000 with 9 schoolkids graduating high school and then starts now 10 years later to see if their dreams post-high school have come true and what are they doing now. The Overachiever is now a surfer in Hawaii, The Wallflower is now a single-mom and the Beauty Queen failed in Hollywood and married The Rich Kid from school and so on.

But the gimmick is that your iPad is part of the show.

The My Generation app now starts to feed you information about the show itself while you are watching it.

So besides having easy access to the 9 main leads character bios at any time, the app is hearing the audio from the show and brings in factoids, quizzes and background images on what is going on on the screen!

We watched a free HD version of the show from iTunes via our US account, (you can watch it free on ABC.com if you have a VPN) so because it wasn’t during the live broadcast some of the polls were closed – but it would ask questions pertaining to the plot of the show. So in the show a character is asked if she wants to be set up on a blind date – so at that exact second our iPad beeped and asked us to take a poll: Have you ever been on a blind date?

• Yes.
• No, why do you know someone.
• Never have, never will.

This is the pilot episode so juggling 9 main characters might be a bit confusing, but don’t worry – whenever they appeared on TV their bio shows up on your iPad.

The My Generation app seems to be using the same technology as Shazam does to tell what song it is hearing and tell you, but taken to such an amazing level that it knows when the show is heading to commercial break, when it returns and the name of the song playing in the background at the coffee shop the actors are in on the show.

It’s an amazing interactive way to watch TV and a gimmick that will keep geeks like us tuned in. We wish they had this for Lost so we could understand what was going on better or for Fringe – but no doubt if this is successful you’ll see this experiment widened. You don’t need the iPad app to enjoy the show, but it definitely enhances it and would probably work very well with gameshows and mystery shows. Reality TV you’ve met your match – we can see Interactive TV finally becoming a reality and integrated in to more shows by the Fall 2011 season.

Of course this is from ABC which is owned by Disney whose single biggest shareholder is Mr. Steve Jobs – so we like that these companies can all play together and create unique experiences like this – unlike other companies that also own the content and the technology **cough**SONY**cough.

If you can get to see the episode of My Generation do check it out. The iPad app is here. You need to experience it to believe it – for those without an iPad you can watch the video here:

UPDATE: That was fast! My Generation is cancelled after just 2 episodes. We guess it just couldn’t withstand the power of shows like 30 Rock and The Big Bang Theory that played opposite it during the the same time slot which is totally unfair for a brand new show but is the life of new TV shows.

Hopefully ABC releases the rest of the already shot episodes online or DVD.

We can still lay claim to Maggie Q (李美琪) as she started her acting career here in Hong Kong before going on to Hollywood and moving from Naked Weapon to Mission: Impossible 3, Die Hard 4.0 and Balls of Fury.

Well now we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of Maggie every week as she takes on the role of the poor girl turned super-spy in Nikita – a new version of that great Luc Besson French movie La Femme Nikita that then was a US remake and then a popular TV series.

You can also see what other sci-fi TV shows are coming your way this Fall, and tell us which ones you think are the best. Our picks below:

NIKITA
What’s happening this season: This brand new reboot of much beloved femme fatale character La Femme Nikita. The sexy spy main character is being played Maggie Q, whom you may remember from Mission: Impossible III. The premise of this new reboot seems similar to the past seasons, Nikita is a sexy spy, who wears sexy outfits and kicks a lot of ass, sexily. Whether or not she’s been brainwashed in this particular television show still remains to be seen. All we know is, this once deadly weapon of the government is “going rogue.” That is literally the synopsis: “La Femme Nikita goes rogue.” But we’re a sucker for girls who kick ass, so we’re in.

• Where: CW
• When: September 9th 9/8c, Thursday

UNDERCOVERS
What’s happening this season: J.J. Abrams new dramedy Undercovers features a retired spy couple who are now living the simple life in the suburbs. Sadly minivans and rose gardens just can’t hold a candle to “sexpionage,” secret identities and jumping out of planes. So naturally, the two reboot their marriage by getting back into the old spy game. This series actually looks like it’s got a lot of heart, so we’re rooting for this seemingly softer Alias-type show. And hoping Abrams adds more “spy-fi” elements like insane gadgets and weird McGuffins soon.

• Where:NBC
• When: September 22

THE WALKING DEAD
And then there’s possibly the most long-awaited television show premiering this fall: AMC’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s classic comic. The Walking Dead will be six episodes of zombie mayhem and apocalyptic action. Police officer Rick Grimes wakes up in a world that’s falling apart, and searches for his family. We can’t wait to see what Frank Darabont does with this zombie classic.

• Where: AMC
• When: October

See the full list at iO9.com

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play in a FIFA World Cup game, with all the pressure and the fans cheering? HongKong’s Cyberport just found a way to make it happen.

Well, not quite, but close. Cyberport has just successfully completed its testing for live 3D broadcasting of 2010 FIFA World Cup football matches in Hong Kong. With the help of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, Cyberport has inched its way to becoming the global pioneer to reach this “goal”.

Golden Harvest, a film production and distribution company, and Panorama, an entertainment program provider, were major players in this project. Cyberport took care of the technical aspects, such as receiving satellite signals and converting these using DCX streaming technology, while Panorama secured the broadcasting license from FIFA.  All the live 3D testing was done in Cyberport and Golden Harvest facilities.

As stated by Herman Lam, CEO of Cyberport, “This also opens up new opportunities for cinemas and distributors in Hong Kong to offer more 3D content, such as sports events and concerts.”

Imagine being a meter away from Spain’s David Villa. Imagine running up and down the field as players pass each other the ball. Imagine being behind the goalkeeper during a free-kick. It’ll make football fans more passionately involved when they root their hearts out for their teams. It’s only a matter of time till we’re close to fully experiencing in-game soccer action with 3D technology.

This will definitely make World Cup fans scream louder than a Lady Gaga concert.

Like the Toruk Makto in Avatar, Samsung has jumped on their flying dragon with an aggressive launch of 3D HD LCD TV’s in Hong Kong. Slapping movie theatres in the face so fast, the can now speak the Na’vi dialect fluently.

The full HD LED TV Series comes in sizes from 40″ to 65″ mixed with the 3D Blu-ray player and the 3D Active glasses will  bring Hollywood movies screaming into your living room.

We were able to demo the screens with the glasses on Monsters Vs. Aliens and the quality is amazingly clear. The 3D resolution is at 1920×1080 and is really quite immersive. Its really hard to write too much about this kind of product – you need to get yourself down to a Samsung reseller and test it out for yourself.

And although the following TVC will not get the kind of play an Apple ad would get, it really is amazing:

Yes, we’d still like a 3D TV without the glasses but the 34kg lightweight frames had a nice feel to them that we’re OK with them. They are using active shutter and not the polarized type so there is reduced flicker and judder.

But you really have to see it to believe it and this Easter weekend; Samsung has set up test centers all over Hong Kong at malls from Pacific Place to City Plaza, and if you get down there and buy a TV this weekend Samsung is giving away 3D Starter Kits; that includes 2 sets of glasses and a copy of the 3D version of Monsters vs Aliens and

So definitely have a look if you haven’t OD’s on chocolate bunny rabbits.

More about these 3D TV’s at the Samsung site here.

Avatar blasted on to local cinema screens at the beginning of this year in full blown 3D loveliness. So will we be able to enjoy all of Avatar’s 3D-ness in our own homes when it finally comes out on Blu-Ray.

So how can we replicate the amazing 3D cinema experience in our living rooms? A number of electronics makers have announced that they will be releasing 3D televisions this year to answer the demand for home 3D theatres.

JVC Hong Kong is the first electronics manufacturer out of the gate and introduces the GD-463D10 a 46-inch full HD 3D LCD flat screen television that is capable of displaying natural-looking 3D images. The GD-463D10 features JVC’s original 3D visual system, which includes an advanced picture engine and 3D decoder circuit. The new screen is compatible with line-by-line and side-by-side 3D input methods, both of which are popularly used for 3D content production.

JVC’s new 3D television employs the Xpol circular polarizing method to ensure a natural 3D effect. The GD-463D10 comes equipped with 3 HDMI terminals that are compatible with 3D input signals, allowing you to hook up you a couple of gaming console to play 3D enable games and a Blu-Ray player to watch Avatar.

The GD-463D10 is not cheap, be prepared to fork out some serious coin for JVC’s 3D LCD television set that has a whopping HK$71,800 price tag attached to it.

If you want to try out or purchase a set for your living room you can go to JVC’s Hong Kong show room in the Peninsula Centre, 9th floor, Tsim Sha Tsui East.

Tired of watching old shows on your NowTV? Wait, you still have your NowTV box? Ok, we know the Apple TV is a bit expensive, but here comes the Boxee Box to the rescue.

Stop flipping from your TV to your laptop to your favorite mobile device to watch music videos, current TV shows, movies and all your favorite YouTube clips! The Boxbee Box helps to put all your entertainment in one place so that it’s always accessible and easy-to-share through social networking sites. It’s entertainment without limits.

Hook D-Link’s Boxee Box to your high definition TV and you can start enjoying all your favorite shows and clips, plus a whole lot more. The Box comes ready-to-work with a vast Internet library of lectures, presentations, online videos and lots more. You can even add your saved RSS and XML feeds to get the content you want as soon as it’s published.

Because it’s linked to sites like Pandora, Shoutcast, Flickr and Facebook, you can not only find entertainment but you can share it too. With a quick clip, you can start sharing content with your friends on your favorite social networking sites - all on a single device.

To use the Boxee Box, you need:

• 1 HDMI connector
• 1 optical digital audio (S/PDIF) connector
• composite audio connectors
• an Ethernet connector
• 2 USB 2.0 connectors
• an SD card slot

The price is expected to be about HK$1,800/US$200 when it comes out in the second quarter of 2010.

If you want to see what all the hub-bub is about, Boxee just released the beta of their new software for Mac, PC and Ubuntu (not yet for Apple TV) so you can install it and start watching new shows from places like TV.com that has tons of great shows like Family Guy and Heroes, IGN, Blip.tv and other stuff you’ll be happy to find.

Read more:

• http://www.dlink.com/boxeebox
• http://www.boxee.tv/box