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YouTube has its own ‘Tudum’ launch sound now
YouTube has created own signature sound and slick animation just like Netflix's "Tudum," and detailed exactly how it made it in a new blog post.
SanDisk kills TakeTV dead
Here's a sure sign of unpopularity: SanDisk stopped selling its TakeTV device, and shut down TakeTV's Fanfare content portal, on May 15th... and nobody noticed. Originally inspiring fond sentiments with its sneakernet approach to getting videos from your computer to your PC, SanDisk's TakeTV just never got much traction. Faced with competition from the likes of Microsoft and Apple -- not to mention the oodles of networked devices that offer up more content and more convenience which have been cropping up recently -- we'd be surprised if TakeTV sold enough units to fill a briefcase. Anybody out there have any fond memory's of TakeTV's short stint?
NBC Universal shacks up with SanDisk, video content now on Fanfare
NBC might have removed its content from iTunes, but the company is still determined to sell media online, and it's announced a partnership with SanDisk to deliver shows on the Fanfare service. Starting in January, the "beta" portal will offer all the usual NBC suspects like The Office, Heroes, and 30 Rock, as well as shows from USA, SciFi and Bravo. As you'd expect, content will be hardcore DRMed to SanDisk's TakeTV players, which is disappointing, but NBC and SanDisk have said they'll collaborate on new "consumer content acquisition models," whatever those might be. All in all, it's a pretty big win for SanDisk, but it still seems like NBC is looking over its shoulder to see if Apple's watching -- the press release mentions flexible pricing and packaging rather directly. It's okay, guys -- everyone needs a rebound.
SanDisk Sansa TakeTV (and Fanfare) hands-on: TakeTWO
Ok, our new TakeTV arrived, and this time it works perfectly. (The first one we got was a pre-production unit with a bum remote.) Here are a few more things we noticed about the TakeTV and its accompanying Fanfare video download service: The TakeTV interface still has a very unpolished, raw look and feel to it. It's also just the bare essentials, with only a few options for video settings (just aspect ratio, NTSC / PAL, and which video type you prefer: letterbox, pan and scan, fill, etc.). On the upshot, being flash-based and light weight, the system boots near instantly and videos take just a couple of seconds to load. It properly recognized our XviD and DivX files, but didn't like AVC1 encoded movies, and surprisingly enough, didn't like our standard encoded MPEG-4 Handbrake-ripped DVD. (It's supposed to play back MPEG-4 files, maybe we did something funny, who knows.) On the other hand Fanfare looks very slick, but the interface -- done in Flash -- is way too busy, making it sometimes difficult to tell what's going on. It's definitely in need of some simplification and polish. Downloaded DRMed videos are, surprisingly enough, in XviD. But they're wrapped SanDisk's proprietary TrustedFlash rights protection. Files are .smbt. Downloaded videos are about 350MB per 30 minutes. That's 1.6Mbps (200KBps); given that high a bitrate you'd think these videos would look friggin' great, but the sad fact is they look more like 600-800Kbps, tops, so don't be too disappointed when your Fanfare downloads don't look all that amazing. So our day one thoughts on TakeTV + Fanfare? Well, $99 or $150 for a device that plays all our favorite video formats is kind of a no brainer, especially considering the cost of entry for a lot of other devices in the same category is significantly higher (the $300 / $400 Apple TV comes to mind). We're not sure this whole system is ready for prime time just yet -- but neither is SanDisk, which is why Fanfare is launching in "beta". Maybe with the right hardware and software tweaks this could be a very compelling cheap-or-free download service paired with a very easy to use hardware solution, but for right now we think there are quite a few kinks to iron out.%Gallery-8959%
SanDisk Sansa TakeTV hands-on
Well, after about a day and a half of anticipation, we've got a TakeTV of our own to fool around with. First thing that struck us: this ain't your mom's USB flash drive -- unless your mom carries around a Zachmorrisphone, because the TakeTV is big. (But it's not really intended for taking out of the house and using on the daily, so it's not like that's really any big deal.) The remote is thin and blister-buttoned (meh) but the play button is unusually, satisfyingly large. The video dock the TakeTV plugs into doesn't have any rubber grips though, so the thick cable is liable to push it around (or over). Other than that, we haven't much else to say since our unit (which was possibly pre-release hardware) is having some trouble getting up and running. Check back soon, we'll let you know how Fanfare and the rest works out.%Gallery-8940%
SanDisk announces Sansa TakeTV, Fanfare video download service
That SanDisk Sansa TakeTV we saw over the weekend? Well, it's officially announced: the USBTV is now the TakeTV, and will take advantage of a new video platform called Fanfare. The details:Sansa TakeTV 4GB and 8GB sizes, $100 and $150 respectively Supports DivX (including Home Theater profile), XVID, and MPEG-4 Up to 720 x 576 resolution On sale immediately Intended for use in downloading shows from one's computer to the TakeTV (which is then physically moved to the TV) Fanfare online video service Launching with content from CBS, Jaman, Showtime, Smithsonian Networks, The Weather Channel and TV Guide Broadband, including shows such as CSI, Survivor China, Dexter, and Sleeper Cell Video downloads will be both ad-supported (free) and paid (not sure how much yet), depending on the wishes of the content creators Fanfare video will also be playable on Sansa portable media devices Yes, it's DRMed, and yes, it's proprietary: TrustedFlash, developed by SanDisk Launching in beta today, officially launching in 2008 %Gallery-8924%
