ProgramGuide
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Rovi lands Google Fiber patent license deal, keeps program guides flowing
Rovi considers itself the master of TV program guides everywhere -- even if some disagree -- so it's almost inevitable that the company would negotiate a new patent license with Google. The deal puts all of Google Fiber's TV interfaces in the clear, whether it's the set-top box near the TV or the less traditional interfaces found on the web and the Nexus 7 remote. Considering Rovi's existing connection to Google TV, the new pact may cement the company and its partner in Mountain View as surprisingly close friends.
SlingPlayer app now available for Honeycomb tablets, priced at $30
It was teased back in September and now, it's finally arrived -- the SlingPlayer Android app optimized specifically for Honeycomb tablets. Available today on the Android Market, Sling Media's latest app allows Slingbox owners to stream TV directly to their slates, and features a new program guide, designed to help users browse content and change channels with greater ease. The SlingPlayer app for Android handsets, meanwhile, will continue to function on tablets in "compatibility mode," without exacting extra charges, though it won't offer the same resolution quality you'll find on a Honeycomb-laced device. Interested parties can grab the app for the familiar price of $30, at the source link below. Otherwise, click past the break for more details in Sling's refreshingly brief press release.
Rovi hits Hulu with patent infringement lawsuit
Mo money, mo problems, right Hulu? Seems it, considering the newly up-for-sale content hub has just been slapped with a patent infringement suit. This latest bit of intellectual property beef centers on the online content provider's alleged unlicensed use of Rovi's electronic program guide technology. According to Reuters, the company, which currently powers the streaming likes of Blockbuster On Demand and CinemaNow, is seeking financial compensation for potential "lost license revenue and treble damages," potentially tripling any future settlement award. While Hulu has yet to issue a statement on the matter, we'd be willing to bet those takeover talks are taking a backseat until this gets sorted.
Cox 'Plus Package' brings advanced Trio UI, 500GB multiroom DVR and more HD channels
Cox is ready to make a major leap forward in its user interface -- goodbye SARA and Passport, we won't miss you -- with the newly developed "Plus Package" rolling out in limited areas during Q2 and throughout its service area by the end of the year. For the hardware Cox is bringing a Whole Home DVR solution to bear based on a Cisco 8642 HD/DVR with 500GB (3x more than the sizes currently offered) of storage, and MoCA-connected 1642 HD receivers, which are also necessary to tune to the new HD channels on the way delivered over Switched Digital Video (SDV) in the 860-MHz band. The star of the show however is the new "Trio" program guide (video embedded after the break), a 16:9 interface that spaces out program info over three panes -- channels on the left, programs in the middle, details on the right. TV programs can also be sorted grid-style, by themes, HD-only or favorite channels, while VOD lists titles, box art and detailed info in the three window style. There's personalization for up to eight members of a household, as well as TiVo-style suggestions and related programming searches based on metadata. An exec told Multichannel News the new tru2way-built software started by realizing that "our guides were, in fact, broken" and this all-new approach is a step towards fixing that. Besides the TiVos and Moxis of the world, other service providers with similar setups include DirecTV, FiOS, Dish Network and U-verse and while we'd definitely like to see that middle pane expanded a bit to show more of each title, Cox could be the first cable company offering a set-top box that actually competes with any of them. %Gallery-92661%
Vizio to use Macrovision's program guide software
In some non-delay related Vizio news, it's just signed up with Macrovision in a multiyear deal to use its program guide (IPG) tech. We don't know which flavor of new technology it might be using (we've recently seen Macrovision's Passport tru2way guide software as well as its prototype Neon embedded software, built to pull Internet content in alongside regular TV programming) but either would be lovely to see on the Connected HDTV when it debuts later this year.%Gallery-41404%
Nintendo reveals TV guide service for Wii
In all the excitement about the Wii's planned Virtual Console gift giving service we somehow missed another important channel announcement in Nintendo's recent graph-packed financial results briefing. The TV Program Schedule Channel will ... wait for it ... let Wii users view the TV program schedule! On their Wii!According to the briefing, the Channel will allow for searches by genre or actor and let various members of the family register their favorite shows. "We want Wii to become a kind of a friend to the TV set in the living room," Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said. "So it will be nice if people will turn on the Wii console when they want to search for interesting TV programs." Or, y'know, they could just turn on the TV and use the integrated on-screen guides included with most cable systems. Then again, we thought the Wii Forecast Channel couldn't compete with cable's Weather Channel, but we still love spinning that on-screen globe, so what do we know?While no U.S. plans for the service were announced, the Interactive Program Guide service Nintendo is using includes U.S. data from Gemstar-TVGuide, so a domestic release seems possible. Japanese users can look forward to the service in Spring '08.
EyeTV 2.3 adds Front Row-like menu
Elgato has released a fairly significant update to their EyeTV software that adds a Front Row-like menu UI for interacting with live TV, shows you've recorded and the program guide. Other sites are calling this 'Front Row integration', but I thought that was slightly misleading, as 'integration' simply means the top-level menu in this new version (pictured) has an option to start Front Row; nothing more. In fact, from glancing at the instructions in their 776 KB ReadMe file (link) about the update, it looks like this new version actually takes over the default Front Row keyboard shortcut of cmd + esc, forcing you to go through their menu if what you actually want is Front Row - though I could be wrong (btw, here's a tip Elgato: compress your PSD files to a JPEG or PNG before slapping them in a ReadMe).Other updates include support for two USB sticks from Hauppauge, exporting to Windows Media (as long as you've purchased the proper Flip4Mac QuickTime plugin), as well as a general export speed increase of 33%, and up to 500% depending on the source and exported format.This update is a Universal Binary, free to registered users of EyeTV 2.x and should be available from the app's own 'Check for Updates' menu.
