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Box pics, price and features leak out for the Best Buy Insignia cTV with TiVo
As we close in on the purported release date for Best Buy's Insignia cTV, more details have come to light about the TiVo menu system (but not DVR) powered HDTV. Zatz Not Funny reports the 32- and 42-inch models available initially will cost $599 and $999, respectively, with a pretty standard list of features including built-in 802.11n WiFi, 4 HDMI ports, etc. More interesting however are these box shots that reveal unannounced apps on the way including Chumby widgets -- destined to replace the late FrameChannel? -- as well as Twitter and Facebook, which were integrated via the iPad app but not the box, yet. So far we still don't know for sure if these TVs will be able to serve as multiroom extenders and stream video from a TiVo Premiere (whenever TiVo brings the feature back) but until there's some official word you can get more pictures and details at the source below.
Best Buy Insignia cTV with DVR-less TiVo built-in launches July 31st
Best Buy and TiVo announced they were forming a "broad partnership" two years ago, then revealed a connected HDTV product last year, and now it's apparently just days from being released. This information posted over at ZatzNotFunny pegs the launch date for the Insignia cTV as July 31st, packing the TiVo Premiere's menu system and apps like Netflix, CinemaNow and Pandora. The 32- and 42-inch models feature built-in WiFi, but no included DVR and don't require a TiVo subscription. With the recent launch of multiroom streaming on the TiVo Premiere and another DVR-less product from TiVo in the Preview, this is a perfect opportunity to include multiroom access, no set-top box needed. Unfortunately, like the pricetag of the cTV units, that detail has yet to be revealed.
Canada gets dose of local HD streaming with CTV HD Beta Player
Tired of getting snubbed, are ya Canada? Perk up, as your very own CTV has just launched an online portal to bring content to Canucks in glorious HD. With the launch of the CTV HD Beta Player, CTV becomes the very first Canadian network to deliver high-def content on the web, and speaking of that content, viewers can look forward to seeing Corner Gas, Flashpoint and Malawi's Sony (amongst other programs). Oh, and given that both Microsoft and Akamai are involved, we'd say CTV definitely has the appropriate amount of backing. The trial is set to run through the end of August, and after that, only a strange herd of caribou off in the wilds of British Columbia know.[Thanks, Nick]
CRTC puts the kibosh on two Canadian HD channels
Tough news for Canadians looking forward to tuning into a pair of new OTA HDTV stations in the future -- the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has shot the whole thing down. Reportedly, the entity found that there was no "compelling reason" to grant a license for a "superstation" equivalent that HDTV Networks was proposing. Additionally, it denied a similar request from YES TV after it was "not convinced that the applicant could fulfill its programming commitments, among other things." Of course, we can't say for sure that the CRTC was just looking to just spoil some harmless fun, but stifling the expansion of additional high-def options doesn't sound like a totally beneficial thing to do (from the outside looking in, anyway).[Via Here's How]
CRTC to hear applications for new Canadian OTA HDTV networks
Canadian businessman John Bitove has been trying to his 8-city HDTV OTA station started for a couple of years now, and it appears hearings on the subject will begin in Ottawa today. Along with another network, YES TV, he wants to be the first in the country to form a network without a series of pre-existing stations. Opposition comes in the form of CTV and Global, which aren't looking forward to the increased competition, as they are still in the process of rolling out HDTV OTA nationally. Is it at all surprising who we blame for this state of affairs?
