HomeMediaManager
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FiOS TV Media Manager streaming hands on w/ video
We've seen plenty of pics of the new social aspects that kicked off Verizon's Widget Bazaar plans, but our friends at Zatz Not Funny have had a little seat time with the other major addition, video streaming via Home Media Manager. Pulling video from the internet or a PC it all looks to work pretty easily, although they noted the software did crash a few times when they tried it. Otherwise, we've heard some complaints about the codec support and a lack of video controls, but if you don't have one of those FiOS TV Motorola boxes in your living room, click on through for more pics and video to see what it's like.
Verizon gives FiOS TV some app store, social media flavor
Confirming the theory that one day soon everything will have an app store of some kind, Verizon has launched its Widget Bazaar for FiOS TV, dedicated to bringing new interactive experiences to FiOS TV subscribers, starting with Facebook, Twitter, and ESPN Fantasy Football. Don't expect to tap out 140 character missives via remote for now, at launch viewers can only view tweets, not post them or log in to their own accounts, although updating Facebook status and personalized ESPN Fantasy Football info is available. Verizon has promised to publish its SDK to enable "open development" (limited to a select group of developers of course) which should bring many free & for-pay apps to join the current (free) offerings by year-end. Also made official is the addition of searching and viewing video from blip.tv, Dailymotion and Veoh, plus the long awaited ability to stream personal videos from a connected PC, available free of charge to Home Media DVR customers. No word yet on what codecs the updated Home Media Manager software will support for transcoding to MPEG-2 and streaming to the set-top box so keep those MKVs holstered for now and check a few screens of the apps in action in our gallery or a quick video walkthrough embedded after the break. Update: Verizon let us know it will support FLV, WMV, MPEG-1, AVI, MPG, PM4/M4V, 3GP/3G2
