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Cablevision postpones networked DVR
Under heavy pressure in the form of a lawsuit filed by nearly all of TV land's major content providers, industry giant Cablevision has announced that it will delay the rollout of its networked DVR offering until the service's legality is confirmed in court. The lawsuit, filed by the four key networks and their parent studios, claims that Cablevision's plan to store customers' recorded swag on their own servers as opposed to local set-top boxes constitutes a retransmission of copyrighted material, and therefore violates pre-existing agreements the company has with its providers. Cablevision, on the other hand, argues that networked DVR services are only facilitating "fair-use" of their broadcasts by consumers, who have already paid for any programs they intend to record. The outcome of this suit will be closely monitored by other players in the cable industry as well, because a victory for Cablevision would allow Cox, Comcast, et al. to begin offering their own remote storage -- good news for consumers, but perhaps bad news for our old friend TiVo.
Pioneer ejects DVD recorder business
The invisible hand of capitalism has pushed yet another major electronics manufacturer from one of its traditional businesses, as declining profits and product commodification have convinced Pioneer Corp. to drop out of the DVD recorder game. Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun is reporting that its recording division's recent cash hemorrhaging has convinced the company which "pioneered" the commercial burner to cut its losses and form a strategic partnership with Panasonic-parent Matsushita, whose next-gen optical disc technology may help Pioneer succeed in the decidedly less-crowded Blu-ray recorder market. Pioneer will now begin to shift its focus to its more profitable in-vehicle electronics division, which is responsible for many of the popular navigation and in-dash entertainment products on the worldwide market.
Movie downloading kiosks may be coming soon
In what could turn into a preemptive strike against the further decline of DVD sales in the face of competition from digital downloads as well as Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, major retailers may soon be installing kiosks in their stores that give customers access to on-demand, feature-length films on DVD or their portable devices. According to Reuters, the major movie studios are reportedly in talks with retail heavyweights like Wal-mart to theoretically offer their complete archives for downloading to in-store terminals with high-speed connections, where they would either be burned onto DVD or transferred to unspecified devices, a la that proposed DVD Station service we saw awhile back (which seemingly never materialized). While the prospect of having immediate access to almost every movie ever made is admittedly appealing, we're not really sure that we want to drive all the way over to Best Buy just to stand around waiting uncomfortably with our fellow patrons as we all clutch our iPods, nervously tap our feet, and wish we'd all just stayed at home and settled for whatever was on Moviebeam.[Via Slashdot]
Digital Deck releases Media Connector media extender
There's definitely no shortage of media extender options on the market, but that isn't stopping Digital Deck from releasing a new solution that not only manages the digital content on your PC, but plays nice with TiVo as well for viewing your recorded swag all over the house. Make that a small house, because the Media Connector box (or boxes, if you're doing the multi-room thing) gets its data over an old-fashioned wired Ethernet connection, meaning that there's no place for this system in the sprawling Engadget Mansion. Apartment dwellers, however, may find this setup to be just what they're looking for, as the included Media Center software promises to make controlling your gear a breeze, allowing you to seamlessly stream live and recorded content, plus flickr photos, back and forth among your various pieces of equipment. On the specs tip, the set top box can handle MPEG-2, MP3, WMA, AAC, and AC-3 formats, features component and digital audio hookups along with the obligatory composite and S-Video jacks, and will set you back a cool $500 plus $300 for each additional room you want to connect.[Via eHomeUpgrade]
The Clicker: YouTube's win-win-win
Every week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, an opinion column on entertainment and technology:Recently we talked about the upstart sensation, YouTube. As a social phenomenon and a growing entity, YouTube's rise to glory has been nothing short of meteoric. In just one year YouTube has taken its business from zero to pumping out more than 35 Million streams per day, and it's still growing. That's pretty darn impressive, but, as the immortal Rod Tidwell once said, "Show me the money!" You see -- there's a fairly developed pattern when it comes to replacing existing media outlets with their internet counterparts. The first step is to see if people will buy what you're selling when the cost is zero. YouTube has clearly been successful in that regard. In fact, their success has even convinced media giant AOL to create their own (nearly) feature-for-feature knock-off (see: http://communityvideo.aol.com/). [Disclaimer: this publication's parent company is owned by AOL.]However, using venture capital money to subsidize the trafficking of copyrighted material is just the first step. Eventually, the fledgling business will have to hit step two: making money. It's there where the wheat is separated from the chaff. It's there where we find out if a new medium will enjoy long-term success or fizzle away like the pet rock. Take blogs for instance: While blogs began as simple online personal journals, it didn't take long for enterprising souls to recognize that blogs held much more power than simply sharing your cat's diet with your 12 "readers." Yes, the majority of the blogs out there are still "by the people for the people." Yet, the medium has also spawned quite a few commercial sites (this site included). It's this commercialization that ensures the future of the medium.But where is YouTube's legitimization? More specifically, where is the path to profitability? Millions of streams per day is quite impressive, but it's also quite expensive. Estimates for YouTube's traffic have been pegged as high as 200TB per day. No, that 'T' was not a typo; that's Terabytes. Bandwidth costs alone most likely approach one million dollars a month. Add on top of that the cost of running a service as massive as YouTube's, and you quickly come to the same conclusion: It's time for YouTube to stop growing and start making money.
Cox Communications mulling partnership with TiVo?
It's been over a year since we launched the TiVo Deathwatch, and not only is the company still alive and kicking, a new survey being conducted by Cox Communications may indicate that TiVo is about to enter into a partnership with the nation's third largest cable company. Thomas Hawk reports that users on on the TiVo Community Forum are buzzing about a questionnaire that was sent to Cox Enterprises customers who currently subscribe to one or more of the company's other services, but get their TV via satellite. Among a slew of questions about DVRs in general and TiVo specifically, is one which reads in part, "If Cox were to offer digital cable service with a TiVo branded DVR for about the same price as you are currently paying for satellite service each month, how likely would you be to switch from satellite TV to Cox cable that featured this TiVo branded DVR service?" Take this for what you will, but these questions would seem to indicate that the two companies are, at the very least, involved in backroom talks of some sort, and possibly even in the planning stages of building co-branded equipment. Combined with TiVo's recent courtroom victory over EchoStar, their current partnership with Comcast, and a surprising renewal of their service contract with DirecTV, a deal with Cox may be just the ammo we need to put the Deathwatch down for good.
The Clicker: YouTube and fair use, a match made in heaven
Every week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, an opinion column on entertainment and technology:Riddle me this: what do you get when you combine a nifty little piece of Flash software, some backend mojo, an army of cellphone-toting teens, and one "Lazy Sunday" clip? The answer is, of course, the largest online video streaming service on the planet, YouTube. While YouTube is preparing to celebrate just its first birthday, the upstart media company is already changing the face of the web. Modern surfers won't surf long without running into the seemingly ubiquitous YouTube player. Whether it's being used by the politicos pointing to Stephen Colbert's all-out Blitzkrieg on the President or, on the lighter side, by budding young directors, actors, and athletes eager to show off their Ninja Skillz, Light Saber Skillz, or Soccer Skillz, YouTube is quickly becoming the micro-content provider to beat. YouTube's traffic (well over 30 million streams per day) bests its nearest competitor, Yahoo, by 100 percent. Other giants such as Google and AOL lag even further behind. The secret to YouTube's big success? Thinking small. While other players spent the bulk of their time and effort courting the media giants and their large video catalogs. YouTube courted, well, you. More specifically, YouTube made it ridiculously easy to upload and post videos shot on cell phones, camcorders, etc. This led to an explosion of both their viewership and their “catalog.” It's this grassroots support that's led to the company's phenomenal growth.
Switched On: Pandora's Box (Part 2)
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Last week's column discussed Slim Devices' elegant Squeezebox hardware, its versatile but complex server software, and SqueezeNetwork, the companion online service through which the hardware accesses the Pandora music recommendation service. Pandora is considered by some to be a "Web 2.0" site -- the blanket term we're all aware of referring to a startup that generates more RSS than revenue.But Pandora's recommendation engine is the best I've tried. Unlike many others, it doesn't rely directly on the purchase behavior or music ownership of other people, be they friends or fellow customers. Rather, it leverages data from the Music Genome Project, a collaboration begun in 2000 to classify music via its attributes. In fact, some criticize Pandora for being "too good" at matching a song's style, and while there is a case that Pandora should include a control for how strictly it should match a given song or artist, users can at least create up to 100 different channels and diversify them by adding names of songs or artists to the mix.Pandora can offer a depth of detail as to which musical attributes it chose when recommending a song. However, it doesn't seem to account for at least some important factors, such as the qualities of a singer's voice. Pandora offers a free tier of service, but access via SqueezeNetwork requires a subscription, which costs between $3 and $4 per month. The low subscription price is worth it for at least a few months, but Pandora needs to greatly expand its catalog to keep subscribers interested. Fortunately, Squeezebox owners get a three-month trial of the premium service, a $12 value.
Sonos ZP100 system reviewed
Looks like HomeTheaterView got themselves a hold of a couple of Sonos ZP100s and a controller and put the spurs to 'em to see how the system works and performs in a real home environment. We have a Sonos we're currently checking out (expect more on that soon), but HomeTheaterView found the devices to work admirably out of box with a clean, labor-free setup, and simple, intuitive interface, which we won't deny. The concept behind the Sonos isn't a terribly complicated one, so outside decent codec support, wireless range, and the aforementioned (setup and interface / use), there's not a lot else to look for in an in-home wireless audio distribution system. Fortunately the Sonos nails the codecs (outside not supporting PlaysForSure), but while the range wasn't mentioned, and they wished there were versions outfitted for in-wall installs and wetter environs like bathrooms, they seemed to find the system an excellent choice that fulfills a need otherwise unmet by the other out of box consumer home audio distribution systems on the market.
High powered TV-B Gone sniping hack
You know, we can't really imagine what kind of social setting you'd be in that would require the use of a TV-B-Gone and still be socially acceptable to carry binoculars, but if you're especially annoyed with your neighbor (whose TV happens to be relatively near and have line of sight), check out this simple TV-B Gone sniper hack. One TV-B-Gone plus one pair binoculars (monocular might also well work) equals some serious range -- about 40 feet according to the hack's creator. Anyone want to try this thing with a high powered home telescope? Forget WiFi-ing to other States, this week we're all about turning off TVs in the next time zone.[Via Make Blog]
TiVo's Series2 DT 80 and 180 hour dual tuner boxes
Remember the dual tuner TiVos we heard about a few weeks back? Well, surprise, surprise, they're real and are more or less exactly as called. The two models feature a single cable / RF in jack with internal splitter, which allows you to record two analog programs simultaneously, or one analog and one tuned from your digital cable box. Beside the fact that now your TiVo now has dual tuners, it (freaking finally) has integrated Ethernet; starting May 1st you can expect to pony up $199.99 for the 180-hour TCD649180, or $99.99 for the 80-hour TCD649080, both after $150 rebate and service activation. Baby steps to the Series3, patience people.
HP Pavilion m7360y, Viiv reviewed, called jive
Here we are, four months since Intel promised a new home entertainment computing revolution the likes of which we'd never seen in the form of Viiv. Sure, no one -- including Intel -- could really figure out what the hell Viiv was, but they successfully convinced a lot of people that it's a brand they needed to see represented in their next PC. Well, according to the Washington Post, who recently spent some serious time with as mature a Viiv product as exists in the form of an HP Pavilion m7360y, the platform "amounts to a smattering of free Web video clips and discounts on online music, movie and game rentals -- plus a nifty rainbow-hued Viiv sticker on the front of the computer." They too couldn't define Viiv, and even called the Intel's much lauded Quick Resume feature as being akin to switching off your display and speakers -- nothing more. Not that we're really surprised, but it's pretty harsh when people start accusing your seemingly directionless platform initiatives as "embarrassing [your]self."
The Clicker: The part of Blue that has me seeing Red.
Every week Stephen Speicher contributes The Clicker, an opinion column on entertainment and technology:99% of the time I'm just your average mild-mannered tech-writer. However, every now and again, when the conditions are just right, I stroll over to my bookcase, reach to the top shelf and gently pull the third book from the left, "Celine Dion: The Magic Behind the Singing Horse." This simple action puts into motion a Rube-Goldbergian series of events which eventually reveals the secret passageway to my lead-lined den. It is there where I don my tinfoil hat and assume the role of my alter-ego, Dr. Conspiracy Theorist. Oh sure, the realist in me understands that the motivations of large entities are, in truth, driven by the confluence of inertia and ignorance, and not instead by some deep-seated hatred of my hopes and wishes. However, it's an empowering (and self-aggrandizing) exercise to assume that large corporations, governments, and even dictators are all out to screw me, the little guy.Today, I contemplate the ongoing Blu-ray / HD DVD war, and as I sit in this windowless bunker with only the sound of my Remington striking the ink onto the page to keep me company, I ask the question that seems to be so often overlooked: "Why isn't there consensus on the red portion of the specs?"It's clear why neither the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) nor the DVD Forum (HD DVD) will raise the white flag, capitulate, and end the blue-laser war. In addition to having already invested years of research and development which they hope will lead to lucrative licensing fees, there are also the intangibles that come from working with the beast you know. Dumping your format and adopting that of your competitor is no small chore and despite the fact that we, the media and the consumers, like to pretend that a blue laser is a blue laser – the two formats are quite different.Having said that, without the extra "Conspiracy Power" of the tinfoil hat, I found little reason why the two governing bodies couldn't come together and peacefully co-exist on something as well-understood as the red laser. With the hat, on the other hand, it came to me – they're trying to kill independent content.But let's back up for a second.
AT&T to launch Homezone TV service
Just because AT&T's Lightspeed and the late SBC and BellSouth's nascent FTTH rollout (which they now own, in a manner of speaking) aren't yet ready to provide prime time IPTV to the masses doesn't mean they will be stopped from taking on cable companies every which way they can; enter their new Homezone service. Since the DSL they currently serve up wouldn't be quite broad enough to give AT&T what they need for a true live-IPTV experience, they're bundling it with live TV from DISH, movie downloads from MovieLink, older programming from Akimbo, and DVR functionality in a single 2Wire-built box. It may seem a little piecemeal, but we're a little surprised this kind of home entertainment hodgepodge angle hasn't already been explored -- our only real fear here is whether AT&T and 2Wire will nail it when bringing so many kinds of user experiences into a single livingroom box.
Orb works TiVo with DVR Everywhere
Orb (finally) just officially took a page out of the Book of SlingBox today with the release of DVR Everywhere, their TiVo-streaming and controlling Orb add-on (not to be easily confused with TiVoAnywhere, that other Orb / TiVo add-on which is now apparently DVR Everywhere). Basically you'll get the same easy-to-use no firewall adjustments necessary Orb experience steamed to your laptop or portable in Real, Windows Media, or 3GP, but with recordings culled from your Series2 TiVo (which is also controllable by said software -- something also available for a while). Not quite as versatile as your SlingBox, which can pull video from just about any DVR device you can throw at it, but hey, it's a start -- especially if you've been considering that new dual tuner TiVo that we've been dangling from a string.[Via PR Newswire]
TDK hard at work on 8-layer 200GB Blu-ray Disc
Since Sony, et al. hammered out the Blu-ray Disc spec, there's been speculation, theorization, and discussion of an 8-layer 200GB disc. Sony even supposedly had some working 200GB BRD demos way back in 2004. Well, now those mammoth coasters are in the works over at TDK, who apparently hope to commercialize the first presumably quad-layered dual-sided discs (or possibly octo-layered single-sided discs -- yeah, right). They're not giving it up as to when these discs could come out or how much they'll cost, but right now we're more worried about just getting our hands on some players, you know?[Via TechDigest]
Netflix taking Blockbuster to court
Well, you know how we do in America: if ya can't beat 'em, sue 'em. Netflix is taking Blockbuster to court in California over the latter's online movie rental service, which, while suspiciously similar to Netflix, is certainly not the second DVD rental service available to consumers. We're a little perplexed as to why Netflix would only now be taking Blockbuster to court over their business methodology (i.e. their forming a company that does subscription-based online DVD rental by mail) seeking payment for damages and not, say, Wal-Mart (oh yeah, because they already took over Wal-Mart), but something tells us they're not looking for recompense so much as they're looking for Blockbuster to get the hell off their turf.
Sharp's new 20-inch LC-20AX6 HDTV
Another day, another Sharp Aquos gets announced -- today it's the LC-20AX6, a simple livin' 20-inch LCD HDTV featuring a 1,366 x 768 panel with a brightness of 500cd/m2, 1,200:1 contrast ratio, 8ms pixel response, integrated digital and analog tuners, and VGA, composite, and S-Video ins, among others (sorry, no DVI / HDMI listed). No figure for a price tag on this thing (or if we'll see it in the States), but it sounds like a decent smallish mid-range set for broke city dwellers such as ourselves.
