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Switched On: TiVo should be on Google's wish list
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:In late 2004, a popular and provocative Flash animation of a exhibit from the fictional "Museum of Media History" described a news blog fantasy of 2014. Google, following a merger with Amazon to form Googlezon, defeats The New York Times in a landmark Supreme Court copyright battle, and creates the Evolving Personalized Information Construct, a Microsoft-trumping mashup of its various news, blogging, and storage sites and TiVo. Yes, TiVo. Don't you remember that Googlezon bought TiVo in 2004? Where have you been for the past two years? Reality? How the Googlezon of 2014 uses TiVo is not made apparent in this fictional history of media, but how the Google of 2006 could use such a company is becoming more clear, particularly since its rival Yahoo purchased the assets of Meedio. Meedio was one of a handful of Windows software companies, along with SageTV and SnapStream, that created software similar to Microsoft Windows' Media Center interface. SnapStream, in fact, was so far out in front of Microsoft that the operating system company showcased the software at the debut of Windows XP as an innovative use of the platform. This, however, has not discouraged Yahoo, which is now giving away Meedio's software as part of Yahoo! Go, a bid to have the lifestyle Web site's brand, aggregated content, and services available through desktop widgets (following Yahoo!'s purchase of Konfabulator last year), cell phones, and now apparently television.
Switched On: With flash camcorder, Pure Digital shoots and scores
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:When Pure Digital released its disposable camcorder last year, I praised its size, simplicity, and services integration. My two main quibbles with the product were price (particularly since you needed to order an expensive DVD to get your video out of it) and especially quality. Putting its QVGA output on a DVD was like waxing a floor that needs to be sanded – it won't do anything to fix the rough spots. There was a large price and value gap between the disposable camcorder and even low-end offerings from Canon, Sony and the like. Now Pure Digital has aimed squarely at the center of that gap with the Point and Shoot Camcorder aimed at "everyday video." While the PureDigital one will initially be sold exculsively at Target for about $130, Thomson Consumer Electronics will also release a version under an RCA brand needing to appear more forward-focused while not alienating its mainstream customer base. The Point and Shoot Camcorder looks very similar to its disposable predecessor and retains most of its predecessor's simple interface. There is still no menu button, for example. The most noteworthy hardware difference is a spring-loaded "pop-out" USB port that snaps from flush with the unit's side to a 90-degree angle after you push on a sliding switch. It's a playful gimmick that complements the product's casual appeal, but I wonder about its durability.
Switched On: Reaching beyond retro
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:I've already grown to like the name, but mostly negative reaction has greeted Nintendo's offical moniker for the console formerly code-named Revolution. "Wii" is certainly Nintendo's highest-concept name ever for a console. Apart from a fair amount of mispronunciation that Nintendo concedes the system will receive, though (I heard someone ask today if it's called "W2," and nothing says "fun" like an IRS form), the literal name of this game is not the figurative one.A year ago, I commented on the Big Three console companies' efforts to court the casual gamer. Microsoft, for example, continues to tout initiatives such as Xbox Live Arcade as a way of bringing new (or maybe old) gamers into the fold. Microsoft cites the high conversion rates for the addictive Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved – a frenetic cross between Asteroids and Robotron -- as evidence that casual gaming has a home on the testosterone-siphoned Xbox 360.However, while Microsoft touts the high adoption rate of Xbox Live as evidence that the Xbox 360 is bringing in new family members playng casual games, it concedes that such games are attracting other family members after its high-powered retail software has opened the front door for the 360. On the other hand, while it may not be expanding the gamer audience, Xbox Live's easily, if slowly available, game demo downloads embody the mixture of quick pickup and advanced graphics I advocated a year ago, and the company's commitment to work with independent developers announced yesterday will be a shot in the arm for this genre-worn industry.Nintendo has been hammering home that Wii's name is consistent with its "virtual console" backward compatibility and controller design that will broaden its appeal beyond the core console fanboy. After all, "GameCube," while uninspiring, could not have been more descriptive, and that didn't help Nintendo escape a distant third place in the home console market even with a lower priced offering.
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.
Switched On: Pandora's Box (Part 1)
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Slim Devices' Squeezebox and Roku's SoundBridge series are the two best products in the point-to-point digital media receiver market for music. Unlike the AirTunes functionality in Apple's AirPort Express, both products allow you to navigate libraries at the point of listening and neither requires you to turn on your television to hear music as multimedia offerings from a number of other companies. Operating over standard Ethernet or WiFi networks, the third-generation Squeezebox surpasses the sleek industrial design that marked the company's freshman effort, and retains the line's reputation for excellent sound quality when used with capable speakers. The bright vacuum fluorescent display that has long characterized the device illuminates a surprisingly effective and intuitive interface, although the dearth of navigation cues in its two-line presentation can sometimes result in disorientation.The minimalist appearance of the Squeezebox is actually a facade for a complex array of options. It's actually a client for two content sources -- SlimServer, the browser-accessible open-source server that can run on Linux, Mac OS X or Windows XP, and SqueezeNetwork, a set of Web-based content options. Much of the device's versatility can be chalked up to these sources. SlimServer, for example, has a plug-in architecture that allows the use of iTunes libraries, graphical screensavers, an alarm clock, and what may be the least fun Tetris clone ever created. It also has a large number of arcane configuration options for the advanced user.
Switched On: Get the show on the road
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Digital convergence makes for some strange bedfellows; these often turn out to be little more than a one-thing fling. Last year, for example, Olympus fumbled after spending big on a SuperBowl ad with the m:Robe 500, an attractive hard disk-based digital music and photo display device with a camera unworthy of the company's heritage. The m:Robe 500 could not play video, but its large screen indicated a dilemma common to many products in this emerging category. Go too small and you have an unsatisfying visual experience. Design a player too large and you lose portability.The most successful digital portable video player to date has been Apple's iPod with video, the apologetic name of which serves as evidence that Apple was unwilling to compromise the device's appealing size for a very large screen. But Apple's competitors have been missing the mark in terms of targeting the video player at a market that has embraced wisps of products such as the iPod nano. Forget the jogger; the driver is a better target for portable video. As the portable audio market has been adding such features as PIMs, podcasts, and pictures, the portable GPS market has also been adding functionality while shrinking size and prices. As a result, the traditional boundaries between automotive and personal navigation products is starting to blur and the product category has attracted domestic interest from Sony, JVC, and other consumer electronics companies.
Switched On: Boot Camp - The Miffing Manual
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:"All right! Listen up, maggot! Welcome to Fort Dragg. I am your Commanding Microsoft Office-er Sgt. Pepper! How do you like that for trademark infringement, Apple Corps? I bet you came here today because you wanted to serve your computer company by beta testing Boot Camp? Well, let me tell you something. It ain't gonna be easy, you puke!"Over the next 50 minutes, I will become your father, your mother, your Apple Specialist, your third-tier tech support person, and your best friend! Your heart may belong to Apple but your butt belongs to me! Your precious vendor won't support other operating systems, so you better be quicker than a FireWire 800 port, because if you ain't, you just may blow your disk up with your laser mouse."You come here as a sack of rotting apples unfit to touch a scroll ball! But I will tear down your hard drive into partitions until you cry. You will feel the burn like a driver CD. You will break like compatibility with classic Mac applications. Your identity will be so far gone that Spotlight won't be able to find it. Remember, there is no Windows ME in 'team.' If you can reset your system clock, you will leave with a time-killing, dual-booting, PC game-running machine! Do you hear me!?""Sir! Yes, sir!"
Switched On: Why Adobe should cook the books
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Now that Adobe has finished applying the magic eraser tool to its longtime graphics rival Macromedia, it needs to enter or create new markets to continue growth beyond its dominant position in professional publishing. With the recent focus on what is admittedly the nascent e-book market, Adobe is looking at a unique window in which it could step up and become a market leader. However, it had better hurry, because Microsoft is getting tired of staring at the walls when it comes to this market.The recent interest in e-books is due to the commercialization of electronic ink, which enables thin, crisp, paper-like monochrome (and soon color) displays that require a fraction of the power needed by LCDs. While their refresh rate makes them prohibitively slow for any kind of animation, they are the best technology for the medium developed to date and have attracted the attention of Sony and iRex, a spinoff of Philips.Electronic ink is the kind of disruptor that has allowed opportunistic companies to seize markets. Sony, for example, capitalized on the CD-ROM with the original PlayStation and entered the digital camera market via the floppy disk with its first Mavica cameras. Apple, of course, leveraged the 1.8-inch hard drive with its first iPod.Adobe is, in fact, already in the e-book business. but it is not providing a complete solution, which would require an end-user device. Sony's Reader will support the display of PDFs, but the electronics giant will use its own proprietary format and its own online service for distribution of content. The e-book market -- like the online music and video markets prior to the entry of Apple -- is so immature that it's just waiting for a company to step up with an integrated solution.
Switched On: The contractor and the architect
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
