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Sling working on player for iPad, Windows Phone 7 Series
Looks like Zatz got the goods from the folks at Sling, who have a few interesting tidbits currently in the development pipe. Zatz not Funny is reporting that Sling's Mobile Product Marketing Manager, Dave Eyler, has told him that the company is "actively moving towards H.264" and Silverlight support, as well as delivering streaming with resolutions beyond the current 320x240. Though there are no firm details or timelines yet, this means we should definitely be expecting SlingPlayer Mobile versions for the iPad and Windows Phone 7 Series. While Sling says it won't have anything ready for the iPad's launch, we've got our fingers crossed that we'll see it soon.
TiVo VP Jim Denney talks Desktop 2.3
Engadget columnist and correspondent Dave Zatz caught up with TiVo's VP of Product Marketing, Jim Denney, to ask him few questions about TiVo's new lawsuit bait, their Desktop 2.3 software announced yesterday. Check it out!As we reported yesterday, TiVo Desktop 2.3 has been released for Windows with a few new tricks up it's sleeve. Enhancements include scheduled series downloads and MPEG-4 to MPEG-2 video transcoding for a variety of portable devices. While we've been using unsupported methods for massaging video onto the iPod and PSP, official support is now provided at a cost of $24.95. TiVo's going with the soft sell and won't be issuing a press release, so we hit up Vice President of Product Marketing Jim Denney for the details.PricingWe'd prefer TiVo didn't charge for the new conversion features, but recognize MPEG codecs don't come cheap. For example even Apple will sell you (partially-working) MPEG-2 playback in QuickTime for $19.99 and Microsoft offers zippy MPEG-2 decoding, free or otherwise. When asked about TiVo Desktop's $24.95 price point, Mr. Denney responded that they have attempted to find a sweet spot -- balancing TiVo's "real costs" including software development, "royalties for technology," and support with providing "value to the end user."PiracyMr. Denney clued us in to the "proactive steps" TiVo has taken to prevent piracy. In addition to the already existing (and easily bypassed) PC .tivo file encryption, Denney confirmed the unencrypted converted video includes a watermark "embedded in the file" (you can't see it) that references a subscriber's account. Additionally, TiVo feels by limiting transcoded files to a low resolution of 320 x 240, they further protect the rights of content owners while providing appropriately sized video for portable devices.
MovieBeam gets a boost from Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures, friendly day-and-date releasers of such HD flicks as Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Bubble, have announced support for the MovieBeam platform. According to VideoBusiness, despite already having support from the major studios, MovieBeam thinks they can find a niche delivering HD flicks to film buffs who want to avoid the messiness of finding an arthouse actually showing limited release movies. Combined with Magnolia's unorthodox release strategies, they seem to make a good match. Also of note, if you want to check out the service without laying down $199 for the box up front, our friend Dave Zatz mentioned a coupon code (PR49B) that drops the price to $49, although we don't know if that is still valid. Ben wasn't very impressed with the quality of the HD when he reviewed MovieBeam, while Dave had a better impression of its SD capabilities. If you get your HDTV OTA, this may be the VOD service for you.
