For the last year or so I’ve pitched pressured my blogging buddies to work with me on some sort of ensemble video podcast. But we never seemed to find the time, motivation, or skills. And now Randall Bennett, who you may recognize from Engadget and CNET, has independently launched TechVi. I participated in a pre-alpha TechVi test run and one of my potential co-conspirators Kevin Tofel of jkOnTheRun recently appeared on-camera as well. In addition to hosting a panel riffing on recent tech events, Randall landed his first interview early this week with Boxee CEO Avner Ronen.
In the five minute video (above) Avner, of course, discusses the Hulu situation – though he doesn’t offer the sort of juicy details I’d like to hear. Other than not appearing overly concerned with the threat of lawsuits. More interesting is Boxee’s approach to generating revenue by utilizing “an honest model” in which neither users nor providers are charged to access the Boxee platform. Rather, Boxee would be compensated by sending new viewers to partners or earning a commission on content sales. Regarding Boxee on a Box, Avner hopes to land on multiple devices in 2010. And as a guy looking for an all-in-one solution, I sure hope one of them comes bundled with an HD tuner and DVR functionality.
Beyond TechVi’s interview, Avner announced a partnership with Internet radio service Pandora tonight at Boxee’s New York user meetup. (The updated application should be available now.) As I’ve said before, streaming audio to a video appliance doesn’t do a whole lot for me. Yet I’m pleased to see Boxee pressing forward in expanding their content offerings and API. Despite the Hulu setback.
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Unfortunately, only ATV & Mac versions have been updated to the new alpha. Linux and Windows versions are a few weeks out. Although, I think, PBS plug-in may work on other versions.