Google TV- Looks Fun, Not Sure It’s Useful

Since Dave quoted me in his last post, I figured I’d better weigh in officially on the Google TV debate. First, I’m surprised everyone is so taken aback by the price. Given the amount people are willing to spend on new iPads, smartphones, and game consoles, $300 (Logitech Revue) doesn’t seem unreasonable to me for … Read more

Mirror Worlds 1, Apple 0

A federal jury in Texas has ruled against Apple and in favor of the company Mirror Worlds in a patent case that could bring damages of more than $625 million. The jury found that Apple willfully infringed on three patents related to how files are displayed on iPods, iPhones, and Mac computers. Mirror Worlds created … Read more

Hulu Plus on Roku all but Confirmed

There are rumors, and even confirmation to a certain degree, that suggest Roku will be getting Hulu Plus capabilities soon.  Depending on timing, this could be a coup for Roku (hardware starts at a $60) and one more online streaming capability they’d boast. GigaOM/NewTeeVee says the deal is done, confirmed via a Roku partner web page for … Read more

Sneak Peek: Slacker’s On-Demand Music Service

Tonight at the annual Pepcom holiday event in New York, Slacker will preview its new on-demand music service, a major upgrade to the existing application available on the Web, and on Android, Blackberry, and iOS phones. As long-time Slacker fans here at ZNF, we couldn’t be more excited about the launch. In addition to caching stations and enabling downloads of favorite tracks (available with today’s Slacker premium service), the new on-demand service will let users call up and play specific artists and songs at will. The new genre stations, pre-programmed by Slacker DJs, will provide details on the top station artists and songs, with an option to jump around to those tracks and others at any time. The search function will also provide more information on artists and songs, including what stations they’re programmed on, associated albums, etc. You’ll also be able to sort and play favorites easily, and there will be significantly more functionality for programming your own custom stations from any mobile interface.

Slacker is planning to roll out the on-demand upgrade in October. The company will continue to offer a free service tier, and users will be able to unlock higher tiers for a monthly fee: Slacker Plus at $3.99 per month and Slacker Premium (full on-demand functionality) at $9.99 per month.

I’ve always believed Slacker has the best feature set of any online music service. From the revolutionary offline caching function, to its customization capabilities, Slacker, in my opinion, outperforms the competition. However, its mobile implementations haven’t quite lived up to the browser experience, or to my dedicated Slacker hardware. And the interface has needed an update for some time. Assuming the new upgrade adds the necessary polish, along with the new features, Slacker should have itself a killer mobile music app.

UPDATE: The older Slacker Premium service, which I originally linked to in this post, is no longer available. If you’re interested, just hold out another month, and Slacker should have you covered with the new version.

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Ojo Video Phone Lives! Er, Again!

I doubt I’ll ever tire of covering Ojo video phones. Why, you ask? Because I have a history with these puppies. But more on that in a moment. Today, WorldGate has announced general availability of the Ojo Vision digital video phone with bundled calling plans. Sign up for a two-year contract, and you can get … Read more

Time Warner and Disney Ink Deal in Time for the NFL Season

With the NFL season right around the corner, and the college football season already underway, it’s about time Time Warner Cable and the Disney company finished their epic negotiations over retransmission rights. Luckily, the news is all good for Time Warner (and Bright House Networks) subscribers. First off, ESPN is premiering a new ESPN Goal … Read more

Sony’s Qriosity: Curiouser and Curiouser

While most of the tech world was focused on the Apple event yesterday, Sony announced expansion plans for its streaming media service, Qriosity. Qriosity’s been around in the US for a few months, offering on-demand movie titles to consumers who own Sony connected devices. This week’s announcement adds five European countries to the distribution list, … Read more

Video: Verizon Shows Off TV on the iPad

Not to be outdone by the others making iPad noise, Verizon today demonstrated a new app for viewing FiOS TV on Apple’s tablet. The app isn’t available yet, but long-time telecom reporter Steve Donohue shot video at the Verizon press conference. The demo shows a mosaic of TV channels that stream live video when clicked. … Read more