New Jobs, New Clues, and VOD

Both TiVo and Netflix posted interesting job openings this week…

First up is Netflix, who’s looking to hire an interface engineer. Based on the description it seems they’re interested in exploring Vista’s GUI functionality to possibly produce a front-end for on-line movie distribution. Keep in mind Vista will bundle Media Center Edition features… which currently include Xbox 360 streaming.

This research team will be investigating new ten-foot user interface models for browsing a huge catalog of movies on a on a TV. Rich interactivity will be key to collecting user tastes and preferences and helping the user find the right content easily. We will be exploring various technologies such as Windows Presentation Foundation, which means we are looking for someone able to pick up a new tools and execute quickly and effectively. (via Hacking Netflix)

And speaking of Windows, TiVo’s job opening prominently mentions Windows Media Video 9 (VC-1/WMV9) which both Blu-ray and HD-DVD support… and what a variety of current movie download services (Movielink, CinemaNow) utilize in conjunction with Microsoft DRM. MPEG-4 is also mentioned, a format many consider compressed enough for the possibility of wide-scale TiVo video downloads.

TiVo is seeking a manager for the Media Architecture team. This team is responsible for the real-time streaming functionality that drives the TiVo digital video recorder features: real-time record and playback of synchronized audio/video data.

• This person will have knowledge in at least one of the following areas: MPEG-2 video and systems, MPEG-1 audio (including MP3), or MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264) video
• In addition, this person will have working experience in 3 of the following areas: VC-1, WMV9 and WMA, Dolby Digital (AC-3), network streaming audio and video, DVD playback and recording, digital right management (DRM) technologies