.@Spotify and @Pandora have made it impossible for songwriters to earn a living: three months streaming on Pandora, 4,175,149 plays=$114.11.
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) April 4, 2014
Dave Zatz
Retiring My Titanfall Mech (and Xbox One)
After recording my first flawless victory, in terms of K/D ratio, and frequently landing the top spot in Hardpoint gameplay, it’s time to retire my Titanfall mech. As you probably know, Titanfall launched a month ago as the first, big exclusive Xbox One title and the game is also notable by forgoing a single player campaign, offering only online combat. In fact, its release finally compelled me to pick up the Xbone One via Titanfall bundle on day one.
In terms of gameplay, the Titanfall controls are mostly spot on – I’d say pretty close to flawless when playing as a human and generally very good when strapped into your mech. Available weaponry is well balanced, although as with most shooters, snipers will be frustrated when they’re taken down at range by a mere assault rifle. And satchel charges do supersize damage – including usage as a more effective grenade.
Minor TiVo Spring Update Deployed
The TiVo spring update has been released to TiVo Roamio, Premiere, and Mini owners who registered their boxes via the priority list. Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be a lack of network intel as 20.4.1 primarily addresses open issues versus deploying dramatic new customer facing features (that I often learn of prior to release). Some highlights from VP Margret Schmidt’s release notes:
- addressed issues where customers were seeing V112 errors when trying to stream between boxes
- improved interaction with HDMI, and fixed cases where TiVo Mini was rebooting due to HDMI issues
- improvements to Netflix stability
- improvements to Roamio WiFi connectivity
- created a new V311 error message when an app requires 720p support, and the box has that resolution disabled
- improved handling and messaging of C133 errors
- VOD and apps can now be launched in C133 mode
In conjunction with those dastardly C133 errors, which have been seen with far more frequency in the last year, TiVo has also
$99 Amazon Fire TV Now Shipping! (With Kindle Mirroring)
As most know, I’ve been tracking the Amazon streamer for some time — turning up a Best Buy planogram as the first hard proof of its existence, followed by regulatory filings of the dual-band box itself and curious Bluetooth gaming controller. Of course, the devil is in the details, with complete capabilities and pricing eluding us until launch. Fortunately, Amazon has moved on from the awful “Firetube” and settled on the much more palatable Fire TV. And the $99 box is shipping now! (Which is really how all product announcements should go.)
While Fire TV lands at the higher end of category pricing (for 2014), Amazon touts voice search of Amazon content via remote along with quad core processing and dedicated GPU, suitable for handling Android gaming via the aforementioned controller accessory ($40). Dozens of apps are available immediately,
Verizon FiOS 6-Tuner Quantum TV DVR & Extenders Arrive!
First unveiled at CES 2013, the Verizon Media Server (VMS) has finally started shipping under “Quantum TV” via a “phased roll-out” in select markets . The IPTV DVR hub maintains the original 6-tuners and 1 terabyte or storage as originally pitched. Yet, by bundling two units for a reasonable $32/mo, the networked solution seamlessly expands to 12 tuners housing 2 terabytes of recording storage. Unfortunately, unlike existing FiOS DVRs the new VMS doesn’t currently support additional USB or eSATA storage. Each VMS supports up to five extenders (think TiVo Mini or DISH Joey), running $10 a pop. While the product line doesn’t currently feature Xbox/Roku app clients or remote placeshifting, à la DISH Hopper or TiVo Roamio, we know Verizon has been evaluating this sort of functionality via a router sidecar … and Verizon’s hardware partner Arriola has licensed Slingbox technology.
CableCARD: TiVo Fights The Good Fight
TiVo visited with the FCC last week, lamenting the current state of CableCARD and Section 629. And, to reiterate their points, submitted the above letter. While we can’t speak to TiVo’s survey methodology, they report diminished CableCARD support with increased operator-implemented roadblocks – presumably intended to discourage third party set-top usage… such as TiVo and perhaps Samsung, should they stick with it. Some cited examples:
- 36 percent of MSO agents surveyed in Dec. 2013 said that self-installation of CableCARDs was not allowed, up from 25 percent in Feb. 2013. (Note that self-installation of CableCARDs is required by 47 C.F.R. § 76.1205(b)(1).)
- For those retail customers that self-install their CableCARDs, 24 percent would be charged a fee for self-installation, with fees increasing since EchoStar, including a fee as high as $39.95 imposed by two operators.
- 36 percent of MSO agents surveyed in Dec. 2013 offer their own operator’s DVR on an unsolicited basis to customers requesting CableCARDs for retail devices,up from 26 percent in Feb. 2013
Beyond CableCARD, TiVo wants any successor “to assure the availability of bidirectional video signals to retail devices” put into play…
Is This The New Amazon Streamer?
Several weeks ago, this mysterious “digital media receiver” was brought to my attention. I’ve been largely quiet on the matter as I was hopeful that I might turn up more of a smoking gun… as I ultimately did with the Amazon gaming controller. Yet, other than confirmation Best Buy will be carrying an Amazon “streaming player”, I’ve hit something of a dead end. And, with an announcement just days away, I figured I’d share this series of FCC filings to stoke the imagination (and to unleash the sleuths amongst us).
Amazon is known to pass gadgetry thru the FCC under cover of a shell company. In this case, we’re looking at Ailen LLC. While I can’t directly link them to Amazon, the filing pattern resembles prior Amazon endeavors … with someone going to a good deal of effort to disguise the box (CL1130) and remote (DU3560) … that hit in close proximity to the gaming controller (filed by Vafara LLC). Further, the box was evaluated by the engineering test firm last summer … but just passed thru the FCC… perhaps supporting the blown Christmas launch rumor.
Having said all that,