Dave Zatz, Author at Zatz Not Funny!

Best Blu-ray Player For Netflix Streaming?

Tech of the Hub got their hands on a trio of 2011 Blu-ray players and set about determining what model provides the best Netflix experience. Which works out well, as I’m in the market for a new, connected Blu-ray player. On the Netflix front, the 802.11n-capable Panasonic DMP-BDT210, LG BD670, and Samsung BD-D5700 seem to provide … Read more

i.TV Guide App Updated; Two TiVo Notes

One of the more impressive unaffiliated TV guide iPhone apps has seen a massive makeover. In fact, i.TV 3.0 completely drops movie listings, trailers, and theater ticket purchases to exclusively focus on television content… including shows located on Hulu and Netflix. The interface refresh is more than skin deep, and i.TV now brings native support to the iPad. It’s definitely a (free) app worth checking out if your television provider doesn’t offer one to your liking.

On the TiVo front, i.TV has been the unofficial, official TiVo iPhone app. So someone may want to suggest that TiVo, Inc update their website (shown below right) as their screengrab is no longer relevant — i.TV has dropped that virtual TiVo remote control during the redesign. While it’ll return in some form at some point, the virtual Roku remote is gone for good.

Last year, we uncovered a minor security issue related to i.TV and TiVo DVR scheduling:

Why Is Amazon Crediting Customers For HD VOD?

It looks as though at least some of us are being credited by Amazon for high definition video on demand rentals or purchases that may not have actually achieved sustained HD streaming. A friend and I both received this email within in the last 24 hours:

As someone who has purchased digital movies or TV shows in high-definition (HD) from Amazon Instant Video, we wanted to provide you more information about how we deliver HD content. It is our goal to provide you an uninterrupted viewing experience without any video reloading or “buffering.” To provide you uninterrupted viewing we may lower the resolution of HD videos to standard definition during streaming playback. We do this if we detect that your Internet connection to our service may not be fast enough to support HD playback. For more information on viewing HD videos from Amazon Instant Video, please visit our Help page here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200256920

Because you may not have been able to playback one of your rentals or purchases in HD quality, we have issued you a one-time Amazon Instant Video credit of $1 for each of the HD movies and TV episodes you have purchased from us for a total amount of $23. In order to apply the credit to your Amazon Instant Video account, please click here,
http://www.amazon.com/instantvideo/hdcredit

Logitech Amps Up Panasonic HDTV Skype Calling

While HDTV Skype video chat isn’t entirely new, Logitech’s joining the fray – bringing their webcam expertise to Skype-enabled 2011 Panasonic Viera televisions. What looks to be the same fantabulous HD USB camera/mic array offered to (the very few) Logitech Revue Google TV customers will ship later this month as the Logitech TV Cam for … Read more

TiVo, EchoStar, DISH Network Make Nice Nice (To The Tune Of $500 Million)

tivo-slays-dish

After decades of DVR patent litigation, the court’s most recent decision has forced EchoStar (SATS) and DISH Network into a $500 million settlement with TiVo. Above and beyond the court-sanctioned penalty of $100+ million paid in 2008.

As the story goes, TiVo approached DISH way back when to partner and dropped off an early DVR for evaluation. Well, a deal didn’t get done and that DVR was never seen (by TiVo) again. Yet the underlying tech was reverse engineered, finding its way into EchoStar’s own DVR offerings. And, thus, TiVo filed suit. It’s been a long and winding road. Including a sleep-inducing visit to the US Courts of Appeals by yours truly. While most other corporate entities would probably have settled sooner at a smaller cost, DISH/Echo CEO Charlie’s Ergen’s strategy appears to have been dragging litigation out as long as possible until they either caught a lucky break or TiVo ceases to exist. Heck, TiVo challenged the courts to do the right thing and wrap this up in a timely fashion. It didn’t happen, DISH/Echo were found in contempt (again), and here we are. $500 million isn’t the $1 billion (!) TiVo was posturing for. However, for a company that has very rarely found profitability by actually selling its own product, this is a huge windfall and the respective parties can finally put it to bed. Assuming the courts let them.

Some details of the settlement from a joint announcement:

PlayStation Network Still Down; Service Returning This Week

Since our last chat, Sony’s come clean. The PlayStation Network (PSN) outage, later classified as a response to an “external intrusion,” was a full on security breach — resulting in just about all our personal information taken:

We believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained. While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility.

With something like 70 million customers, the scale of the compromise is obviously quite large. Both governments and individuals alike have taken notice of what appears to be insufficient protection and a leisurely response by Sony. Reinforced by the two email messages I received from Sony about ten days after the breach, neither of which mentioned bringing law enforcement in to assist their investigation.

Well, it’s a new week… Sony’s finally reached out (to the FBI) for help and indicates that PSN will be be back online within a matter of days. Perhaps as early as tomorrow.

TiVo iPad App Updated: Channel Search & Free Space Indicator

Unlike the incomplete and stagnant Premiere, TiVo’s iPad app has seen regular updates since release. And the latest brings a handful of improvements:

What’s New in Version 1.2
-New channel search feature which allows you to search channels in the guide by channel number or station name (Ex: ESPN, etc)
-New fast channel indexes in the guide allow you to quickly jump to a group of channels by channel number
-New disk space meter in My Shows lets you see the percentage of disk space the DVR is using
-Fixes crashing/connection loss issues when waking the app from standby or resuming after multitasking
-Significant performance improvements

While TiVo’s couch-based DVR companion is amongst the most well rounded and visually rich, the interface can get a bit busy. The new channel search (bottom, center pic) is a prime example.

SiriusXM Shuffling Channels May 4th

Thanks to SatelliteGuys, we’ve suspected for a few weeks that SiriusXM (SIRI) intended to shuffle their channel lineup. And, the satellite radio provider has just unveiled the details:

We’re reordering our channels in a better way, to make it easier for you to find the programming you like and improve the experience for all our listeners. As a result, many of the channels you listen to will have a new channel number beginning May 4.

Both XM and Sirius radios will see many channels remapped in what appears to be the programming culmination of their 2008 merger. Well, not entirely… “some differences will remain between the Sirius and XM channel offerings due to technical reasons or agreements with content providers.” Visit www.siriusxm.com/channelupdate and choose your radio, XM or Sirius, to peruse the old and new channel positions.

In terms of programming itself, “a few channels will be combined, some content will be moving from our satellite radio lineup to the SiriusXM Internet Radio lineup.” But in return, we’ll receive a new station dedicated to weather in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis… cities that may not even share the same time zone. Hit the detailed FAQ for more info.