Dave Zatz While the Roku channels keep flowing, the company has launched a competition to stimulate and reward the developer community. The winner of each category (above, click to enlarge) wins a cool $5,000. Plus, the grand champion will receive an additional $5k. Potential entrants have about two months to produce their app(s), followed by a period … Read more
Prior to the Barnes & Noble and Amazon Kindle price drops, Sony had actually been testing lower Reader “sale” price points at both their physical and online outposts. And it now looks as if those numbers have been made permanent… perhaps in light of their competitors. The Sony Reader Pocket Edition (5″) clocks in at … Read more
Western Digital has refreshed their DVR Expander line with a more aerodynamic enclosure and broader marketing… Not only will WD’s new Expander (of same 1TB capacity) meet your external DVR storage needs (DISH, DirecTV, TiVo, SA 8300HD, etc), but they’d like you to also feel free to use their external storage solution with other media-capable devices … Read more
After a few months of delays used to tighten up their software and experience, the Sysbas folks have christened July 23rd as Popbox Launch Day. Syabas is no stranger to this space, having produced the powerful Popcorn Hour boxes (and as the guy behind the guy prior)… And the Popbox miniaturizes most of those local media playback … Read more
The TiVo Premiere is primed for its third software update since launch, according to tweets from the VP of User experience (here and here). TiVo PR confirmed that a new release is on tap, and as with the prior two pushes, the focus is on enhancing Premiere “stability and performance.” I also asked where the … Read more
Engadget scored a golden ticket Hulu Plus invite and took the beta service for a quick spin… on an iPad, iPhone, and Internet-connected Samsung HDTV. And, unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the new $10/month, ad-supported subscription has been somewhat tempered by E’s initial experiences. At this time, HD video quality is described as merely “watchable” and … Read more
It’s not quite the Kindle 3 many are hoping for (if our incoming searches are any indication), but Amazon is now accepting orders for a refreshed Kindle DX (the one with the nearly 10″ screen). Thus far, the only obvious changes are the new graphite hue and announced E-ink screen contrast improvements. Beyond hardware, the … Read more
A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: CableCARD, FireWire, and FCC Mandates The NCTA reported that the largest US cablecos have now deployed more than 21 million set-tops with embedded CableCARDs. Despite that, the FCC’s CableCARD mandate is widely considered a failure, and the agency is actively looking for potential alternatives. 3D … Read more