Dave Zatz

Has TiVo, Inc Lost Its Way?

The New York Times is out with a piece covering a number of TiVo’s advertising initiatives. Which I was ready to let go, until I came upon this beauty: TiVo is not the only company devising a solution to commercial-skipping. Which reinforces my frequent refrain these days. Who are TiVo’s customers? The advertising industry? Or … Read more

Digital Media Bytes: Last100 Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our friends at Last100: The Gadget Show Live: mobile phone watches This is a product category that has me far from convinced but it’s intriguing nonetheless. I’m talking about mobile phone watches, which are about as Star Trek or Knight Rider as they come. I got to see … Read more

DTVPal DVR gets Firmware Update, Back in Stock

DISH Network recently released a pretty significant firmware update for their over-the-air (OTA) dual tuner HD DTVPal DVR ($250, no fees). While there’s really not much in the way of new functionality, quite a few bugs and nits have been resolved. In addition to (hopefully) clearing up the freezing/rebooting issues, the refreshed software also features: … Read more

Digeo To Unveil Moxi Payment Plans

Later this week, Digeo will unveil two interest-free Moxi HD DVR ($799, no fees) payment plans – as illustrated above. While I would have preferred to see a straight up price cut, this may may reduce the sticker shock for some and/or make the device more accessible. As this program initially rolls out, installment pricing … Read more

Amazon VOD in HD Finally Arrives (Roku & TiVo)

Two years after launching “Unbox” on TiVo (~$250), Amazon (AMZN) has finally rolled out HD video on demand. I’ve been on the road for work, so while my Roku box ($99) has had the high def Amazon service about 10 days, I haven’t yet actually taken a test drive. Early reports from various sources indicate … Read more

Digital Media Bytes: Last100 Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our friends at Last100: Netflix prepping PlayStation 3 and Wii support suggests job ad Proof that Netflix is serious about widening support beyond the XBox 360 emerged after a recent job advertisement on Monster.com was spotted seeking a lead engineer responsible for the company’s “gaming platforms” – plural. … Read more

HP MediaSmart Server: Time Machine Fine Print

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I had pretty high hopes for my recent HP MediaSmart (EX485, ~$500) acquisition but, after a fun-filled day of disaster recovery, I’m second guessing my purchase. This Macworld Best of Show award winner supposedly offers multi-OS backup, including Time Machine support. It can also act as a central iTunes server, stream media to your Xbox 360 (Twonky), run SageTV, and even permit remote access. The EX485 sure looked like a good start in fulfilling my desire for a ‘personal cloud’.

To configure the Windows Home Server (based on Windows 2003), I went for convenience and used my Vista Ultimate (thanks, Ivan!) Boot Camp partition. Later, I hopped on over to OS X and installed the HP software. My first task was a full Time Machine backup, which went smoothly – taking only a couple hours over WiFi. That was Saturday. Yesterday (Sunday) is when it all unraveled.

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Dave’s New GPS: TomTom ONE 140-S

The PND market ain’t dead yet. Garmin’s got new models in the pipeline and TomTom just launched several navigators, including the US debut of their Internet-connected GO 740 Live GPS. ZNF regulars know I’m a minimalist, preferring convergent devices. However, true turn-by-turn iPhone nav is at least a few months away and the Palm Pre … Read more