Dave Zatz

Apple TV – Worst Product of 2007?

Before the Apple fanboys come after me, let me state up front that Popular Mechanics has declared Apple TV as one of the worst products (#2) this year. Not Dave. Rather than going for the most obscure or ludicrous gadgets, we based our choices on missed opportunities, hype gone awry and some mysterious fumbles. DVRs … Read more

The HDHomeRun Giveaway

Well, it’s still that time of year… The news is slow and giving gifts is good. DVRUpgrade, generally known for providing TiVo hard drive upgrades (and a ZNF sponsor), let me play with the HDHomeRun ($~170) for the last few months and now we’re giving it away. The HDHomeRun is a pretty clever dual-tuning HD … Read more

Jackass 2.5, A Free Blockbuster/Movielink Exclusive

In what I assume is a move to advertise their (recently acquired) Movielink service (and get some press), Blockbuster has paid over a million bucks to exclusively distribute Jackass 2.5 for one week. The NY Times writes: Paramount Pictures is lurching onto the Web with its “Jackassâ€? franchise, with what it says will be the … Read more

Moxi Home Cinema DVR Arrives! (Sort Of)

The Moxi Home Cinema HD DMR has arrived! At my place, anyway. If you’re interested in an early look at 50% of Digeo’s upcoming retail DVR duo, there may still be time to request beta access. However, you’ll be under NDA and expected to keep your lips sealed. This puppy’s hiding a few secrets… And … Read more

Gamefly Gives Away MP3s

Mail-order video game rental service Gamefly is now giving subscribers 5 DRM-free tracks each month. I assume this is nothing more than a marketing gimmick (plus they’ve added commissioned iTunes affiliate links), but it’s worth keeping an eye on. FYI The first five bands (that I’ve never heard of) are: RJD2, Little Brother, OK Go, … Read more

iTunes Canada and Vudu Now Offering TV Downloads

Canadians looking for alternative ways to consume their media are having a pretty good month… Though much later than their southern US neighbors, in the last three weeks TiVo, Xbox 360 movie downloads, and now iTunes television downloads have been made available. iTunes TV purchases run $1.99 CAD which closely mirrors the US dollar. (For … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: The Hulu HD Bandwidth Equation: Connected Home 2 Go Twas The Night Before DivX: Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection A Look Back at CES 2007: Connected Home 2 Go On the Blog Council: Connected Home 2 Go

DirecTV Buys ReplayTV (Huh?)

I’ve lost track of how many times ReplayTV has switched hands. And today they’ve ended up under DirecTV’s wing for who knows what purpose. Replay had abandoned the hardware DVR market, though they still have subscribers, and they’ve been making a play for the PC software DVR market. A small fish in a small pond.

So far, this is all we know:

Japan’s D&M Holdings Inc said on Thursday it had sold its ReplayTV business, which develops software for digital video recorders, to DirecTV of the United States for an undisclosed sum.

Perhaps DTV will put out a release and clue us in to their intentions. Until then, we’ll just have to speculate… I suppose it’s possible they could (think about) using the ReplayTV interface on their satellite DVRs, re-enter the stand-alone hardware business, or (most likely) just hang onto Replay’s patent portfolio for a rainy day (when/if their do-not-sue deal with TiVo expires in 2010). Or to prevent that rainy day.

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