Dave Zatz 
TiVo has never taken the Mini wireless for television programming due to MPEG2 bandwidth considerations … and the resultant experience, which would be highly variable dependent upon ones home network. Of course, I told you how to take matters into your own hands (five years ago!). But for those still looking to something other than … Read more
As Sonos looks to expand its market footprint, the company hit a number of customers today with a survey that describes potential products — each listed at various price points to gauge interest. Most interesting are Sonos One-esque speakers with enhanced bass and Dolby Atmos in addition to (finally) a more affordable Subwoofer, penciled in as … Read more
At long last, TiVo is publicly committing to a soft client streamer apps for retail DVRs, such as the newly released Bolt OTA. So instead of investing in a TiVo Mini at each television, we can leverage our existing Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku boxes to receive both live television and DVR-ed content. Unlike … Read more
Nice! Come March, Tablo DVR owners will be able to automatically skip commercials while playing back television recordings. Unlike TiVo’s somewhat kneecapped SkipMode that only indexes popular, primetime programming and requires manual intervention at each break, Tablo’s solution should index just about everything* and will be automated: Tablo’s commercial-skipping magic is a cloud-based hybrid of digital signal … Read more
Ikea Smartshades are here! Well “here” as in some European stores with broader availability expected February 2nd — hopefully that includes the US, although prior reports indicated our availability would come later in the spring. In any event, we now know sizes, prices, and mechanics. There are two lines of grey Ikea smart shades, one … Read more
While Roku freely admits their primary business is advertising, given several significant job openings around the world, the company continues to see audio as viable hardware category with a continued emphasis on platform voice control. The TCL-branded Roku soundbar announced at CES 2018 has reportedly been killed and Roku has taken matters into their own … Read more
As discovered by Variety (and yours truly) Sonos is prepping a new speaker. The paperwork has it labeled as S18 and RM016 — but those designations don’t really mean anything as it’ll surely carry a more natural name like Beam or One (unlike the horror that is Vizio audio naming conventions). And, speaking of the … Read more
Prior to Amazon acquiring Ring, Ring acquired Mr. Beams outdoor lighting… and the promised 2018 lighting solutions never materialized. Enter 2019 and, based on regulatory filings, Ring is back with a Beams vengeance. The company is relaunching the brand as simply Ring “Beams” and includes am impressive array of products — which have just hit the … Read more