Dave Zatz

The OTTO Wireless MP3 Player Giveaway

Hot on the heels of Kevin’s review, we’re giving away the OTTO Wireless MP3 Headset. It’s a basic 512MB player built into stereo headphones. Notable: OTTO does support secure WMA, so your Yahoo Music or Napster tunes should be good to go – in addition to unprotected MP3 and WMA files. You know the drill … Read more

Deal of the Day: $40 off OS X Leopard

While browsing the beautiful new Micro Center (Rockville, MD) yesterday, I ran across a pretty sweet deal on Mac OS X Leopard. Assuming you’re not one of the millions who’s already upgraded, Micro Center’s $40 rebate is being offered both in-store and online though 11/11. While Spaces appeals to me, I haven’t really felt the … Read more

iTunes Radio?

If you’ve been paying attention, you know I like the idea of subscription-based content services – specifically, movie rentals and all-you-can-eat music. And here we were with another rumor that Apple could be moving in this direction. According to updated AT&T iPhone data plan documentation: Consider that just 20 minutes of iTunes radio takes 20MB … Read more

GridNetworks Lands $9.5 Million

Internet content distributor GridNetworks landed $9.5 million in Series A funding this week. While one of the three investors is Panorama Capital, the other two backers pique my curiosity because their identities haven’t yet been disclosed… and I get the sense they may be something other than VC firms.

Chances are you haven’t heard of GridNetworks and, prior to speaking with CEO Tony Naughtin, I hadn’t either. They’ve developed an “orchestrated, managed” hybrid P2P – CDN service to stream Internet video at up to 1080i with high fidelity audio and requiring throughput of only 768Kbps down and 128Kbps up. They’re currently operating as a white label service provider for some smaller Internet TV plays, though their goals are more lofty. I think we’ll be seeing GridNetworks go after big media and telecom as they continue to ramp up and offer video streaming services at literally a “small fraction” of the conventional CDN-served video cost. Though, as my pal Om notes, the market has become “highly competitive.”

Verizon FiOS TV Embraces HD (Mostly in 2008)

Despite the numerous Verizon FiOS TV DVR updates, I’m most frequently questioned on their HD initiatives. Truly, content is king. Here’s a summary of Verizon’s HD announcement: Plans to double HD channel count next spring, with up to 150 HD channels by the end of of 2008. HD video-on-demand begins rolling out this year, with … Read more

HD DVD Under $100

Guess where I’m headed tomorrow morning… Select Walmart stores will be carrying a limited quantity of the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for a low $98.87. At that price, I don’t care if Blu-ray ultimately crushes the HD DVD consortium. In fact, even if I can’t score a unit, the $165 Xbox 360 player (with … Read more

Digeo Delays Retail Moxi DVRs

I think we all knew something was up after seeing Wired magazine ads in consecutive months without a product announcement. In fact, the whispers were speculating that the Home Cinema edition had been scrapped. Well… I’ve received confirmation that both retail Moxi DVRs are still in play, but on hold until early next year: While … Read more

The Darker Side of Xbox Live

Major Nelson, the voice of Xbox LIVE, is taking a hard line and reminding folks not to share accounts or tamper with acheivements:

As you can imagine, we know how to find out if you do this and we do take action. Even worse, you might have your account and/or console banned from Xbox Live.

I’m all for fair play but, in the grander scheme of things, who really cares how Achievements are met? Especially in light of Microsoft’s much bigger Xbox LIVE problem… I’m talking about the profanity. It’s primarily a verbal problem, but I’ve also encountered questionable Gamertags. Dropping F-bombs in the heat of battle doesn’t bother me (parents may feel differently) and I know I’m guilty of the occasional curse word slip, but hearing tweens/teens repeatedly using the N word or from others wanting to kill Jews and homosexuals is just unpleasant. Regardless of intent (No, Junior. You’re not funny.), it takes away from my gaming enjoyment. I wish I could say these incidents were unusual but, in a casual calculation, 1/4 – 1/3 of Shadowrun Live rounds contained a notable amount of adult language and/or verbal unpleasantries. In fact, if I had children, I wouldn’t let them anywhere near Xbox LIVE with a headset.