Dave Zatz, Author at Zatz Not Funny!

Joost Pursues Live TV

Joost intends to expand their content beyond pre-recorded content into live television broadcasts early next year. According to paidContent UK: She said the live programming will include a âcombinationâ? catch-up option to watch on-demand shows following live transmission, then said Joost will offer widgets allowing viewers to bookmark favourite sporting moments and keep scores – … Read more

Schmoozing with TiVo and Real

Dave, TiVo CEO, TiVo Mascot

In honor of the new Rhapsody on TiVo service, TiVo hosted a gathering in NYC last night with RealNetworks. It featured the sort of presentations you’d expect from the CEOs, followed by a Jim Denney (VP, TiVo) product walk-thru. Then the band hit the stage.

A few interesting nuggets I dug up while quizzing Jim Denney and Robert Williams (VP, Real):

Reconfirmed TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing for Series3/TiVo HD are still on tap for November. (JD)
Offical eSATA support coming very soon. No one would spill the beans on the possibility of TiVo-branded drives. (JD)
No bundled Rhapsody/TiVo service discount at this time due to “economics of music.” (RW)
Periodic updates of Rhapsody on TiVo application/service planned. (RW)

Hope Chris Harrison enjoyed his potentially short-lived gig as TiVo spokesperson. He delivered the funniest line of the evening… On stage… Twice: “TiVo is a whore.”

Some pics after the jump.

TiVo on Comcast… When?

For those of you wondering when the Comcast-Motorola-TiVo will hit, Reuters is reporting: Digital video recorder company TiVo Inc said on Tuesday the roll-out of its services is a “little behind” schedule. “We’re waiting for word any time now that the first non-Comcast employee will begin to get the service,” TiVo Chief Executive Tom Rogers … Read more

DirecTV Sat-Go Reduced to $999

Not sure when the price cut hit, but DirecTV has reduced pricing for their portable Sat-Go solution by about a third ($1499 -> $999). If they didn’t limit purchases to in-home DirecTV customers, I’d be real tempted to pick one up… It’s an innately cool device. I’m not really sure why I’d need one or … Read more

Verizon FiOS TV 2.0 Updates

I’m heading up to Verizon’s NJ headquarters tomorrow to check out the new FiOS TV features and fixes that are getting ready to roll, plus preview future functionality such as games and mobile handset DVR interaction. I’m pre-posting my visit to solicit feedback for Verizon’s IMG Product Developer Manager… There’s been some concern (which Verizon … Read more

Rhapsody Music Service Lands On TiVo

The TiVo Rhapsody music service announcement made last January bears fruit today:

With Rhapsody on TiVo, you can choose from millions of songs, search for your favorites, tune in to continuous music on Rhapsody Channels, and build your own library—straight from your TV using your TiVo remote. Whether you’re in the mood for classical, hip-hop, or anything in between, it’s all just a few clicks away. And with a Rhapsody membership, you can listen all you want, without the need to buy individual songs.

Essentially, anyone with a Rhapsody account ($12.99/mo, free 30 day trial) will be able to access “artists, albums, playlists and channels” via a broadband-connected Series2 or Series3 TiVo. TiVo intends to flip the switch and activate the service today under the Music & Photos DVR menu, but you’ll need the fall software update (v9.1) to partake.

New Blog Alert: “Comcast Must Die”

We’ve got a potentially interesting and a, most-assuredly, provocatively titled new blog in town… According to Multichannel News:

Giving Comcast subscribers an online forum for complaints about the cable TV operator, media columnist and radio commentator Bob Garfield launched Web site ComcastMustDie.com on Friday. The Web site debuted about four weeks after Garfield first penned a column headlined âComcast Must Die,â? in Advertising Age.

While my Comcast service and interactions have improved lately, like all companies there’s room for improvement.

TiVo Series3 Multi-Room Viewing Is Here! (sort of)

While twiddling my thumbs waiting for the official Multi-Room Viewing (MRV) and TiVoToGo (TTG), I went ahead and cobbled together my own very nice MRV solution.

I’ve read online that the max distance for a non-amplified HDMI cable run may not meet my needs, but quite a few vendors offer long HDMI cables. So I took the plunge and paid $51.01 (including shipping) for Monoprice’s most expensive 35′ HDMI cable. That allowed the living room Series3 to power the 42″ plasma locally via component, while simultaneously powering the 30″ bedroom HDTV via HDMI (with the help of a $5 13/16″ drill bit) as shown below. Video and audio come through very well, and there’s no indication that the source TiVo is out of range.

The next challenge is remotely controlling the TiVo… And at the same time this plan was percolating, Monster offered me their Harmony-powered IR+RF remote (AVL300) for review (MSRP $400). I’ve programmed it to control the bedroom TV via IR and the livingroom Series3 via RF. Response through the walls and around corners has been instantaneous, again with no indication the TiVo is located somewhere else.

Overall, this solution is very nice. I’m enjoying the immediate playback from a remote DVR, including HD content… unlike TiVo’s Multi-Room Viewing which doesn’t always stream (standard def content) real-time without having to wait for the buffer to build. I also like the idea of having one DVR to manage, though I’m limited to recording on the two Series3 tuners. (I still have a Humax DVD-burning TiVo in the bedroom… for now.)