Dave Zatz, Author at Zatz Not Funny!

CableCARD PCs Cometh

Looks like we’re getting close now… PC Mag got their hands on a pre-release Dell coupled with two of those ATI CableCARD decoders I spotted at CES (and a Blu-ray drive). Though the article is extensive (we’re talking screens and screens), I didn’t see much on how CableCARD content is protected. The author was able … Read more

Digital Media Bytes: TiVo Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… Customer solves TiVo Series1 DST issue: TiVo Community Official S1 Daylight Savings Time opt-in fix: TiVo “Reel” hoops with John Salley: TiVo Toast Titanium TiVo Transfer fix: Roxio

Riddle Me This: TiVo Verizon Wireless Scheduling

Of the ~1.5 million Series2 and Series3 TiVo subscribers… How many are Verizon Wireless customers? With a compatible handset? Who want to schedule recordings via cell phone? And are willing to pay an additional $2/mo? If you’re one of the 47*, learn more here.

Dave Gets Vista

My copy of Vista finally arrived. Not as late as mid-April, but still later than I would have liked. The HP “Express Upgrade” kit came with two discs: an HP prep/config CD and the Vista DVD.

Prior to upgrading last night, HP had me disconnect a variety of peripherals (I declined), update my BIOS (was already current), and then their CD removed incompatible software that had been preloaded with my machine (most of which I had already blown away). The actual Vista upgrade took several hours, followed by running that HP CD again… to reinstall Vista-compatible software I don’t need (blown away a second time). I did have some trouble finding a NVIDIA driver that supported my LCD’s native resolution (1400×900) — Neither the default Vista driver nor HP’s driver update would go that high, but a direct NVIDIA download took care of it.

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news from our other blogs… The Real Story on VOD: Connected Home 2 Go The FiOS Connection: Connected Home 2 Go TV Advertising – Staples v Office Depot: Digital Connection On Apple TV: Connected Home 2 Go

Introducing Couchville (And ZNF’s Newest Blogger)

SnapStream, maker of PC DVR software BeyondTV, has pushed out a “simple” web television guide. Unlike other guides floating around the net, Couchville is not plastered in ads, doesn’t require registration, and doesn’t require numerous clicks before hitting the listings. The guide is easily manipulated, AJAX style, by dragging the screen or using the arrow keys. As with most Web 2.0 apps, Couchville is in beta. I don’t know how many features we’ll end up seeing in this minimalist app, but I’d appreciate the option of a different color scheme.

In my household I’m often asked, “When’s ‘Dancing With Skating Celebrity American Idols Next Door’ on?” I always answer, “No idea” and one of us (or both) ends up surfing the network’s web page for (hopefully) the answer. So I’m looking forward to sharing this URL and pointing out the search box.

DST: TiVo versus ReplayTV

As I wrote earlier in the week, TiVo has mostly resolved issues surrounding the daylight savings time date change for Series2 and Series3 units. However Series1 units have not received a software update. While Season Passes, Wishlists, etc should record as scheduled… TiVo will “display a time one hour behind the actual time” and manual … Read more

Akimbo In The House

At a CES sideshow (PEPCOM) I met Akimbo CEO Josh Goldman. Basically our conversation went something like this, “So what do you think?” “I’ll let you know when you send me a review unit!” And look what arrived this week…

In Vegas, I learned these guys are totally out of the hardware business: The new stand-alone Akimbo device is solely a RCA hardware platform, AT&T is using Akimbo on Homezone, and Akimbo was integrated into Windows Media Center some time ago. On the business side, I’ll need a refresher on the various pricing plans and where they’re headed. I wonder if Movielink’s potential acquisition will have any impact on Akimbo?