Davis Freeberg, Author at Zatz Not Funny!

Snapstream Unleashes Godzilla PC DVR For Big Business

With access to four tuners and 1.5 terrabytes of storage, I thought that I had the ultimate DVR setup. However, after seeing Snapstream’s Enterprise PC DVR in action, I’m envious of its capabilities and my home entertainment system suddenly seems wimpy. I don’t know how much Snapstream is charging, but if money grew on trees, I’d be all over this in a heartbeat.

With 10 tuners, one won’t worry about programming conflicts. And with 2 terrabytes of storage, it would mean that one can record 10 different channels, 24 hours a day for at least 8 days before worrying about archiving. Even, if one needed to save old content, the software enables video backup onto DVD.

While the specs had me drooling, the search capabilities were what I found most impressive. By taking advantage of the closed captioning system, SnapStream is able to search the transcripts of any program you record. This allows you to record a lot of junk and filter it for the information that you care about. Unlike the DVR in your living room, this isn’t limited to one monitor. SnapStream has designed the DVR to act as a server, allowing multiple users to search and stream videos from anywhere on a network.

IBM Files For DVD Advertisement Patent

While digging through the US patent website, I noticed that IBM has filed an application to place non-skippable DVD commercial advertisements. It’s hard for to believe that there isn’t prior art for this already but, according to the application, commercials can either be updated via the internet or they can be embedded directly on the disc:

A method wherein contents of DVDs may be restricted based upon purchased certificates is provided. The certificates allow for secured information on playback. Specifically, whenever a DVD is to be played, a certificate is consulted to determine whether the content of the DVD should be played with or without commercial interruptions. If the certificates provide for commercial interruptions, then commercials can be obtained from an online service that renders commercials on demand, or from the DVD itself. In such a case, the content of the DVD may be interspersed with commercials.

I’m usually a fan of new DVD technology, but I’ve got mixed feelings about this one. Every now and then, I’ll come across a DVD that won’t let me skip past the previews and it drives me absolutely nuts. If I’ve already paid for my content, then should I be forced to watch advertisements? It makes me feel like the studios are double dipping.

On the other hand, I could see plenty of advantages in ad- upported DVDs. There are lots people who aren’t willing to pay money to watch a DVD. If they can catch up on a series by dealing with the ads, then this technology could introduce time shifting to an entirely new audience. It could also open up new distribution channels to content providers. For example, if McDonalds included ad supported Disney flicks into their Happy Meals, I wager that they’d reach more viewers than Friday nights on ABC.

DivX on Xbox 360 About To Become A Reality?

DivX followed their earnings report with a JP Morgan conference presentation. Having just undergone their quarterly confessional, I didn’t expect to hear any new information.

Luckily, I was rewarded midway through the Q&A session. JP Morgan analyst Paul Coster coyly probed Kevin Hell regarding DivX support on the Xbox 360. The question seemed to catch Hell off guard and, while his initial reaction was enthusiasm, there was something in his tone suggesting that Coster was on target.

Below is the exchange verbatim. However, to fully appreciate the awkwardness of the exchange, I suggest listening in at the 24 minute mark and determine for yourself if you hear a sense of urgency in Hell’s response.

Just a minor point here, but there was a recent Microsoft conference where I believe their media extender now incorporates the DivX codec on it, is that correct? Can you confirm that and does that mean we’re soon going to see Xboxes with DivX on them?

Yes! that, uh, we’re in discussions with Microsoft on that at this point in time, so I can’t go into any great detail on that. Um that is not a certified, that is not a certified or licensed product at this time.

Circus Circus Clowns Around With TV

I don’t take many vacations, but every now and then I like to get out of town for a little bit of gambling. Each time I hit Vegas, Reno or Tahoe, I usually stay at a different casino – So, I never really know what to expect. Some of the hotels that I’ve stayed at have been great and some have been terrible, but Circus Circus is the first that has lost my business forever.

Normally I’d be bothered by a dirty room or poor customer service but, in this case, it was a big fat sticker prohibiting guests from connecting their own AV gear to the television sets. Five years ago, I wouldn’t have cared but, with the explosion in the number of laptop to TV solutions and video cameras with outputs, this has become an important issue for consumers to consider. What good does it do you to be able to take your PC or camera on the go, if hotels end up freezing you out by neutering their TVs?

Dude, I’m Getting a Media Center

I don’t like to think about it, but the death of my PC could have ended much more tragically. Waking up and discovering that I may have lost all of my data, I progressed through each of the 5 stages of grief. At first, I tried to deny that there was a problem, then I got angry at myself for not listening to Thomas Hawk’s advice, this was followed by plenty of promises to be more diligent, if I could only figure out how to repair the computer, and when I ultimately realized it was toast, depression set in over my loss. Eventually, realizing my problems had nothing to do with my data, acceptance was easy — it meant that I was going to transfer my digital life into an entirely new media experience.

Three years ago, I made the mistake of buying a computer from my employer. They had extra units lying around and I liked the idea of having Microsoft Office pre-installed. The computer was old, but still an upgrade over my Windows 98 PC. At first it seemed like this a good solution but, what I didn’t realize, was that all the media-related functionality had been stripped from the machine. It ran on just a half a gig of RAM, had no CD or DVD burner, the video card couldn’t support higher resolutions, and somehow they managed to disable the microphone.

As a media nut, this was a brutal mistake to make for the home PC. So when it came time to get a new machine, I wanted to make sure that I kept all my functionality options open – such as handling PC gaming and streaming digital video well.

Invasion Of The Pod Snatchers

Every now and then, a study will be released suggesting that DVR owners donât actually skip very many ads. While I can understand why people would want to watch certain programs live, itâs always hard for me to take this kind of data seriously, because it tracks so differently, from my own DVR experience.

I love being able to time shift my television and take full advantage of my fast forward button. If I absolutely need to see something live, Iâll still wait 20 minutes, just so that I can skip past the commercials. Over the last six years, Iâve been every marketers worst nightmare and yet, there has been one company that I have never been able to block.

Sleeptrain Mattress Centers

Itâs not a major company, but this sleepy little company has been able to outsmart the DVR, by exploiting the very fast forward feature, that I love so much.

NAB Takes Low Blow At RIAA

Normally, I don’t really care for all of the politics that go on in Washington, but even I can appreciate the irony of the NAB taking a swipe at the RIAA. You know things are getting crazy when big media starts to turn to cannibalism. Apparently, the RIAA wants to start charging radio stations for … Read more

TiVo “Hooks Up” With PayPerPost

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of different TiVo marketing campaigns. Some of them have been great and some of them have been bombs, but TiVo has never been afraid of taking risks, especially when it comes to generating publicity. Whether it was their funeral for the VCR or their ad throwing a TV exec out a window, they’ve been able to get pretty good bang for their buck, from the social web.

Despite my normal enthusiasm for TiVo’s PR stunts, their latest campaign has been a little over the top, for even my tastes. It started in late August, when TiVo issued a press release that declared that their new TiVo HD box, had all the features that people expect from a perfect companion. When I first read the release it was so syrupy, I could barely finish it.

I even almost wrote a snarky blog post, where I was going to point out that despite their claims, I’m actually looking for something a little bit different from my “hook ups”, then the family friendly criteria that they included in the PR fluff. Things like someone who won’t freeze up on me after I had been out drinking with the boys or someone with a pair of really big hard drives or a companion that doesn’t get jealous when I play video games.

I ended up getting distracted and never wrote my post, but when I saw TiVo issue another lovefest press release, I just rolled my eyes and figured that I was in the wrong demographic to ever understand this one.

Normally, I wouldn’t have thought much more about this campaign, except while I was surfing YouTube, I came across several clips that appeared to be fan made videos expressing their excitement for the HD TiVo product. At first I actually thought that these were made by TiVo customers. There is definitely an indie feel to them. One of them actually does an amusing simulation of the world from TiVo’s perspective It wasn’t until I got to my my favorite video of the bunch that I finally figured out why there was such a sudden rush of TiVo videos on YouTube. Of all the clips out there, this is the only one that I could find, that was honest enough to at least identify that it’s part of the PayPerPost program.