Mari Silbey

Mari’s tech career started when she became the default “IT guy” in her first job out of college. Since leaving help-desk duties to the experts, she’s focused on trends in technology as a consultant, writer, reporter, analyst and at-home gadget tinkerer. Her current paid gig is with the non-profit organization US Ignite where she focuses on how networks and digital technologies impact smart cities. All posts on ZNF represent her own opinions and not those of US Ignite. Mari is a sucker for anything in the digital media space and covers interesting happenings in cable, telecom, and whatever else she feels like. Find her on Twitter at @msilbey.

Best Buy in the Digital Content Biz

Ryan Lawler over at Contentinople has put two and two together and come to the conclusion that Best Buy is taking aim at the digital media space. The clue trail actually started last fall with Best Buy’s acquisition of Napster for music, but then last week Lawler noted that Best Buy’s partnership with TiVo and … Read more

The Next Round of Netbooks

We have a continuing argument in my household about whether the iPod Touch or my Asus Eee netbook is a more useful device. I find the netbook falls right in my sweet spot. I’m happily willing to carry it around everywhere, and in return it gives me all the functionality I need to work, play, … Read more

July 1st Tru2way Deadline

Ready to plug in that tru2way TV set you’ve got sitting in your living room? Yeah, probably not. Today is the day that many of the large cable operators agreed to be ready to support tru2way-enabled CE devices. In a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last year with major CE companies, the cablecos agreed to … Read more

Cooliris Gets a Browser Plug-In

One of my favorite Web apps got an upgrade recently, and this morning I had a chance to test it out. Cooliris has added a browser plug-in to replace the default full-screen app launch it’s had to date. I’ve played with Cooliris on and off for the past ten months, and while I love the … Read more

Hands On with the Sungale Widget Photo Frame

Sungale Wi-Fi photo frame with widgets

UPDATE: Sungale has let me know that there will be another firmware update before the frame officially hits retail. The company is graciously letting me hold on to the frame until the update, and I plan to post again.

I’ve had something of an obsession with Wi-Fi photo frames ever since eStarling brought the first one (disastrously) to market. So naturally I jumped at the chance to get my hands on the new Sungale touch-screen, Wi-Fi, widgetized photo frame – colloquially known as the ID800WT.

Sungale’s attempt to create a photo-displaying widget station is ambitious to the say the least. I’ve seen other manufacturers add wireless connectivity, limited access to Web content, and touch-screen capabilities, but not at the level that Sungale attempts. Everything on the screen is touchable, and the widget menu includes weather, news, Picasa, Gmail, YouTube, and Internet radio access. Alas, the execution doesn’t currently live up to the vision. The Sungale ID800WT is decent as a standard digital photo frame, but it’s not the tablet of the future that it aims to be.

Full review, specs, and photos after the jump.

Old Mobile TV and New Mobile TV

The broadcast digital transition today reminded me of all the old “portable” TV sets that were once the height of cool tech, and are now headed to the junk yard. (Don’t throw them away, find out where to recycle at Earth911.com.) I had a couple versions of these old mobile TVs. One was portable in … Read more

Where Have All the FX Shows Gone?

Gone from Hulu “every one” isn’t a fair characterization*, but it seems FX has gotten a bit stingy in streaming full TV episodes. There was a small note in a recent GigaOM Pro report (yes, I subscribe) stating that FX removed three seasons worth of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia from Hulu in the first … Read more

Free DTV Converter Installation Help

If you’re looking to avoid tech support duty as we approach the broadcast digital TV transition day (now June 12th), there’s some good news out of the FCC. The agency has agreements in place with several contractors to provide free converter box installations. Oddly, I discovered this from the Consuming Interests blog out of Baltimore, … Read more