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.

Where to Find FiOS

Wondering if Verizon’s FiOS is available in your area? Look no further than the FiOS wiki. If you click on the states listed you’ll see a detailed accounting of counties or townships where the Verizon service is available. Of course, I live in Upper Merion Pennsylvania and FiOS isn’t actually in my neighborhood, but it … Read more

FCC Fines Companies $6 Million for DTV Violations

A number of companies racked up fines today for violating FCC rules tied to the digital TV transition. According to Jeff Baumgartner, the FCC put out $6 million in fines targeted mainly at retailers who did not correctly label TVs with analog-only tuners. A couple of companies got hit on interstate shipping rules and a … Read more

Verizon Launches HD VOD

While most of the industry is focused on the wireless world at the moment, Broadband Reports has the news that Verizon has apparently launched HD VOD in some areas. It’s a good application for the telco’s fiber network. Lots of bandwidth drain. Any ZNF readers enjoying VZ HD VOD yet?

New Scripted Shows for the Xbox

There’s good news out today if you’re an Xbox owner and into the console’s content downloading features. Microsoft has done a deal with producer and agent Peter Safran to create short, scripted shows for the Xbox. Yes scripted, not reality TV. Saffran says he’ll focus first on horror and comedic fare, appealing to the male, … Read more

Hands On with RAPHA’s SurroundXi Speakers

This little beauty – the SurroundXi – looks best with an iPod Nano, but plays well with other music toys. I’ve been tinkering with these speakers for a couple of weeks now, and they’re fun, highly portable and easy to use. The sound isn’t Bose quality, but with my iPod Shuffle and my iPod Mini, it’s not bad at all. Here are the pros and cons.

Pros:

Plug and play
Very portable (runs on wire and on batteries)
Works with multiple audio players and flash drives
Auto-play from flash drive is seamless
Comes in many colors
Cheap! $40 at Target, but word on the Web says you can get the speakers for much less

Cons:

Music played from a flash drive worked very well the first time around, but now is accompanied by a very loud windy sound out of one speaker. Faulty unit? iPod Shuffle still plays well.
I plugged the SurroundXi into my Squeezebox a while back, and initially it worked reasonably well, but now the speakers make an annoying buzzing sound.

Bottom Line: The SurroundXi speakers are fun and cheap, but probably won’t hold up to years (months?) of use. Buy’em with that in mind, and you’ll be happy.

Resurrection

Two calls from beyond the grave came recently from companies defunct… or very nearly so. First, Worldgate turned the Ojo video phone service back on. I haven’t set mine up again yet and can’t say for sure it works, but since the problem was not a technical one, I assume I’ll be back up and … Read more

Event TV on the Web – Oprah, Limelight, Move Networks and Skype

All TV (except sports) is moving to on-demand, right? You can’t successfully have hundreds of thousands of people accessing the same online video at the same time, right? You can’t hold an interactive video event online that’s open to the public, right? Oprah says otherwise. That’s right, Oprah. Very quietly Oprah’s been hosting an online, … Read more

Internet Video Policy Symposium

It’s probably under the radar for most folks, but analyst Cynthia Brumfield is hosting a conference in DC today called the Internet Video Policy Symposium. It’s closed to press and filled with academics, government advisers, economists and former FCC officials. Check out the conference agenda. One of my favorite panels listed: Video is a Bandwidth … Read more