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.

Who Has the Best HD?

Comcast published the results of a study earlier this month claiming that viewers preferred Comcast HD signals to HD transmissions from Dish Network and DirecTV. The study was conducted by Frank M. Magid Associates with oversight by Accenture and the law firm Loeb & Loeb. Now DirecTV is suing Comcast for claiming better quality HDTV … Read more

Speed Matters

A ZNF reader posted a comment that I couldn’t resist sharing. Speed Matters is an activist site that advocates universal high-speed Internet access across the nation. The site’s authors argue, among other things, that the US definition of broadband is too slow and that policy makers should directly address speed and access issues. The site … Read more

How Fast Doth Your Broadband Go

Here I thought my hefty monthly cable bill paid for a broadband connection, but it turns out we haven’t yet decided what broadband is. Congress is in the process of defining “true broadband” and Om Malik is surveying actual broadband users about what constitutes high speed. (So far 6 Mbps is winning out – See … Read more

ABC Online in HD

Anyone else worried about what online HD streaming from ABC is going to do to Internet connection speeds? Multichannel News reports that ABC is claiming to be the first major TV programmer to stream HDTV online. The network will start its HD test in July with content (full episodes?) from Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, … Read more

Dembot on Why Video Platforms Fail

There is a great post over on dembot on why video platforms fail. You should read the whole thing, but here is the top ten list: 1. Insubstantial library of content 2. Poor bit rates 3. Lack of innovation (clone platform) 4. No share in content ownership rights 5. No exclusivity of content distribution 6. … Read more

Fed Up with eStarling; A Win for Westinghouse

I do not bash products lightly, and I feel I have been extraordinarily patient with the eStarling digital photo frame. However, there is a limit. It is now mid-May, five months after the eStarling debacle started, and my parents’ main Christmas present is still not working as promised. Actually, it’s not working at all.

After running the netconfig utility at least half a dozen times, the newly shipped version of the eStarling frame still will not connect to the Internet and therefore will not operate. The folks over at Gizmodo apparently got their unit to work (though they still didn’t like it), but we tried connecting ours to two different wireless networks (in two different states!) with no luck at all. That’s it. I’m done.

While I’m still yearning for the advertised eStarling feature set, I have in the meantime taken a Westinghouse digital photo frame for a spin and found it very satisfying. My mom was on hand when I took the Westinghouse frame out of the box and her first reaction was that she couldn’t imagine hanging such a thing in her house. Then she saw the photo resolution.

I have the 14.1″ Westinghouse model for review and the picture quality is beautiful. (My lame photography doesn’t do it justice.) If you have a half-way decent digital camera, the photos fill the frame in slideshow mode. You can also choose mosaic mode for four photos at once, set photo transitions, save favorite photos and watch MPEG videos.

Best of all, the product is dead simple to use. There are three steps on the box: Plug in frame. Insert memory card. Turn on frame. And it’s literally that easy. The frame comes with 128MB of internal Flash memory and has ports for several card types (specs after the jump) as well as USB connections. I successfully tested file transfers from a PC and connection with a Flash drive. For general use, I’d suggest stocking a large Flash drive with gazillions of photos and keeping it plugged in. It’s easy enough to update a Flash drive with new photos when needed.

I’m definitely planning on writing in for a refund on the eStarling frame, and I just may put the proceeds towards a purchase of the Westinghouse 14.1″ digital frame model. The only thing possibly holding me back is the Westinghouse price: $349. Ouch. If you’re interested, Westinghouse does offer frames in different sizes. And the Live Digitally blog likes the 8″ version. But I have to admit, the large screen is delicious.

Want specs and more photos? Keep reading.

What the Cable Guy is Watching

It’s good to know that the head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) is a big TV fan. In an interview with Broadcasting and Cable’s John Eggerton, here’s what Kyle McSlarrow said he records: Lost Medium 24 Battlestar Galactica Stargate Shark CSI Monk The Closer Meanwhile McSlarrow is presiding over an eventful trade … Read more

GigaOm Gives Away Zillions Of Joost Invites

Between the two of us, Dave and I managed to give away over 50 Joost invites and probably sacrificed a couple of hours to the cause. However, GigaOm has managed to find a solution to the difficulty of emailing these puppies out one at a time. Working with Joost, they’ve developed a landing page where … Read more