MovieBeam, who just received a large cash infusion, is relaunching in 29 markets this year. In fact, my neighborhood already appears to be online. Basically you buy the Linksys MovieBeam set-top box, every week a few movies are downloaded via a digital over-the-air (OTA) signal, and then you choose which you want to rent. The … Read more
It’s easy to forget that technology I find commonplace doesn’t exist yet in many regions. That’s why the announcement of Showtime being first to offer DVRs in the Middle East caught my eye this morning. No word yet on what’s powering their box, but I’ll keep my eyes open. AME Info says: Showtime, a leading … Read more
Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media, wrote a response to yesterday’s Marketwatch summary. As with my prior interactions with the father of Slingbox, I get the sense Blake is a stand-up guy in touch with both his customers and the market. Kudos for conversing directly with us in forums (AVS, TCF) and the … Read more
As you may recall, BitTorrent began their uphill battle towards legitimacy by partnering with the MPAA last fall to crack down on movie piracy. Now they’re taking it a step further by introducing a video download service with UK cable provider NTL. Once they add a custom storefront, will the service really be much different … Read more
HBO continues their quest to specify what you can and cannot record to your DVR. They’ve been at the forefront of limiting our recording rights and are at it again, this time petitioning that subscription video-on-demand should be off-limits. It’s interesting that they attempt to segregate content… why should one network or type of programing … Read more
I didn’t originally report the Cisco eyeing TiVo rumors of last week. The story struck me as pure speculation without any concrete sources cited. Had the writer not listed Nintendo as a possible acquisition target, I might have been able to evaluate the proposition more seriously. Trust me, Nintendo won’t be bought by an American … Read more
If you recall, MovieBeam was a Disney service similar to Akimbo offering pay-per-view rentals of downloaded movies via leased set-top boxes. After testing the service in a few markets, Disney shut it down and later spun off the company. Most, including myself, figured it was gone for good despite comments that service would be relaunched … Read more
Based on two recent job postings, it appears TiVo is expanding their Media and Advertising team into New York. Under CEO Tom Rogers, TiVo has been aggressively seeking out partnerships and deals — this move is indicative of that trend. I posed some questions to TiVo’s media relations agency, but haven’t heard back yet. Director … Read more