Life and Death of the Ojo Video Phone

Ah, the Ojo Video Phone. Engadget posted the rumor that the phone and service have now gone kaput. And I can confirm it. After two plus years, the Ojo in my living room has finally reached the end of its run. Because I work for Motorola, I became the proud owner of two Ojos back … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: Motorola WiMax Mythbusting: Connected Home 2 Go Super Bowl Sums Up TV in America: Connected Home 2 Go How To Cover Flow-ize Flickr Photos: Brent Evans Geek Tonic Can DivX’s Safe Harbor Protect Them From Stage6 Pirates: Davis Freeberg One Million FiOS TV Customers Can’t … Read more

Offline TV Viewing Down, Online TV Viewing Up

Given the sheer number of variables at play here, a meaningful analysis would take the entire day… So, I’m just offering up these news tidbits as food for thought. The Hollywood Reporter: The survey said 80 million Americans watched a TV show online last year. This number accounts for 43% of the online population, up … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: HDTV Super Bowl Buying Spree: Connected Home 2 Go The Pros and Cons Of Media Center Vista: Davis Freeberg Hollywood Studios Abandon DVDs in 2008: Connected Home 2 Go HBO on the Web – Not a Time Warner Contradiction: Connected Home 2 Go Supercharge Your … Read more

Breaking News: TiVo v EchoStar

I just got off a plane in Minneapolis and will be tied up most of the day, but learned that the US Court of Appeals has rendered their decision (on testimony I attended). I haven’t had a chance to peruse the document, but here’s a cut & paste of the conclusion:

In sum, because of a failure of proof of literal infringement, we reverse the judgment of infringement of the hardware claims with respect to all of the accused devices. We remand for any further proceedings that may be necessary with respect to those claims. We affirm the judgment of infringement of the software claims with respect to all of the accused devices. Because the damages calculation at trial was not predicated on the infringement of particular claims, and because we have upheld the jury’s verdict that all of the accused devices infringe the software claims, we affirm the damages award entered by the district court.

The district court’s injunction was stayed during the course of these proceedings. The stay that was issued pending appeal will dissolve when this appeal becomes final. At that time, the district court can make a determination as to the additional damages, if any, that TiVo has sustained while the stay of the permanent injunction has been in effect.

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Amazon Grabs Audible

Amazon announced today that it is acquiring Audible.com, the best known digital audiobook company around. The resources of Amazon behind Audible? That’s great news for consumers. And for Amazon itself, what a way to build up digital content. As Brad Linder over on Download Squad points out, we’re seeing an Apple vs. Amazon arms race. … Read more

What’s the Deal with WiMAX?

If you haven’t been paying attention to the WiMAX ruckus of late, it’s worth taking a moment to get up to date on a few of the highlights. In a nutshell, WiMAX is a wireless technology designed to provide faster broadband speeds for mobile devices of all kinds. Lots of folks are referring to it … Read more

BitTorrent Gets More Industry Support… In Norway

Eirik Solheim alerted me that Norwegian Broadcasting is embracing BitTorrent: As one of many ways to reach people with our content we have decided to do an experiment and make one of our most popular television series available through BitTorrent. The files are MPEG4 H.264, 1024×576 25fps, 3 Mbit/s. No DRM. Spreading brand awareness online … Read more