Interviews Archives - Page 2 of 3

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs. Online vs. On-Demand: Connected Home 2 Go This Post Is Trademarked For Your Protection: Davis Freeberg Set-Top DVRs on eBay: Connected Home 2 Go Comcast Plays Nielsen Role: Connected Home 2 Go Download Web Video Minu Guide: Web TV Wire

More on Mochila

Earlier in the month I sat down with Mochila CEO Keith McAllister and got the 1-hour version of what it is Mochila does. As best as I can sum it up, the company offers a-la-carte, multiplatform syndication. Together those words make it sound thoroughly uninteresting, but actually Mochila brings an intriguing approach to the new media market… at least once you get your brain wrapped around the concept.

Here’s how it works. Anyone can become a buyer or seller of content by joining Mochila’s network. (Sellers are vetted to make sure they’re selling legit material and no naughty stuff.) If you’re buying, you can choose text, photos, audio or video, and either pay money to redistribute the content – online or offline – or syndicate it with advertising. If you’re selling, you can make your content available on whatever terms you like. Mochila has a handy licensing system that lets you customize everything from price to embargo times to the specific publishers you’re willing to do business with.

TiVo, Advertising, and The Mercury News

As you probably suspect, I’ve been somewhat ambivalent of TiVo’s expanded/additional in-DVR advertising initiatives. While I support their desire to increase revenue and reach profitability, as a paying subscriber I am leery of ads negatively impacting my DVR experience. Additionally, I have (unfounded?) fears that easy advertising dollars could discourage TiVo from pursuing my VOD/PPV … Read more

TiVo VP Jim Denney talks Desktop 2.3

I had the opportunity to talk with TiVo Product Marketing VP Jim Denney last night regarding the updated features of TiVoToGo via the new 2.3 Desktop. Check out the details over on Engadget. Mr. Denney mentioned his family uses TiVoToGo to burn DVDs for a portable player and to move content onto his Treo. Apparently … Read more

Sling Media Responds To Story

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

More TiVoToGo iPod, PSP Details

Like most folks, I’m excited by TiVo’s recent announcement of upcoming support for both the iPod and PSP. So I had to find out more… I hit up Bob Poniatowski of TiVo Product Marketing, who shared a few more details of the project with me. The new syncing, conversion, and watermarking features will be built … Read more

TiVo 7.3 is 7.2.1 And Other News

VCR Headstone I managed to corner some more TiVo folks here at DigitalLife and take some interesting photos.

What I conveniently called system software 7.3 yesterday turns out to be 7.2.1, for those of you keeping score. I looked closer at the “Overlap Protection” feature and while it may be overdue, it’s a very welcome enhancement. Basically if the network schedules a show to end at 9:01, your 9:00 show isn’t recorded. With “Overlap Protection,” on by default, both shows will be recorded with the higher priority show gaining the extra time. As seen in the picture below, you can manually change which show gets priority.

Galleon, The Exclusive Interview

Galleon Podcasting I like to think of Galleon as the Tivo Swiss Army knife – it pretty much does everything. You want email, weather forecasts, or RSS feeds displayed on your Tivo? No problem. You want to schedule downloads of podcasts for streaming to your Tivo? No problem. You want better music, image, and video management than Tivo offers you? No problem. The list goes on! But don’t just take my word for it… Tivo honored Galleon as the “Most Creative Application” in their Developer Challenge.

Leon Nicholls, a Java programmer by profession, and I chatted about his work on Galleon. The software originally began life as JavaHMO – a program improving upon and, for many, replacing Tivo’s own desktop software for stand-alone Series 2 units. With the release of HME, JavaHMO was rebranded and rewritten as Galleon to enhance and simplify a variety of multimedia functions while serving even more Internet content to your Tivo. Despite spending numerous hours a week coding, testing, and responding to issues, he assures me Galleon will always remain free.

Leon had more to say about his motivation and where he sees the project going: