Media Archives - Page 40 of 75

The Week In Review: Media Extenders

Netgear Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000) The EVA8000 was released this week for $399. Jeremy Toeman over at LiveDigitally spent about ten hours with it (and shot 20 minutes of video) before flying out of town. I played with the 1080p Digital Entertainer at CES and thought it looked promising. Apple TV Apple TV ($299) is … Read more

NBC’s Cell Phone Show Rentals (Overpriced)

NBC, via MobiTV, intends to offer cell phone television show rentals. Deployment is scheduled for Q2, though Forbes reports no wireless carriers have signed on. I’m obviously not the only one who thinks the model is flawed and the pricing is extreme: For one thing, the shows seem expensive, going for a minimum of $1.99 … Read more

March Madness On-Demand?

Well, sort of. The NCAA and CBS SportsLine announced back in February that they’d be offering all NCAA tournament games online again this year for free. (Woohoo!) As a pre-registered, VIP member, I got into the streaming application pretty quickly, though I did get a few error episodes along the way. Unfortunately, the video seems … Read more

Dave Gets Vista

My copy of Vista finally arrived. Not as late as mid-April, but still later than I would have liked. The HP “Express Upgrade” kit came with two discs: an HP prep/config CD and the Vista DVD.

Prior to upgrading last night, HP had me disconnect a variety of peripherals (I declined), update my BIOS (was already current), and then their CD removed incompatible software that had been preloaded with my machine (most of which I had already blown away). The actual Vista upgrade took several hours, followed by running that HP CD again… to reinstall Vista-compatible software I don’t need (blown away a second time). I did have some trouble finding a NVIDIA driver that supported my LCD’s native resolution (1400×900) — Neither the default Vista driver nor HP’s driver update would go that high, but a direct NVIDIA download took care of it.

FiOS as Dreadnought

Bill Koss has submitted a fascinating if dense post on Verizon FiOS over on SeekingAlpha. The main thrust of is that Verizon’s changing the rules of the broadband game the same way the H.M.S. Dreadnought changed the rules for naval fleets a hundred years ago. Okay, it’s a bit of an obscure reference, but the analogy is pretty apt.

Mr. Koss is arguing one thing that I’ve found lacking in most other discussions of FiOS, namely that Verizon is probably taking the most strategic route to long-term broadband success. Sure the cost of laying fiber is obscene, and the risks are not insignificant. But at the same time Verizon is literally laying the groundwork for a future of nearly infinite broadband demand.

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news from our other blogs… The Real Story on VOD: Connected Home 2 Go The FiOS Connection: Connected Home 2 Go TV Advertising – Staples v Office Depot: Digital Connection On Apple TV: Connected Home 2 Go

TiVoCast Hits Spring Break

Last week, TiVo finally turned on TiVoCast for series 3 owners and so far I’ve been impressed, but it’s also left me wanting more. Over the last few years, I’ve read an awful lot about TiVoCast, but unfortunately have never been able to try it out, until now. It’s still a little too early for me to get a sense of how much I’ll actually end up using the TiVoCast programming, but already TiVo has made the service even better by announcing a new content deal with Break.com last weekend.

Break.com is a user generated video sharing site that will actually pay you $2,000, if one of your videos ends up on their homepage. Its look and feel are a lot like YouTube, but the quality of their content tends to appeal more to the male college demographic. This means that you won’t find critical documentaries on the site, but you will find plenty of videos featuring extreme skateboarding, practical jokes and of course people doing dangerous things after drinking too much beer.

SnapStream, maker of PC DVR software BeyondTV, has pushed out a “simple” web television guide. Unlike other guides floating around the net, Couchville is not plastered in ads, doesn’t require registration, and doesn’t require numerous clicks before hitting the listings. The guide is easily manipulated, AJAX style, by dragging the screen or using the arrow keys. As with most Web 2.0 apps, Couchville is in beta. I don’t know how many features we’ll end up seeing in this minimalist app, but I’d appreciate the option of a different color scheme.

In my household I’m often asked, “When’s ‘Dancing With Skating Celebrity American Idols Next Door’ on?” I always answer, “No idea” and one of us (or both) ends up surfing the network’s web page for (hopefully) the answer. So I’m looking forward to sharing this URL and pointing out the search box.