Placeshifting Archives - Page 7 of 12

How Verizon Really Can Take TV Everywhere

FiOS streaming live TV tablet

Slowly but surely we’re getting more access to TV on our PCs, iPads, and smartphones. But a comment on Dave’s post about the IMG 1.9 release reminded me that for some folks, the fact that FiOS TV service doesn’t let you move content around easily today is still a deal-breaker.

Until Verizon has a way for me to get TV off their box and onto my PC/ pad/ phone- the same way that Tivo does, I will continue to be a Tivo customer.

What most folks don’t know is that Verizon has done an astounding amount of work on its infrastructure in order to enable services that make content more flexible and accessible on different devices. We learned in January that the telecom had overhauled its hybrid QAM/IP system, making it possible to switch over to all-IP broadcasting for live television in addition to VOD and widget services. More recently, however, the company announced its new Verizon Digital Media Services platform, which both transcodes and formats TV for different devices, and handles session management so you can start watching a show in one place, and finish up somewhere else. (See Light Reading’s stellar coverage here and here)

Verizon claims that VDMS is a one-of-a-kind digital delivery utility, and it’s aiming to sell the technology as a service to cable companies for their TV Everywhere services. I have serious doubts about the potential success of that plan, but for Verizon’s own purposes, VDMS appears to give the company everything it needs to take FiOS TV to the next level. You know how the new WatchESPN service lets you watch live ESPN broadcasts on the go? I’m betting Verizon will offer more linear content the same way in the near future to FiOS TV users, along with the option to transition viewing sessions of VOD and recorded content to various gadgets for mobile viewing. This could be a good year to be a FiOS subscriber.

Vulkano Flow, The First Placeshifter Under $100

Vulkano Flow

Vulkano Flow, the first of two new Monsoon Multimedia placeshifters announced at CES, is now available for purchase from the likes of Amazon and Fry’s Electronics for a mere $99. Making it the least expensive Slingbox-esque product on the market.

Unlike Moonsoon’s 2010 Vulkano product that tried to do it all, with less than stellar results, the Vulkano Flow attempts to do one thing well — stream television content around and beyond your home. I’ve been evaluating the Flow for several weeks and it largely succeeds. In fact, you’ve already seen it in action (here and here).

As with all personal, hardware-based placeshifting solutions the Vulkano Flow hangs off your set-top box or between a STB and television. In my case, the Flow has primarily been used to beam FiOS TV DVR video to Mac, PC, iPhone, and Android software clients. While Sling still stubbornly refuses to integrate wireless capabilities, the Vulkano Flow can optionally connect to your home network via 802.11n – which is the config I’ve been using. And the streaming experience over WiFi, both within and beyond the home, has been very good. 3G, not so much.

Vulkano Flow

The hardware is contained within the same or a very similar enclosure as the original Vulkano (“Platinum”) which will presumably also be reused for the upcoming Blast… given the taped over SD slot and functionless IR receiver. But for 99 bucks, I can’t complain. In terms of size, the Vulkano is wider than all Slingboxes, but with a much lower profile – it sits well in the cabinet on a DVR. Streaming resolution is equivalent to the Slingbox Solo, maxing out at 720×480. So while the Flow can take in your HD content, the encoded retransmission is limited to standard def. However when on the road, especially via mobiles, this shouldn’t be a practical problem.

Hulu Keeping Programmers Happy. How About Consumers?

Hulu posted some pretty awesome revenue numbers last night, including projections that the company will make close to half a billion dollars in 2011 and drive 300 million dollars in revenue to its content partners. However, all of that success comes with a price. Like every other over-the-top video provider, Hulu has had to limit … Read more

iPad March Madness Starts Tonight!

If you’re not going to be in front of a TV tonight for the start of the NCAA college basketball tournament, never fear, the (free) iPad app is here. The iPad launch last year just missed the March Madness season, which means this is the first time you can stream live games to the tablet screen. And given how many games take place during the tournament, having a portable television by your side is a major plus. I’ll be home tonight when the tourney kicks off, but given all the work that needs to be done around my house, I probably won’t be tied to the living-room TV. The iPad, however, will travel around with me.

Of course, if you don’t have an iPad, there are plenty of places to catch the college games, but the iPad implementation is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, given the screen size and portability of the iPad, the tablet truly starts to feel like a portable TV – much more so than the old black-and-white carry-around I had as a kid that could barely pull down an OTA signal.

Second, from an industry perspective, the start of March Madness makes an interesting new test of how well the web can deliver on live video events. If I recall right, there hasn’t been a major live TV event since the iPad launched. The presidential inauguration and the Olympic games were all pre-iPad. What will demand be like on the beautiful, traveling iPad screen? And what kind of reviews will we give to the new UI, the Apple HTTP Live Streaming protocol, and our network connections?

TiVo Contemplates iPad Video Streaming

Click to enlarge. Engadget’s received word that TiVo’s Hulu Plus app has entered beta testing. Internet-sourced content such as this is a nice to have, but won’t move many units on its own – taking a back seat to MSO deals and patent litigation. However, a recent survey seems to suggest the sort of compelling features … Read more

Rovi Connected Platform is DLNA

Word surfaced earlier this week that Rovi has a new Connected Platform coming to Android. And while we assumed the underlying software stack had to be based on DLNA, a quick note to our Rovi sources has confirmed it. Rovi now joins Skifta in enabling media streaming from an Android mobile device to any DLNA-compliant … Read more

Watch Slingbox on Google TV!

slingplayer-googletv-3

It turns out my old friends at Sling Media do have one or two new and notable items to share from CES. And first up is a Google TV SlingPlayer client — eliminating the need for dedicated SlingCatcher hardware (that didn’t turn out so great anyway). It should go without saying that I’m very pleased to see Sling move in this direction… as I assume this is just the first of various television- and set-top-based apps.

The initial Google TV app isn’t actually an app, but rather a Flash website optimized for the platform. As you can see from the pics, they’re logically carrying the Android interface onto the Android-based Google TV. The software and experience look pretty dang complete, with streaming up to 1080i, but all Sling will tell me is that they intend to launch sometime this year. However, it’d make sense to see them ultimate move to a dedicated app if/when Google launches a television-based marketplace – something that seems like an inevitability.

Two New Vulkano Placeshifters On Tap

Unfortunately, Monsoon Multimedia’s Vulkano wasn’t greeted with the warmest reception upon launch last fall. I was fired up with the Vulkano’s promise when I was briefed pre-release at CES 2010, yet the reality didn’t live up to my possibly unreasonable expectations. I’d christened it a “Godbox” given it’s myriad capabilities – time shifting, placeshifting, local media playback, and Internet-sourced content. But, as we know, good ideas aren’t enough.

But Monsoon’s been listening to the feedback and continuing to broker deals. The firmware has seen improvement and the that work is ongoing. In fact, the Vulkano setup experience continues to be optimized (or is that humanized) and it sounds like streaming, versus copying, of DVR-ed content is under development. YouTube’s pretty lonely as the sole Internet app, yet I hear Monsoon is having discussions with several video providers (the usual suspects) and a selection of Yahoo TV widgets may make an appearance this spring.