TiVo

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… DirecTV HD TiVo getting upgraded to 6.3! (HDBeat) Optical component reads Blu-ray and HD-DVD. (EETimes) Court rules against “film sanitizing.” (AP) Audio interview with Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Fred von Lohmann. (eHomeUpgrade)

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… Five-second ads try to counter TiVo. (USA Today) Hi-Def codec face-off: WMV-HD vs. DivX-HD. (eHomeUpgrade) Vista Media Center features won’t require NTSC tuner. (jkOnTheRun) Real Rhapsody on Squeezebox. (Engadget)

Update: CNET on TiVo

CNET Tech News has been available for almost two months on broadband-connected Series 2 units. I regularly watch the weekly 15-minute shows, though I find myself fast forwarding through about 50% of each installment (some of these editors are not meant for TV; I don’t care about Best Buy or Sony commercials). In the latest … Read more

New Jobs, New Clues, and VOD

Both TiVo and Netflix posted interesting job openings this week… First up is Netflix, who’s looking to hire an interface engineer. Based on the description it seems they’re interested in exploring Vista’s GUI functionality to possibly produce a front-end for on-line movie distribution. Keep in mind Vista will bundle Media Center Edition features… which currently … Read more

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

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… back in America! Cable industry and partners want to bury CableCARD. (PVRBlog) TiVo opens system software/bugfix 7.3.1 priority list. (Megazone) Slingbox on sale for $149 at CompUSA and BestBuy. (jkOnTheRun) HDTV picture quality issues and how to fix them. (Popular Mechanics) Archos plans WiFi-enabled PMPs. (Engadget)

Dave’s Mobile Multimedia

I no longer ride the subway to work, so now my commute is far less interesting and far less productive. However, I still have a fond place in my heart for portable multimedia. The two media apps I find myself using most frequently (which can’t be accessed on a subway) are the portable Slingbox player … Read more