Video Archives - Page 109 of 122

U-verse Adds Yellow Pages

The great thing about software updates is that they can roll out at any time. Word is that AT&T is now field-testing new U-verse apps in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area. While folks are still waiting on the more coveted whole-home DVR feature, the U-verse Users Forum has screenshots up of a Yellow Pages directory … Read more

New DVR Software… from Philips

Philips has announced it’s getting into the DVR software game. Apparently undeterred by the presence of TiVo, Microsoft, Verizon and Comcast/Gemstar, not to mention PC players like ReplayTV, the CE company has developed the Personal TV Channel. The software includes a program guide and recommendation engine for building a personal channel of favorite TV content. … Read more

And a Note About Apple TV – It’s Not Selling Well

Buried toward the end of this morning’s WSJ article on Sony is a short blurb on Apple TV:

Apple’s set-top device called Apple TV, which lets users play music and video from their computer-based iTunes library, has not been selling strongly since it went on sale earlier this year, analysts say.

I had numerous debates with people when Apple TV first launched about how successful it could be. Then and now the biggest argument for Apple TV has always been that it has the potential to become so much more. If you add HD content to iTunes it could be a great HD video machine. If you add a TV tuner and DVR features it could replace your set-top. If you give people a chance to pay a premium for no DRM, it could transform the video purchasing experience.

Unfortunately, each “if” is fraught with complications. The content companies are fiercely protective of their content and only want to work with Apple on their own terms. This goes double where HD video is concerned given fears of piracy and lost revenue. As for consumers, they (we) want access to content they’re used to getting from their cable, satellite or telecom company, and that means dealing with CableCARDs or some other workaround technology. No simple task.

Adobe Goes H.264

The Web’s most-used video software, Adobe Flash, will now support the H.264 codec for high-definition display. Will more online HD video bring the Internet to its knees?

Video Rentals

Unless we’re talking about a classic like the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I’m really not interested in shelling out money to purchase video content. And apparently I’m not alone. The Diffusion Group reports that roughly 90% of US broadband households rent movies on a regular basis. (ZDNet picked up the stats last … Read more

Another Day, Another Set-Top

A new set-top maker has entered the fray to the tune of $17.5 million in capital investments. The company, Building-B, says it will have a product in retail this fall that will combine broadcast TV with VOD and Web video. Sounds great. But haven’t we heard that somewhere before? There’s a reason no one else … Read more

Digital Yoga

What’s wrong with this picture? Raw Feed reported late last week on a new yoga mat that streams audio and video. The theory is you can get yoga instruction or mood music right from the mat. Seriously, has whoever designed this ever done a yoga practice? The whole idea is to disconnect. Plus, I can’t … Read more

The Challenge in Building that Perfect Entertainment Box

Building the perfect DVR/video-entertainment device is hard, which is why cable or telco TV plus a Netflix or Blockbuster + Movielink service is probably your best bet right now. But lest ye be sitting in your living room bemoaning the state of your set-top set-up, let me offer up a bit of context on why building the perfect box is so hard.

There’s the leased set-top model used by cable operators. In an effort to make those set-tops as cheap and efficient as possible, a lot of constraints are applied. There can’t be too much storage or processing power, too many added features or too much open access for modification that could muck up the service for everyone. Not an ideal situation, but on the other hand, these operators bring DVR to the masses.

There’s the retail model, which is owned by TiVo. People who have TiVo tend to love TiVo, but relatively few people have it because of the price. Plus, there’s the issue of plugging TiVo into your cable or telco network. Either you need a separate set-top from your service provider or you need a CableCARD. CableCARD certification is a serious technical challenge (more than I think most people realize) and it still doesn’t provide access to two-way services like video-on-demand and switched digital video.

Finally there’s the Internet model. All those media extenders that made big news early in the year, and P2P services like Joost (the box here being your computer). Here the problem is both content and bandwidth. Not enough appealing, timely content to keep people happy, and/or not enough bandwidth to keep content flowing efficiently.

So what’s on the horizon?