Video Archives - Page 33 of 122

Watching HBO GO On The Big Screen

Coincidentally, last week, both Blake Krikorian and I worked out methods to move compelling HBO GO content from smartphone to television. Blake, who you might recognize as the inventor of the Slingbox and champion of the Crestron Android app, ultimately got it done via his Motorola Atrix… in conjunction with the multimedia dock. Like the … Read more

Can We Get a Holodeck Now?

I’ve read an awful lot lately on innovations that should help with the next wave of advanced imaging techniques. I’m talking at the consumer level, not new NASA technologies or research in the medical field. Let me lay out a few examples. Macstories recently reported on an app being developed to support glass-free 3D viewing … Read more

All The Boxes

The folks behind the Streaming Media East event, that Mari attended, have published their Broadband Device Pavilion device comparison. The matrix provides all sorts of details such as supported formats, max resolution, popular video streaming services, etc on notable platforms including Apple TV, TiVo Premiere, Roku, and Boxee. But don’t take my word for it. … Read more

Hulu Plus on TiVo Now Official

After a few days of inadvertent leaks, Hulu Plus is finally official on the TiVo Premiere.

As regulars know, I’m a Hulu Plus subscriber ($8/month) and this is a welcome platform option (on input one). While EngadgetHD takes issue with TiVo actually delivering Hulu’s interface, I’m happy to see it there. As it indicates someone other than TiVo will be maintaining the app and hopefully keeping it current. In fact, TiVo tells me it’s rendered in Flash… like their very own HDUI (although Hulu Plus can also be launched from the SDUI). It looks sharp. Just like Hulu Plus on every other platform. And, in limited testing, I didn’t notice the prior Roku overscan issues when playing back 720p video.

Having said that, all is not perfect. Hulu Plus shows aren’t yet baked into TiVo’s universal search and there are some strange remote/playback characteristics – stay away from the instant replay button if you have as little patience as I, the Zoom/Aspect button does nothing of the sort, and TiVo’s iPad app backspace key doesn’t seem to work.

TiVo Hulu Plus Launch Imminent?

If these marketing materials spotted at Best Buy today are any indication, it looks like the long wait for Hulu Plus on TiVo is nearing an end. Not to mention, www.hulu.com/plus/tivo and the referenced tivo.com/huluplusoffer links are live. Based on what little we can see of the screenshots, Hulu’s UI appears similar to what they offer on … Read more

Verizon FiOS TV IMG 1.9 Rollout Paused

The eminently valuable Verizon Idea Exchange is not only a rich resource for customers and employees, somewhat reminiscent of the TiVo Community Forum back when TiVo actually ~~cared~~ participated, it’s also a blogger gold mine. Unfortunately, the news I bring you today represents a little short term pain based on customer feedback. Yet, it’ll presumably result in a better long term experience. The FiOS IMG 1.9 nationwide rollout has been temporarily placed on hold. From Verizon Director Joseph Ambeault:

We are pausing for a moment to incorporate some customer feedback into 1.9 (e.g. SD Override wizard and improved contrast between the text and background)… we’ll be back in action shortly.

And…

We’re incorporating feedback we got from customers in the 4 markets that were already upgraded to 1.9. Just some minor tweaks as we get ready to roll to other markets in the coming months.

Anecdotally, based upon ZNF commentary, it does appear some users have had difficulty reading text within the toned down color scheme. But I have no idea what this SD Override wizard is, as I do my best to avoid SD channels. Not to mention that most televisions offer plenty of display modes to stretch or zoom content. But our audience is probably a little more savvy than the typical cable customer and it sounds like Verizon may have ended up with a number of confused or disgruntled subscribers who’ve received 1.9. Hopefully, they clear these issues and resume the rollout in short order. As I’m ready for the 16:9 guide and whole home streaming to/from each and every HD DVR.

Netflix Enables iPhone, iPad Closed Captioning

While it may be arriving late for many, Netflix has just expanded video streaming closed captioning onto iOS devices with their 1.3 app update. There are limited display options, but subtitles are certainly a boon. And something I could have used yesterday at the gym when I forgot my headphones. Unfortunately, caption preferences don’t appear … Read more

Google TV Scheduled For A Summer Reboot

I’d like to suggest an update to this Google TV FAQ, as the schedule has clearly been blown (and by any or most objective measures, Google’s initial foray into television services has been a failure).

Expect many more applications after we open the Android Market on Google TV in early 2011.

“Early 2011” has obviously come and gone while Google TV has remained largely stagnent. Yeah, it provides a few nifty tricks, like that video overlay, and there’s tons of potential. But the interface remains a mess and a large percent of the web video we want to get at is blocked (by the providers). And then there’s all the apps. Rather, the lack of.

That’s the bad news. The good news, unveiled at Google’s developer conference this week, is what looks to be a significant reboot of the Goole TV platform this summer. Based on Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), and as reported by NewTeeVee, the new experience more efficiently directs folks to the features they’re seeking… including a full blown application Market. As you can tell from the screengrabs, the refreshed UI appears at once both more sophisticated and more streamlined. I only hope early adopters of original Sony and Logitech Google TV hardware and rewarded for their gamble with an update.