After reading my post wondering where Amazon VOD in HD is, multiple sources have confirmed for me that TiVo’s implementation is currently in testing. While I still don’t have concrete timing details, and suspect we’re waiting on Amazon.com at this point, I’m told video quality is outstanding. Additionally, the progressive downloads include surround sound. And … Read more
It’s been awhile since we’ve talked Vudu here on ZNF, so it’s time for a 2009 status update. The year started with a second round of layoffs, which came as no surprise given some of the funding chatter that came my way late in 2008. Not surprisingly, Vudu followed this by announcing a renewed focus … Read more
As you may have read, Roku pulled the trigger on Amazon VOD this week. And I was supremely depressed to learn that the HD-capable Roku Player ($99) is only serving standard definition Amazon video-on-demand titles at this time. While Amazon’s library is quite large (40,000+ titles), including many of the new releases not available via … Read more
A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs: Online Video Not Taking Business Away from Pay TV Here’s a bit of news that cable and telco TV providers can rejoice in together. According to Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett, online video watching is not causing a drop in pay-TV subscriptions. Pixlr, A Terrific … Read more
Like Brent, I read that the Adobe Air Hulu-scraping software MyMediaPlayer can no longer access Hulu video streams. Most coverage has portrayed the situation as Hulu, LLC targeting this specific program. But Hulu periodically tweaks the way they serve content, requiring unsupported third parties to make changes. I’ve seen it a few times with PlayOn, … Read more
Meet the new BD-P1600 ($199.99 – $299.99, aka BDP-1590), one of Samsung’s CES Blu-ray player announcements. This relatively slim piano black deck slipped into many Best Buys around the country over the last few days. In fact, when I stumbled upon it Saturday, I didn’t know what I was looking at… as (previously) only the … Read more
A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our friends at Last100: Chumby bets on Internet-connected TVs Hoping to move beyond being a geek’s boutique gadget to something more mainstream, Chumby is partnering with chip maker Broadcom to make it easy for consumer electronics companies to embed its widget platform into Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and … Read more
As a follow up to my previous T-Mobile G1 (Google) Android phone coverage, I wanted to gather information about the handset’s video capabilities. I haven’t found detailed G1 video specifications – proving somewhat frustrating to those interested in using it as a portable viewing device. At the basic level, the G1 can decode the h.264 … Read more