Two recent events have put the video download Battle Royale on hold… 1) Ben wants his Apple TV back – and who can blame him, I’ve been sitting on it for months. 2) Sony finally entered the fray with a Playstation video store, and I don’t own a PS3. Maybe I’ll get to it, maybe … Read more
I’ve been talking about this for quite awhile, and it’s finally time to get going. The Battle Royale will be a comparison of various set-top boxes (pictured above), with an emphasis on the movie rental experience. Each (weekly?) Battle Royale blog entry will focus on one specific topic (remotes, content selection, etc) and the devices … Read more
Gizmodo has gone back in time to document the evolution of the TiVo peanut remote, including a few unique images – such as molds and prototypes. What caught my eye were images of a remote stand (where can I get a couple?) and discussions of a more text-entry friendly remote. For some time, I thought … Read more
Apple’s now offering movies via iTunes in the UK and in Canada. But that doesn’t interest me so much – it wasn’t a question of if, it was a question of when. The real news here is that they’ve obviously worked a deal with the studios to permit a 48 hour viewing period. A current … Read more
Later this week Time Warner Cable will begin testing a broadband service cap of 40GB/month in Beaumont, Texas. Before I level my anti-competitive claim, let me say upfront that I’m not opposed to tiered pricing. Having some sort of threshold that separates the abusers, power users, and home businesses from “typical” consumer usage is fine … Read more
My Roku Netflix Player just arrived, so of course I dropped everything to get it running. Setup and operation are extremely simple, and I appreciate the inclusion of WiFi (like Apple TV, as opposed to Vudu, Xbox, TiVo, and Akimbo). The rewind (and fast forward) thumbnail scanning functionality is going to take some getting used … Read more
Netflix isn’t the only online video service quizzing customers… Amazon’s also looking for input – to presumably guide future Unbox offerings, or perhaps to validate their existing (HD) intentions. Of course, it’s the theoretical scenarios that seem to get folks into a frenzy. So, without further ado: Free Video Streaming with ads â The ability … Read more
Coming Soon: Apple TV v. Vudu v. Xbox 360