Since Al Gore invented the Internet, Mari and I have been Slacker fans. Unlike Pandora which generates playlists based on musical properties and whatnot, Slacker has taken a more radio-based approach in streaming professionally programmed genre stations. And was one of the first to implement offline playback. Beyond the massive redesign, 2013 also ushers in … Read more
Over the years, Netflix has dabbled in user profiles — allowing folks on the same account to build up their own queue and receive personalized recommendations. And, via GigaOm, we’ve learned that the latest profile iteration is now available within the Apple TV Netflix app. As you can see above, the feature is activate in … Read more
A periodic roundup of relevant news… via our writings elsewhere: Sign of the Future: Sensors that Stick Everywhere Lose your keys? Your cat? The TV remote? StickNFind has an app for that. Better yet, StickNFind has colorful sensors the size of a quarter, its own Bluetooth software stack, and a developer platform that could turn … Read more
As we await Chromecast delivery, an interesting TiVo rumor has crossed our desk. Supposedly Series 5 and TiVo Mini hardware will leverage the same sort of technologies (DIAL? via Flingo?) that Google’s Chromecast has implemented. Cast is similar to AirPlay in that a smartphone, tablet, or computer pipes video to a television. However, unlike Apple’s … Read more
Lost in the Chromecast news yesterday was an announcement from LG and Entone on a new media streamer coming to retail. In itself, the streamer isn’t all that exciting. But pair the box with Entone’s 8-tuner gateway and you have a very interesting proposition for retail or the ISP channel.
To start, the streamer is called the LG SP530 Media Player, and it supports OTT services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube via LG’s Netcast platform (no WebOS in this one). The Media Player is the only Entone box LG is bringing to market now, but there is an option for LG, or any other CE player, to pick up Entone’s Magi media gateway as a partner product as well. The Magi gateway can receive content from over the air and from a cable network, and it can transcode video and stream it back out to any connected device.
Think of the deployment scenarios.
At retail, a combination of the gateway and streamer would give us OTT and OTA video all in one interface. MSOs could ultimately add their own apps like with the Xbox and Roku… or not. And we’d be able to watch video on a TV, tablet, or PC interchangeably.