Google Takes Issue With Roku’s YouTube Channel

roku-youtube

While Roku doesn’t offer an officially sanctioned YouTube channel, many of us have been enjoying that content through a “private” offering created by The Nowhereman. In fact, he’s such an exceptional developer, Roku brought him on as an employee (where he’s known as Chris). Yet that puts them in an even more awkward position now that Google has taken issue with the unlicensed YouTube channel.

A blog comment tipped me off to the situation, that I confirmed on the forum… The YouTube channel remains functional for the folks who’ve previously activated it, yet no new subscribers are permitted. I reached out to Roku who also corroborated the situation, saying “we received a takedown notice from YouTube’s legal team and are in the midst of negotiations with them.” They’re hopeful of having more information to share with the community next week.

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First Look At HBO’s Upcoming Mobile Apps

DirecTV may have been the first US television provider to announce plans to provide HBO GO mobile video apps for iOS and Android, but it won’t be the only company to do so. In a video teaser posted on YouTube, HBO promises that HBO GO will soon be available on tablets and tablets as well as … Read more

How Verizon Really Can Take TV Everywhere

FiOS streaming live TV tablet

Slowly but surely we’re getting more access to TV on our PCs, iPads, and smartphones. But a comment on Dave’s post about the IMG 1.9 release reminded me that for some folks, the fact that FiOS TV service doesn’t let you move content around easily today is still a deal-breaker.

Until Verizon has a way for me to get TV off their box and onto my PC/ pad/ phone- the same way that Tivo does, I will continue to be a Tivo customer.

What most folks don’t know is that Verizon has done an astounding amount of work on its infrastructure in order to enable services that make content more flexible and accessible on different devices. We learned in January that the telecom had overhauled its hybrid QAM/IP system, making it possible to switch over to all-IP broadcasting for live television in addition to VOD and widget services. More recently, however, the company announced its new Verizon Digital Media Services platform, which both transcodes and formats TV for different devices, and handles session management so you can start watching a show in one place, and finish up somewhere else. (See Light Reading’s stellar coverage here and here)

Verizon claims that VDMS is a one-of-a-kind digital delivery utility, and it’s aiming to sell the technology as a service to cable companies for their TV Everywhere services. I have serious doubts about the potential success of that plan, but for Verizon’s own purposes, VDMS appears to give the company everything it needs to take FiOS TV to the next level. You know how the new WatchESPN service lets you watch live ESPN broadcasts on the go? I’m betting Verizon will offer more linear content the same way in the near future to FiOS TV users, along with the option to transition viewing sessions of VOD and recorded content to various gadgets for mobile viewing. This could be a good year to be a FiOS subscriber. 

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Verizon FiOS TV IMG 1.9 Update Rolling Out

Unveiled last August and expected to ship by the end of 2010, Verizon’s FiOS TV IMG 1.9 experience is finally complete; the show stopping bugs have been squashed and the rollout has begun. Some highlights from the release notes:

IMG 1.9 is our most significant upgrade to FiOS TV’s guide since we introduced the Interactive Media Guide in 2007. There were few portions of the guide software that weren’t enhanced in this release.

  • New look and feel with higher resolution graphics and smooth animations
  • Re-design of search and better integration throughout the guide
  • Expansion of guide data to include complete cast information and air date
  • New Channel Guide view providing another option for navigating live TV content
  • Recommendations for live TV content
  • Ability to select the Widgets that are displayed in the carousel
  • More parental control tools and a configuration wizard
  • Overhaul of Message Center
  • Improved 3DTV support
  • Support for Descriptive Video Service, native pass through, 1080p, and MP3 and MPEG-4 decoding on select devices.
  • A long list of DVR and multi-room DVR enhancements
  • Even more ways to customize the guide to your personal preferences

Beyond those bullets, Verizon has also enabled eSATA hard drive expansion. However, unlike TiVo, there are no artificial brand/model restrictions based on marketing relationships.

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New Slingbox 120 Launches (In India)

It’s been a loooong time since we’ve seen a new retail Slingbox. In fact, the Slingbox PRO-HD was introduced way back in January 2008. Well, it turns out a new dedicated placeshifter will be hitting store shelves shortly. In India. The low-end Slingbox 120 runs 7,999 Rupees (~$180), but only accepts and streams standard definition … Read more

Source Code: Because Groundhog Day Lacked Dubious Science

Caution… potential movie spoilers ahead.

Many characters in film and television have wrestled with the question, “Does she really love me for me?” But only a select few, including Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) and that guy from Quantum Leap, have had to answer it in another dude’s body.

Source Code, Duncan Jones‘ sophomore directorial effort, after debuting with the vastly superior Moon in 2009, is the kind of movie where you can sort of accept the things that are happening on screen until people start trying to explain them. Our hero, Captain Stevens, wakes up on a train and spends the rest of the movie exploding for a good cause.

Stevens is part of an experiment that transports him back to the last eight minutes of one passenger’s life on a Chicago commuter train to figure out who placed the bomb that wiped out everyone on board. Nothing Stevens does can affect the outcome in his own timeline, so he’s strictly gathering information to thwart a possible future attack. Every time his host body dies, Stevens is forced back on the train to try again. Think Groundhog Day meets Seven Days.

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TiVo Prepping 4 Tuner HD DVR?

The new TiVo Advisors survey is far more interesting than most, spelling out a number of “potential products and features.” On the hardware front, two very specific devices are described: A companion device for your DVR. It allows a second TV (in another room) to watch live TV (in HD) and also watch the recordings … Read more

HBO, Cinemax programming coming to iPhone, iPad, Android

DirectTV has announced plans to offer HBO GO and MAX GO apps for mobile devices. Right now the services allow DirectTV subscribers who pay for HBO and Cinemax to view content online via a web site for no additional charge. Eventually mobile apps will also be available for Android and iOS. There are 1400 titles available from … Read more