Zatz Not Funny!

DivX Bringing Social Bookmarking to the TV?

I recently saw a link to an online survey on DivX’s website, and since I’m not shy in sharing my opinions, these sorts of things are the perfect click bait for me. Most questions covered how and where I watch online video, but after answering a dozen or so, one caught my eye:

5. Would you be interested in a free service that lets you bookmark online videos to queue and play back in media center software or on a device?

I’ve never really been a heavy user of bookmarking services, but being able to bookmark television content would be much more appealing. One of the biggest problems in bridging the computer to TV gap, is the process of finding the content that you want to watch and then getting it to the television set. For downloadable media this is easier to accomplish, but for streaming media you’ll need some kind of a PC or internet connected gadgetry. Once juiced up to the net, trying to navigate the vast sea of digital content with a remote is like trying to paddle upstream while going over Niagra Falls backwards.

So far, Netflix seems to have come up with the best solution, but there’s still room for others to build a better mousetrap. Instead of letting consumers use a remote to browse all of their programing, Netflix makes you bookmark your watch now movies via the old fashioned computer. This hybrid tv/computer approach may lack some elegance, but it does ultimately create a more satisfying experience to the end user. Sometimes having too many choices can create a paralyzing effect when it comes to finding content.

Two-Year Cable TV Encryption Hiatus?

Each time I pick up ScreenPlays Magazine I’m reminded to read it more often. The reporting staff often go deeper than many folks in the broadband industry – digging up fantastic little nuggets that, unfortunately, seem to get passed over by the broader industry and mainstream technology press. In the April issue (PDF), Fred Dawson … Read more

Hulu Blocks Access from Hotspot Shield

After years of putting it off I finally installed and learned how to use Hotspot Shield last week. It worked wonderfully. I was all set to write a blog post about it. Wouldn’t you know it, within a week Hulu has found a way to block it! I just tested it and indeed I’m blocked. … Read more

Momentum Builds Behind 1080p 60

EngadgetHD recently reported that ESPN is in the process of tricking out a new studio that will be capable of 1080p 60 video production. That’s the 1080p HD format at 60 frames per second, a resolution far beyond what any of us see on TV today. Of course image quality is dependent on a lot … Read more

TiVo Offers $200AUD Home Networking Down Under

Filed under ‘those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it’, TiVo and Seven are repeating history Down Under. The recently introduced Australian Home Networking Package runs $200 AUD (~$150 USD) and enables TiVoToGo, Photo & Music sharing from PC, multi-room viewing, and provides the TiVo Desktop Plus software for video transcoding. Ozzie TiVo HD clock in at $699 AUD, with 7 day over-the-air (Freeview) EPG and no fees. So a motivated customer who buys two TiVos would be “rewarded” with a $150 fee if they’d like to transfer shows between units as we freely do in the US.

TiVo’s been down this path before here in the US… In the early Series2 days, expanded DVR options, such as multi-room viewing and PC photo streaming, were upsold as the TiVo Home Media Option (HMO) for a flat $99. Given TiVo owners are already paying a hardware premium, at some point the company wisely dropped that fee to market these features as a value-add.

It’s probably obvious where I stand on this business model. But I don’t claim to be an expert on the Australian television marketplace. And there’s a variety of financial considerations at play as Seven discusses in their surprisingly frank and interesting pricing FAQ:

TiVo in Australia is not owned by TiVo Inc in America. Hybrid TV is the licensee for the TiVo service in Australia and in exchange for that right – we pay TiVo a license fee on everything we sell and we often also have to pay 3rd party license fees for the Australian region. Obviously in America TiVo does not pay itself a royalty so their price is lower. These license fees add to the cost of our products here in Australia. This is a normal business arrangement between any licensee and licensor – nothing unusual.

ZNF ‘Round The Web

Leaving comments across the blogosphere… Why Does Photo Sharing Still Suck? Yep, I agree. Still looking for that perfect solution. And still pissed at Kodak for deleting my Galleries when I didn’t make a purchase. PS SmugSmug has a backup solution which uses Amazon’s cloud storage/server farm for an extra fee. They’ll even mail you … Read more

Digital Media Bytes: Last100 Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our friends at Last100: Flip Mino HD “point and shoot” camcorder review One of the selling points of the Mino HD is that software is included on the camera itself to enable basic editing and upload to various online destinations. Called FlipShare, the application runs of both Macs … Read more

Here’s Why You Want Bandwidth Caps

broadband-meter
(Remixed photo sourced from Elizabeth West, Flickr.)

In the aftermath of last week’s Consumer insurrection to testing of bandwidth caps, Time Warner Cable’s Glenn Britt hinted that metered billing was inevitable.

“…We continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers.”

Now Patrick Knorr of Sunflower Broadband has gone on the record by saying metered bandwidth pricing (including caps and overage fees) are a foregone conclusion. He made this statement Tuesday during a press conference at the American Cable Association’s annual summit in Washington D.C. An especially notable quote by Mr. Knorr was;

“I would like to pay the same price for my heating bill all year round, but I have to pay more in winter, when I use more.”

Both Mr. Knorr and Mr. Britt seem to be implying that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are the same as the other household utilities like electricity and natural gas. If that is the case, the subject of Consumers being able to monitor their consumption is not the issue at hand, but how that monitoring is done.

The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about is the utility provider cannot be the one who provides the monitoring tools – it is a conflict of interest.