Zatz Not Funny! | All your digital media goodness.

Closer To A Netflix Set-Top Box?

Several months ago Netflix brought on Anthony Wood (founder of ReplayTV) to âdeliver movies directly to subscribersâ televisions via the Internetâ?- substantiating years of set-top box rumors and speculation. It now appears they’re closer to making it a reality given a recent Netflix trademark update filing: Computer hardware, set top boxes and computer software, namely … Read more

Much Ado Over DTV

There’s still well over a year to go before the national transition to all-digital OTA broadcasts, but it seems everyone is determined to show a “serious” commitment in getting the public informed about the issue. Circuit City has just announced new education initiatives including in-store pamphlets and advertising supplements. Best Buy is dropping analog TVs … Read more

$400 PS3 On The Way, Video Downloads Too

If the pricing/SKU dug up at Target is any indication, the rumored 40GB PS3 will indeed be landing on American shores (10/28?) for a low $400. As a satisfied Xbox 360 owner, I’m not really looking for a new gaming device. However, the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market that also happens to offer games … Read more

Invasion Of The Pod Snatchers

Every now and then, a study will be released suggesting that DVR owners donât actually skip very many ads. While I can understand why people would want to watch certain programs live, itâs always hard for me to take this kind of data seriously, because it tracks so differently, from my own DVR experience.

I love being able to time shift my television and take full advantage of my fast forward button. If I absolutely need to see something live, Iâll still wait 20 minutes, just so that I can skip past the commercials. Over the last six years, Iâve been every marketers worst nightmare and yet, there has been one company that I have never been able to block.

Sleeptrain Mattress Centers

Itâs not a major company, but this sleepy little company has been able to outsmart the DVR, by exploiting the very fast forward feature, that I love so much.

The Ultimate Collection of Zooomr Tools Hacks and Scripts

Zooomr is a newer, high-octane, social, photo sharing alternative to Flickr, Smugmug and Picasa Web Albums. While the API for Zooomr hasn’t yet been released (Please hurry Zooomr Guys) there are still a good number of tools, hacks and scripts available to Zooomr users. For the complete list read on: Screen-shot from Thomas Hawk’s Zooomr … Read more

TiVo Series3 & HD External Storage Arrives!

Seems like just yesterday (or last month) TiVo began rolling out system software 9.1. And here we are today with 9.2 hitting some units… finally bringing that (official) eSATA storage goodness. I wonder if the rollout was kicked off early given the 9.1 buginess, no updated TiVo support pages, no advance notice from TiVo PR, and just a place holder:

Interested in adding a TiVo Verified storage device to your TiVo HD or Series3? Check back soon for details on this exciting new product.

My living room Series3 wasn’t one of today’s lottery winners. Maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow. Maybe we’ll also learn if TiVo is providing branded drives or partnering with a Western Digital.

More On Verizon FiOS TV: The Q4 Update

Now that we’ve covered some of upcoming significant Verizon FiOS TV features (first half 2008), let’s take a step back and discuss the 2007 Q4 “maintenance release.” At the core of this update, Verizon believes they have addressed the “top 100” concerns based on continued testing, blog feedback, call center data, and home visits. While they’re not really adding any major new features, the software should appear more polished with UI improvements and dozens of resolved issues.

Enhancements

More complete guide data and for upcoming programs
Larger fonts (in program descriptions)
Less chopped text
Just one UI “bread crumb”
Transparent guide no longer default setting
Improved storage space calculations and indicator

New Features

Set-top box reminders (non-DVR models)
Pad recordings
Additional recording options
Option to channel surf favorites only
Subscribe to channels

Hover your mouse over the thumbnails for a description; Click for a larger view:

iTunes Price Drop

Adam Smith’s invisible hand is at work in the music download world. Apple apparently plans to announce tomorrow that it will drop the price of its DRM-free tunes from $1.29 to $.99. Coming on the heels of Amazon’s launch of its own MP3 store, this sounds like a bit of competitive pressure on the music … Read more