Akimbo Killing Hardware?

Om Malek reports that Akimbo will be killing their hardware line and that current customers will given three months of free service before it’s turned off. Guess what I won’t bother reviewing this month (see above).

In lieu of set-top box services, Akimbo will focus on their software and web products going forward. Akimbo has offered Windows MCE support for some time (though also discontinued) and recently introduced a XP/Vista VOD software client in collaboration with Roxio. They will continue to license their interface and content to AT&T Homezone and seek out additional partners. And that’s probably the key to real money and their survival.

This move doesn’t really surprise me. Akimbo had the unfortunate luxury of being a little too early to the party and without a notable retail presence. But what really hurt them in finding a large customer base (and likely Moviebeam now and Vudu later) is the pricing scheme. Akimbo charged upfront for hardware, in addition to a monthly service fee, plus fees for premiere content. Ouch.

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“Wireless” DAPs

Maybe it’s just me, but I like the idea of “wireless” audio devices. No, not the holy grail of a Bluetooth-connected headset and DAP. Rather, a music player built into the headphones. About ten years ago and long before MP3 became a household word, I had a Speedo FM radio and earbuds (similar to this … Read more

Deal of the Day: eSATA Drives

Want to upgrade your TiVo Series3 with external storage? Me too. After a failed journey Micro Center yesterday, I started researching online deals for eSATA drives. In addition to finding a good price, my criteria also included 500GB drives that come enclosed and with an eSATA cable. So far I’ve found two decent deals worth … Read more

TiVo Series3 eSATA Backdoor

Know that inactive eSATA drive on your TiVo Series3? Well, it’s not so inactive after all… By following a few simple steps (attach external drive, reboot, hit pause then 62) you can easily expand your storage using a backdoor (“kickstart”). So far the upgrade has been successful on stock Series3 units running 8.1.1 and eSATA … Read more

Comcast Says Their HD Is Better

Comcast recently commissioned a study that concluded their HD picture quality is superior to DirecTV and Dish, following it up with full page ads in 15 newspapers and radio spots planned. The study was conducted in March, with 309 subjects showed side-by-side images from DirecTV, Dish and Comcast on identical TV sets. To eliminate set … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs. Xbox and Apple TV – TV Boxes at Retail: Connected Home 2 Go TiVo’s New Ad Blitz Focuses On Personalization: Davis Freeberg Time Warner Earnings: Connected Home 2 Go To Flash or Not To Flash: Connected Home 2 Go

American Airlines & Hilton Entertain Road Warriors

Both Hilton Hotels and American Airlines announced this week they are ramping up programs to entertain their traveling clientele. First up, American Airlines revealed they will be running a four month pilot (pun!) program in which business/first class customers will be loaned Archos 704 PMPs and Bose QuietComfort headsets. Don’t worry, though — us working … Read more

Back To The Future: 21st Century Movies

As a digital TV blogger, I spend a lot of time writing about where I think television is heading. Given the impact that technology is having on the television experience, it hard enough to know what is going to happen next week, let alone 25 years from now.

This is why I was surprised at how eerily familiar things seemed, when I was reading Paleo-Future’s review of the The Omni Future Almanac. The book was written in 1982 by Robert Weil and offers his vision into what the television industry would be like, in the 21st century.

We’re only a few years into the 21st century of course, but considering that it’s been 25 years since the book was published, I couldn’t help, but be impressed with how many of the predictions he got right (except for the whole people loving westerns thing, he was way off base on that one.) In looking over the list of predictions, here are a few, that I think we’ll continue to see throughout the rest of this century.

*Instant classics will be created by increased Hollywood hype and intensive advertising. Aggressive marketing techniques will also be used in the promotion of pay television and home video media.

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