Media Extender Day, Part 3: SlingCatcher

Apple and Sony aren’t the only ones with media extenders launching in the $200 – $300 range later this year. My employer (Sling Media) will release the SlingCatcher in the second half of 2007. Our initial features will be the ability receive a Slingbox video feed on a television (without any sort of computer in … Read more

Media Extender Day, Part 2: Sony IVL

This summer, Sony intends to release a $300 “Internet Video Link” accessory for most of their new Bravia sets (which seems limiting). They promise a variety of content (including HD) from their own audio and video properties, as well as AOL and Yahoo. Though, no word yet on media pricing. In addition to commercial content, … Read more

Media Extender Day, Part 1: Apple TV

Perhaps you heard: Apple TV has been delayed until at least mid-March. Frankly, I don’t find this very newsworthy… So why bother posting? Because CNN, USA Today, and other mainstream news outlets disagree. In my industry (I love that I can say that now) these sort of setbacks are routine. However, Apple preannouncing products and … Read more

Comcast’s Big Foot(print)

Shot of giant clothespin in front of Comcast’s current HQ location. Photo courtesy of Nemahziz’s Flickr photostream – CC License With all the excitement around Internet video, some may be tempted to ignore signs of growth among traditional cable operators. Recent earnings reports would set you straight, but if you’re not big on scanning IR … Read more

Expand Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR Storage

As a guy living in Comcast + Motorola country, I was pretty surprised to learn that Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVRs (running SARA) support external drives. I’m only two years behind in the news, but being able to upgrade a stock cableco box is pretty exciting. I could see myself putting up with an inferior interface … Read more

BitTorrent Gets Legit (Yawn)

It’s déjà vu… all over again! Following in the footsteps of Napster, BitTorrent has a new business model: selling (non-pirated) media. Originally announced nearly a year ago, the legit video site launches in a few hours. There’s not really much new or compelling here (regardless of what P2P technology may or may not be running … Read more

TiVo Desktop 2.4 Public Beta Released

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While I was preoccupied in Canada, TiVo released a public beta of TiVo Desktop 2.4. Notable new features include the ability to broadcast “HD” photographs (1280×720) from computer to Series3 TiVo and the ability to transcode several video formats (other than DivX) for transfer to and playback on Series2 units. A less glamorous, but useful, feature allows the software to map beyond the default TiVo folder.

A few gotchas… TiVo has labeled this Preview software, though they document about a dozen known issues (hence my Public Beta label). The ability to transcode video (for TiVo playback OR in the other direction for iPod and PSP playback) requires a Plus codec license: $25. Sorry Mac owners, this is a Windows-only release — Perhaps Roxio will incorporate similar functionality into a Toast update.

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