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Digital Media Bytes: Satellite Edition

A periodic roundup of relevant news… There’s only so much one can see and do at CES. Sadly, I missed out on catching the satellite TV and radio announcements up close and personal. Sirius unveils Backseat TV: Orbitcast DirecTV announces Sat-Go portable satellite TV system: Engadget VIP622 HD DVR introduced at Echostar press conference: LiveDigitally … Read more

Netflix Adds Streaming Video (PC only)

For some time Netflix has indicated they would announce their download strategy in January… and here we are! Initially, they will offer about 1,000 streaming movies (via their web page, Windows PC required) at the rate of 1 hour of video for every dollar you spend on monthly Netflix service. Depending upon your available bandwidth, quality can scale up to near-DVD quality. Deployment begins today and will be available to all customers by June.

Netflix has come up with quite an innovative pricing strategy. In its current form (PC-only viewing), I’m not sure how many new customers they’ll acquire… But perhaps this service will limit some (high profile) defections to Blockbuster. Though they’ve introduced a pricing inequity issue with a staggered roll-out: Mike gets “Watch Now.” Dave does not. We both pay the same, yet his service is now superior to mine. Netflix better be prepared to activate everyone who requests the feature or risk alienating customers.

Details on Digeo’s Upcoming Moxi DVRs

At CES, I sat down with Digeo CEO Mike Fidler for a briefing on their new retail strategy. In the second half of 2007, they plan to release two Moxi dual tuning HD DVR models. The units on display (shown above) were enclosure prototypes, with no actual working hardware.

The first Moxi box will tune digital cable programming via a multistream CableCARD (“M-Card”). Unlike the two CableCARDs (1.0) used by the TiVo Series3, the Moxi box will require just one M-Card for dual tuning. (I’m told the S3 is physically capable of M-Card support with a software upgrade.)

The second Moxi box forgoes the M-Card, in favor of clear QAM and over-the-air (OTA) dual tuning. This higher-end unit will incorporate a 5.1 audio receiver and is built on the “AMD LIVE! Home Cinema reference design.”

Solved: Mystery Of Missing Mac TTG DVD Theme

Roxio’s Mac TiVoToGo shipped last week… without the promised custom TiVo DVD menu theme. I pinged both TiVo and Roxio last week, but it took a little time to hear back with all the ongoing CES and Macworld nuttiness: Toast 8 ships worldwide with a single multi-lingual build and the menu styles are several MB … Read more

Yahoo Demos “My Channel” @ CES (Go TV MIA)

Yahoo was doing more than handing out Cold Stone ice cream (yummy, but huh?) in their CES tent… they also had some technology on display. The big news was the beta release of Yahoo Go 2.0 for many Java-capable cell phones (Windows Mobile not included) and providing free push email for Apple’s iPhone (announced over at Macworld).

But what caught my eye were the flat panel televisions over in the corner. The Yahoo football widget was on display on one TV. It’s extremely slick, allowing you to check out all sorts of scores, your fantasy stats, and live video PIP through the 10′ interface. Too bad they’re only offering it through Intel Viiv (a marketing term, not a technology) this season and excluding most PC owners. Hook me up next year, Yahoo?

I assumed the other flat panel would have Go TV — You know, the PC DVR software based on Yahoo’s acquisition of Meedio. Instead, they were demoing “My Channel” which they call a prototype at this point. While My Channel does include DVR functionality (guide, recording, live tv), the emphasis is on community and personalization (think Flickr, friend invites). Like Go TV, the software is PC-based and can be controlled via remote.

Lycos Sues TiVo, Netflix & Blockbuster Over Personalized Search

The Mercury News is reporting that on January 3rd, Lycos filed a patent lawsuit against TiVo, Netflix and Blockbuster over their use of recommendation technology. The article doesn’t give the exact patents that are alleged to be violated, but a quick scan of Lycos’ patent filings shows patents 6775664 and 6308175 as the most likely candidates.

Patent 6775664 was originally filed on Oct. 22, 2001 and describes a search method that uses a user feedback system to provide “collaborative feedback data for integration with content profile data in the operation of the collaborative/content-based filter.”

Patent 6308175 was filed on Nov. 19th, 1998 and according to the patent, it covers technology whose “filter system compares received informons to the individual user’s query profile data, combined with collaborative data, and ranks, in order of value, informons found to be relevant. The system maintains the ranked informons in a stored list from which the individual user can select any listed informon for consideration.”

In a relationship announced nearly two years ago, the Comcast TiVo is just about here and on public display at CES. (Rumor has it, they showed back-room demos for VIPs at the 2006 CES.) There were at least three Motorola 6412 units running TiVo software in the booth. Not only did I poke around on them, I had the chance to sit down privately with David Sanford, VP of Product Management in the Service Provider group — one of the guys behind this custom build. In addition to the obvious functionality questions, I was particularly interested in learning of the deployment mechanics and the technologies in play.

Deployment

The Comcast-Moto-TiVo is already in trials, and deployment is slated to begin this Spring. The roll-out will be managed by Comcast — they set the schedule within their various markets. (As in: not all regions are likely to get the TiVo option simultaneously.) While there are no details on monthly pricing yet (which I assume could vary by market), David tells me Comcast really wants to get this product out there and is planning to charge only a “modest fee.” (I’ll take a stab and guess a $5 – $10 increase over current DVR rental fees would cover licensing and allow Comcast to make a few bucks without sticker shocking customers.)

So here’s how it works… You let Comcast know you want to upgrade your DVR to TiVo, they flip a switch, and your current Motorola box (6412 or 3412) downloads the software. Reboot, and voilà you have TiVo — with prior settings and recordings preserved and no truck roll required. Your current crappy Comcast remote will control the TiVo software, but as part of the upgrade Comcast will mail you a custom Comcast TiVo remote (with new OnDemand, A, B, C, and D buttons).

A Note About ThinkGeek and eStarling

Call me a generous soul, but I could not be more impressed with ThinkGeek’s handling of a difficult vendor situation. As I’ve written before, I like the eStarling WiFi photo frame, but plenty of people have had reason to complain. The biggest issue is the fact that the power adapter only allows users to keep … Read more