Academy Award Short Film Nominees on iTunes

While it’s not quite the full length feature films I’m looking for, iTunes has been selling the five Academy Award nominated live-action short films at $1.99 each. Ten bucks for about 100 minutes of entertainment may not be a bargain (especially at only 320×240), but it’s an opportunity to see quality films we might otherwise … Read more

Mac Mini, No DVR Ambitions

Sounds like we won’t be seeing an Apple DVR any time soon… Though the mini’s digital audio output, FrontRow software, and upgraded Bonjour with video streaming foreshadow feature length movie downloads via iTunes. USA Today says: “The Mini is small enough that people will consider adding it to their living room consoles,” Van Baker, an … Read more

TiVo’s Big Announcement

TiVo’s booked the The Museum of Television & Radio to unveil a new initiative of important developments with some special guests tomorrow. In light of TiVo’s upcoming presentation schedule emphasizing VOD, I’m guessing we’ll see some sort of new content download service and partners formally introduced. Given TiVo’s past video trials with IFC and yesterday’s … Read more

Cisco’s IPTV Strategy

Cisco, who recently announced the acquisition of cable set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta, lays out their IPTV strategy for eWeek. It’s not clear how or if their investment in MovieBeam plays into this. Five elements are nice, but will they leverage Scientific Atlanta’s assets into some sort of convergent Cisco-branded appliances — how about a … Read more

Cellphone Slingbox Player?

Looks like Sling Media is trying to partner with cellphone carriers to host or market Slingbox feeds, but they’re not getting anywhere fast. With or without their cooperation, a Microsoft Mobile Slingplayer will be available in the near future. Buried within the article is an interesting stat… 100,000 Slingboxes sold. Forbes says: “We have no … Read more

Netflix Causes Family Strife

I’ve had The 40-Year-Old Virgin at the top of my queue for over two months, during which time Netflix has failed to deliver. I’ve even resorted to cheap tricks in hopes of improving my situation. Either Netflix is throttling the movies I get or they just don’t have enough inventory. I’m not sure which is worse… penalizing an active customer or poor planning. And if it is poor planning, how come they haven’t seen the error of their ways and purchased more stock?

My fiancé thinks I’m throttling her movie selections in favor of mine. She wonders how it’s possible Battlestar Galactica DVDs continually arrive but her DVD selection never does. Seems a little suspicious, don’t you think? So I begged Netflix to restore harmony to my home and this was their response:

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TiVo’s Academy Awards Contest

TiVo, Inc. and your Series 2 unit are hosting an Academy Awards competition. The subscriber who correctly picks the most Oscar winners will walk away with a 60GB video iPod. This is a fun use of HME… all we need now are folders.

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