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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Blu-ray Player and Discs To Launch 5/23

Well folks, we have a date for both Blu-ray hardware and media. I can’t say I’m overly excited about the initial titles, though they’re an improvement over Charlie’s Angels. Lion’s Gate is listing newer titles at $39.99 a pop and classics (I use that term lightly) at $29.99. Let the format war begin! Sony Pictures … Read more

TiVo’s CEO Video Interview

Reuters is running a juicy 5 minute web interview of TiVo CEO Tom Rogers. The reporter does a nice job in understanding the issues and asking Rogers the tough questions. If the business side of TiVo interests you, check it out! Here are a few highlights… “Having a DVR is not having a TiVo.” Several … Read more

TiVo Winter Olympics Recap

The results are in… and the Olympics were boring! Overall the US finished second in both total medal count (25) and gold medals (9) without Bode Miller’s participation. The HD was great, but NBC’s coverage just didn’t capture my attention. I also felt used in the way events and participants were edited together in prime … Read more

How-To Make a Fake Video iPod

So you know that leaked video iPod image? Not only is it fake, the creator documented the whole process in a sweet little video put to music. You must go check it out! (via Mac Rumors)