WSJ Talks Ads In A Digital World

The Wall Street Journal is running an interesting article covering advertising in a digital video world… go check it out and get back to me. Oh, and do you think the author is aware you can turn off TiVo sound effects? WSJ says: There is no denying that a major transformation in television-viewing habits is … Read more

Time Warner Launches Pseudo-DVR Service

Time Warner has been talking up their pseudo-DVR service “Start Over” since first mentioned in the WSJ last year, with more details revealed this spring. Now that they’ve gotten NBC’s blessing (money talks), South Carolina digital cable subscribers will be getting first dibs next month. Start Over falls somewhere between VOD and a DVR in … Read more

World Series PITCHf/x Debut

MLB and Sportvision, the folks who brought us the the yellow first down line and glowing hockey puck, will introduce PITCHf/x today during Game 1 of the World Series. BusinessWeek says: Sportvision has been rolling out gadgets for all the major sports, including the PGA Tour, NASCAR, and Major League Baseball, for which it whipped … Read more

Studios Shun Netflix, No Downloads

Netflix has run into the studio brick wall. At this point the studios have very little incentive to move their media via third-party download: DVD sales are a huge cash cow and they own existing services Movielink and CinemaNow. I imagine both Netflix’s rumored player and their partnership with TiVo are indefinitely on hold. At … Read more

Hauppauge Releases Mac DVR

EyeTV picks up some competition today, with Hauppauge’s release of myTV.PVR. The name grates, but the $149 price is attractive. As with all DVRs, success boils down to the software – we’ll find out soon enough if Eskape Labs got it right. I’m still waiting for a homebrew solution like this that throws in an … Read more

DirecTV and LG Embrace MPEG-4

DirecTV and LG have announced a partnership to produce set-top boxes capable of decoding MPEG-4 HD broadcasts. As with the phasing out of analog TV, the conversion to MPEG-4 will most likely take some time – your current DTV hardware is safe… for now. Additionally, these new Linux-based LG boxes will support pre-existing MPEG-2 and … Read more

TiVo Pimps Fandango

Another day, another HME application. Movie downloads? Nah, just movie ticket downloads.

If you were paying attention about 10PM EST last night, you would have caught a glimpse of Fandango‘s ticket ordering service. You know, for the one or two movies a year that might sell out. Put in your zip, buy some virtual tickets, show up at the theater to wait in line for real tickets. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work… a “Can’t Run” error spared me from the $1.25 ticket surcharge.

Fandango

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TiVo Apps.TV Launched

While the website isn’t officially owned or operated by TiVo, www.apps.tv is live and offers third-party Home Media Engine (HME) applications directly via broadband to Series 2 TiVo’s running 7.2x – no PC or Mac required. The current selection is small; However, a central clearinghouse of apps is a convenience that should encourage development and … Read more