by Steve O'Hear
December 13th, 2008 | Posted in ZNF | 
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A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…
DivX Connected brings Joost to TV
Dave Zatz: It’s been well over a year since DivX and Joost discussed the possibility of bringing Joost content to the television. And suddenly, with no fanfare at all, a DivX Connected plug-in has appeared.
New solar laptop bag a step in the right direction, but…
Mari Silbey: Voltaic Systems has just announced a new computer bag – the Generator – designed to charge a laptop computer solely with stored energy from the sun’s rays.
Hands on with Griffin RoadTrip
Dave Zatz: Over the years, I’ve owned several iPods. And along with them, several car charging solutions and/or car mounts. They’ve run the gamut from a low-tech cup holder to higher end solutions from Monster and Belkin. But my new favorite, by a long shot, is the latest iteration of the Griffin RoadTrip.
TiVo spam machine revs engines
Dave Zatz: In case the TiVo Central banners, Now Playing List banners, Music & Photos menu banners, banners after recordings, and commercial button overlays weren’t enough, TiVo’s now pitching ads that render while programming is paused.
by Steve O'Hear
December 12th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | Comments Off
VLC Remote, as the name suggests, is another remote control app for the iPhone and iPod touch, this time for the wildly popular VLC Media Player (Windows, Mac and Linux). It comes in both free and paid-for versions, available through the App Store, with the former offering basic remote features such as play, pause and skip, while the latter, costing 99 cents, adds play list access and the ability to browse your computer’s hard drive for any compatible media. Check out Life Hacker’s excellent guide for more details.
See also: Sonos delivers touchscreen controller via iPhone
by Steve O'Hear
December 12th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
No longer content with leaving money on the table, the National Football League today launched a new on-demand Internet TV service called Game Rewind that enables fans to “watch every NFL game in HD quality, with no commercials”, reports Streaming Media’s Dan Rayburn.
The US-only service isn’t free of course, unlike existing BitTorrent offerings that until now were left to fill the gap, and costs $19.99 for a season pass or $4.99 if paid for on a week to week basis. In terms of picture quality, Rayburn says that “Game Rewind is amazing” and that the interface is “clean and simple.”
See also: NFL to stream games online — DirectTV customers only
Move Networks is providing the technology behind Game Rewind, as it already does for NFL’s live video service called GamePass HD, which is only available to those outside North America.
by Steve O'Hear
December 11th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | View Comments
It’s getting hard to keep up, with the BBC rolling out new versions of its UK-only seven day Internet TV catch-up service on what feels like an almost monthly basis. This time iPlayer support has been added to a whole bunch of recently released mobile phones.
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by Steve O'Hear
December 10th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments Off
Our friends over at NewTeeVee got a glimpse last night of a new set-top box from Netgear that, amongst other features, can stream YouTube HD content directly to a high definition television.
Dubbed the EVA 9000 Digital Entertainer Elite, the device is aimed at “the tech-savvy, early adopter, not your average Roku user”, reports NTV, and, along with YouTube support, can download BitTorrent files, access additional Internet-based content, as well as stream video from any PC connected to the same local network. Netgear hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Netflix streaming too.
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by Steve O'Hear
December 10th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments Off
The newly launched HackingBlockbuster has published a short video walk-through of the Blockbuster set-top box in action (see our pevious coverage). One shortcoming mentioned in HackingBlockbuster’s accompanying review is the scalability of the set-top box’s UI for finding and renting movies. Unlike the Netflix approach, which enables titles to be selected via the company’s website, everything is done on the MediaPoint box itself. As a result, HackingBlockbuster suggests that “it will be difficult to find movies when there are 10,000 or more titles available… It would be nice if MediaPoint titles showed up in your Blockbuster Online Queue”.
View the video walk-through below…
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by Steve O'Hear
December 10th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments Off
Sadly, my T-Mobile G1 – the so-called Google phone powered by the Android OS — has to be returned tomorrow (it was only a one week loan) but at least we know that there’s plenty more to come.
The Open Handset Alliance (OHA), the industry consortium setup to oversee and lend support to the Google-led Android mobile operating system, has added 14 new members. The most notable of which are Sony Ericsson, who have reportedly confirmed that a new high end device powered by Android will be released next year, alongside mobile carrier Vodafone, as well as Garmin, who’ll likely utilize Android in a new GPS-based navigational device rather than a cell phone.
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by Steve O'Hear
December 8th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | View Comments
We already knew that the iPhone’s App Store has been a resounding success. And that’s before Apple began running newspaper ads boasting of 10,000 apps available and 300 million downloads since its launch just five months ago. Part of that success can be attributed to the way in which the iPhone as a platform has galvanized developers, while a second major factor is the simplicity of the App Store itself. For example, don’t underestimate the significance of having the store bundled with the handset, supported by over-the-air downloads. The result is that Apple has popularized the notion of third-party software on a mobile phone like never before — how many people do you know with a smartphone from Nokia, RIM or others, who haven’t installed a single third-party application?
See also: The real surprise of the App Store isn’t number of downloads or revenue
While attracting developers is easier said than done, creating an App Store equivalent, especially in hindsight, should be a no brainer. Having spent nearly a week with the T-Mobile G1 — the so-called GPhone — I’m glad to report that Google has done a good job replicating the iPhone experience with the Android Market.
Check out my video walk through after the jump…
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by Steve O'Hear
December 8th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
The roll out of TiVo’s support for Netflix’s ‘Watch Instantly’ Internet TV service is now complete, reports Zatz Not Funny. As of today, “TiVo Series 3, HD, and HD XL subscribers who also partake in an unlimited Netflix plan will be able to stream a wide variety of video content at no additional cost.”
Dave Zatz’s verdict:
While the hybrid Netflix+TiVo interface isn’t as snappy as my Xbox or Roku boxes, receiving Netflix digital video on a DVR – a primary television set-top box – is extremely significant. Also notable, this represents the first time TiVo has facilitated high definition Internet video.
Dave’s only real complaint is that there’s not enough compelling content available through Netflix’s streaming catalog, something that should improve over time.
As I noted when Netflix first made the announcement, adding support for TiVo marks an impressive six months for the company in which it has delivered on its promise to bring its Internet TV offering on to many devices beyond the PC: Netflix streaming is now available on game consoles (Microsoft’s XBox 360), set-top boxes (Roku), DVRs (TiVo) and Internet connected DVD players (LG and Samsung).
Check out ZNF’s video demo of Netflix on TiVo after the jump…
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by Steve O'Hear
December 7th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | View Comments
I’ve been playing with the T-Mobile G1 for a few days now — the so-called Google phone — and I’m really impressed with the Android operating system. The touch-friendly User Interface is intuitive and very responsive, although not as ‘pretty’ as the iPhone, an inevitable comparison. And the included suite of native Google apps (Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube), along with the expanding list of third-party software available through the Android Marketplace, already make the G1 a very capable device — my only caveat so far is the drain on battery life that Android’s always-on connectivity and the G1’s large screen seems to impose.
See also: Hands on with the Google phone: a solid device that won’t unseat the iPhone
However, where Android really rocks is the bundled web browser. It’s fast, renders the full web flawlessly (aside from the lack of Flash support), and does a fantastic job of re-flowing text when you zoom in on a specific part of a web page, therefore eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling despite browsing on such a small screen. If the mobile browser is more important than the operating system, then Android has it covered. This is a really big deal in my opinion and good news for mobile web developers everywhere, since we’ll see a plethora of Android-based phones release next year and beyond, at a very competitive range of price points.
View a short video I shot of the T-Mobile G1’s Android web browser in action after the jump…
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by Steve O'Hear
December 7th, 2008 | Posted in last100 weekly wrapup | Comments Off
Here’s a summary of the last two week’s digital lifestyle action on last100. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via the special weekly wrapup RSS feed or by email.
Internet TV
Finally, Blockbuster’s Internet set-top box unveiled
We knew it was coming. First, video rental chain Blockbuster purchased the movie download service MovieLink — originally a joint venture between Hollywood studios Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and MGM — and then the company, through a series of leaks to the press, began hinting at related plans to release a set-top box. A few denials later, followed by an outright confirmation, and today the company best known for its bricks and mortar stores finally unveiled the hardware itself.
Dave Zatz: Blockbuster OnDemand not ready for prime time
BBC iPlayer lands on PlayStation 3 – could Hulu be next?
Available in Beta, as of today PS3 owners can now access the Beeb’s seven day TV catchup service (UK-only), joining their Nindendo Wii brethren, along with specific versions for Nokia’s N96 and Apple’s iPhone.
Video: Livestation demos live Internet TV on iPhone and iPod touch
Livestation is currently developing a version of its Internet TV application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. A working prototype already exists that delivers Livestation’s channel lineup of live television news stations on Apple’s device, although this is likely to be supported over WiFi only.
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by Steve O'Hear
December 6th, 2008 | Posted in ZNF | Comments Off
A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…
Blockbuster OnDemand not ready for prime time
Dave Zatz: As the title states, the Blockbuster OnDemand MediaPoint 2Wire box just isn’t ready for prime time. While the pricing is extremely reasonable ($99 for the hardware, including 25 movie rentals), the interface looks pleasant, and the content selection is solid… the device is in need of a software update before I can recommend it.
CE surprises of holiday 2009
Mari Silbey: The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) hosted a webcast this afternoon with a recap on Black Friday CE spending. There was too much juicy data to report in one post, so for now I thought I’d relate some of the surprises from the holiday weekend.
Neuros LINK unboxed & setup
Dave Zatz: The primary function of Neuros LINK is to organize and access web-based video on the TV, such as Hulu or Amazon OnDemand.
Joost not dead yet, lands on iPhone
Dave Zatz: During my Dublin vacation, I caught wind of the new iPhone Joost client via Twitter. Putting the hotel’s complimentary Internet connectivity to good use, I immediately downloaded the WiFi-only app.
The week in TiVo
- Amazon Video on Demand… in HD?
- TiVo Series3 & TiVoHD software update
- i.TV to add TiVo scheduling?
- TiVo to broadcast Blip.tv?