A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…
What’s next for Roku? 5 suggestions
Dave Zatz: At $99 the Roku’s in impulse purchase territory – it’s hard to go wrong. Having said that, as an owner and a guy who follows this space, I’ve got a few suggestions for the Roku team (and their partners). Enable some of these, and I’ll pick up a box for every room.
Netflix Streaming to iPhone & Wii?
Dave Zatz: We’ve seen the Wii pop up as a potential Netflix streaming video destination on a few occasions – what we don’t know is the period of gaming platform exclusivity Microsoft currently enjoys with the Xbox 360.
Of course Apple’s anti-competitive
Dave Zatz: Of course Apple’s anti-competitive. They’re savvy business people, protecting their turf. But, are they (or AT&T) breaking any laws with the iPhone app “approval” process? The Wall Street Journal reports that the FCC’s launched an inquiry with letters out to Apple, Google, and AT&T.
TiVo enables custom Video Podcast feeds
Dave Zatz: I know I’m not the only one who’s been holding out for this… TiVo has enabled us Series3/HD owners to specify custom video podcast RSS feeds which aren’t found in their (growing) directory of web video.
Congrats to Vudu, lands on HDTVs
Dave Zatz: Despite sluggish hardware sales, two rounds of layoffs, and flirting with disaster, a shift in strategy along with a rumored cash infusion, Vudu has landed some interesting licensing deals. It looks like LG HDTVs will be the first to stream Vudu video on demand.
