Zatz Not Funny: Blockbuster, CE surprises, Joost, Neuros LINK, TiVo

by Steve O'Hear

December 6th, 2008 | Posted in ZNF | CommentsNo Comments

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?

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Sony's eBook reader – the numbers are in

by Steve O'Hear

December 4th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile, Other | Comments5 Comments

While Amazon remains deafeningly silent over how many Kindles it has sold – except to say that new orders won’t be fulfilled for the next eleven to thirteen weeks – Sony, its main competitor in the eBook reader space, isn’t being so shy.

Claiming to have exceeded the company’s own forecasts, Sony says it sold 300,000 units of its Sony Reader device since its October 2006 launch (WSJ). Interestingly, however, Forrester Research estimates that 400,000 Kindles have sold since its launch in November 2007, which, if true, means that Amazon has done considerably better in a much shorter amount of time, possibly due to better marketing — it’s hard to beat the Amazon brand and e-store when it comes to selling anything book-related.

Although both sets of numbers are nothing to be scoffed at, it doesn’t yet amount to an ‘iPod moment’, notes paidContent. Apple sold 1.3 million units of its music player in the first two years, even if it took considerably longer for the iPod to really go mainstream.

Talking of mainstream, last week my Dad requested a Sony Reader for Christmas after trying out a colleague’s. If that’s any indication, perhaps eBook readers could reach a tipping point sooner than we think?

Amazon MP3 arrives in the UK

by Steve O'Hear

December 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Audio | Comments3 Comments

With little or no fanfare, Amazon’s MP3 store has arrived in the UK. And in keeping with the credit crunch spirit of late, there are some real bargains on offer. Albums currently start at £3 (approx. $4.5) and some individual tracks are being offered for as little as 59 pence (87 cents). If you’re old school like me, for example, the first few Led Zeppelin albums fall in the £3 bargain bucket selection. Nice. Continue reading »

Video: Livestation demos live Internet TV on iPhone and iPod touch

by Steve O'Hear

December 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments1 Comment

Livestation is currently in talks with Apple to bring a version of its Internet TV application to the iPhone and iPod Touch. A working prototype already exists (see video below) 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. “We’re not planning to have this available on 3G, simply because operators would not be too happy with people using this on a 3G connection”, says Livestation CEO Matteo Berlucchi. It’s also unclear when Livestation on iPhone and iPod touch will be made publicly available, although the company is delivering a live demonstration of the app on a dedicated Livestation channel tomorrow at 5pm GMT, including an interactive Q&A session with Berlucchi.

Video demo after the jump… Continue reading »

BBC iPlayer lands on PlayStation 3 – could Hulu be next?

by Steve O'Hear

December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments1 Comment

Now that the PlayStation 3’s web browser supports full screen Flash video, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d see the BBC finally roll out a PS3 version of iPlayer. But boy was that quick.

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. In fact, the BBC now lists compatibility with a whole bunch of portable media players, presumably via a generic mobile version, including the Archos 605 WiFi and Creative Zen X-Fi.

See also: BBC iPlayer on Wii gets a UI overhaul

The BBC always said it had a version of iPlayer for the PS3 in the works but that development was being held back due to the limited way in which Sony’s console supported Flash video. Now that’s been addressed, there’s no reason why other Internet TV services, such as Hulu, can’t follow in iPlayer’s footsteps.

Nokia announces Internet radio and music streamer

by Steve O'Hear

December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Audio | CommentsNo Comments

The new flagship N97 smartphone wasn’t Nokia’s only product announcement today, with the company unveiling a standalone Internet radio and music streaming device.

Dubbed the Nokia Home Music, the device connects to the net via WiFi or Ethernet to stream music from Internet radio stations and access podcasts, and can also stream music from a PC, mobile phone or alternatively any UPnP device (see our DLNA guide) on your home network. Alternatively, there’s a USB port provided so that, presumably, you can also plug in an external hard drive or MP3 player. There’s also an auxiliary line-in and good old fashioned FM tuner, providing further music playback options. To get sound out, there’s a built-in 10 watt speaker, SPDIF Optical output, RCA line-out, and a 3.5 inch head phone jack.

No word yet on pricing or availability but it’s interesting nonetheless to see Nokia continue to expand its consumer electronics remit beyond cell phones.

Update: Interestingly, the Nokia Home Music device also supports Windows Media DRM so that it’s compatible with Nokia’s Comes With Music all-you-can-eat music subscription service.

See also: “MusicPal”, Freecom’s new portable Internet radio

The HP Magic giveaway has kicked off, your chance to win big

by Steve O'Hear

December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Other | Comments2 Comments

I’ve been a bit slow on posting this as I was on the road traveling. The HP Magic giveaway has officially kicked off, with the first bunch of sites — there are 50 participating in total — launching their individual competitions to give away $6,000 worth of HP gear, including the new HP netbook, a touchscreen desktop, and a neat looking media extender (and a few other non-HP bits and pieces). Currently running are contests from Bleeping Computer, Gear Live, Windows Connected, Morningside Mom, Thoughts on poetics & tech, MediaBlab, Neowin, BostonPocketPC, HackCollege, The Gadgeteer, Gotta Be Mobile, and I Started Something. Our own contest will open on the 16th of December.

The full list of participating sites and contest dates after the jump… Continue reading »

Nokia N97 – I want one already

by Steve O'Hear

December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments13 Comments

Let me get this out of the way first. I want one of these things.

I’m talking about the upcoming Nokia N97, which the Finnish handset maker unveiled this morning at its annual shindig, Nokia World, in Barcelona. For a long time now Nokia has been telling consumers not to think of its Nseries line of smartphones as phones at all. Instead, they’re ‘multimedia computers’, says the company. With today’s introduction of the N97, a device that’s designed to not only compete hard against consumer-friendly smartphones from the likes of Apple, HTC and RIM but also has a bit of the Netbook appeal in its sights, that pitch is sounding a lot less lofty. Continue reading »

Video demo: Nokia XpressMusic 5800's media playback features

by Steve O'Hear

November 26th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile, Net TV | Comments1 Comment

Nokia’s new touchscreen phone, the XpressMusic 5800, is being pitched as an affordable music and video centric phone — it’s the third handset to support the company’s all-you-can-eat music subscription service, Comes With Music — rather than being an outright iPhone killer (it isn’t). On that note, after playing with the device for a few weeks — see my first impressions — here’s a hands-on video I shot walking through the 5800’s media playback features.

Continue reading »

Zune phone anyone? Windows Mobile partners look away

by Steve O'Hear

November 26th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | Comments1 Comment

Last February when Microsoft announced it had purchased Danger, makers of T-Mobile’s consumer friendly smartphone the Sidekick, I suggested that rumors of a Zune-branded phone would quickly resurface. Today, CNBC’s Jim Goldman claims that a new device from Microsoft, codenamed ‘pink’, is indeed in the works and that it will combine the company’s Zune with technology from Danger, with an end goal to develop a viable competitor to Apple’s iPhone.

All of which seems perfectly plausible. Both the Zune and Danger teams fall under the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division, which also overseas the XBox 360 — Microsoft’s most successful foray into the consumer electronics space — and is all about what the company calls “connected experiences”. As I wrote at the time, it’s in this context where the Danger acquisition made most sense, with Microsoft citing Danger’s mobile Web browsing, instant messaging, games, multimedia, and social networking applications, which in combination with MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live and Windows Mobile technologies, would help it deliver “industry-leading entertainment and communication experiences”. Continue reading »

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