PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com/media/feedlogo.gif PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com en-us Copyright 2009 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/The first P2P PVR from NDS plus innovative "Distributed DVR"http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/announcements-from-nds/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/announcements-from-nds/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/announcements-from-nds/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


NDS LogoNDS is the company that is majority owned by NewsCorp and previously replaced TiVo to create the DirecTV PVRs. While these PVRs have not had the best of times, NDS has today announced some very innovative IPTV products.

The first is what NDS call the "Distributed DVR" which allows users to use hard drives from anywhere on a home network instead of being restricted to a hard drive on a single PVR. This itself is brilliant and will give users a lot more freedom when it comes to storing content.

The second is ShareTV where users can share content stored on their PVRS with other subscribers over a P2P network making the world's first Peer to Peer PVR (from what I'm aware of).

It sounds like the recordings will be protected by DRM and only available to other subscribers to the IPTV service, but it does sound like you will be able to download TV shows that you haven't even recorded.

This effectively allows you to get huge libraries of videos and TV shows, which you can then store anywhere on your home network. I very much like the sound of this.

I wonder if this will end up being rolled out as a DirecTV service given the close ties NDS has with DirecTV already.
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]]>iptvndsp2ppeer to peerPeerToPeersharetvChris Tew2007-01-29T05:33:00+00:00Xbox 360 IPTV Interview - PVR functions on the wayhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/26/xbox-360-iptv-interview-pvr-functions-on-the-way/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/26/xbox-360-iptv-interview-pvr-functions-on-the-way/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/26/xbox-360-iptv-interview-pvr-functions-on-the-way/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Xbox 360GameVideos has an excellent interview on video (see below) with the two Microsoft execs Chris Satchell and Albert Penello, talking about IPTV on the Xbox360.

The Xbox 360 IPTV service is not going to be something like getting YouTube videos on your PC but a service that is more familiar to the cable and satellite TV services that we have now.

Sarchell and Penello talk about downloadable movies, the Xbox 360's channel guide and even the use of the Xbox 360 as a PVR (gotta love that one!). Although not confirmed directly the interview hints that a larger hard drive will also be offered to cater for the PVR functionality.



Part 1 of the video shown above and you can see part 2 here.

[Via 1up]
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]]>iptvxbox 360Xbox360Chris Tew2007-01-26T12:31:00+00:00Nuvio One - an IPTV set top boxhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/nuvio-one-an-iptv-set-top-box/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/nuvio-one-an-iptv-set-top-box/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/nuvio-one-an-iptv-set-top-box/#commentsFiled under: ,


Nuvio.TVA company going by the name of AHT International has an upcoming product called the Nuvio One which puts an interesting spin on the way we use IPTV. It won't ship with a hard drive, which means that you can only initially watch streaming content, but there is room for an internal SATA drive or an external USB drive.

Basically the Nuvio One is a set top box designed to stream video via the internet to your TV. What makes it interesting though is that aside from just downloading content to be streamed, it also uses the Tribler P2P network to get content which can also be accessed via your PC.

Between the IPTV channels and the P2P network, that makes a lot of content available. At the moment the set top boxes are not available, but you can download the current beta release and try it out on your PC.

The details of the planned set top boxes are a little spotty, but they will apparently have an embedded RISC CPU with integrated I/O and video decoder functions, 64 MB of RAM, 64MB video, video resolution of up to 1920x1080, and it will support HDMI, S/PDIF, Ethernet, and USB 2.0. For a more complete set of specs, you can check out the Nuvio One product page.

Found via.
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]]>downloadsquadiptvnuvioMatt Crape2007-01-16T10:56:00+00:00Joost - The new name for the Venice Projecthttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/joost-the-new-name-for-the-venice-project/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/joost-the-new-name-for-the-venice-project/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/joost-the-new-name-for-the-venice-project/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


JoostNews broke late yesterday and I have just received an email from The Venice Project team that it has now been renamed to the much more catchy name: Joost. Here's what the email from Fredrik de Wahl of Joost said:

"While we're still in beta, we hope that Joost will become synonymous with the best of TV and the best of the Web.

We're working on putting more content on the platform and creating more and more applications and functionality. For those of you who've already been on the client, you can expect to see some of these updates in the 0.8 release - which is not far away at all.

Now that we're Joost, we're going to be sending out many more beta invitations. I know some of you have been waiting quite some time for your invitation and I appreciate your patience. We've been somewhat conservative about expanding our beta - but that's going to change pretty rapidly now. So please keep a lookout for your invitation if you haven't gotten one already. And when you do receive it - please tell us what you think."

Along with the launch of the new name has come the brand new Joost website.

Looking at the screenshots of Joost in action its easy to see how it could be ported over to a PVR or set top box to bring high quality internet TV into the living room.
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]]>Chris Tew2007-01-16T03:14:00+00:00Apple TV | A load of hype for nothinghttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,


Apple TV

There was a lot of hype that the codenamed Apple iTV (now named the Apple TV) would revolutionize the TV industry and make Apple a mainstream competitor in living room entertainment.

What came out of Macworld was not the impressive revolutionary device that was expected. Rather all that came out was an inferior media extender that allowed you to watch iTunes videos on your TV.

If all Apple set out to do was let you watch iTunes video on your TV then it has succeeded in doing that, but that's neither revolutionary nor impressive, but it will keep the hardcore Apple fans happy.

The Specs and features:
  • HDMI, USB, Ethernet
  • 40 GB Hard Disk
  • 802.11 b, g, n wireless networking (AirPort)
  • Works with Apple Remote
  • 720p HD (H.264 Playback)
  • No video/audio cable included
  • Supported video codecs
    o H.264
    + Baseline profile LC (640x480x30 p)
    + Baseline profile (320x240x30 p)
    + Main profile (1280x720x24 p)
    o MPEG-4 simple profile (640x480x30 p)
    o does not support DivX, XviD or WMV.
  • Supported audio codecs: AAC (16-320 kbps), MP3 (16-320 kbps VBR), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV
  • Supported image formats: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG
  • Auto-sync content from your PC
  • Stream content (wirelessly) from up to 5 computers
  • Take's 10 most recent unwatched movies and automatically stream in the background to Apple TV and be stored on the hard drive.
  • Theatrical trailers streaming from Apple.com
  • Costs $299 - will be released in February
Other media extenders are much better

Take a look at the NetGear EVA700 to see what a decent media extender can do. Many existing Apple TV alternatives already out-compete the Apple TV in functionality.

That's not even mentioning the new media extenders in the pipeline including the NetGear EVA800, the Xbox 360 IPTV and the MediaGate media extenders.

What's the deal with the hard drive?

It appears that Apple will sync your iTunes playlists with the Apple TV hard drive much like it does with your iPod. I guess the reason for streaming from the Apple TV rather than directly from a PC/Mac is because it means you can still watch the videos if your TV/Mac is off. This is one feature which I think Apple has got right.

PVR Functionality

Many people beleived that because the Apple TV had a hard drive it would also have PVR functionality. It was even suggested that Apple would be partnering or acquiring TiVo.

I've said before that Apple would never partner with or aquire TiVo, nor would it include PVR functionality in the iTV, although with such a high demand for PVR functionality on the Apple TV I did begin to wonder. But despite a huge demand for PVR functionality on the Apple TV, Apple hasn't delivered it.

But Apple's mission has never been to give the consumer what they want unless it encourages them to buy from the iTunes store. That is unless Apple really had to implement something to keep customers happy, such as MP3 support on the iPod.

However, with EyeTV you can get some form of PVR functionality in the respect you can watch TV recordings from your Mac on your TV, but that's about as far as it goes.

What can I do with the Apple TV?
  • Do all of my videos have to be played from iTunes on my PC Mac?
Yes, the Apple TV syncs up with your iTunes playlist much like with your iPod.
  • Am I restricted to the video formats that I can watch?
Yes, the Apple TV is very restricted only supporting .264 and MPEG-4. It does not support Xvid, DivX or WMV. In my opinion this is extremely restrictive meaning you'll need to do a lot of converting of video to watch everything through your Apple TV device.

The Xbox 360 is also is restricted to WMV but you can use something like TVersity to convert video on the fly. Maybe some similar third party app will be made for the Apple TV.
  • Am I restricted to watching stuff downloaded from iTunes, or can I watch any videos I've downloaded?
Really the Apple TV is designed for letting you watch video that you have downloaded from the iTunes store. You can add other plain Quicktime movies into your iTunes library though but this is still very limited.

You can use a third party program such as Movie2iTunes to add other video to your iTunes library, depending on the file format some of these videos could be played through the Apple TV.
  • Can I rip DVDs (which I own) and watch them on it?
Yes you can provided you convert them to a format compatible with the Apple TV.

How easy is it to watch TV:
  • According to the Apple TV website:
    1. Download movies, TV shows and more from iTunes.
    2. Sync wirelessly from your Mac or PC.
    3. Watch everything on your widescreen TV.
  • Lets compare this to a TiVo
    1. Turn on TV and play recorded programs straight away
  • Let's compare this to the Xbox 360 with the Xbox live video marketplace
    1. Download movie from Xbox Live marketplace
    2. Play on your TV
You can see from this that the Apple TV is the most complicated way to watch TV. Couldn't Apple have removed the need for a Mac or PC entirely and allowed the Apple TV to interact with iTunes directly? All this synching from PC/Mac to Apple TV is just an extra complication that will confuse the less techie mainstream consumer.

What other people say:

"For $100 more you could pick up an Xbox 360 with TV and Movie downloads direct to the console, no PC required. Oh yeah, you can do a bunch of other stuff too. The second issue I have is that Apple continues to lock us into their ecosystem - A model that has worked well for them with audio, but may not be as successful with video in the era of YouTube and DivX: The iTV has limited multimedia format support compared to products such as Netgear's new Digital Entertainer HD."
Dave Zatz

"This thing sucks, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Media Center user. It just doesn't do much of anything that can't already be done with other products that have been out for years! Why cache on the HDD? Is your network not fast enough with 802.11n to get that done? No PVR functionality. Tops out at 720p.

Other than Mac support, I don't think this offers anything new. Sure, it's really the first device to play video purchased from iTunes, but that's about it."
Chris Lanier

To Sum Up

The Apple TV is not a great product, but if you desperately want to hook up the iTunes movie store and your Mac with your TV then the Apple TV is the way to go. But if you want a more universal solution then the Xbox 360 or one of the many Apple TV alternatives will serve you better.

But there is one reason why the Apple TV will at least be partially successful. Apple really knows how to market a product.
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]]>appleapple itvapple tvAppleItvAppleTvmedia extendersMediaExtendersxbox 360Xbox360Chris Tew2007-01-14T16:02:00+00:00Xbox 360 upgrade coming later this year for IPTV?http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/xbox-360-upgrade-coming-later-this-year-for-iptv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/xbox-360-upgrade-coming-later-this-year-for-iptv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/xbox-360-upgrade-coming-later-this-year-for-iptv/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Xbox 360 IPTV

In Paul Thurrott's latest Windows Weekly podcast, he talks about a pre-CES briefing he had with some Microsoft bigwigs. And apparently they told him that Microsoft will indeed be updating the Xbox 360 by the end of the year, adding a larger hard drive, and some new hardware to take enable IPTV.

At CES, it was starting to look like Microsoft was going to add IPTV to existing Xobox 360 units without the need to upgrade any hardware. But that would essentially leave current users with a PVR that only has a 20GB hard drive. And that's just silly.

The big question is whether the IPTV functions will only work on new-model Xbox 360s, or if Microsoft will offer upgrades for existing users. I'm gonna bet on the latter, as Microsoft has already shown they're willing to sell add-ons, such as the external HD-DVD drive.
[via EngadgetHD]
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]]>xboxxbox 360Xbox360Brad Linder2007-01-14T10:30:00+00:00More TiVoCast contenthttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/more-tivocast-content/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/more-tivocast-content/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/more-tivocast-content/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


TiVoCastTiVo has announced it will be adding two more web TV channels/Vodcasts to its TiVoCast lineup available on Series 2 TiVo's (and hopefully the Series 3 soon too).

The two new channels that have been added are LX.tv and Golfspan, both of which use the Brightcove internet video system to deliver video on the internet. TiVo teamed up with Brightcove to offer web TV in May last year.

Brightcove actually has hundreds of TV channels using the Brightcove system so I wonder what makes LX.tv and Golfspan so special that they are included on TiVoCast. It would be interesting to know what gets a Brightcove Web TV channel onto TiVo.
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]]>tivocastChris Tew2007-01-12T06:29:00+00:00Hand-on with all the cool toys at CEShttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/hand-on-with-all-the-cool-toys-at-ces/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/hand-on-with-all-the-cool-toys-at-ces/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/hand-on-with-all-the-cool-toys-at-ces/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The Engadget crew gets all the fun. Today, they've published detailed photo galleries and descriptions of their up-close experiences with some of the hottest new PVR and multimedia technology on display at CES.

Vista Media Extender

Vista Media Center Extender

The Xbox 360 will likely be the only device capable of acting as a media extender for Vista at launch. But hey, plenty of people have Xbox 360s, right? Engadget's got a whole photo gallery showing off the media extender interface, and it looks like pretty much anything you can do on your media center PC you can do with the extender.

Xbox 360 IPTV

Xbox 360 IPTV

Speaking of the Xbox 360, how about that IPTV announcement, eh? Wondering how it's going to work, and what it's going to look like? Engadget's got a photo gallery for that too, and a few answers to nagging questions. For example, since the TV shows are delivered through IPTV rather than a TV tuner, you should be able to record as many simultaneous programs as the software will allow. Of course, cramming them all onto a 20GB hard drive won't be much fun, but Microsoft's got plenty of time to announce an upgraded unit with larger hard drives before this service goes live.

8.1

TiVo 8.1 software

Okay, enough about Microsoft and their expensive boxes. What if you've already purchased an expensive TiVo Series3, only to find out that it's got less functionality than Series2 boxes? I mean, sure you get to record HD, but there's no TiVoToGo, no broadband, etc. Well, version 8.1 of TiVo's software is rolling out, which means that some problems will be fixed. For example, Series3 users will get listings for recently deleted programs, TiVoCast, Guru Guides, and access to KidZone, (which may not be such a good thing).
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]]>8.1media center extenderMediaCenterExtenderxbox 360Xbox360Brad Linder2007-01-11T18:48:00+00:00PVR Wire Podcast -- CES editionhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/pvr-wire-podcast-ces-edition/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/pvr-wire-podcast-ces-edition/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/pvr-wire-podcast-ces-edition/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


CES Podcast

On this special CES edition of the PVR Wire Podcast we take a look at some of the highlights of CES, from the Xbox 360 new IPTV functions to TiVoToGo for Mac and the TiVo partnership with Comcast.

We'll hear from Dave Zatz, of Zatz Not Funny. He's also Netgear's CES Blogger in residence.

  • You can download the podcast directly here.
  • Or you can subscribe to the rss feed here.
  • Or if you can subscribe via iTunes here.
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]]>cesdave zatzDaveZatzdigeoBrad Linder2007-01-10T11:15:00+00:00More details on the Xbox IPTV servicehttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/09/more-details-on-the-xbox-iptv-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/09/more-details-on-the-xbox-iptv-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/09/more-details-on-the-xbox-iptv-service/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Xbox IPTVA few more details popped up on Engadget about the Microsoft Xbox 360 IPTV service early this morning over on Engadget. The Xbox 360 IPTV service will bring live streaming broadcasts, and allow you to play games while recording TV complimenting the Xbox Live video download service.

The new details state that the partner in the US will be AT&T which is rolling out its new fiber optic Project Lightspeed network which will cater for the high bandwidth of HDTV over an internet connection.

In fact there will be enough bandwidth for two simultaneous HD channels and so the Xbox TV service will require special QoS features that can handle IPTV traffic.

Due to the high bandwidth requirements its very likely we won't be seeing Xbox IPTV in too many places across the world and I think that the UK and most of Europe will be left out of this for some time.
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]]>cesiptvmicrosoftxboxChris Tew2007-01-09T08:49:00+00:00A TVTonic upgrade at CEShttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/a-tvtonic-upgrade-at-ces/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/a-tvtonic-upgrade-at-ces/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/a-tvtonic-upgrade-at-ces/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

New TVTonic releasedWavexpress unveiled a new version of TVTonic at CES earlier today which is designed to fully take advantage of Windows Vista. This new version can be accessed through the Online Media section of Windows Media Center, which means that using it just got easier.

Just to bring everyone up to speed, TVTonic is an application that can integrate into Windows Media Center to allow you to watch IPTV 'channels'. For more info, you can check out our MCE Spotlight post on it.

There are a few new and notable changes with this release, first of which is its integration into Windows Media Center via the Windows Media Center Presentation Layer, which means a nice sleek interface. Other notable features include integration with the Xbox 360, ability to play cached and streamed content, and support for HD feeds.

The best news about this new release is that this invaluable plugin is still free to users. If you are interested in trying it out, you can check out www.tvtonic.com.
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]]>iptvmcemce pluginMcePluginpvrMatt Crape2007-01-08T13:47:00+00:00Xbox 360 gets IPTVhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/xbox-360-gets-iptv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/xbox-360-gets-iptv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/xbox-360-gets-iptv/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Xbox 360 tv interface

That Xbox 360 in your living room? It's not just for video games anymore. In addition to the high definition movie download service Microsoft launched earlier this year, you can expect an IPTV service to launch towards the end of 2007, effectively turning the video game console into a PVR/multimedia device.

The service will include live streaming broadcasts, and let play a game while recording a program in the background. Of course you'll get all the usual goodies like an on-screen program guide and the ability to pause, rewind, and fast forward through recordings.

There are no details yet on pricing and whether you'll need to install a larger hard drive on your Xbox 360 for the service to work, although I'd imagine that you'd really want more than 20GB.
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]]>gaming consoleGamingConsolevideo gamesVideoGamesxbox 360Xbox360Brad Linder2007-01-08T10:45:00+00:00SlingCatcher coming in mid-2007http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/slingcatcher-coming-in-mid-2007/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/slingcatcher-coming-in-mid-2007/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/slingcatcher-coming-in-mid-2007/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


SlingCatcher

Series3 TiVo in the living room for recording hi-def television programs, check. Slingbox for streaming those programs over the internet and viewing on a PC, Mac, or Windows mobile device, check. Way to stream your video to another TV? Until now, only if you've got that TV hooked up to a computer.

But Dave Zatz has uncovered a new device from Sling Media, the SlingCatcher. This will be the first box from Sling that lets you receive broadcasts, rather than record them. That means if you've got a Slingbox hooked up to your home entertainment center in the living room, you can pick up a remote control in the bedroom or your grandma's house, point it at the SlingCatcher, and tune in to programming from your home system.

In some ways, this is like having a whole-house PVR. In some ways, it's even better. Only got one cable box/satellite receiver from your television service provider? Now you can access the same channels in any room in the house that has a SlingCatcher.

There's also a plan to launch a client for your PC that will stream media from your computer to the TV, making the SlingCatcher the latest in a long line of potential Apple iTV competitors.

The new box is expect to hit shelves later this year for about $200.
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]]>dave zatzDaveZatzsling mediaslingcatcherSlingMediaslingplayerBrad Linder2007-01-07T10:56:00+00:00Rumor: Xbox 360 to be a PVR, media extender, games console, web TV player and VOD player all in one!http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/06/rumor-xbox-360-to-be-a-pvr-media-extender-games-console-web/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/06/rumor-xbox-360-to-be-a-pvr-media-extender-games-console-web/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/06/rumor-xbox-360-to-be-a-pvr-media-extender-games-console-web/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Xbox 360According to Gizmodo the Mercury News has leaked plans on the Xbox 360 that should not have been released until the CES 2007 consumer electronics showcase next week.

It has already been previously announced that there will be new Xbox 360s that will feature a 120GB hard drive and HDMI ports. Obviously such a hard drive needs to get put to good use and the Xbox 360 will also be used as an IPTV PVR.

Microsoft already has solid experience in providing IPTV middleware and software, as well as launching the Xbox Live Marketplace to sell video download rentals successfully.

Now Microsoft can really pitch its tent in the living room with the Xbox 360 kicking ass as a central entertainment device that lets you play quality games, acts as a media extender, has video on demand, broadcast IPTV shows, and boasts PVR functionality.
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]]>dvriptvpvrvodxbox 360Xbox360Chris Tew2007-01-06T10:33:00+00:00Could 2007 become the year where people begin to ditch cable and TiVo for free TV?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/23/could-2007-become-the-year-where-people-begin-to-ditch-cable-and/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/23/could-2007-become-the-year-where-people-begin-to-ditch-cable-and/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/23/could-2007-become-the-year-where-people-begin-to-ditch-cable-and/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


TiVo BrokenI'm pretty sure everyone is not going to wake up on New Years day and start thinking why the hell do I pay nearly $100 a month for my Cable and TiVo and decide to cancel their subscription realizing they have also over spent this Christmas.

However, I do think that people may start to see that there is a lot of free television on the internet and even some paid services that could replace TiVo and Cable altogether. Given that internet TV is continuing to enter the living room the need for cable or TiVo is slowly beginning to dwindle.

Of course for all those HD fans the internet is not going to match up for some years and cable and TiVo will keep their pride of place in the living room. But those people that value saving quite a bit of money and believe you don't need high quality to enjoy TV may opt out of their TiVo and cable subscriptions.

Without even touching on the pirated TV available there is an increasing amount of legitimate free content. There are many web TV stations on the internet, lots of video clips on sites like YouTube, and even the prospect of more familiar on demand content through The Venice Project.

In fact it is the the early beta reviews that I have read on The Venice Project here and here that makes me think people will start dropping cable for free TV. If the Venice Project can maintain minimal advertising, and grow a decent database of content people won't need Cable and because the content is on-demand they won't need a PVR either.

Even if the Venice Project doesn't have your favorite shows you could probably download them for about $1.99 an episode from iTunes, Amazon Unbox or Cinema Now and be able to keep them to watch whenever you want.

I do however doubt that the hardcore TV junkies would be fully satisfied by what's available on the internet and could run up huge bills at the iTunes movie store, but for the more passive TV viewer the internet could be a very cost effective alternative to cable and TiVo.
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]]>cabletivoweb tvWebTvChris Tew2006-12-23T17:37:00+00:00The Venice Project: the future of TV?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/the-venice-project-the-future-of-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/the-venice-project-the-future-of-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/the-venice-project-the-future-of-tv/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The Venice Project screenshot

Om Malik at GigaOM got his hands on The Venice Project, the new broadband peer to peer TV project being developed by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Of course, when I say "got his hands on" I mean for exactly 30 minutes. This was more of a sneak peak than anything, but we know a lot more about the project than we did a few days ago.

Currently the application runs only on Windows XP SP2. It takes just a moment to download and install. Once you load the program, it takes you to a page with some channels, staff picks, etc. The picture quality is apparently near-TV, and consumes about 250MB per hour. There is a lag when you switch channels.

The biggest problem appears to be lack of content. There's no "live" streaming material at the moment, and most of what exists is streaming content from the Venice Project servers. As Malik points out, Skype and Kazaa were two programs that were made for self-perpetuation. If you wanted to use Skype, it behooved you to get your friends on board. Same thing with Kazaa.

Unless Venice goes the YouTube user-generated video route, which doesn't seem to be the goal, it needs to strike some deals with major content providers. Nobody's going to watch a TV replacement if nothing's on. But while 250MB an hour may seem like a lot to ISPs, from a consumer standpoint that's some great video compression for streaming near-broadcast quality video over the net.
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]]>kazaap2pskypevenice projectVeniceProjectBrad Linder2006-12-21T17:04:00+00:00Internet TV expanding to new outletshttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/ineternet-tv-expanding/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/ineternet-tv-expanding/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/ineternet-tv-expanding/#commentsFiled under: , ,


MusicPLus TVMusic Plus TV, an internet TV channel that airs 24/7 broadcasting underground music and media, has announced that its content will now be licensed to Microsoft Windows Media Guide, Akimbo, Tvext and Globe7.

This of course is not huge news in itself but marks a trend in internet TV channels expanding to new outlets. The only one of real interest here is Akimbo since it can be accessed from the living room from the Akimbo Set Top Box.

Akimbo is an overpriced internet TV service but what Akimbo is doing now will eventually move across to other set top boxes with TiVo being one of the the main pioneers.

I think sometime next year we may start to see TiVo being included in these sorts of licensing deals with internet TV channels and not just the current vodcast and internet video clip deals it has now.

The Times They Are A-Changin'
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]]>internet tvInternetTvmusictivoweb tvWebTvChris Tew2006-12-21T00:44:00+00:00(rumor) DISH to start an IPTV service with movie downloadshttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/dish-to-start-an-iptv-service-with-movie-downloads/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/dish-to-start-an-iptv-service-with-movie-downloads/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/dish-to-start-an-iptv-service-with-movie-downloads/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


DISH NetworkThe DISH Network is rumored to be soon announcing an IPTV service. DISH already has the IPTV section of its website ready but empty.

SatelliteGuys.us is reporting the DISH IPTV service will offer SD and HD quality movies, music, adult programs and entertainment news and it will also offer other services such as Cinema Now.

Some of the content will be free while others may incur a one time or monthly charge. Download to own movies and TV shows can be stored on your hard drive but not copied to other storage devices.

This news may push TiVo to announce its own video download service which I'm sure is in the pipeline.
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]]>Chris Tew2006-12-19T10:17:00+00:00Cinema Now offering new TV Episodes for download-to-ownhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/18/cinema-now-offering-new-tv-episodes-for-download-to-own/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/18/cinema-now-offering-new-tv-episodes-for-download-to-own/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/18/cinema-now-offering-new-tv-episodes-for-download-to-own/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Cinema Now LogoCinemaNow, the video download service, has announced a licensing agreement with Showtime Networks Inc and A&E Television Networks (AETN) to offer select TV episodes through its website for download-to-own.

Starting this month CinemaNow will be offering episodes from The History Channel and The Biography Channel from AETN and The L Word and Sleeper Cell from Showtime.

Each episode will cost $1.99 and to kick start things CinemaNow is offering the premiere episode of Sleeper Cell: American Terror for free.
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]]>Chris Tew2006-12-18T16:15:00+00:00Can the internet replace a cable subscription?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/18/can-the-internet-replace-a-cable-subscription/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/18/can-the-internet-replace-a-cable-subscription/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/18/can-the-internet-replace-a-cable-subscription/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Apple iTVRobert Lemos over at Wired took a challenge to go a month without cable TV and see if he and his family could rely on the internet for all of their entertainment needs. He literally cut off his cable subscription -- with scissors -- and set about exploring the world of iTunes.

The first challenge he encountered was the realization that nobody sat in the living room to watch TV together anymore. Instead, parents and children would sit in front of a desktop or PC and enter their own little worlds.

For the sake of communal entertainment, Lemos went and bought a Mac mini to hook up to the HDTV in the living room, and after a few struggles, got it to work. At which point he discovered that at $2 per episode, he was quickly going to see his iTunes bill surpass his old cable bill.

Luckily networks like CBS and Fox have put many of their programs online for free, making it easy to watch many popular broadcast television programs. That is, unless you want to watch live sports. Then you're pretty much out of luck.

Lemos says he and his family have decided to stick with their cable-free lifestyle for now, but he also admits that his family watches less television than the average American household.

Personally, I have dreams of setting up a similar system -- but supplementing it with a PC-based PVR with a couple of OTA HDTV cards built in for capturing most of the broadcast shows I'd need. Then I'd only need to download a handful of programs from cable networks like Sci Fi or HBO, keeping the iTunes bill nicely below my average $54 monthly cable bill.
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]]>online videoOnlineVideowiredBrad Linder2006-12-18T14:00:00+00:00