Younger people have adopted the DVR a lot faster than the baby boomers. A perfect example is the CW network, which has 44% less live viewing during primetime than CBS. CBS skews toward an older viewer (with programs like 60 Minutes), who tends to watch more shows live – all because of habit. My father records PGA Tour golf events and when he plays them from his recorded list he sits through the commercials without fast-forwarding. Is he lazy? Charles Duhigg might argue his behavior is related to habit. In contrast, the younger viewer watching Gossip Girl on the CW is in the habit of recording his/her favorite TV show and speeding through the commercials.

It made me think about the implications over time, as newer generations grow up with the DVR, streaming video, etc. What habits and expectations will they have? Will they even be willing to tolerate advertising in their content? Or will they be habitualized to skip over ads or avoid ad-driven content entirely? What new business models will work with the new audiences coming up? Check out the full post.

Also at MediaBizBloggers, Alex Petrilli, senior manager of audience research at TiVo, talks about a potentially surprising finding from TiVo viewing data. TiVo data relating to viewing of movie ads seems to be a fairly strong predictor of future box office performance. In other words, if users stop and watch the ad, the movie will do well in the box office. But the more users who skip through the ad without watching it, the worse the film will perform.

During the past year TiVo has been studying box office performances in relation to the fast-forward rates of movie spots – and the correlation between the two is undeniable. Fast-forward rate is simply the percent a spot is skipped during live plus seven days of time-shifted viewing. On average the fast-forward rates for movie spots, which are traditionally some of the most popular commercials on television, range from 12-17%.

We first took notice of this correlation in September of 2011 when the latest “can’t miss” Sarah Jessica Parker film I Don’t Know How She Does It was set to open. The fast-forward rate almost jumped out of our TiVo Stop||Watch portal with a 20.4% rate. This was unusually high for a theatrical release. Not surprisingly, the box office followed suit opening at #6 for the weekend of September 17, 2011, scrounging up $4.4 million. The Avengers amassed a total of $4.4 million on a Tuesday afternoon… in Des Moines.
…
Fast-forward rate can also work the other way too and reveal a hit. A successful fast-forward rate will drop below 12%. Two recent examples are The Hunger Games which scored an 11.8% fast-forward rate in its initial broadcast campaign and The Avengers delivering a 10.3% fast-forward rate. Although expectations were high for these films there are no guarantees.

Of course, no system is perfect. It seems that children’s films and horror films don’t follow the same patterns, for example. Children’s film’s ads tend to run during children’s programming, and they don’t fast-forward ads. I’m not sure about horror films – perhaps people skip the ads because they’re scary? Or do more people watch the ads but then not see the film because it is scary? Either way, these’s more info in the full post, so check it out.

The post seems designed to cast further doubt on the value of Nielsen’s C3 (Live+3 days) data, the mainstay of today’s ad buying. It does this by raising questions seemingly designed to generate a little fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the mind of the reader:

Changing Channels In 2008, according to Nielsen, the average TV household received 130.1 channels. Today, a midrange DirecTV package includes 225+ channels. Is the C3 metric and the Nielsen sample size equipped to handle this increased fragmentation?

Tablet Time In April of 2010 the first iPad was released and second screen viewing began to accelerate at a rapid pace. In fact, according to a recent study commissioned by Viacom, tablets have surpassed computers for full length TV show viewing and now account for 15% of all viewing. The industry doesn’t currently have a viable way to measure data for second screen viewing so where is it going to come from in the future? Nielsen’s cross-platform measurement plan cuts their NTI sample in half leaving approximately ten thousand homes to interpret what is occurring on the second screen, hardly a robust sample size.

DVR Domination And then there’s the DVR: According to a number of research studies, DVR penetration has more than doubled since 2007, going from 22% to over 45% today. The C3 metric was produced in an attempt to assuage the affect DVRs had on viewing in the home. C3 measures average viewership during the specific times when commercials are aired on a minute-by-minute basis. There are a couple of flaws in this formula, the most prevalent of which is minute-by-minute analysis. If a commercial break during Modern Family begins at 9:14:46, as I understand it, 9:14 is included in the C3 calculation. Bucketing this way can cause data which doesn’t paint the real picture of viewing. Let me show you what I mean.

He then goes on to highlight the increased accuracy of TiVo’s own Stop||Watch service. And they continue to pick on poor Modern Family as their example show:

At TiVo, our Stop||Watch rating service tracks viewing on a second-by-second basis and when analyzing a top rated show such as Modern Family, the time-shifted ratings in DVR homes can drop as much as 60% over a 14-second interval in the moments after a commercial break begins. 60%! Including those 46 seconds into the C3 calculation inflates the viewership levels for almost half of all U.S. homes. There are other factors that further complicate the equation – pod busters, commercial-program integrated spots, network promos, etc. – none of which were contemplated in the construction of the C3 metric.

TiVo really seems to be gunning hard for Nielsen’s spot as the ratings provider used as the basis for ad buying. Of course, they do seem to have a superior offering that provides much more accurate data to ad buyers.

Via MediaBizBloggers.

The end of the video displays this text progressively: “With technology that fits in this easily, you can now stand out from… …everyone else.” And when it displays “everyone else” the video shows a pen full of white sheep ‘baa’ing. While they never call out Apple or the iPhone, given the history of their rivalry I think it is clear who that is aimed at.

So that’s all well and good, a little jab at the competition. But they also apparently arranged another stunt at an Apple Store in Sydney, Australia as part of a pseudo-viral “Wake Up” campaign that seems to be designed to drum up interest in advance of the Galaxy S III launch. (And here I am writing about it, so I guess it is working.) The website wake-up-australia.com.au is just a large countdown timer. There have been incidents of “Wake Up” popping up around Sydney – on billboards, in a pool, etc.

But this time a couple of large black buses pulled up outside of the Apple Store in Sydney and disgorged a horde of black clad ‘protesters’ who held black placards emblazoned with “Wake Up”. They then proceeded to chant loudly outside of the store, blocking the sidewalk and generally creating a disturbance. And a local blogger caught it on video:

Frankly I think this is way over the line, and just completely dickish behavior. That goes beyond good natured ribbing and is just harassment of the Apple Store employees and customers. And the general public who had to deal with the obstruction and disturbance. All to drum up attention. But this is like a toddler throwing a tantrum to make everyone pay attention to them. Samsung – you’re better than that, cut this crap out.

EDIT: Apologies to Samsung, the real jerk is RIM.

From mUmBRELLA via Android and Me.

We’re very happy to announce that BBC Red Button is now available to Virgin Media TiVo customers. The features available include video news, full length text articles from the BBC News website and coverage of F1 season that is always up to date and available whenever you want to watch. Later this year the BBC Sport Red button services will be extended to cover other major events e.g. Euro 2012, Wimbledon and Olympics.

If you’re watching any BBC channel, just press the red button on your TiVo remote. Then arrow up or down to choose iPlayer or the News or Sports app, then select OK. Or you can select the BBC News or Sports app from the ‘Apps & Games’ section of your TiVo menu.

The new service is being rolled out to everyone over the next 24 hours, so don’t worry if you can’t see it yet.

Thanks
Mark Wilkin
Help & Support Forum Manager

Actually they started deploying it a week ago, on April 11th, I’m just a little behind on my reporting.

Via The Virgin Media TiVo Blog

Solutions mainly fall into two categories – flying cars and roadable aircraft. A flying car is a car first and an aircraft second. It is meant to be driven regularly and occasionally flown. Since the design will always be a compromise flying cars favor the car side of the equation. Roadable aircraft are just the opposite, of course. They’re aircraft first and cars second. They are not meant to be driving on a regular basis. Rather the ability to drive on public roads is really for convenience, and the main function is flight. You’d normally only drive such a vehicle from your home to the airfield for departure. Then, upon arrival at your destination, you’d be able to drive off the airfield to where you need to go.

The real advantage is not having to have a place to park your plane at the local airfield – you can drive it home and keep it in your garage. You don’t need to leave a car at the airport when you go on trips, or take a cab or car service there. And the same at the destination, you can take a trip and drive to your business meeting, hotel, etc. No need to book a car or take a cab. And if inclement weather grounds you, you can drive as a backup plan rather than having to cancel your trip. And once you’re through the bad weather you can go to the nearest airfield and take off again. But the compromise on these vehicles really leans toward the aircraft side, so they’re not meant to be your daily driver.

It is this compromise, in either direction, that has long been the Achilles heel of such designs. Aircraft need to be strong and light, and have weight and balance requirements to be able to fly properly. Cars on the other hand tend to be heavy and rugged to withstand the abuse of bumps and potholes, not to mention all of the crash worthiness features which add a lot of weight. But newer materials, such as composites, are opening up possibilities for strong yet light designs which can meet automotive crash standards yet still allow for flight.

The best known current effort is actually a roadable aircraft, the Terrafugia Transition. Or, as they like to call it, a “Street-Legal Airplane”. There’s no hiding what it is; when it ‘car mode’ you can still clearly tell it is an aircraft. The production model prototype just made its first flight on March 23rd, 2012 and they released this video:

The Transition is certainly a major achievement, and it has a shot at market success, but I think another new vehicle is more interesting. The PAL-V ONE, or Personal Air and Land Vehicle, is more of a true flying car. Well, actually, as a three wheeler it would be a flying motorcycle in the US. (That varies country to country.) There is a flying prototype and it is much less obvious in car mode that it is a flying machine. One reason for that is that, unlike the Transition, which is a fixed-wing aircraft, the PAL-V ONE is rotary-wing craft – an autogyro, or gyroplane, to be precise. Note that it is not a helicopter – there is a difference.

The rotor blades are much smaller than a fixed wing, which means they’re easier to stow and hide. And the PAL-V ONE has a pretty clever layout with the tail surfaces telescoping over the body, with the rotors folded back. The prototype is a little rough, but the renders of the intended final design look like they plan to clean things up a bit for production.

I rather like the Dutch government’s concept of building small takeoff and landing sites alongside highways. Because of the autogyro’s ability to takeoff and land in very short distances they’d only need to be about 100 meters long. The concept looks much like a rest area or scenic overlook alongside US highways.

The three wheel leaning design immediately brings to mind the old General Motors Lean Machine that I used to see at GM’s World of Motion at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center before it was remodeled. I always wanted one:

Though the design is really closer to that of the Carver One, which is no coincidence and the PAL-V One licenses the Dynamic Vehicle Control (DVC) technology developed for the Carver One as the basis for it’s tilting system when driving:

Though you can clearly see the PAL-V ONE uses a different implementation. Whereas the Carver One’s rear wheels always remain perpendicular to the ground and the power system is kept fixed and level, the PAL-V ONE uses an independent rear suspension that allows each rear wheel to flex independently and lean into the turn, and the engine is contained within the leaning unibody design.

I would love to have one of these, it’d give me a reason to dust off the private pilot’s license I haven’t used since the early 90s (of course I’d have to get autogyro training), but the price is expected to be around $300,000. That’s just a smidgen more than I paid for my house, so that’s probably not going to happen. Still I’d love to see it succeed, even if I can’t afford one.

Oh, and I couldn’t resist:

Originally spotted via Boy Genius Report.

In January, during CES, they put out a press release about OTT content and recorded TV overtaking Live TV viewing. They reported that, on web-connected units, live viewing was only 38%. And among users who use OTT services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video it is only 27%. The source for this data? Stop||Watch. That’s a bit of indirect marketing – “Look at what we can do with this data. Imagine what you could do with it.”

Last month they made a direct pitch when they announced the launch of ‘Next Day’ data services in Stop||Watch. Of course, they used the Academy Awards as a ‘hook’ for the announcement, as they released it the next morning and included viewing data from the previous night’s broadcast. Which is a clever marketing move as the popular press doesn’t care about the next day data service, but it got a lot of press because of the Academy Award data that was included.

Last month also saw the announcement of the deal with AT&T AdWorks to incorporate their data into Stop||Watch. Last week we had CEO Tom Rogers’ letter to the editor in The New York Times. And while he never mentioned Stop||Watch by name, it was obviously a stealth pitch for the service.

But that’s not all, over the past few weeks TiVo bloggers at MediaBizBloggers.com have really been beating the drum. MediaBizBloggers’ target audience is made up of industry members, not the general public, so the posts are tailored accordingly. Back on March 5, Jonathan Steuer, TiVo’s Vice President, Audience Research & Measurement, blogged in response to the same NYTimes article on the Modern Family ratings that Tom Rogers’ letter was in response to. It basically says the same thing Rogers said, only in much more detail with the data and graphs to back it up. All of it pulled from Stop||Watch, of course.

Then on Monday Greg DePalma, TiVo’s Vice President of Audience Insights, blogged about marketing executives basing their ad buys on gut feeling and historic behavior patterns instead of hard data. He never mentions Stop||Watch by name, but he does call out“TiVo and other STB data” in making the argument that buying based on the data produces better results for advertisers.

On Wednesday Alex Petrilli, senior manager of audience research at TiVo, blogged a very tongue in cheek post entitled“All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Nielsen“. The whole post is a little bit snarky in a fun way, relating stories about lessons he’s learned via the examples set by others. As in, what not to do so you don’t end up like them after they screw the pooch, as it were.

For example, he snarkily points out how ridiculous Nielsen’s rating system is, in areas such as sample size:

I discovered that 1,200 diaries can accurately represent the viewing of almost seven million people in the San Francisco DMA. Nielsen taught me that 500 household meters will equate to the two million plus households for the same DMA. And when people meters arrived, 800 was the magic number to capture both household and demographic viewership. As far as Nielsen’s NTI sample goes, 21,000 will be sufficient to represent the 114 million U.S. households thank you very much.

He later goes on to, of course, extol the virtues of Stop||Watch:

Thanks Nielsen, lessons learned. Here at TiVo our anonymous daily Stop||Watch sample consists of 350,000 set-top boxes. We also recently signed a licensing deal to incorporate the more than 8 million AT&T U-verse set-top boxes into our system which will significantly increase our sample size. In terms of DVR playback, based on TiVo’s 4th Quarter Stop||Watch data, 44% of all programs viewed were time-shifted. 54.6% on broadcast television and 37.8% on cable. In prime those figures jump to 63.4% for broadcast and 46.5% for cable equating to 56.1% overall. Based on other information I have seen regarding DVR usage, these figures appear more realistic than Nielsen’s 16.7%. But in the end, it is all about sample size, and Nielsen will be the first to tell you they have it covered.

It is nice to see a non-dry tone from a corporate blogger, honestly.

I know there have been other direct and indirect Stop||Watch pitches I’ve encountered, but I think these will suffice. Maybe it is just my unusual travels on the net; I do cover TiVo as a blogger (obviously), so I have various agents scouring the net for TiVo news and I monitor many different sources of TiVo info. But it definitely feels like activity surrounding Stop||Watch has picked up as of late.

End users may wonder what this means for them and really – not much. But services like Stop||Watch are part of TiVo’s diversified business model and success in selling these services is good for TiVo’s overall health. In the longer run, data-based advertising can lead to more meaningful ads. And evidence of problems reaching audiences who time shift can steer advertisers toward TiVo’s related offerings in interactive advertising and on-box promotions.

Lately it feels like TiVo is making a more concerted effort to raise awareness of Stop||Watch among industry decision makers. It has the feeling of an organized marketing push. It is nice to see TiVo being more aggressive in marketing these services. Of course, maybe it is just my skewed perspective.

Now, I’ve seen some reports that he said they will bring Netflix and/or Lovefilm to their TiVo platform, but that’s not quite what he actually said. This is:

DTVE: Do you think platforms like TiVo are the best defense for cable against the so-called OTT players like Netflix?

Neil Berkett: We embrace over-the-top quite frankly. We’re somewhat unique in the the way in which our revenue is structured. So we will bring the likes of a Netflix or a Lovefilm onto our TiVo platform.

Note “the likes of”. That leaves wiggle room for them to use Netflix or Lovefilm, or some other, similar service entirely. Now, I think Netflix and Lovefilm are the best potential services for Virgin, but I wouldn’t treat this like an official announcement of any actual plans. Still, it is encouraging. Watch the video for more:

Neil Berkett: Virgin Media will bring OTT players like Netflix to TiVo from Digital TV Europe on Vimeo.

From Digital TV Europe via The Virgin Media TiVo Blog.

Joshua covers a lot of interesting territory, with the primary focus being on TiVo’s app support. TiVo is focused on providing a consistent app environment across their platforms, be it retail or provider units. Today the focus on on the Adobe Air/Flash environment which is used on the retail and MSO Premiere units in the US, and the Virgin Media and ONO boxes in Europe. There is still support for the Java environment used on earlier platforms, as in HME, and TiVo is looking at other environments.

For developers seeking to get their app onto TiVo they work directly with TiVo for the retail market, but need to work with the providers for their TiVo units. TiVo can help facilitate those conversations for developers seeking to get their apps on multiple platforms, but it is up to the individual operators to approve an app for their customers.

He also talked a bit about working with different size operators, from giants like Comcast and Charter with millions of users, down to small MSOs with 150,000 subscribers. Definitely worth watching, IMHO. Now if we could just have the SDK released and actually start seeing more apps!

Via Broadband TV News

The ARRIS Whole Home Solution consists of a Moxi Gateway six-tuner DVR and Moxi Players to deliver the content to sets throughout the home. In addition to cable television the Moxi Gateway includes support for DOCSIS 3.0 data services and VOIP for telephone service, MoCA connectivity, media sharing, and an option for WiFi. The WOW! offering will have a 500GB hard drive, which doesn’t seem like a lot when you have six tuners. It will hold up to 300 hours of SD content or 75 hours of HD content.

WideOpenWest will be branding this new offering as WOW! Ultra TV. Pricing is $25/month for the gateway and two players. They even have a video introducing it:

This news comes on the heels of ARRIS announcing that they’re finally giving up on the retail market. As the Moxi website now states:“The Moxi HD DVR and Moxi Mate are no longer available for purchase.” That effectively leaves TiVo as the only advanced DVR available at retail, certainly the only retail standalone CableCARD DVR. (No, I do not consider the Channel Master TV to be in the same category.)

Since ReplayTV’s demise, Moxi has been the only real contender as a competitor for TiVo, but their history is like a Keystone Cops routine when it comes to bungled launches and incomprehensible product plans. When the finally brought a unit to retail it was basically not marketed at all and therefore only known to those who already knew to look for it, and at a fairly high price. Since ARRIS acquired Moxi it has been clear that they’ve been focused on bringing the technology to the MSO market, with little interest in retail. So it isn’t a surprise that they’re pulling out, more that it took this long.

They offer a real competitor to TiVo in the MSO market, which might be a factor in TiVo’s recent deal with Pace. Pace is a major player in the MSO market and makes integrated gateway units, similar in hardware capabilities to ARRIS’s Moxi Gateway.

This isn’t a guarantee, and it is subject to change, you know the drill. But they seem to feel it is a fairly solid date. It it holds true, it should make a lot of people happy.

• LG – We’re thrilled to welcome global consumer electronics leader LG to the Google TV family. LG will showcase a new line of TVs powered by Google TV running on their own L9 chipset at CES.
• Marvell – Also new to the Google TV family this year is Marvell, an innovative worldwide leader in chipsets. Marvell will be showcasing a new generation of Google TV solutions which will help bring more products across more price points to consumers.
• MediaTek – We’re also excited to partner with MediaTek, the leading Taiwanese chipset designer. MediaTek chipsets will power yet another wave of Google TV devices.
• Samsung – We’re excited to work closely with Samsung to bring Google-TV powered Samsung devices to market in 2012.
• Sony – We’re happy to build on our partnership with Sony. At CES, Sony will unveil new devices for the US and plans to offer Google TV powered products in several countries around the world in 2012.
• Vizio – Last year we announced our partnership with Vizio at CES. This year we’re excited to join Vizio as they hold private demos at CES showcasing their new line of Google TV-powered products.

The shift to ARM based processors has been widely anticipated, though the specific partnerships with Marvell and MediaTek is new info. It is a little surprising as you might expect well known chip vendors from the mobile industry, such as NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, and Samsung, to be involved but perhaps Google feels the requirements for Google TV are different enough from mobile Android systems that alternate chip designs are better.

Sony is the only vendor who brought first generation products to market to return to this list. Samsung and Vizio both talked about Google TV at the last CES, but held off on shipping products. Which was probably for the best, given the multitude of issues with Google TV 1.0. Now that Google TV 2.0 is out, and is vastly improved over its predecessor, it is much more viable as a connected TV platform. With the addition of LG, if all four vendors really execute on Google TV in their new models, we may well see Google make good on their bold claims of Google TV being in the majority of new TVs this year.

Via the Google TV Blog.

Edit: I see in my YouTube feeds that they’ve also posted a video preview of what’s to come:

Right now only a few HDTV models from Toshiba and Samsung have MHL-enabled inputs, but it is expected that many vendors will be announcing 2012 models at CES with MHL support as usage is exploding on mobile devices. Since it uses the physical microUSB port already on the device for data and charging it eliminates the need for a separate microHDMI port, and this makes it easier to shrink the size of the device while also reducing parts count and therefore cost. As part of the announcement Roku states that they already have a deal with Best Buy to bundle the Streaming Stick with a new Insignia HDTV model later this year.

So what is the stick? It’s a Roku box, only smaller. It is Roku’s entry into the Connected TV, or Smart TV, market. The stick contains the main SoC (System on a Chip) – which is the CPU, video decoder, etc. As well as RAM, Flash, and 802.11n WiFi. It has all of the channels and software features of today’s Roku boxes – on a stick. Everything – power, video and audio output, and control is handled through the single MHL connection.

Part of the MHL standard is that the TV’s remote control is used to control the attached MHL device using CEC (also used on HDMI). With phones this is so you can connect the phone and then sit back on the couch to watch – without a twenty foot MHL cable allowing you to control things from the phone. This works nicely for the Streaming Stick, though it implies the gaming features introduced on the Roku 2 family will be absent as there is no Bluetooth motion controller for the stick and TVs will generally lack such controls.

I have to say, this seems like a very clever solution. Roku rightfully points out that people don’t replace their TVs every two years, yet technology advances rapidly. With mobile devices we have a constant increase in storage, memory, and CPU power, and connected TVs suffer from lock in. What you buy today is what you’re stuck with for however long you keep the TV – and that connected experience will probably seem pretty dated in five years, let alone ten. Software upgrades will only go so far before they run into technological limits. Just as the Series2 TiVo couldn’t support Netflix, YouTube, etc., because it can’t decode H.264, today’s connected TVs may be left out in the cold by the next evolution in video codecs. And even if the hardware is capable, companies won’t update the software for old devices forever.

The Roku Streaming Stick offers the advantages of a decoupled STB, which can be readily (and relatively cheaply) upgraded as technology advances, plus the advantages of a tiny form factor and integration into the TV. Since control is through the TV and it offers a full Roku experience, it should be much like owning a ‘Roku Powered’ connected TV. Perhaps the only slight difference will be having to select the MHL input instead of a dedicated ‘Apps’ button. But if they’re successful in partnering with vendors, such as Insignia, there may well be a ‘Roku’ button on the remotes.

The combination of the form factor and use of MHL is what makes this work. I wonder if we’ll see this imitated by other vendors as well. Google TV, Apple TV, Boxee – all on a stick?

There aren’t any images of an actual Roku Streaming Stick yet, but Roku did post these renders:

And now it seems that it is finally going to land. It looks like the official launch date for the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is 12/12. Well, that’s the online launch date. It won’t hit retail shelves until 12/19. The full Transformer Prime website is now up and running with features, tech specs, photos, etc. And ASUS released the following video to help promote the new Android tablet:

Furthermore, Liliputing has compiled a roundup of the Transformer Prime reviews popping up around the net from those blogs lucky enough to get their hands on one early.

It is just over a week away now.

From the first post:

The second post:

And the third:

Keep an eye on the blog for any additional videos.

I’ve posted about software available for US units before, here and here, and on TiVo’s blog, and these apps work with the VM TiVo; but now there is a 3rd party remote control app for Windows .Net specifically for the VM TiVo: VM TiVo Net Remote. It is much more feature-rich than the Python-based TiVoRemote that’s been out for US machines for a while.

I can confirm that it does work with US units, I connected to the Premiere Elite I have for review and it worked as expected. Except for the TV guide, nothing displayed when I selected ‘Show TV Guide’. The window expanded, but it was blank. This is probably hard coded for the UK devices. There is also a default channel list, but that’s stored as a text file that you can edit to match your lineup.

What’s really nice is that anything you type while in the remote window is sent to the TiVo. It makes text entry a breeze. There are also shortcut keys to navigate with:
Following Shortcut keys provide the following functions
CTRL+H - Home
CTRL+T - TV
CTRL+G - TV Guide
CTRL+P - Play
CTRL+S - Stop
CTRL+M - My Shows
CTRL+V - Pause
CTRL+R - Record
CTRL+L - Last Channel
CTRL+I - Info
CTRL+U - Thumbs Up
CTRL+D - Thumbs Down
CTRL+F - Skip
CTRL+B - Skip Back
CTRL+X - Slow
CTRL+LEFT - Rewind
CTRL+RIGHT - Fast Forward
ARROW KEYS - Left/Right/Up/Down
ENTER - OK
DELETE - Clear
+ - Channel Up
- - Channel Down
1 to 9 - Send corresponding Number
A to Z - Send corresponding Key when in a text search (Search TV, YouTube search etc.)

You can click on the image of the TiVo remote in the app to send commands as well, very much like using a Slingbox. The image of the remote is the UK version, but it is close enough that US users shouldn’t have any trouble.

Perhaps some US-based developer could contact the creator, Andy Wheeler, and work with him to create a localized version for the US. What’d really be nice is to see some of the features from the Android TiVo Commander app brought to other platforms. But that’s not to denigrate the work Andy has done. This is a brand new app – version 0.3 was just released on Sunday – and he’s been improving it quickly. He has a thread at TiVoCommunity.com for feedback.

Via the Virgin Media High Definition & TiVo Services blog.

Now blog Ritchie’s Room has gotten their hands on one for review, including a video. This is what they mean by gadget pr0n, I think:

There’s also an earlier video from NVIDIA showing Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Prime, but it is just a quick tease:

Soon… my precious…

Via Engadget.

I’m talking about comments like these, which were left since my last post on the subject. Damon Aldora left this one on 11/4:

So this is DirecTV’s first attempt at a TV Everywhere option and just reading over the specs, it doesn’t seem very TV Everywhere-oriented. In order to use it you must be on your home network, and while doing that, you can only see the 20 hours that is available on the Nomad. You can’t even see live TV. That is why I use the 922 SlingLoaded DVR from my employer DISH Network. I love it because it lets me stream anything I have recorded to my DVR, and I can choose to watch live TV if I want as well. On top of that, I can go anywhere I want, and watch TV as if I was at home. So the Nomad is a good attempt at TV Everywhere, but is still too limited to be worth the $150 asking price.

And Joseph Lopez left this one on 11/16:

The new Nomad from DirecTV is a great idea but this doesn’t allow streaming to live TV. So when you go on trip there is no up to date info on news or shows. This is only provides what ever you load on it. You can only get 20 hours where with DISH Network’s TV everywhere you can get access to 300 hrs off the DVR. You can see live TV and this works on multiple mobile devices. I have enjoyed my TV everywhere since I am always busy. I don’t have much time for home. This gives me what I need. I work over at DISH where I signed up and received this free.

Damon used a Gmail address, while Joseph used his dishnetwork.com address, and both were posted from 204.76.128.217 which is a Dish Network corporate IP. So these Dish Network employees are spamming blogs using company resources, presumably on company time. You’d think Dish might want to put a stop to that, right?

Apparently not, based on the response Peter received from Dish PR head Marc Lumpkin when he inquired about the spam:

“We require our employees who post about DISH products to identify themselves as a DISH Network employee,” Lumpkin told me via email. “This appears to be an informative posting describing the options consumers have for getting entertainment and is posted in a discussion of a similar topic.”

Really? I asked. You sure you want me to print that?

“It looks informative to me and appropriate for those Web site discussions. I’m fine with the response.”

So there you go, if it isn’t being actively encouraged then it at least has the tacit approval from management. Dish is happy with their employees astroturfing blogs with crap like this. I’m going to steal Peter’s conclusion since he puts it very succinctly, and I don’t think he’d mind given the circumstances:

Okay. So, Marc, Kevin, Dish Network CEO Joseph Clayton, et al. — we don’t really need to spell out why this isn’t “informative” or “appropriate,” right? Because we don’t need to explain why you shouldn’t show up at funerals for people you don’t know and hand out flyers for term life insurance, either. Right?

But think about it this way: Stuffing BS comments onto Web sites is the kind of thing that low-rent scammers do. You? You’re a big, publicly traded company. You have 14 million satellite TV subscribers, a left-for-dead video-rental brand you want to revive, and big plans to launch a new Web TV service.

That’s a whole lot to take care of. And spending time and money on tacky, clumsy astroturf seems like it won’t help, and could probably hurt. This article, for instance, doesn’t go in the “win” column, right?

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The best things we bloggers can do is continue to delete such comments and blacklist users who leave them, and continue to call Dish out for the spam. Public shaming can work. If the fallout from the spam is damaging enough to their brand, they may reevaluate their stance. If you’re getting spam like this on your blog speak out about it; make it cost too much for them to continue doing it.

As I’ve said before, employees of any company are welcome to join the discussion and leave valid comments on posts. They can even pimp their employer’s products if there is a legitimate argument. But cookie cutter comments only weakly linked to the post are not legitimate, they’re spam. Don’t do it.

Of course, the key piece of info that is missing is the release date. Still no word on that. But it is supposed to be this year.

Via Liliputing.

So I contacted Gabe and he informed me that he’d emailed TiVo about the Netflix client and that’s what he was told. So I decided to reach out to my own contacts at TiVo before posting the news, and they confirmed it. TiVo is indeed working on a new Netflix client and it will support 1080p streaming. But TiVo is not giving out any release date, or even a rough time frame, nor are they providing details about any other changes.

I pretty much agree with that Gabe postulated in his post. The new client will most likely be written in Flash and only run on the Premiere platform. S3/HD users are probably SOL and won’t see any updates. The client will probably be on par with the current Netflix clients for Roku, PS3, etc. You’ll be able to control your queue, search the entire library, etc. Surround sound is uncertain given the encoding Netflix uses and the HW capabilities of the TiVo box. But there is hope. Closed captions will very likely be supported.

Again, TiVo will neither confirm nor deny any of this aside from the fact that a) there is an update coming and b) it is using the new Netflix SDK and will support 1080p. The rest is conjecture based on the TiVo platform, their recent development activities, the SDK’s features, and the competitive market. TiVo’s Netflix client was leading edge when it launched – in 2008. It hasn’t aged well though, and calls for an update have been increasingly loud. I’m sure S3/HD users will be less than pleased if they don’t get one, but the fact is the Premiere is TiVo’s main revenue stream these days.

I have to wonder if Netflix being excluded from MSO-provided units by contractual issues has lowered the importance of Netflix development for TiVo. Since retail looks to have a decreasing significance for TiVo as MSO deals ramp up distribution, it seems natural that features that are usable by their MSO partners would take priority over retail-only features. In any case, an update is overdue and welcome. I might even subscribe to Netflix since they’re bringing back Arrested Development.

Looking at a graph of market share by smartphone vendor, the precipitous decline of Nokia is painfully obvious, and it looks like RIM isn’t doing so well either. On the other hand, you can see the rapid rise of Samsung. Samsung has claimed 26% of the global smartphone market, becoming the largest vendor. Apple slipped from 19% to close to 14%, but that could be due to anticipation of the iPhone 4S (the figures are from before the launch). Nokia has toppled from the top of the heap to under 14% in roughly a year. HTC overtook RIM with 11% to 9% as the former continues to gain market share and the latter loses it. Sony has approximately 6%, LG 5%, and Motorola 4%.

Unsurprisingly the units shipped by vendor closely aligns with the market share of each vendor. The sheer number of devices being shipped is really impressive.

Via Droid Life.

Roku is expanding its open platform to support region-specific channels. Publishers of video, music, games and other Internet-delivered content can now reach their customers’ TVs directly through Roku. Content can be free, ad supported or paid. Those interested in developing for Roku should contact partners@roku.com

No word yet on which model(s) of Roku will launch in each country, or the pricing. But since they mention gaming it is safe to presume they’ll be similar to the Roku 2 products recently launched in the US.

Via Engadget.

The tablet comes in 32GB and 64GB versions with a microSD slot for up to an additional 32GB, and it has 1GB of DDR2 RAM. It also has a microHDMI port, 3.5mm combo (headphones & mic) audio jack, a built-in mic, stereo speakers with SonicMaster technology and a built-in subwoofer, 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash, 1.3MP front camera, and a 25Wh battery that yields 12 hours of use. It supports 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. The screen is a 10.1″ 1280×800 Super IPS+ display with an 178° viewing angle and Corning Gorilla Glass. It has a ‘metallic swirl’ finish available in two colors, Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold. It will ship with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, but it will be one of the first tablets to receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

It is 263mm x 180.8mm x 8.3mm (10.4″ x 7.1″ x 0.33″) and weighs in at a svelte 586g (1.29 pounds). The original Transformer was 271mm x 175mm x 12.95mm and 675g. The Prime is even thinner and lighter than the iPad 2 – 241.2mm x 185.7mm x 8.8mm and 601g. It is in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which is 256.6 x 172.9 x 8.6mm and 565g. It is thinner and narrower than the iPad 2, and only slightly longer, with a larger, higher resolution display based on better tech, more storage for a given price point, twice the RAM, and a far, far more powerful CPU.

Of course, what makes the Transformer lineup so unique is the keyboard dock which effectively turns it into an Android netbook. The dock is 263mm x 180.8mm x 10.4mm (10.4″ x 7.1″ x 0.41″) and weighs 537g (1.18 pounds). Aside from the keyboard and touchpad, it includes a 22Wh battery that extends run time to 18 hours. It also includes a full-size USB 2.0 port and a full-size SD card slot.

The MSRP on the 32GB model is $499, while the 64GB unit is $599. The keyboard dock is $149. The Transformer Prime will be positioned as a premium tablet, while the original Transformer will remain for the mainstream market at a lower price point. The 16GB will be $399 and he 32GB $449, with the dock remaining $149. Personally I don’t know why anyone would go for the 32GB Transformer when the 32GB Transformer Prime is only another $50. The performance difference, not to mention the design of the tablet itself, is well worth it.

Several months ago I was trying to decide which Android tablet to purchase. I decided on the Transformer, but before I pulled the trigger rumors of the ‘Transformer 2′ were out with talk of the Kal-El processor (code name for the Tegra 3) and improvements all around. Since I don’t really have a pressing need for a tablet, so much as technolust, I decided to wait to see how it shaped up. I’m glad I did, this is the tablet I want. Now I just have to decide if I want 32GB or 64GB. Given how much is based in the cloud now, I’m not sure I’d need the larger capacity.

NVIDIA is really touting the Tegra 3 that lives at the heart of the Prime. And with good reason, it is arguably the latest chip to claim the title of most powerful in the mobile market. While it is generally touted as a quad-core chip, the Tegra 3 actually has five cores. Four cores are ‘full-power’ cores which can clock up for 1.4GHz individually, or all four can clock up to 1.3GHz simultaneously. But these cores are only needed when launching apps, running compute intensive tasks, gaming, etc. Most of the time the work is handled by the fifth core, which clocks up to 500MHz. Running a single, lower speed (and thus lower power) core and only utilizing the higher powered cores when needed prolongs batter life. They’ve released a number of videos showing off the chip’s capabilities and/or describing it’s features.

ASUS press release announcing the Transformer Prime below:

ASUS Announces the Eee Pad Transformer Prime

Featuring the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 Quad-Core Processor the Transformer Prime is designed to greatly enhance the mobile computing experience

Fremont, CA (November 8, 2011) — ASUS officially announces the world’s first tablet with the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor – the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is ultra-thin at 8.3mm (0.33″) and lightweight at 586g (1.29lbs) while featuring a stylish metallic swirl design with class leading enhancements including ASUS SonicMaster audio technology, an HD 8MP rear auto-focus camera with LED flash and battery life rated for up to 18 hours* when combined with the optional mobile dock. Pricing will range from $499** (32GB) to $599** (64GB), with the optional mobile dock accessory priced at $149**.

Incredibly Slim yet Incredibly Powerful

Featuring an ultra-slim form factor, the Transformer Prime is only 8.3mm (0.33″) thin and weighs in at a mere 586g (1.29lbs without dock). This makes watching movies, surfing the web, playing games, taking photos, finishing up homework or video chatting with friends or family so easy and natural that you’ll wonder if the Transformer Prime was designed specifically with you in mind. Its innovative metallic swirl design is made of aluminum for a secure yet extremely comfortable grip that comes in two gorgeous colors: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold.

The Transformer Prime is the world’s first tablet to feature NVIDIA’s next-generation quad-core Tegra® 3 processor. With the quad-core CPU, 12-core GeForce® GPU and vSMP technology, the Transformer Prime delivers an optimum user experience featuring smooth multitasking capabilities, lightning fast app loading, a rich and fluid web experience, full 1080P HD video for realistic media playback or recording and of course, incredible gaming performance that allows you to experience games in an entirely new way.

Fantastic Battery Life

While the Transformer Prime is extremely slim and light, ASUS did not forget about battery life. Thanks to the advanced power management features of the Tegra® 3 processor and ASUS optimizations the Transformer Prime has a battery life of up to 12 hours*, but when combined with the mobile dock, it lasts up to an incredible 18 hours*, the longest battery life of any current tablet. That’s enough battery life for a trans-ocean flight, all-night game session, viewing several movies on a long road trip or even video recording, editing, and then playing back your child’s school play all in 1080P HD clarity.

Unrivaled Visuals

The Eee Pad Transformer Prime boasts a wide 178° viewing angle IPS display, protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass, which features new ASUS technology to enhance the brightness of the screen for a better outdoor reading experience while still offering a remarkably vivid and brilliant viewing experience of photos, books, videos, movies and web pages indoors. Thanks to Multi-Touch technology, you can use your fingers to do everything from swiping through photos, surfing the web, playing the latest games, typing emails, instant messaging, reading books or magazines, and starting your favorite movie.

A 1.2MP front camera allows for instant photos or high-quality video conferencing with friends, family or coworkers while an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash takes brilliant photos or video thanks to a large F2.4 aperture, back illuminated CMOS sensor, touch-to-focus depth of field and low-light noise reduction to provide the clearest and sharpest photos or even 1080P HD videos.

Advanced Audio

The Transformer Prime offers impressive audio capabilities in a tablet, powered by ASUS exclusive SonicMaster technology, renowned for crisp and acoustically accurate audio. It produces crystal clear sound with a wide sound stage, increased audio fidelity, and distinct vocal enhancements for an immersive audio experience with your favorite music track, video, or movie.

Unlimited Productivity

The Transformer Prime is offered with either 32GB or 64B flash storage options for quick, efficient and reliable access to your applications. Both models feature a micro SD card slot, 3.5mm combo audio jack and micro HDMI port so sharing both what’s inside and on-screen is quick and easy. However, the function that gives the Transformer Prime its namesake is the mobile dock, which gives new meaning to the term versatility. This innovative and convenient design seamlessly provides the user with a keyboard and touchpad, along with limitless expandability options via the USB port and SD card slot.

ASUS will include several innovative applications like SuperNote that is fantastic for its ability to take, draw or record notes and Polaris® Office which is great for staying productive with the ability to read, edit or create Word, Excel and PowerPoint (MS Office 97-2007) compatible files. Thousands of top rated applications and games are also available at Android Market that fully takes advantage of the Transformer Prime’s amazing features and power.

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*Battery life will vary based on usage patterns and options.

**Pricing will vary by country and SKU. North American MSRP pricing listed.

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About ASUS

ASUS, the world’s top 3 consumer notebook vendor and the maker of the world’s best-selling and most award winning motherboards, is a leading enterprise in the new digital era. ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today’s digital home, office and person, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktops, Eee Box and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, tablet devices, servers, multimedia and wireless solutions, networking devices, and mobile phones. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS won 3,398 awards in 2010, and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with the Eee PC™. With a global staff of more than 10,000 and a world-class R&D team of 3,000 engineers, the company’s revenue for 2010 was around US$10.1 billion.

Via Liliputing, Droid Life, and AnandTech.

Via WeaKnees Blog.