Sling Media Offers Windows Users a Look at What’s Next

Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2008 by MHA

The folks who let us watch our TVs wherever we happen to be are offering Windows users a sneak peek at the next version of the software that makes it all work. Sling Media this morning announced a public beta of SlingPlayer for Windows version 2.0, which will be available on the Sling Media Downloads page for anyone who wants to take it out for a spin. Key features of the update include an integrated program guide, a video buffer right in the SlingPlayer client software, and centrally managed Sling Accounts.

Sling’s integrated Guide feature puts a schedule right on the user’s laptop or desktop computer, making it easy for those who want to watch live programming from their Slingbox-connected home TV to see what’s on and choose a program without the delays of accessing a distant set-top box’s program guide and squinting at text that’s traveling halfway around the world.

A live video buffer right in SlingPlayer will let users pause, rewind, or fast-forward through up to an hour of video, whether or not there’s a TiVo or other DVR hooked to the Slingbox on the other end. Those who do have a DVR can still use its capabilities, but will have the option of pausing, etc., locally, without the delays involved in remote-control signals being transmitted over the net.

Sling Accounts will allow users to store their personalized program guide settings and channel line-ups, favourite channels, and Slingbox IDs and passwords on Sling Media’s central servers. This should eliminate the need to reconfigure SlingPlayer’s settings each time it’s installed on a new laptop, office desktop, or even cybercafe kiosk.

The company says the long-awaited Clip+Sling feature, announced over a year and a half ago at CES 2007, didn’t make it into the public beta. The release of Clip+Sling, which lets Slingbox owners create and share short segments of video from what they’re watching with anyone, is still pending while the company negotiates with content owners and distributors. The 2.0 software, though, will provide the underlying flexibility the company needs to release Clip+Sling and other new features.

Sling Media is also working on a new version of SlingPlayer for Macintosh, which will bring these features to Apple’s platform, but no time frame is available for a Mac update.

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DISH Network CEO Charlie Ergen On TiVo Lawsuit: “I’m Just Stubborn.”

Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 by MegaZone

DISH Network just reported their most recent financial results, and Reuters’ MediaFile blog has several quotes from DISH CEO Charlie Ergen on a variety of topics. But the one I was most interested in, and likely of most interest to readers of this blog, was on the ongoing lawsuit with TiVo:

On on-going litigation between DISH and TiVo which might impact 4 to 6 million DISH subscribers if the satellite company loses:

What we did was we designed around the TiVo patent and patent law encourages people to be innovative and our guys were very innovative and used some very sophisticated algorithms and so fourth to design around the TiVo patent. I believe we’ll prevail but TiVo, we’re going to have conversations with TiVo one way or the other about how we work together, and again, I’m just stubborn. I know this case inside and out. I’ve sat through trials. I’ve sat through the engineering models. I’ve sat and had the best and the brightest explain this to us, and I’m just stubborn. We don’t violate their intellectual property today, and I want to prove that. And so we’re going to go to the September 4th hearing and see who is right and so far, TiVo has been right.

We’re a month away from the September 4th hearing, when we’ll see the next chapter in this ongoing saga play out.

Disclaimer: I’m employed by Sling Media, which is owned by EchoStar, which also has Charlie Ergen as CEO.

Posted in Dish Network, TiVo | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Western Digital 500GB My DVR Expander eSATA Just $131.99 At Buy.com

Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 by MegaZone

Thanks to my friend Jer for the heads up on this great deal. Buy.com is selling the TiVo-approved Western Digital 500GB My DVR Expander eSATA External Hard Drive for just $131.99 – and that’s with free shipping. That’s a great deal, Buy.com has the list price as $179.99 and TiVo.com still lists them for the old $199.99 MSRP. This is the only eSATA drive officially sanctioned by TiVo for use with the TiVo Series3 and the TiVo HD. I’ve had one connected to my Series3 for quite a while and it works great.

EDIT: Reader Mike Turpin points out that you can get the same deal through Amazon.com from the seller BuyNow Incorporated (see the ‘More Buying Choices’ on the right) and avoid the sales tax Buy.com charges in several states. BuyNow Incorporated is really Buy.com, so it is the same deal, without tax for those who would be charged from Buy.com. Thanks Mike!

Posted in TiVo | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Blu-ray And Downloads, Two Great Tastes That Go Great Together

Posted on Friday, August 1, 2008 by MegaZone

They may not be ebony and ivory, but as I’ve said in the past, Blu-ray and video downloads can live together in perfect harmony. When I see people saying things like ‘Blu-ray is DOA’ because downloads will kill it, I tend to either snicker or roll my eyes, or both. Because, while I agree that someday downloads will probably kill off physical media, that day is years away. Many years. People point to music download services, like iTunes, as an example – and I’ll point out that the vast majority of music is still sold on physical media, and downloads have a long way to go before they kill CD. (I buy all of my music via download, CD is a last resort.) And video downloads are many times the size of music downloads.

With video downloads it is always a compromise between speed and quality. For instant gratification you have streaming video, but that’s the lowest quality. Broadband speed limitations restrict the maximum possible streaming bitrates. Downloads can offer higher bitrates, but still require fat pipes to be feasible, and, of course, storage. But even the best download services don’t come close to matching the picture quality of Blu-ray, because they can’t match the bitrates. And don’t even get into bonus features, lossless audio (Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD-MA), multiple audio and subtitle tracks, etc. With most commercial Blu-ray titles using between 30GB or more of disc capacity, we’re not going to be downloading content at that quality in the near future.

So I was a little gratified to see this article in CE Pro, entitled Blu-ray and Downloads: Why Both Are Worth Offering. CE Pro is an industry magazine with a primary audience of consumer electronics professionals, the kind of folks who install custom systems in high end homes. The article focuses on Blu-ray for physical media and VUDU for downloads, but Amazon Unbox on TiVo, iTunes on Apple TV, Xbox 360, PlayStation3, NetFlix, etc, are all possible broadband video options for the consumer. Downloads aren’t about to replace discs for those who prefer a quality viewing experience, but downloads offer the kind of instant gratification that discs can’t match. I think having both available is the best approach, the best of both worlds.

Posted in Amazon Unbox, Blu-ray/HD DVD, Broadband, DVD, TiVo, VUDU | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This Weekend’s Amazon Unbox Sale

Posted on Friday, August 1, 2008 by MegaZone

This weekend Amazon Unbox isn’t really offering much. No 99-cent rentals this time around. The only deal appears to be the $5.99 Summer Movie Sale, with 14 titles for purchase at $5.99 each.

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