The video also clearly states the requirements for streaming in high quality (HQ) mode. SlingPlayer for iPad and SlingPlayer for Android tablets require 800kbps over 3G or 4G networks, and 1200kbps over WiFi. SlingPlayer for iPhone/iPod Touch, SlingPlayer for Android phones, and SlingPlayer for Windows Phone requires 500kbps over 3G or 4G networks and 800kbps over WiFi. Note those are the minimum speeds required for streaming HQ, higher speeds will provide better quality. If you can’t get those speeds you should stream in standard quality (SQ) mode. If you leave SlingPlayer it ‘auto’ it should figure it out and set the mode correctly.

Now, just to get this out of the way, the Android app is slated to get these features in ‘summer’. And the long-awaited Android tablet app should finally arrive in ‘spring’. TiVo, please, release one Android app that runs on all Android devices – the Android SDK supports it. It is silly when we get multiple apps for different devices. So, my fellow Android users, be patient.

One of the most notable changes is the new Browse UI:

There’s also a lot more usability to the app when you’re away from home. For S4 users you can see and modify My Shows, the To Do List, and the Season Pass Manager. S3 users can view (but not modify) their To Do List, and view & modify their Season Pass Manager.

You can also now create a WishList Search from within the app. And when you re-order you Season Passes you can continue to use the app without waiting for the list to finish re-prioritizing. And all of the images in the app are now ‘retina’ quality, just in time for the new iPad. Here’s the complete list of improvements:

What’s New in Version 1.9
New features for iPad:
-Graphical full-screen Browse experience that makes it much faster and easier to find new shows and movies
-Collapsible folders

New features for iPhone:
-Added new retina images for iPhone displays

Other new features for both iPad and iPhone:
-Added “Keep Until I Delete” option for shows in My Shows
-Added recording options for shows set to record in the To Do List
-Create WishList for shows that aren’t airing right now
-Added My Shows, To Do List, Season Pass manager capability in Away mode for Series4 DVRs
-Added To Do List/Season Pass manager capability for Series3 DVRs
-Make Away mode more resilient to network drops
-Can use app while Season Pass recordings are reprioritizing
-Added new icons to My Shows
-Add live TV padding notification when recording a live event on TV
-Added Facebook single sign-on for easier Facebook login

Multiple performance enhancements and bug fixes including:
-Guide scrolling ahead by days bug fixed
-Allow background music to continue playing while using the app

*For DVR Discovery issues, please make sure your router firmware is up to date or contact customer support if you are still having problems

Now, as an Android-only household, I can’t wait to see these improvements on my devices.

On today’s call Tom Rogers stated that the transcoding box would ship “later this year”, which I believe is the first firm public statement.

From a technical perspective, based on my conversations with TiVo, the unit that comes to market will probably resemble the unit previewed at CES, but it may not be exactly the same. It is planned to be an Ethernet only device, most likely installed near the router in the home. It will stream content from TiVo Premiere units using the same system as the Premiere-to-Premiere Multi-Room Streaming (MRS) available today. The content will then be transcoded to H.264 and forwarded to devices running TiVo’s client app – such as Android or iOS phones and tablets. Users will be able to view the streams in real time, or they can be saved on the device for later viewing – which is how side-loading is accomplished.

The hardware itself is powered by Zenverge, so it looks like my prior speculation was close to the mark. However, the unit is not planned to have MoCA. I asked Jim Denney about this and he said that MoCA was considered, but given the envisioned use case it was felt that the added cost wasn’t justified. And after discussing it with him, I see his point. Even if the TiVo units are on MoCA, that MoCA network will need to be connected to a non-MoCA network to reach the client devices. And that connection point is a logical place to connect the transcoding box. It doesn’t really make sense to connect it to the MoCA network when it’d have to send the transcoded signal back over the same network to eventually be bridged off to the client network. Keeping the unit dirt simple – just a power connection and Ethernet – keeps it small and keeps the component costs down.

From a capability standpoint, the unit can accept and transcode up to four streams simultaneously. And on today’s call Rogers made the interesting comment that it could be a recording, or LiveTV. I believe the latter is new. Today streaming is only between units that have their own tuners, either Premiere-to-Premiere or Premiere-to-Preview, so there isn’t a need to grab a tuner on the remote device for ‘live’ TV. But for those who want to watch live on a second screen device, it’d be a necessity. (As well as for another application that’s coming, but I’ll leave that for another post. )

I asked about the streaming technology – is it based on Sling Media or Monsoon Multimedia, or anyone else? It is not. It is an in-house implementation using Zenverge’s silicon and developer tools. So it is unique, and the clients will come from TiVo. That gives me some hope. While Sling & Monsoon Multimedia treat their clients as a revenue stream, TiVo has been giving away their client software. And since you need a TiVo with an active subscription to use this transcoding box they have that revenue stream to draw upon. Rather than milking the customer for anther payment, I’m hopeful they will continue to provide the client software for free, relying on the sales of the hardware, and the TiVo subscription, for revenue.

If they do this it also makes me hopeful that they might publish the client APIs for 3rd parties to build support, as well as create clients for other platforms that aren’t Android or iOS. But that might be a bridge too far since I’m sure they’ll need to protect the content to keep the content owners happy, and that means they couldn’t tell others how to decrypt.

From my conversation with Jessica & Jim, the current plan is for streaming within the home, with side-loading for ‘on the go’ viewing. But not for place shifting streaming content outside of the home. Jim & I talked about this for a while, since I’m a long time Slingbox user and for me streaming beats side-loading hands down. He made the valid point that side-loading has some popular use cases – the most obvious is for when streaming isn’t an option, such as on an airplane. I know parents also use it to load up a bunch of their kids’ favorite shows to whip out on demand to pacify them, etc. So I’m not going to argue against side loading. It isn’t a use case that really interests me, but I acknowledge that it is valid.

As far as streaming outside of the home, Jim was sure to stress that it has not been “designed out” of the product. It isn’t currently planned, but it is something that could be added if there is demand. A lot of the concern is over quality of the experience, bandwidth requirements, etc. I made the point that I’ve been using a Slingbox since I had 768kbps upstream ADSL and only 2.5G EDGE data on my phone, giving me maybe 200kbps if I was lucky, and it was usable even with 320×240 resolution. And these days I have a 5Mbps uplink and 4G LTE on my phone, which has a 720p screen and HDMI output capabilities.

I’ve streamed HD video from my Slingbox PRO-HD from Worcester, MA to Seattle, WA and viewed it on my laptop while I’m out there for work. Being able to access my personal content at home, in real time, while I’m on the road just can’t be matched by side-loading. So I’m strongly in favor of TiVo enabling remote streaming as well. I argued that bandwidth costs continue to drop as speeds continue to increase, and device capabilities have never been greater. Now more than ever before streaming is viable.

I felt it was a good discussion and that TiVo is very much open to feedback on this issue. So it’d be good to hear from the user base. Do you want remote streaming? Or does local streaming and side-loading meet your needs?

No pricing or specific release dates are available at this time, so I can’t comment on that. But if they can bring this to market at a decent price point I think this would be very attractive, especially if they add remote streaming. By way of comparison, the DirecTV Nomad is $149, but you also need to subscribe to the Nomad Mobile DVR Service. My impression of this TiVo unit is that it is a one-time purchase, so it may retail for more than the Nomad. By while the Nomad is strictly store-and-forward side-loading, with real-time transcoding, the TiVo unit does streaming and side-loading, and it sounds like it will transcode for side-loading in better than real time.

I, for one, would be very interested in getting my hands on one of these units.

Android phones:

Android tablets:

Kindle Fire:

iPhone:

iPad:

Windows Phone 7:

Web:

Sure, it isn’t an iPad 2, but even the Wi-Fi only 16GB iPad 2 sells new for $509.00. Amazon still sells this same model new for $554.97, and the full MSRP is $829.00. So this is a pretty solid deal. Grab one before they’re gone.

Cyber Sale, 2 Days Only, Sunday-Monday. Online Only.
Sunday-Monday Only: Free $10 e-Gift Card with Store Pickup Orders of $100 or More.

Sunday-Monday Only: Acer Iconia Tablet with 8GB Memory, Sale $229.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Targus Truss Leather Case/Stand for Acer Iconia A500 Tablet, Sale $24.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Logitech Tablet Keyboard for Apple® iPad® or Android 3.0+ Tablets, Sale $35.99 each.
Sunday-Monday Only: ION Audio iCADE Arcade Cabinet for Apple® iPad® and iPad 2, Sale $49.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Kobo eReader Touch Edition, Sale $99.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Gateway All-In-One Computer with 500GB Hard Drive, and 2GB DDR3 Memory, Just $399.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Asus Desktop with AMD Processor, 500GB Hard Drive, and 4GB DDR3 Memory, Just $349.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: AOC 20” Widescreen LED Computer Monitor, Sale $89.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: SanDisk Cruzer 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive, Sale $8.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: HP 2200 Webcam, Sale $7.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great Computing, Tablet, and E-Reader Deals.

Sunday-Monday Only: LG 32” Class ED 720p HDTV for $299.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great Home Theater Deals.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great iPod and MP3 Player Deals.
Sunday-Monday Only: All iPods on Sale.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great Music and Movies Deals.

Sunday-Monday Only: Xbox 360 Kinect Sensor, Sale $99.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Select Kinect Games On Sale.
Sunday-Monday Only: Select Pre-Owned Games, $19.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Buy Any Sims 3 Base, Expansion, or Stuff Pack, get the Second Item Free.
Sunday-Monday Only: $50 Off GoldenEye 007: Reloaded Double ‘O’ Edition Bundle for OPS3, Sale $99.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great Gaming and Gadget Deals.

Sunday-Monday Only: 25%-40% Off Select Digital Cameras.
Sunday-Monday Only: Free Bag and Memory Card with Select Digital Cameras.
Sunday-Monday Only: Free Bag with Select DSLR Cameras.
Sunday-Monday Only: 19%-41% Off Select Digital Camcorders.
Sunday-Monday Only: 5%-50% Off Select Digital Photo Frames.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great Digital Camera and Camcorder Deals.

Sunday-Monday Only: Motorola Droid 3 Mobile Phone, Free with a new 2-Year Contract from Verizon and Activation.
Sunday-Monday Only: HTC Wildfire S Mobile Phone, Free with a new 2-Year Contract from T-Mobile and Activation.
Sunday-Monday Only: Boost Mobile BlackBerry Style 9670 No-Contract Mobile Phone, Sale $149.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Virgin Mobile BlackBerry Curve 8530 No-Contract Mobile Phone, Sale $99.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Platinum Series MobileDock Dash/Windshield Mount, Sale $9.99.
Sunday-Monday Only: Great Mobile Phone Deals.

While the last round of deals included a link for the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer the link never seemed to work. The deal was only available in stores. I managed to grab one as a gift for someone else. I was still up at 4am Friday so I ran over to my local Best Buy. The Transformer was a ticketed item and all of the tickets were gone, but I managed to social engineer a tablet and keyboard dock from a Blue Shirt in a different department without a ticket. I normally wouldn’t go near a store on Black Friday, but $250 for the tablet and $100 for the dock was a very good deal.

The Wi-Drive supports 801.11g/n networking so up to three iDevices can access content stored on the Wi-Drive simultaneously – iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. It also acts as a sharing hub so you can share media from your device with the others connected to the Wi-Drive. You just need the free Wi-Drive app.

Kingston even put together a cheesy video showing how it can be used:

The MSRP on this is $59.95, and Amazon sells it for $49.94, but Woot! is offering the L5 Universal Remote for iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad for only $19.99 + $5 S&H. That’s half of Amazon’s price – and this is new, not refurbished. $20 for touchscreen universal remote capabilities is not much to ask, especially when it is a $60 product.

What about the rest? Windows came in a distant, distant third with 2.4% of the market on 400,000 units shipped. Which double’s RIM’s 200,000 Playbooks shipped. 500,000 other tablets shipped, many of those likely WebOS TouchPads HP dumped on the market.

With the TouchPad out of the market and the Playbook stagnant, and Windows 8 tablets still a ways off, iOS and Android should take even more of the market this quarter. And Android should take more market share from iOS as more Android tablets hit the shelves, not the least of which will be the $200 Amazon Kindle Fire. Well, if you can really call it an Android tablet given how heavily customized it is.

Via The Register.

Taking this a giant step further, at the CTIA conference which kicks off this week, Myriad will be demonstrating their Alien Dalvik 2.0 software. This allows Android apps to be run on other platforms – smart TVs, non-Android mobile phones, e-books, automotive systems, avionics, and tablets – including Apple’s iPad. In fact, they’ll be demonstrating Android apps running on an iPad at the show.

Alien Dalvik 2.0 is the first step towards creating a single app standard and marks yet another key milestone for Myriad Android innovations. Alien Dalvik 2.0 enables the majority of Android apps to run unmodified using Android Package (APK) files. This in turn allows app store owners and publishers to quickly transcend multiple platforms and screens, leveraging existing software and middleware, all without compromising performance. Furthermore, Alien Dalvik 2.0 enables developers to create once and use many times, while allowing operators, OEMs, and even enterprise to streamline app rollout – taking the headache out of platform fragmentation and content management.

Read the full press release for more. They haven’t released any videos of Alien Dalvik 2.0, but here’s one of the original Alien Dalvik release running Android apps on a Nokia N900:

Amazon today launched three new Kindle models, the base Kindle, the Kindle Touch (also in 3G), and the Kindle Fire. The existing Kindle Keyboard (and 3G) and Kindle DX remain available for now. You can compare the different models by clicking on the image to the right.

The base model, known simple as Kindle, has a 6″ 600×800 sixteen shades of grey E-Ink display with 2GB of memory, 1.25GB user available. It measures 6.5″ x 4.5″ x 0.34″ and weights 5.98 ounces. It has 802.11b/g/n networking and USB connectivity. It does not have 3G. It is 30% lighter and 18% smaller than the old model, but a lot of that savings comes from not having a keyboard. Text input requires using the D-pad and buttons to scroll around and on-screen keyboard and selecting one letter at a time. It is really a read-only device. It is available at two price points – “with special offers” (aka advertising) for $79.00 and without for $109.00.

The Kindle Touch has the same 6″ 600×800 sixteen shades of grey E-Ink display, but, as you might have guessed from the name, it is a touch screen. As such the Kindle Touch does away with the D-Pad and buttons and relies on the screen for input.

The Kindle Touch also adds audio with built in speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack, which allows for music playback, audio books, and text-to-speech. It measures 6.8″ x 4.7″ x 0.40″ and weighs 7.5 ounces. Connectivity is via 802.11b/g/n and USB. Total storage is 4GB with 3GB user available. It is also available at two price points – $99.00 with special offers, and $139.00 without.

If you need connectivity on the go there is also the Kindle Touch 3G. It has all of the features of the Kindle Touch, with the addition of 3G support. It uses HSDPA, with a fall-back to EDGE/GPRS, on AT&T’s network in the US. It is slightly heavier at 7.8 ounces, but everything else is the same. It is slightly more expensive – $149.00 with special offers and $189.00 without.

Of course the big story of the day, the one everyone was anticipating, is the release of Amazon’s new ‘Android Tablet’, the Kindle Fire. There has been a lot of speculation and hype about this, and a lot of high expectations – and a lot of people may be disappointed. This is not and iPad competitor, let alone an iPad killer. I wouldn’t even call this an Android Tablet, because that implies a lot that is not true about this device. This is not an Android tablet, this is a media access device closely linked with Amazon’s ecosystem, that just happens to be built on top of Android. It is not aimed at the iPad, it is aimed at the Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor.

As a generic Android tablet it would be fairly limited. It measures 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ and weighs 14.6 ounces. It has a 1GHz dual-core CPU, an unknown amount of RAM, a 7″ 1024×600 color LCD touchscreen, only 8GB of storage that is not expandable (no microSD), and 802.11b/g/n. It has no cameras, no HDMI, no GPS, no 3G/4G, and no Bluetooth. And it is based Android 2.3 Gingerbread, not Android 3.0 Honeycomb. But, as I said, that’s not what this is. The user interface looks nothing like Android, it is a completely custom UI designed for Amazon’s services. There are no home screens, no widgets, no notification bar, nothing you’d expect from Android. Instead there is a ‘bookshelf’ interface that shows you books, media, and apps.

Yes, there are apps. There is no access to the Android Market, but, unsurprisingly, you can acquire apps from the Amazon App Store. It is all part of Amazon’s end to end integration. You buy your books from the Kindle Store, your music from Amazon’s MP3 store, and your videos from Amazon Instant Video. And yes, the free Amazon Prime streaming videos are supported. You only need 8GB of storage because you have unlimited storage in Amazon’s cloud for all content you acquire for Amazon – another way they encourage you to stay on the reservation.

If you want a tablet to use for productivity and general computing on the go, this is not the device for you. Buy a full fledged Android tablet and install the Amazon App Store, the Kindle App, the Amazon MP3 App, etc. You’ll have access to the same content, just not the integrated Amazon UI.

If you’re a heavy Amazon content user and you want a high-end portable media player that only costs $199.00, check out the Kindle Fire. It will be available November 15, 2011 and pre-orders are open now.

But do note that, while it bears the Kindle brand, it sacrifices most of the advantages of the other kindle devices. Since it uses a color LCD display instead of greyscale E-Ink battery life is measured in hours – 8 hours of reading or 7.5 hours of video – instead of the 1-2 months for the other devices. And it suffers from the same screen glare and washout issues as any other LCD device, so you won’t be able to view it in direct sunlight like the other Kindles. This is not your ‘read a book at the beach’ device.

The Kindle Fire looks like a great device, well designed for what it is. Just don’t expect it to be something it isn’t.

Along with the Kindle Fire, Amazon announced a new web browser, Amazon Silk. Silk is different from most other web browsers in that it has a split architecture. It lives on both the Kindle Fire and in Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). Instead of directly pulling all of the content to the device and rendering it there, browsing requests go through the EC2. Content is pulled into the cloud and processed there before delivering and optimized result to the device. Since it is running through the cloud Amazon can also do clever things like cache commonly used content and even use aggregate behavior data to pre-fetch content it expects you to load next. If you’re looking at the front page of CNN they know which pages most users look at next and can pre-fetch that content to have it staged in the cloud for fast delivery.

Amazon is touting this as a new idea, but it isn’t really. Way back in the late 90s Palm used this kind of proxy pre-processing system to digest content for display on their early wireless devices, to accommodate their limitations. More recently Opera Turbo, the Skyfire browser, the Bolt browser, and probably others used similar systems to speed up page loading, provide Flash content to iOS devices, etc. But Amazon’s Silk benefits from their massive EC2 infrastructure, and their likely-to-be-huge user base which will provide them with the data they need for optimized caching and pre-fetching.

The existing Kindle models have also been repriced – the Kindle Keyboard is $99.00 with special offers and $139.00 without, the Kindle Keyboard 3G is $139.00 with and $189.00 without, and the Kindle DX (which has a 9.7″ screen and 3G) is $379.00.

The Amazon homepage announcement is below:

You’ll be able to use the app to share what shows you’re watching and your ratings with your friends on Facebook. They’ll then be able to use those ratings in the app to discover content, see what their friends are watching, and maybe check out those shows themselves. You’ll be able to discuss your shows, movies, etc, with Facebook friends – whether they’re TiVo subscribers or not.

I know a lot of people are going to think this is pointless or something they won’t use, etc. And that’s fine. No one has to use this if it isn’t something they want. But I think this is a good move for TiVo and I’ve been suggesting that they do something like this for years. (Actually I’ll dig up a comment I left on Facebook a while back and make that my next post.) I want to see TiVo integrate with social media like Facebook and Twitter to allow users to share what they’re watching, which shows they like, etc. I think it increases the value of the TiVo platform and the ‘stickiness’ which helps keep users engaged, and also helps draw others to the platform. If they do it right I think this will be good for TiVo and TiVo users.

I have one minor disappointment with this announcement – it relies on the external app. While I’m still waiting for the promised Android version (and trying to remain patient…), I’d really like to see these features built into the TiVo. With the HW in the Premiere and the Flash app platform I think they’d be able to do an overlay. With the TiVo Slide remote it would be pretty easy to send out a quick Facebook update or Tweet right from the screen. I hope we see this kind of thing in the future. But, in the meantime, support via the app is a good step forward, IMHO.

The updated iOS apps, with the new Facebook integration, will roll out later this year.

The full press release is below:

TiVo Integrates with Facebook® Platform to Define the Future of Social TV

TiVo iPad and iPhone Apps to Add Deeper Facebook Integration Layering Friends’ Recommendations and Real-Time Viewing Activity over TiVo’s Smart Search, Browse and Suggestion Features

Alviso, Calif., September 22, 2011 – TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and leader in advanced television services including digital video recorders (DVRs), announced in conjunction with f8, Facebook’s developer conference, that it will update its popular iPhone and iPad apps to include additional integration with Facebook® to increase Social TV functionality. Facebook’s newly announced Like and Watch integrations with the enhanced Facebook APIs which will allow people who use the TiVo® service to further connect with family, friends, and subscribers around the entertainment they love to offer an added layer of recommendations further enabling TiVo lovers to enjoy brilliant TV from the world’s only smart DVR.

The improved Facebook integration creates a social guide for people to expand their typical entertainment choices by discovering new programs through the recommendations of their Facebook friends. TiVo users will be able to discover programs their Facebook friends endorse with the Like feature, or view what shows their friends are currently enjoying with the Watch feature and immediately schedule a recording or watch live based on those recommendations. And because the TiVo iPad and iPhone apps are linked to the TiVo DVR, TiVo users can feature the program they’re watching to their friends and subscribers on Facebook with a flick of their finger.

“When we launched the TiVo apps for iPhone and iPad earlier this year, we did so with the goal of expanding the ways TiVo lovers can interact with people, the web, and the entertainment they’re viewing while they watch TV. With this improved Facebook integration, TiVo users can discover things to watch from the new social guide, and can feature their entertainment experiences and choices with their friends,” said Jim Denney, Vice President and General Manager of product marketing for TiVo Inc. “Through full integration with the set-top box, TiVo is defining the future of Social TV by offering a new way for people to connect and interact on the second screen in a way that is fully integrated with their actual TV watching experience.”

The TiVo App retains its unique and easy-to-use interface and lets people peruse TiVo’s hallmark search, browse and recommendation functions, without disrupting what they are watching on the big screen. As people connect and interact with the Social TV features on the TiVo app, they will have more robust access to suggested programming provided by their networks on Facebook.

The improved integrations will launch on the TiVo app later this year. The TiVo App is available for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

The TiVo App for iPhone supports all high definition TiVo DVRs, including TiVo Premiere, Premiere XL, Series3™, HD and HD XL.* Series2 and non-TiVo users can still sample the TiVo experience through the apps Guest Mode. Users can browse, search and scroll through program and channel guides and experience the simplicity of the TiVo interface. A valid TiVo user account is required for full functionality.

For more information on the TiVo app please visit www.tivo.com/ipad.

*TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVR users will enjoy the app’s guide, scheduling, remote control, search and explore features, but these users should anticipate a smaller set of features and capabilities than TiVo Premiere users.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

# # #

About TiVo Inc.

Founded in 1997, TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO – News) developed the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). TiVo offers the TiVo service and TiVo DVRs directly to consumers online at www.TiVo.com and through third-party retailers. TiVo also distributes its technology and services through solutions tailored for cable, satellite and broadcasting companies. Since its founding, TiVo has evolved into the ultimate single solution media center by combining its patented DVR technologies and universal cable box capabilities with the ability to aggregate, search, and deliver millions of pieces of broadband, cable, and broadcast content directly to the television. An economical, one-stop-shop for in-home entertainment, TiVo’s intuitive functionality and ease of use puts viewers in control by enabling them to effortlessly navigate the best digital entertainment content available through one box, with one remote, and one user interface, delivering the most dynamic user experience on the market today. TiVo also continues to weave itself into the fabric of the media industry by providing interactive advertising solutions and audience research and measurement ratings services to the television industry www.TiVo.com

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to, among other things, specific TiVo products and timing of distribution of those products. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “estimate,” “continue,” or similar expressions or the negative of those terms or expressions. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include delays in development, competitive service offerings and lack of market acceptance, as well as the other potential factors described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2011, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended April 30, 2011, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect an analysis only and speak only as of the date hereof. TiVo disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

From the press release the app sounds like a clone of the US app with a few tweaks to reflect the unique aspects of Virgin Media’s service. The images below are from the release.

But I did find more, the July 2011 DirecTV training video (also streaming) includes a bit about Nomad starting at the 12:15 mark. The site requires a login, but if you’re reading this you’re probably clever enough to find it online.

The video content itself isn’t really worth posting, you don’t see much. But the information given is useful. To have the Nomad you must have an HR20 through HR24 or R22 and they must be connected to the Internet. Only one Nomad is allowed per account, you must have active DirecTV DVR service, and the account must have MRV capability. The customer’s broadband service must be active during installation. At launch, wireless capability will be available in iPhone and Android clients, as well as a PC client. You’ll need to add the Nomad Mobile DVR service to the account. Also, it appears that the Nomad box requires a physical Ethernet connection – but it doesn’t need to be collocated with the DirecTV box so you can stick it with your router, etc.

Based on the video the Nomad pulls content from your DirecTV DVR over the network via DECA/SWiM and transcodes it. That jibes with the need for MRV on the account and how the unit is connected. From the brief look at the back of the unit in the video it looks like it only has power, Ethernet, and maybe a USB port. Note that also means it will not work with the new DirecTiVo as that does not support MRV, according to the info available. (Maybe in a future update.)

Unfortunately, the video isn’t clear on if Nomad provides streaming support, ala Slingbox, or simply transcodes video and makes a copy for your mobile device, ala TiVoToGo. The graphics, to me, imply wireless streaming, but I can’t say they’re conclusive and the narration never states anything either way. There are numerous discussion threads about Nomad around the net, some of which mention being able to take videos on an airplane, which would mean copying. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t stream, they’re not mutually exclusive. A survey from last year (the Nomad was first expected in late 2010 – the DirecTiVo isn’t the only delayed release) implied copying and streaming as well.

The rumor is that DirecTV is working with Morega on the Nomad. Morega and DirecTV are both members of the RVU Alliance. In July Morega received a patent on their system for ‘TV Everywhere’, and the info in their press release does jibe with the rumors around Nomad:

Morega Systems, a developer of content portability solutions, revealed today that the company received patent approval for its breakthrough content portability technology. This unique content delivery solution gives satellite, cable and IPTV service providers, and equipment manufacturers a better way to extend premium, multimedia content beyond the television and the set-top box to support the Connected Home and TV Everywhere.
…
Today, the predominant way to “placeshift” content – in other words, to deliver content to any device such as a mobile phone, tablet, or a PC – to support TV Everywhere is by streaming content across a broadband network connection. But Morega’s technology takes TV Everywhere to a new level by allowing consumers to placeshift via two methods: adaptive bit rate streaming with quality-of-service or sideloading. With Morega’s unique sideloading solution, authorized users can securely download content either directly from the cloud or from a set-top box onto alternative viewing devices.

This solves two key challenges posed by cloud-based mobile video delivery solutions: First, streaming or sideloading from cable, satellite or IPTV networks at the edge is much more bandwidth-efficient to the operators and requires fewer network resources for transcoded content management and storage. Second, it preserves the original broadcast ads while providing the ability to track and report mobile viewing metrics. Also, with the sideloading option, users no longer need a broadband network connection to view the content.

In addition, Morega’s sideloading technology uses a sophisticated back-office, standards-based and proprietary authentication, encryption and digital rights management (DRM) system to protect copyrighted material and to assure the delivery of high-quality video entertainment content.
…
The new patent specifically covers the transcoding, streaming and downloading of premium content from a video source to a mobile platform such as a smartphone or a laptop or tablet computer. It also covers Morega’s unique approach to track, restrict and monetize premium content via digital rights management (DRM), which leverages both industry standards from the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) and Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP), as well as proprietary methods to protect copyrighted material and assure high-quality video when customers securely download content from either a set-top box or directly from the cloud.

That sounds a lot like what’s expected from Nomad. Also, DirecTV is known to use DTCP-IP with the DirecTV2PC offering today.

There is a thread at DBSTalk with a lot of info sprinkled about. Keep in mind this is all leaked info from a discussion thread and not official information. Reportedly, it does use MRV and the transfers count as one available MRV stream. Transfers happen in real time. The unit has 16GB internal storage and supports up to 2TB of external storage via the USB port. Content is transcoded to H.264 and ‘down converted’ from the original, but no word on what the resolution of the mobile versions will be. (Given the growing number of HD displays on mobile devices, and HDMI output, hopefully not too low.) Content will obey the ‘maximum entitlement date’ – aka expiration date, as set when recorded. (So something that says you can keep it on your DVR only 7 days also stops working via Nomad in 7 days.) It definitely does copying, but the general sense from the thread is that it does not stream. (But no one seems to know for sure on the streaming.)

If it doesn’t do streaming that would be disappointing. DISH Network has their SlingLoaded 922 DVR and the Sling add-on for the 722 DVR which both stream in realtime. And, of course, anyone can connect a Slingbox to just about any video source and stream. Copying is a nice feature for use when streaming isn’t an option, such as on an airplane, but the clear trend is toward streaming services – not just traditional place shifting via Sling Media and Monsoon, but OTT providers such as Netflix and Hulu and MSO services like Comcast’s Xfinity. With the growth of 3G, and now 4G, services, and the ubiquity of WiFi, having to plan ahead and pre-load copies just seems archaic. And if you’re on an extended business trip you can’t access anything on your DVR at home that recorded after you left. So it is useless for keeping up with your shows on the road.

I really hope it does streaming, or they have concrete plans to add it shortly after launch, or I think the Slingbox will remain a better option. Especially if this thread is correct and Nomad costs $150. You can get a Slingbox SOLO for that, and a Slingbox PRO-HD for just over a hundred more.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

How things can change in a year.

For the second quarter of 2011 the iPad’s share of the market dropped to 61.3%, while Android tablets had clawed their way up to claim 30% of tablet sales. You might’ve noticed that, jointly, they claimed 91.3% this year – but 96.9% last year. So where did the rest go? Well, coming in at number three, Windows tablets claimed 4.6%. Yes, Windows tablets. What about RIM’s PlayBook, which launched during the quarter? It managed a measly 3.3%. These figures are according to a study by market research firm Strategy Analytics.

We’ll have to see how they all fair this quarter, and we have a new entrant in the fight, the HP WebOS Touchpad. But the wave of Android tablets also continues to build. The best selling Android tablet, and second best selling tablet overall, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer could’ve sold even more if not for supply issues. Asus seems to have ironed out the issues, and the supply of Transformers has already begun ramping up and will continue to do so. The T-Mobile G-Slate (aka LG Optimus Pad) shipped just before the end of the last quarter. The Toshiba Thrive has just launched.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 is slated to launch next month, sliding in between the 7 and 10.1 inch models, giving consumers more choice. Lenovo has just announced the IdeaPad K1, aimed at consumers, and the ThinkPad Tablet, which is aimed more toward business users – right at the RIM PlayBook. The delayed Cisco Cius, also aimed at businesses, will ship at the end of the month. Archos has a couple of models pending, Vizio has their tablet, etc.

The reality seems very different from the impression you’d get reading articles about the tablet market. From the articles you’d think that everyone wants an iPad and no one is buying anything else. Sales of Android tablets have been weak, makers are even considering pulling out of the market, it is all doom and gloom. Android Honeycomb, the first version of Android optimized for tablets, only released in late February with the Motorola Xoom. That’s when the Android tablet market kicked off for real.

Remember how dismissive articles about Android phones were in 2009 – right up until the Motorola Droid hit the streets with Android 2.0? In the year and a half since then which mobile OS has taken the top spot in sales? It’s been less than five months since Honeycomb hit the streets. 30% of the global tablet market. Let’s see what things look like at the end of the year, by which time Ice Cream Sandwich will be out too.

Report figures via Boy Genius Report.

Asus was largely responsible for the explosion of the netbook market, with their Eee PC line. The Eee PC was one of the most popular, and best selling, netbook lines. So it probably shouldn’t be a big surprise that the Eee Pad Transformer is doing well in the tablet market. It has a solid combination of features, on par with the other leading Android tablets (same screen size & resolution, same CPU, same OS) and arguably better HW specs than the iPad 2, a relatively low price – lower than the other Android tablets and the iPad 2, and great flexibility with the available keyboard dock – which basically makes it a netbook, something Asus knows how to do well.

Asustek’s tablet shipments are expected to grow further in the third quarter, the sources said. The company has requested its touch panel providers supply a monthly target of 400,000-500,000 units during the quarter, the sources noted.

Asus has apparently set an even loftier stretch goal of shipping 4-4.5 million tablets in the second half of the year, based on reported contract orders.

As you’re probably sick of hearing me say by now, I’m kind of stuck in an indecision loop between buying the Transformer or the Toshiba Thrive. They both have features the other does not that I find appealing.

Via PC World.

Orb Networks has launched a new service, Orb Live, which allows you to stream content from your Windows PC or Mac to your Android or iOS device for $9.99 – with no ongoing fees. Much like PlayOn, Orb Live uses Orb Caster on your PC or Mac as a proxy server. This allows you to stream premium content to your phone even if an app is not yet available for your platform. The content is streamed to your PC, then re-encoded and streamed to your phone. But note this could kill your bandwidth cap since this is a double-whammy – you have the stream coming in and the stream going back out.

But if you really want to get content on your mobile device and there isn’t a native app option, now you have this.

Full press release below:

Jul 18, 2011 08:10 ET

Orb Networks Launches First Service to Provide Free Streaming of Premium Online TV Shows, Sports and Movies to Mobile Phones

— New $9.99 Orb Live App Makes it Easy to Watch TV Shows and More on an iPhone or Android Device

OAKLAND, Calif., July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Orb Networks (www.orb.com) is putting out the call to TV lovers today with the announcement of its new Orb Live app — the first service that enables consumers to stream the vast majority of popular premium online TV shows, sports, movies and more directly to their iPhone or Android devices. For TV viewing anywhere and anytime, Orb Live makes it simple and affordable for people to watch shows from Hulu, ABC, CBS, Fox, ESPN and more, with its unique technology that streams TV shows for free to a mobile phone.

Orb Live is the first service to stream free, ad-supported Hulu to mobile devices. Priced at only $9.99, with no subscription fees, Orb Live opens up a whole new world of entertainment options for mobile phone users, with thousands of TV shows available. Orb Live features premium online content, including full TV show episodes – which until now could only be watched through your computer’s web browser. With Orb Live, consumers can also watch a huge array of sports and movies via services such as Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand.

Mobile-video viewing saw a 41% rise from last year, according to a recent study by Nielsen Holdings N.V., and Orb Live is meeting this consumer demand for mobile TV and video viewing.

“Now consumers can use Orb Live to watch their favorite TV shows, sports and movies anywhere, on their mobile phone, without any additional subscription fees,” said Joe Costello, CEO and cofounder of Orb Networks. “No matter where they are, people can use their mobile phone to get the same great content that is available on their home PC for watching at the beach, on the soccer field, at the airport or on a commuter train.”

He added, “With this new version of Orb Live, we have also dramatically improved the streaming quality of the video to give users the best possible picture quality, at their current connection speed. As the connection moves up and down in quality, the video adjusts in real time to deliver the best picture and minimize the dreaded buffering so users always have access to their TV shows, movies and music.”

To help consumers easily find and watch their favorite shows, Orb Live features a powerful and easy-to-use global index of TV shows. Consumers simply type in the name of the show they want and then Orb quickly finds the show, without having to specify its source (e.g. Hulu, Netflix, ABC, CBS, etc).

The new version of Orb Live also provides consumers with all of the features of the original Orb Live, including live streaming of any music files, online music (Pandora, Sirius, etc.), video files (downloaded DivX/XviD files, home movies, etc.) photos and more to a mobile phone.

The new version of Orb Live for the iPhone is available immediately, with planned availability for the Android in mid-August. To get started, consumers download the free Orb Caster software from Orb.com to their PC or Mac and then download Orb Live from the App Store or Android Marketplace. Orb Live requires Edge, 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi network for connection to the Internet, to stream media via Orb Live to a mobile phone.

About Orb Networks

Based in Oakland, California, Orb Networks, Inc. is the leader in digital media streaming solutions for the digital home and remote access applications. In addition to Orb Live, Orb Networks offers the Orb Music Player ($79) that streams iTunes and Pandora to any home stereo. And, the Orb TV ($99) solution, with a hockey puck-sized device that plugs into a TV, enables consumers to stream online video content to a TV. The new OrbBR (Blu-ray) software works with an Internet-connected Blu-ray player and is easily controlled through a smart device or using any computer. For more information about Orb products, please visit www.orb.com.

SOURCE Orb Networks

CONTACT: Lisa Hendrickson, Commstrat for Orb Networks, +1-516-767-8390, lisa@commstrat.com

Web Site: http://www.orb.com

Hot on the heels of TiVo’s release of their updated iOS App in the US, and Virgin Media’s own release of an Android App with TiVo support in the UK, Virgin Media has now released an iOS App with TiVo support.

Via The Virgin Media TiVo Blog.

Joining the already available TiVo App for iPad, TiVo today released and app for iPhone and iPod Touch. The new App has full support for the TiVo Premiere, and partial support for the TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD. Additionally it seems the iPad App has also been updated with S3 & HD support.

From the press release:

Features of the TiVo App include:

• NEW! Guest Mode — Even if you don’t currently have a TiVo DVR, you can still sample the TiVo experience through the new Guest Mode. Users can browse, search and scroll through program and channel guides and experience the simplicity of the TiVo interface.
• NEW! TiVo Series3™ Support* — Now users who have TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVRs can also download the app to browse, search and schedule recordings as well as make use of the reinvention of the TiVo remote.
• Gesture-based controls — Take complete control of all recordings, even move forward and backward through a show with a simple tap or swipe.
• Program Guide — Browse your full-screen TV program guide without interrupting TV viewing.
• Schedule — Schedule one-time recordings and Season Pass® recordings from the device at home or on-the-go.
• Get more from your shows and movies — Explore cast and crew and other recommendations of your favorite shows without interrupting the big screen.
• Search — Search for all of your favorite TV shows, movies, actors or directors across both broadcast and broadband from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and more.
• Share comments with your friends — From within the TiVo App, comment and share your thoughts on your favorite programming on Facebook or Twitter.

* TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVR users will enjoy the app’s guide, scheduling, remote control, search and explore features, but these users should anticipate a smaller set of features and capabilities than TiVo Premiere users.

This feature matrix illustrates which app features are available for use with each TiVo platform:

Now, can we get some Android love? Please, Tivo?

Edited to add – TiVo also published a video demo: