SBC forges ahead

Techdirt:SBC Plows Ahead With IPTV, Dares Opponents To Sue

SBC is forging ahead with their hopes of "owning the pipe" for TV eventhough they may get sued quite a few times all over the place. TV is getting more interesting everyday.

Microsoft IPTV at Supercomm

Microsoft Showcases Software and Services for Telecommunications Providers at SUPERCOMM 2005

A neat mention of the MSN TV services that will be coming on IPTV, Windows Media Center PCs, and (hopefully) other devices. I've seen some of the protypes of the MSN TV services for other devices at it's looking very cool. I can't wait to get my hands on a working demo to play with it.

Tivo affecting Movie Theaters

Techdirt:Moviegoers Not Going The Theater To See Movies

Interesting article that shows people are going to movie theaters less because Tivo is "teaching" them to demand content on their own schedules. Plus the movie experience is starting to seriously suck: parents bringing infants to midnight shows of action movies, overpriced junky snacks, long lines, finding parking, etc. I mean come on. With super sweet home theater setups and content on your schedule becoming more common, who wants to go to the movies? I mean, I drive a 15 year old 27" Panasonic TV hooked up to the Tivo and I'm doing pretty good. Next year when Plasmas and LCD displays drop in price, I'm going to rock that in the living room and go to the movies even less than I do now.

The Techdirt article goes on to suggest that making movies a more social experience may solve the problem. I say, make movies cheaper, provide easier parking options (how about free valet parking?), and how about some nice healthy food choices (salads, sushi, etc.) and a comfortable place to eat it while I watch the movie (no more sticky cupholders please)?

The Register Talking IPTV Smack

MS's IPTV strategy in tatters | The Register

It looks like the The Register (a UK "media outlet") is trying to dampen Microsoft's IPTV hopes. Then again the Register hates just about MSFT does so there's nothing new there.

Walmart says Uncle to Netflix

Hacking NetFlix : NY Times Wrong About Walmart & Netflix

Walmart throws in the towel on DVD rentals by mail and concedes to pioneer Netflix. This article claims that Walmart has done this because they make more money on DVD sales rather than rentals (with warehouses to maintain, packaging costs, and postage, they are probably very right). To me, this signals that physical media is coming to an end soon. Not tomorrow soon, but soon indeed. If Walmart exits a business because it doesn't make enough money, then you know it's a dead end (they aren't the largest company on the earth for no reason).

Do you remember the Qwest commercial where a guy walks into a shabby looking motel lobby, books a room, and asks about movies? The girl behind the counter said, "Yeah, we have every movie ever made." It's coming. The way I see this going down is the movie studios eventually killing companies with their arcane policies not to open their entire catalogs to online delivery. If Netflix, Apple, or another company or combination of companies don't get the movie studios to pry open the online distribution rights, then DVD rentals by mail will eventually whither (evidenced by Walmart fleeing the scene rapidly). What these goons don't realize is that their movies are already being pirated on the Internet...Star Wars III was released on the Internet before the first showing any where in the world. They have to realize that pandora's box has been opened and the only thing left to do is scrape the distribution model down to it's very bone to eek out whatever profits they can get. For one thing...there should be an "online DVD" format with DVD-like menus but presented completely online (no disc required). While the user navigates the online DVD menu, making language, sound, and chapter choices, the movie would begin downloading in the background. Making the experience extremely DVD-like, but not requiring any physical medium (aside from a hard drive for buffering). Could you imagine the great boon for the environment as well? No more shrink wrap to throw away when you buy a DVD, no more gas wasted on shipping a DVD manufactured in a near by town to a warehouse 500 miles away only to be shipped back to your house when you order it, no more warehouses eating up energy, no more media cases filling up your home and making it cluttered (therefore requiring more room in your house and therefore requiring you to buy larger houses with greater energy costs to heat and cool the house), etc. etc. Don't even get me started on the dawning of the efficient home...less space usage, multi-use rooms, thin devices that take up less space, etc. I'm no Democrat, but I do enjoy breathing clean air, drinking clean water, and try to pollute less than the average joe.

Anyway, I'm not going to hold my breath for Hollywood to realize the writing on the wall, but online distribution of all media will occur sooner or later. Entertainment for all and all for entertainment.

Broadcast Machine

Broadcast Machine lets you publish your video online easily | PVRblog

The Broadcast Machine is a set of scripts that allows you to run a video distribution site providing many automated features. Tres neat.

I've been doing learning Adobe Premiere through Total Training DVDs that I got from the library at work. I'm planning to redo my wedding videos with advanced effects and better titling. After, I'm done, I'll probably work on creating short videos to keep up my Adobe Premier chops. To bring it full circle, this little tool looks like something that may be useful in the lifecycle of those video clips.

Web content and TV on a collision course

Today in Investor's Business Daily stock analysis and business news

It looks like MSN Video is getting some serious comptetion. MSN has also launched a fee based video content site, but I've yet to try it (not even on MSN TV 2). I feel they're on to something with this sort of free-for-all video content source. Like blogs have begun to decentralize traditional news media, I feel personalized video content will decentralize traditional TV networks. There will be entertaining clips from all over the place, not just NBC or Discovery channel (or ABC, which quite frankly is on fire for once...thank goodness Urkel is gone).

Apple + Tivo = Tipple?

Why would Apple even want TiVo? | PVRblog

An interesting analysis of why Apply would want to buy Tivo.

Ebay coming to Tivo?

eBay coming to TiVo | PVRblog

Could this be the "Tipping Point" that saves Tivo? Considering how many eBay users there are, Tivo may have a chance if they pull this one off cleanly.

My favorite comment from this post is "Internet content on the big screen is where it's at."

Yeah, I know dude...definitely where it's at.

WebTV Hacker Pleads Guilty

Man pleads guilty to hacking WebTV

I remember this...I'm glad we got the guy and he's going to be locked up for being a bonehead.

Help Kevin Sturgeon

Email I received from Scott from his friend at work:

From: Sturgeon, Kevin
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 9:42 AM
Subject: Reminder - Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge - I'm running Boston 2005!

Folks,

I just wanted to send out a quick reminder in case anyone was interested in donating! I know with all the recent tragedies around the world, these requests can get tiresome. I understand. But I’m still going to ask and hope that you all can find a little more to help. So – thank you and on with the letter!

As some of you may know, this will be my second year running the Boston Marathon. To all those whom I have not spoken with in some time - or may not be aware, let me bring you all up to date as to where I've been and where I'm going. Relax - all of this has a point!

Anyway - my first Marathon was Boston 2004. I ran as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team then as well. Through all of the generous gifts and donations, we raised over 2.6 million dollars to aid in cancer research. This is HUGE! I had never imagined that we as a team could do so much good.

This past August, I moved to Southern California. One of the first questions asked of me was "are you going to run Boston again?" My answer, obviously, was "yes".

But why?

Why is it that you live 3000 miles away, there are plenty of races out there, why do you want to run a race in New England? In April? Last year it was 90 degrees and humid, next year it could snow! Are you crazy?

My answer is simple - I can't imagine not doing it. I can't imagine not supporting such a phenomenal cause. All of the stories you hear, all of the lives that are affected - patients, victims, survivors, families - all these people - all of you - have all been affected by cancer. How can I ignore that? How can I sit here in this beautiful place with so many great races to run, and do them just for myself?

I can't.

And I urge you all to think of all the lives that are affected, all the people who suffer, and come to understand why I - and my teammates, volunteers, staff, and doctors of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institue, continue to unflaggingly do what they do.

So that's my story.

So - the point! I'm writing to invite you to join me in supporting a very special cause: finding cures for cancer. I am running in the 109th Boston Marathon as a member of the 2005 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team. Your support of my run will help fund essential cancer research and care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The DFMC raises funds for the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber. Established by J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver in 1987, the Claudia Adams Barr Program fosters scientific breakthroughs by advancing the work of gifted researchers in a variety of basic research disciplines. The DFMC directs 100% of funds raised to the Barr Program, which enables scientists at the leading edge of discovery to achieve better cure rates and to enhance patients' quailty of life.

I hope you will support my challenge by giving a gift to my run and, in doing so, help bring an end to the challenge of cancer.

Many thanks for your generous support and encouragement!

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund

Thank You,

-Kevin Sturgeon

Please join me in pledging to help Cancer researchers find a cure....if you bought a yellow LiveStrong foundation thingy (I didn't but still gave money because Lance is one of my idols) then you shouldn't sweat a couple bucks to help again...skip the Starbucks today and GIVE

MSN TV 2 and CinemaNow!

MSN TV and CinemaNow Will Stream Movies From the Web to Television

Man, I can't believe I've kept my mouth shut about this for so long, but the press release is out so I can talk about it...woohoo!

This is a pretty sweet because, I don't know about you, but I HATE going to the video rental store. Why? Lines. Lines at the checkout counter totally suck and mess up my movie going experience. Also finding the video I want takes ages. Have you ever tried to find a DVD on Amazon.com? It takes seconds...too bad I can't start watching it right away (but at least I get it for a good price, don't pay tax, and most likely get free shipping).

Then came services like CinemaNow that offer movies for download or streaming...great! But who wants to watch movies on their PC? I rather enjoying kicking back on the sofa with my wife and snack on apples and pomelo while watching movies. The only way to do this in the past was to crack open your PC and pop in some sort of TV output. This was ok, but have you ever tried to navigate your PC using just your TV? I have...it's not fun or easy (does your keyboard cable reach to your sofa?)

Finally! There is (or will be) a way to do this easily. Connect your MSN TV 2 to the TV and boom...stream movies from CinemaNow. Saweeet!

Tivo to Go

FIC Press Releases

Wow! I was waiting for TivoToGo but could not believe there are going to be portable devices that are compatible with it...if it's compatible with Windows Media digital rights management and Windows Media Center content, then I believe AMD and Tivo may have just bettered the Portable Media Center.

By the way, the Creative Labs Zen does NOT charge from the USB port as I originally thought which left me lugging around a dead gadget. The USB connection does keep the Zen alive (which begs the question of why it does not charge the device...probably trying to be a good USB citizen and not overload the port). Anyway, I have the device back here now and am about to load more content on there (if there is room) for more portable media fun.

I can't wait for my TivoToGo to become active though...I just signed up my Tivos for priority upgrade (whatever that means). I think I'm going to have to cobble together a Windows Media Center for kicks. Also, I'll be watching MacWorld for Apple's announcements (praying for Media Center like stuff built into the Headless Mac or something like that to make me do the official switch-when my home desktop becomes a Mac...ooooh)

OnlineCasinoReports.com

Online Casino Reports - MSN TV 2 Brings the Online Casinos right to your Living Room

Interesting Internet-casino-centric view of MSN TV 2...

MSN TV 2 discount!

Amazon is offering MSN TV 2 for only $189.99 including free shipping! On top of that, if you sign up for the Amazon Visa credit card, you get $30 off for a total of just $159.99 including shipping! Order today to get it in time for the holidays...the free shipping can be a couple days slower than regular shipping (but in my experience, it's been pretty good...I've only had to wait the full "super saver shipping" time for about 1/3 of my orders...other times it arrived much sooner).

Brookstone Holiday Catalog

I received a Brookstone catalog the yesterday evening and skimmed through it quickly. I did happen to find a nice full page ad about MSN TV 2 which was nice to see.

MSN TV 2 featured on MSN eShops

Welcome to MSN Shopping

Scroll down and you'll see it listed there...not sure if it will still be there when you visit, but it's there now!

Channel9 Demo of MSN TV 2

Demo of MSN TV 2

You can see Andy Sheldon (our Product Planning Manager) talk about and demo MSN TV 2! The video is 23 minutes long and is a great way to see how MSNTV 2 acutally looks and works. Here are some photos of the video running on MSN TV 2 in my office:

That's MSN TV 2!

Yes, I have 3 TVs in my office.

MSN Video Service on MSN TV 2

Channel9.MSDN.com!

My MSN TV 2 box (it doesn't have a cover) and keyboard

Andy Sheldon, our product planning guru.

Walt Mossberg Review

WSJ.com - The Mossberg Solution

Wow....a very nice review from Walt of the Wall Street Journal. Not only is he an influential reviewer, but a techie at heart.

His review was mostly glowing and in this vein:

As an Internet device for the non-PC household, however, the MSN TV 2 is a good choice. It's well-designed and extremely user-friendly. If someone you know isn't ready for a computer, this is a good substitute.

But there was one semi-low-light:

What about those features for advanced users? Well, curiously, MSN TV 2 can be used as a home media-streaming device, a hot new type of gadget that lets PC owners play back on a TV all the photos, videos and music stored on a PC's hard disk in another part of the house.

Because this requires a PC, and some knowledge of networks and PC file systems, it's unlikely to appeal to the product's core audience of techno novices. And, even if a PC user bought and used MSN TV 2 expressly for this purpose, he or she would still have to pay the minimum $10-a-month service fee, which other media-streaming gadgets don't charge. So we view this aspect of the product as relatively unimportant.

Unimportant? Hardly, but he's right, $10 for those who just want the media features is steep. We're definitely working on it Walt...

Interview with Tivo CEO

The Engadget Interview: Mike Ramsay, CEO of TiVo - Engadget - www.engadget.com

A very intersting interview with Tivo CEO, Mike Ramsey. It's interesting to think about how the devices we build not only enable a functionality but a social shift...spooky.

Playstation competition?

Ximeta To Turn PlayStation 2 Into Media Console

It's interesting to see everyone try to leverage their high horsepower gaming consoles to be used as media hubs in the living room. It's a natural extension of the device, but not sure until we see the implementation.

A Nice Technical Review of MSN TV 2

Microsoft debuts Windows CE based MSN TV2 STB

I'm trying to stay away from the press releases because they're mostly the same old stuff you hear about. I like the WindowsforDevices.com review since it has some nice details.

Detailed Review of MSN TV 2

Gear Eye: MSN TV 2 - Engadget - www.engadget.com

Pre-Order MSN TV 2 Now!

Order yours today! Free Shipping and no tax outside of Washington! Amazon is my favorite :)

Opera on TV?

Forbes.com: Opera Software Gears Up for TV Access

Hey!! It looks like TV browsing is actually catching on...who would have thought after all of these years

Gizmodo gives MSN TV 2 Thumbs Up!

Gizmodo : Microsoft MSNtv Preview

[UPDATE] I was just reading the Gizmodo article again and noticed that he stated the MSNTV2 only works with Windows Media Video (WMV) which is not true. I've used the box with MPEG video and some AVI (DivX and other 3rd party codecs not supported).

Good Article about MSN TV 2

The Lessons of WebTV

I like this article because it's not the same old marketing hooha spewed by the MSN TV marketing team. If you read the previous few posts, you'll see I have a beef going with them. It's nothing personal, of course...anyway, Phillip Swann's article is quite interesting albeit a little thin on facts and heavy on the MS bashing.