Tivo announced a few days ago that, if you are a subscriber to Netflix and Tivo services, then you can start receiving many Netflix titles on your Tivo box for no extra charge.
Unfortunately, this is only available to subscribers with TiVo HD, TiVo HD XL and TiVo Series3 DVRs. The majority of Tivo's subscribers are still Series 2 owners, so they will be forced to “upgrade” if they want this new service. The switch won't be that easy for those of us on satellite. Tivo's current model lineup does not really offer a solution for satellite subscribers. The HD and HD XL are cable only and there is no sign of the Series 3 on their site.
Think different: Netflix is coming to Apple TV and Linux
Linux PC and AppleTV users are about to gain the ability to stream Netflix's movies and TV shows directly to their systems. Although Netflix's instant watch service only officially supports Windows and Mac, Boxee expects to release Netflix streaming support to the Ubuntu version of its free A/V media center software within a couple of days, and says that adding Netflix streaming support to AppleTV asap is its top priority.
On your laptop or connected to an HDTV, Boxee enables you to enjoy your movies, TV shows, music, and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Hulu, Netflix, CBS, Comedy Central, Last.fm, and flickr.
You can vote for them -- if you agree they deserve it -- in lifehacker.com's five Best Media Center application contest.
Also - see my next post on the 21st about Netflix coming to Tivo, AppleTV, and ... Linux! Would you believe that???
According to the Hollywood Reporter and news.com, Blockbuster will soon be announcing yet another reason not to go to a rental store...their own. The media-delivering set-top box, which is in the works for the company, leverages the store's existing competence in the industry to provide a viable alternative to iTunes, Xbox Live, and Amazon.
There is no mention of price or how this service will actually work. But let's think about this: to compete with Apple TV or Vudu, the device would have to cost around $200, and rentals of movies and TV shows should be around $3 to $4 each, which would be slightly cheaper than rentals of new releases from Blockbuster currently.
The device will join a growing roster of home video boxes which aim to bring broadband video to the living room. Blockbuster rival Netflix also has indicated that it will compete in this market with a similar device being created with LG Electronics. The device is believed to be a stand-alone product akin to Apple TV as opposed to embedding a Blockbuster-branded service in such existing devices as Microsoft's Xbox 360 or TiVo.
The big advantage Blockbuster would enjoy over Apple TV, Vudu,and TiVo seems to be selection, as the service would be an offshoot of Movielink, the online film service Blockbuster acquired last year that allows consumers to watch films licensed from the major studios on their computers. Movielink was created in 2002 by MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal and Warner Bros. Blockbuster now has the online rights to about 6,000 movies, though there are restrictions on moving content beyond PCs and TV.
This is the most audacious attempt yet by Blockbuster to reinvent its brand as a digital delivery service, as it risks to undercut the viability of its retail operation. Their aim is to make their brand the major force online.
I still think they're kind of late to this party, though....
Google's popular video sharing site is now giving away tools that let you tap its underlying database functions, in effect allowing you to build your own YouTube. They call it "YouTube Everywhere."
You now have full access to YouTube's extensive video library, global audience, and the underlying video hosting and streaming network that powers YouTube. The move goes significantly beyond the current access to videos in which any Web user can copy and embed selected videos onto their own Web pages.
YouTube says the new offerings allow anyone building a Web site or application to upload videos straight to YouTube. Also, you can fetch video feeds, comments, responses or playlists from YouTube.
What YouTube is offering parallels an earlier move by Yahoo to open up the ability of its Flickr photo-sharing site to provide deep access to Web developers in order to embed underlying features of Flickr in other sites.
Developers can build in functions to let users rate videos or add them to a favorites list embedded within their own sites. They can customize and control the Adobe Flash video player through which videos are viewed. The APIs (Application Programmer Interfaces) let you build a so-called "chromeless" Flash player -- a video-viewing window that is stripped of formatting such as title bar, browser buttons or status bars, meaning that you can create your own player.
These free customization features can be used in conjunction with the existing APIs which launched last year and which provide the ability to view videos on other sites and to search for videos on YouTube.
COOL! Upload videos directly from mobile phone devices:
One of these features and functions enables you and your site users to publish videos directly from their mobile phone devices or encourage new users to share videos to the Web site, as if they were on YouTube itself.
The number of possible new applications is endless. Electronic Arts has enabled gamers to capture videos of fantastical user-generated creatures from their upcoming game, Spore, and publish these directly to YouTube. Here are a few scenes from the highly anticipated game:
The University of California, Berkeley is bringing free educational content to the world, enhancing their open source lecture capture and delivery system to publish videos automatically into YouTube. Animoto enables its users to create personalized, professional-quality music videos from their own photos and upload them directly to YouTube. Tivo is providing its users a rich and highly participative YouTube viewing experience on the television.
Yes, Amazon Unbox is now offering downloads to your TiVo box, in addition to your PC and Xbox 360 console. That obviously leaves out Mac and Linux users. We don't count anyway, so that's OK, till Microsoft eats Amazon's lunch....
Equally cool, for those of us cursed with some creativity and production skills is that Amazon UnBox has partnered with CreateSpace to sell your masterpiece. The quickest and easiest way to submit your content to them is on your authored DVD. They can also use your tape to archive a master-quality file, then encode and author your DVD master.
Now all you have to do is ...
1. Create your blockbuster 2. Market the living daylight out of it 3. Sell it through Amazon UnBox, iTunes, CinemaNow, Netflix, Blockbuster,
etc. Easy ... except maybe the marketing part ....
As streaming technology gets faster and resolution gets better (although that’s debatable), I will seek out internet video and web TV content I'm specifically interested in. So will you. Exploiting this demand, online programming will evolve into offering everything, like the Jewish Television Network, independent films by R&B artists, comedy from Penn and Teller, Grandma's Cooking Show and who knows what else....
The phenomenon of catering to very small audiences, called “long trail” distribution, was first observed at, then exploited by Amazon so successfully, it is now one of the mega-stores on the net and a major online retailer worldwide. Amazon Video anyone?
As a result, we may be in the midst of a content explosion as viewers transition from analog cable television to Web-based video technologies.
Streaming technology seems to be the preferred method of video delivery today, because the content doesn’t reside on your computer. As such, it often cannot be replayed after its viewed once. That's a major reason why content owners like streaming video -- it's perfect for embedding ads because users can't fast forward as easily.
The rise of the broadband Internet connection -- some 47% of American households have it now -- coincides with the rise of streaming technology. Even DVD rental services like Netflix are starting to offer streaming on-demand content. Netflix users can now push a "Watch Now" tab and within 30 seconds start streaming up to 3,000 TV shows and movies.
ReelTime, for example, operates in a P2P environment, pulling previously streamed data from other users' computers in addition to delivering content straight from its servers.
I will expand more about Unbox TiVo and CreateSpace on Amazon in an upcoming post. Stay tuned.
