TiVo

Cablevision RS-DVR on the way

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:29:31 -0400

Cablevision's Remote Storage-DVR offering, the network-based video content storage service that drew a lawsuit and much concern from movie and TV studios, may be set to debut sometime early next year, according to comments made by a Cablevision executive at a conference last week. The statement comes after an appeals court ruled last month that the so-called RS-DVR service (similar to Network DVR services planned by other carriers) does not infringe on content copyrights. Cablevision held successful RS-DVR trials and was ready to release it commercially before being hit with the lawsuit. There is still a chance the lawsuit may end up being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but in the meantime, market demand for such capabilities is likely growing, and RS-DVR-like services could become key offerings among cable TV firms and their IPTV competitors.

For more:
- see this coverage at Light Reading's Cable Digital News

TiVo doesn't fear RS-DVR ruling

Dan O'Shea — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:24:15 -0400

DVR pioneer TiVo reported a quarterly profit this week for only the third time in the company's history. It posted $2.9 million in net income, far better than last year's same-quarter loss of $17.7 million. But, are TiVo's prospects for future success limited by the recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling supporting the efforts of cable TV firms and telcos to operate remote storage-DVR? Not surprisingly, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers doesn't think so, and suggests that the legal fight over RS-DVR between the entertainment and telecommunications industries is far from over.

RS-DVR is also called network DVR, but the heart of the case was Cablevision's RS-DVR service. RS-DVR would seem to limit TiVo's appeal as a storage device, though if TiVo maintains strong ties with network operators, its device could have a prominent role opening a window to a new world of video storage. The company is maintaining the case won't have an effect either way. In any case, Rogers may be right about the issue not being finished yet. Hollywood TV and movie studios had sued Cablevision to stop the storage of copyrighted content on its network, and since the ruling, industry watchers have been expecting the Hollywood forces to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. That has not happened yet, but network operators haven't been rushing to release RS-DVR offerings either.

For more:
- read this story at Light Reading's Cable Digital News
- see this Associated Press story

Verizon testing online video over TV

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:24:12 -0400

The IPTV World Forum North America event last week in Chicago was a cozy little affair (maybe too cozy and little for some, but presentations were well-attended both days). Maybe potential new customers and partners were hard to come by, but one of the things FierceIPTV enjoyed about this conference was the number of service provider presentations.

One of those presentations was from Joseph Ambeault, director of consumer prodcut development, video services at Verizon. He talked a lot about Verizon's approach to using customer beta test groups to evaluate IPTV applications and concepts. One of the juicier details Ambeault mentioned was that Verizon is now beta testing online video delivery over TVs. He said "several hundred customer homes" are involved in the test, and that Verizon spent very little time instructing them, but is now monitoring where they are going and how often to access online video content.

Verizon has discussed Web video-to-FiOS TV ambitions before, but it sounds like things are really moving along. Dave Zatz of Zatz Not Funny has more details about who Verizon is working with and how they are doing it. Stay tuned.

For more:
- read this post at Zatz Not Funny

Related articles:
The TV-Web video marriage is also something TiVo and Amazon are working toward. TV-Web video report
Over-the-top video could have an impact on TV advertising. OTT video report

Apple calls TV a 'hobby'

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:05:18 -0400

Apple, which reported strong quarterly earnings yesterday but also forecast lower profit margins for later this year, may still be tinkering with its Apple TV concept. An Apple official said on the earnings call that Apple TV remains a "hobby" for the company, which is not exactly what you would expect any of the entrants in the highly competitive TV/Web video distribution market to say at this point.

As companies like TiVo and Amazon are unleashing new offerings designed to compete with Apple TV, Gartner analyst Mike McGuire told BusinessWeek that Apple might be planning a second revamp of Apple TV. While TV has eluded the company's golden touch, no one else has come close to dominating the market for packaging online video over the TV.

For more:
- see this story at BusinessWeek

Related articles:
Apple initially shifted its TV strategy several months ago. Apple report
Rumors in 2007 had Apply linking up with U-verse. Apple U-verse report

TiVo, Amazon tackle TV/Web integration

Dan O'Shea — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:18:24 -0400

IPTV service providers, cable TV companies and many different kinds of set-top device and online companies are trying to figure out how to merge online video and TV content and viewing practices, and TiVo and Amazon separately announced offerings this week that take the evolution a little further. TiVo is now offering YouTube through newer TiVO hardware, and Amazon announced plans for a new online video-on-demand store.

The future evolution of set-top boxes like TiVo DVRs has been in question, but TiVo is looking to cement its place on the TV stand by tackling the online video/TV integration with a large, known player while some IPTV service providers are still approaching the integration tentatively. Meanwhile, Amazon possibly learned a few things from its unloved Unbox venture about how to more efficiently make movies and TV content available online. These moves bear watching for any TV service provider feeling pressure to incorporate online content, while wondering how such ventures from giant online retailers and well-known device companies could affect their bottom lines.

For more:
- see this post about TiVo at Wired News Blogs
- read this story about Amazon at The New York Times

Related article:
Online TV growth could affect the success of IPTV. Online TV report

Cisco to unveil SDV tuning adapter

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:59:30 -0400

Light Reading's Cable Digital News reports that Cisco Systems has developed a switched digital video tuning adapter for one-way digital TVs and TiVo systems with CableCard slots to receive SDV programming. The vendor reportedly will show off the SDV tuning adapter at the upcoming National Cable TV Show in New Orleans.

For more:
- check out this coverage at Light Reading's Cable Digital News

Related article:
Cisco recently added video on demand with nPVR and ad insertion Cisco report

Mediaroom enters TV streaming war

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:59:50 -0400

Microsoft's next upgrade of its Mediaroom software will enable the fusion of live video and web streams to the TV. The "Milwaukee" upgrade is also promising improved personalization and recommendation options. On show at the IPTV World Forum last week the software is due to ship late summer. The major upgrade comes as operators rush to gain dominance as the critical home hub provider. At the same forum BT Vision announced it would be upgrading its service using the next generation Mediaroom platform

TiVo also announced a partnership with YouTube to enable the streaming of their massive library of user generated video to the TV using a new TiVo box. Apple earlier this year announced an upgrade for its Apple TV set top box which will also include the same ability to mix downloaded VOD content with streamed content from the Internet.

Remarkably there remains little consumer research on how audiences will use these fusion services, nor how best to structure the browser interface to optimize the consumer experience. Also uncertain is how consumers will respond to the inferior quality of online video when blown-up to a full wide-screen TV size.

YouTube has been recently experimenting with HD formats set for PC use. Last week YouTube also launched a white label API which enables publishers to embed video content using their own skin and specifications. The API threatens the many video providers that have grown by letting publishers manipulate their players. The service enables publishers and enterprises to effectively outsource the pain of video delivery to Google's robust video delivery infrastructure.

For more:
- Microsoft preps next generation Mediaroom Article
- TiVo and YouTube to deliver web video to the TV Article

Related articles:
Lounge room wars Article
Apple seeks control of the video home Article

Toshiba abandons HD DVD

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

Toshiba has abandoned its HD DVD format, declaring it will no longer develop, make or market HD DVD players and recorders. The quickly taken decision to drop the format makes Sony's Blu-ray technology the new standard for high definition DVDs. The resolution of the HD format battle is expected to spur a rapid take up of new Blu-ray machines as well as prompting a new round of HD television sales. It will also bolster DVD rentals and sales, which compete against cinema and both traditional and IP based TV, especially video on demand.

The win gives Sony a decisive head start in the race to dominate the set-top box Internet gateway to the television. Sony already embeds Blu-ray disc readers in its Playstation 3 game console and has begun integrating an IPTV platform into the same machines in Korea. The main competitor for set-top dominance is Microsoft, which has also begun to ship its IPTV software in the Xbox 360 in the U.K. Microsoft had backed the Toshiba led HD DVD format, as did Intel and HP.

Toshiba's decision to abandon the format came quickly after the largest U.S. retailer, Wal-mart, late last week said it would only stock Blu-ray machines. A week earlier number two retailer Best Buy and video distributor Netflix both committed to Blu-ray. "We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida said. Nishida said Warner Bros. Entertainment's switch to the Blu-ray format made the move inevitable. "That had a tremendous impact," he said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."

For more:
- Toshiba abandons HD DVD Release

Related articles:
Blu-ray wins two key retailers Report
Lounge room wars erupts Report

Rentals to power 2.4 billion video downloads

Tom Burton — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:59:40 -0500

Fresh from Apple deciding rental is the way to go for their TV service, research group ABI has also concluded this is what will drive the video on demand (VOD) market, claiming half of what is expected to be 2.4 billion download in 2012 will be offered as rentals. There will be an estimated 215 million downloads this year.

ABI says a barrier to industry growth are the restrictive usage policies the studios are requiring of distributors, like having to use the download within 24 hours. ABI research director Michael Wolf predicted studios eventually will offer greater flexibility, in particular as DVD and other physical media continue to mature and new consumer Internet-to-TV hardware expands their audience of consumers.

In a separate report, ABI argues vertically integrated solutions, such as Apple TV, Netflix and TiVO, will drive the market, rather than general providers who utilize public and home networks to deliver their service. Tell that to You Tube, but the point ABI makes is, that for consumers, it is services that offer an end-to-end solution that will be attractive to users.

For More:
- Video download business snowballing Article
- Vertical Integration Is the Key to Successful Internet-TV Convergence Release

Related articles:
Apple seeks control of video home Report
Netflix and LG go for VOD Report

TiVo predicts a la carte TV

Tom Burton — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:59:40 -0500

Also hoping that simplicity is what consumers want is TiVo. Like Apple, it's positioning its box to be the hub for consumer video downloads from the Internet. In the music world, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers told the LA Times, "You can get any song you want, any time you want it, on any device you want it. That's what's happened in the last five, six years. It's become a la carte, on demand."

We think the same thing will happen with television, and that changes the whole notion of television convenience and ease to mean being able to go out and find any piece of content you want through your television set and being able to watch it.

No prizes for predicting on demand TV is fast coming but again it confirms how hot this space is. TiVo is a strong boutique brand in the TV space with its easy-to-use digital recorder, but has struggled as the cable companies replicated much of the DVR hard drive functionality into their set top boxes, essentially capping TiVo's growth in the DVR sector. TiVo has joined with Amazon to provide a wide choice of movies for download but, again, with so many players jostling for consumer attention it is going to be difficult for TiVo to get market strength in the way it did in the personal recording space.

For More:
-TiVo's Rogers: Watch TiVo evolve with the industry, CEO says LA Times Article

Related articles:
Voice 2.0 to open up new wholesale markets Report
Analysts say IPTV will kill TiVo Report

Comcast says tru2way is the only way

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:59:10 -0500

Comcast boss Ralph Roberts used his historic keynote at CES2008 to relaunch the industry's new open development platform, tru2way. Formerly known as the OpenCable platform, it is designed to enable two way interactivity in all cable enabled devices.

"Now, a software developer can write an application once--a gaming application, an entertainment application, even a service like TiVo and it will work on a tru2way-enabled device, regardless of manufacturer, and across virtually every cable system," Roberts told CES attendees. He did not mention it will also save the industry a lot of development expense.

The vigorously independent CE industry lobby has opposed the platform, in particular the signing of what it says are onerous licensing agreements and have been pushing their own protocol called DCR+. Pointedly, Roberts also showed off several set top boxes from Motorola, Panasonic, LG and Samsung which are using the tru2way platform, suggesting the CE industry may be divided. The whole issue has gone off to the Federal Communications Commission where chairman, Kevin Martin is being asked to adjudicate. Which should be more than interesting given the brawl over Comcast's dominance last year.

For more:
- Comcast launches tru2way Article
- Two way battle reaches FCC Article
- FCC opens net neutrality inquiry Article

Related Article:
- FCC to step into two way spat Article

Internet TV arrives

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

If there is one mega trend to emerge--or at least be confirmed--from CES2008, it is that after many years of phony war the battle for Internet TV finally is serious, with device vendors, content players and distributors scrambling to be a winner in what is expected to be the biggest entertainment revolution since color TV.

The key to success in the new video industry is collaboration and there has been a spate of deals and alliances announced as players quickly realize it will be the operators that bring user friendly functionality consumers really want and compelling relevant content that will prosper. No one player has it all, and hence why everyone is doing deals.

Big picture all pre-recordable material is expected to originate from a server (think of the Internet like a giant TiVo machine) with broadcasters eventually being limited to live and big event coverage (sport/concerts etc). But while this helicopter view may be relatively clear, who successfully emerges from the industry transformation to the internet is any one's guess.--Tom