I had the opportunity to talk with TiVo Product Marketing VP Jim Denney last night regarding the updated features of TiVoToGo via the new 2.3 Desktop. Check out the details over on Engadget.

Mr. Denney mentioned his family uses TiVoToGo to burn DVDs for a portable player and to move content onto his Treo. Apparently SpongeBob SquarePants entertains both young and old alike.

In the near future I’ll be posting my impressions of speed, quality, size, etc of various conversions using 2.3… so stay tuned. For the moment, I can reassure the purists that DirectShow Dump still works.

Never enough time…

• Motorola and Cox begin OCAP trials. (Motorola)
• TiVo expands interactive advertising with BMW. (TiVo)
• Sling Media CEO Blake Krikorian makes “50 Who Matter Now” list. (Business 2.0)
• SageTV releases wireless media extender.  (SageTV)
• NVIDIA SD dual tuner PC card reviewed. (PVRWire)

First announced in November, TiVo Desktop 2.3 has finally been released! This software update is notable for two major enhancements (maybe they should have versioned it 3.0). First, the Desktop software adds support for scheduling of downloads in a Season Pass-esque fashion. Second, if you upgrade to Desktop Plus (at a cost of $24.95) you gain access to TiVo-licensed codecs for MPEG-4 conversion. The PSP and iPod are supported, as they both play MPEG-4s out of the box. Additionally, the licensing fee includes an MPEG-2 codec for PC playback if you happen to need one. You could overpay foreign hackers to slap a custom GUI on ffmpeg, or you could pay TiVo less for more. Support for Windows portable devices (phone, PDA, PMC) is still present and free of charge.

Stay tuned as I dig around in the new software… I’m interested in discovering if previous (unsupported) conversion methods still work, what sort of quality and speed we can expect with the new conversion tool, find out what (if any) changes have been made under the hood, etc.

UPDATE: Some new info…

• I interview TiVo VP Jim Denney about this upgrade.
• Use TiVo Desktop 2.3 to transcode prior downloads.
• Transcode to higher resolutions with Desktop 2.3.
• TiVo Converter GUI released for the above two hacks.

(more…)

If you looked closely at Monday’s NYC pictures, you might have noticed something interesting running on Kevin Tofel’s Samsung Q1. Using Dave Ciccone’s Slingbox feed, we previewed Sling Media’s UMPC skin via SlingPlayer 1.2 (beta) and several classified files hidden on my person. To support the UMPC’s touch screen, Sling provides oversized UI elements for easy control via finger or stylus. The skin is quite attractive and I’m actually enjoying it on a standard laptop. Sling Media VP Jeremy Toeman indicates this first version of UMPC support is slated for an imminent release.

Oregan Networks has produced a Skype CallerID widget. While this hasn’t been deployed anywhere, Oregan produces Internet-connected CE device software — such as code and infrastructure powering PS2’s online functionality.

Netflix also may or may not be collaborating with TiVo. However, they’ve earmarked a sizeable 5 to 10 million dollars in 2006 on digital movie distribution R&D. As Netflix isn’t prepared to discuss this further until 1/07, it’s safe to assume the launch of something is not imminent.

Variety says: Netflix VP of original programming Eric Besner revealed on Friday some of the online rental service’s thinking on the movie download bizbiz, saying Netflix is planning to introduce a proprietary set-top box with an Internet connection that can download movies overnight. Users would add movies they want to watch to their rental queue online as they do now, and those movies would then be downloaded to the boxes overnight rather than shipped through the mail. Service could launch as early as this year.

Netflix responds: Netflix said that Besner’s comments have subsequently been interpreted to suggest that Netflix has narrowed its downloading strategy to a set-top box product. In fact, Netflix is evaluating a broad range of options, and no decisions have been made regarding specific delivery options or timing. Netflix had earlier indicated that it would discuss its downloading plans more fully in its fourth-quarter earnings announcement in January 2007 and that it is investing $5 to 10 million this year in developing its approach to on-line movie delivery.

(via Hacking Netflix)

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