Never enough time…

• Hands-on with Bose Quiet Comfort 3 noise-cancelling headphones. (Gizmodo)
• Ericsson enters IPTV battle. (CNET)
• Google video player released for Mac. (TUAW)
• Major League Baseball bullies Sling Media. (Gear Log)
• ABC backs off on DVR ratings fight. (Broadcasting & Cable)

So what’s a retired naturalist with plenty of disposable income to do? Have a custom cave theater built in her cellar, of course! Just don’t stand up too quickly.

(photo by Jack Bingham, via CEPro)

Beginning next month, broadband-connected Series2 TiVo units will be able to subscribe to multiple new downloadable web and television video offerings in addition to the current CNET and Rocketboom services. I’m envisioning TiVoCast will be housed in a HME subscription application, similar to the recently launched ProductWatch.

Interestingly, no money is changing hands (yet) between TiVo and the content providers who will advertise their brands while selling commercials. In return TiVo continues to differentiate themselves from generic DVRs while refining the service and looking to partner with bigger fish. You know… the kind of fish that can provide movies on demand. As with MovieBeam, I’m willing to pay for true VOD distinct from a cable or satellite provider.

(I’m surprised that Brightcove isn’t referenced…)

TiVo Inc., the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), today announced the launch of TiVoCast(TM), a revolutionary new service which will deliver broadband video directly to the television sets of TiVo subscribers. The TiVoCast service turns Web video into television by bringing top broadband content now only available on the PC to the TV set.

“The range and quality of broadband video is exploding on the Web, but it’s not TV until it is on the TV,” said Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo. “With the TiVoCast service, we are once again transforming the television experience by bringing the rapidly expanding array of video content on the Internet into the living room.”

“Television is still the preferred platform for watching video. The TiVoCast service captures mainstream and specialty-based content on the Web, delivering programming that is not otherwise available through the TV today and providing a wide variety of choice that will be of interest to all segments of the TV audience,” said Tara Maitra, TiVo’s Vice President and General Manager, Programming. “The TiVoCast service provides niche networks and broadband content suppliers, for which the economics of television distribution might not make sense, a way to connect with audiences in the living room via their favorite medium for watching video, TV and TiVo.”

As part of the launch, TiVo announced that it has reached new agreements with leading video content providers including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), The New York Times, Heavy, iVillage and CNET among others. The broadband video content will include:

(more…)

Dell has the Harmony 880 for only $109, shipped free. If you’ve been sitting on the fence and/or waiting for a bargain, you’re not going to do better than this! The 880 retails for $249, but coupon code LWLCHHGG9Q7C9W gets you a $120 discount. Additionally, Logitech is offering a $20 mail-in rebate. The offer is good until tomorrow AM or until they sell 3000 remotes.

Harmony 880 reviews.

Never enough time…

• ReplayTV recruits for PC DVR software beta testing. (ReplayTV)
• Hollywood, retailers eye movie download kiosks. (Reuters)
• Cablevision begs for network DVR mercy. (Reuters)
• Sony’s eReader delayed until late summer. (Sony)
• Yet another home media extender, though this one touts Viiv and HDMI. (eHomeUpgrade)

Congrats to Peter Thill, a pediatric intensive care doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Minnesota! Stay tuned for more giveaways in the coming months.

Originally demo-ed in January and targeted for a Q2 release, the Mac SlingPlayer is being pushed back to September. While I can’t say I’m happy about a delay, I do appreciate upfront communication of the development status. (Hey, what’s up with Mac TiVoToGo?) I assume Apple’s early Intel adoption may have slowed things down somewhat. Additionally it’s my understanding that enabling Mac support is a huge undertaking because it changes the way video is handled on the Slingbox itself, potentially impacting and requiring changes to the PC software client. The good news in all of this? Sling has confirmed Mac software will be free and beta testing opportunities will be available as early as next month.

Sling says: Ultimately, we recognize that many Mac users have high standards for digital media products, and we are working hard to ensure we will meet and exceed those standards with the upcoming SlingPlayer for Mac. Unfortunately, while it’s probably not exactly what you wanted to hear, I hope you understand just how tricky some things are to manage for a small company. Bottom line is despite our initial intent to deliver a Mac/OSX version of the SlingPlayer in Q2′06, we are moving our target to Q3′06. As you are probably aware, the Mac landscape changed dramatically this year, and as a small company, we chose to shift development paths to deliver universal Mac support. The net effect of this shift has been to delay our Mac plans by about 90 days.

At some point right around the beginning of July we will begin the official signup process to become a Mac beta tester (just as we’ve done for all prior beta programs). Our public beta test (the one anyone can download) should be made available in late August. Commercial release will occur in September. One important piece of good news: we can put to rest the debate over charging. There will be no additional fees to download the SlingPlayer Mac software. Thanks for your patience and understanding.