Archives For mari

Slacker Radio, Now on Your Roku

Mari Silbey —  May 31, 2012 — 3 Comments

Slacker on Roku 1

As of today, the streaming music service Slacker is an official channel in the Roku Channel Store. If you have a Roku box and a Slacker account (you can get a basic one for free), all you have to do is add the channel from the Roku channel menu, log in with Slacker, and you’re ready to go. The service works in both the U.S. and Canada.

When the press release crossed my inbox this afternoon, I went straight to my own Roku XR, added the Slacker channel, and signed in with my account. Other than a couple of attempts at trying to remember my password, it was an easy set-up. The interface is basic, but it does the job, and I had immediate access to my custom pre-sets and playlists in addition to Slacker’s genre-based stations.

To some extent, the Roku is a silly platform for Slacker given the lack of visual elements. Continue Reading…

In Audio, Roku
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Xfinity Instant Could Be Verizon Viewdini Competitor

Mari Silbey —  May 29, 2012 — 2 Comments

Comcast Xfinity Instant mobile video app 1

With all the promotional buzz around Verizon’s viewdini mobile video portal last week, it was easy to miss Comcast’s new video app, Xfinity Instant. To be fair, Comcast’s mobile app isn’t a commercial product yet, but it was on display right beside viewdini in the Comcast booth at this year’s Cable Show in Boston.

Right now, Xfinity Instant is a project out of Comcast Labs with no set launch date. However, at least in concept, it bears a striking resemblance to viewdini. With a magazine-like layout for tablets, the Comcast app lets users filter video content by actor, genre, title or network. It also provides recommended titles based on your viewing habits, and highlights featured videos in editorial fashion. You can launch a video selection directly from the app and rate content when you’re done watching it.

Comcast Xfinity Instant mobile video app 2

What’s most interesting about the app, though, is that according to the demo guys at the booth, Xfinity Instant was developed with no knowledge that viewdini was in the works. In fact, one Comcast employee explained that the development team hadn’t even heard of viewdini until it was announced at the show. Apparently in the rush to cozy up to Verizon as a viewdini content partner, Comcast senior management didn’t get around to telling its own developers about the potentially competitive product. Continue Reading…

In Broadband, Industry, Mobile, Movies, TV Shows
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Cisco’s NDS Shows Off Interactive 4K Video Wall

Mari Silbey —  May 23, 2012 — 8 Comments

NDS Surfaces 3

By far my favorite thing at the Cable Show this year has been the NDS concept demo of Surfaces, a next-gen TV experience that puts video on the walls around you. The theory from NDS – a set-top and video software company out of the UK – is that TV doesn’t have to fit into a TV set. Instead, it can be overlaid on modular panels that give you the flexibility to see video in different sizes and combine it with other information and associated content.

In the demo I saw yesterday, NDS showed everything from TV clips to music playlists, news feeds and a baby monitor “live” stream. The demo was controlled from an iPad, but all of the content appeared on the wall in front of us in a variety of layouts. For example, one moment we were watching a movie across an entire wall of seamlessly connected screens, but the next we were interacting with a mosaic of widgets that pushed TV content to a much smaller window off to the side of the viewing area.

NDS also showed off 4K-resolution video on the wall-sized display. (Sourced from YouTube, by the way…) Words don’t do it justice, and unfortunately neither does the photo I took with my cheap point-and-shoot camera. However, suffice it to say, the effect is stunning. Continue Reading…

In HDTV, Movies, TV Shows, Web
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Verizon Launches Viewdini with Xfinity, Netflix and More

Mari Silbey —  May 22, 2012 — 10 Comments

viewdini 1

Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead launched viewdini this morning, a new mobile video portal that sources content from different providers and lets users stream video, search, share and more. Early content partners include Comcast Xfinity, Hulu Plus, mSpot and Netflix. No FiOS TV video yet (ironic), but it’s reportedly on the way.

The concept here is very similar to offerings out from companies like Fanhattan and Clicker, but of course Verizon has a little more heft in the marketing department. Verizon says the app will be available on LTE Android devices later this month, and an iOS version is in the works.

In Industry, Mobile, Netflix, TV Shows
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Comcast Rolls X1, Remote App, and “Dayview” Dashboard

Mari Silbey —  May 21, 2012 — 5 Comments

X1-App-Pandora 1

Forget net neutrality. Comcast has some new shiny objects for your attention. And here’s the latest news:

  • Comcast is launching Xfinity TV on the X1 platform. Translated, that means the IP-based Xcalibur platform is storming to life in Boston after extended trials in August, Georgia. Roll out will begin in Boston “in the coming weeks” with several major markets to follow in 2012.
  • There’s a new X1 Remote Control App coming. Comcast says it will let you swipe your touch screen to control your TV, and allow you to create personalized shortcuts favorites. Imagery looks pedestrian.
  • Comcast is introducing “Dayview.” This one’s still in project codename territory, but the theory here is a unified interface that works across TVs, laptops, smartphones and tablets – something akin to a Today homescreen.

Project-Dayview-home-screen

Stay tuned for some analysis on Comcast’s announcement.

In DVR, Industry, Web
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