I’ve been meaning to follow up on Dave’s Sezmi post. I’ll start by saying that I love the idea of Sezmi, the former Building-B, but I simply can’t imagine how the enterprise will succeed.

As everyone has discovered, video services are entirely dependent on the quality of the transmission systems they use. Sezmi is relying on two transport methods, over-the-air transmission and fixed-line broadband networks. Both Cynthia Brumfield and Glen Dickson pointed out that leasing over-the-air capacity is not as easy as Sezmi has made it out to be. According to Dickson, Sezmi is unlikely to get more than 60 Mbps of capacity in any market, which probably can’t support more than ten HD channels at most even using MPEG-4 compression at very low data rates. Given that folks are complaining about the lack of HD channels with FiOS, how can Sezmi compete with only ten?

On the wired side of the equation there’s even more of a bandwidth issue. Sezmi plans to sell its service through broadband partners (ISPs, telcos without TV service, and some retailers), but if it’s truly successful, the broadband portion is going to place a tremendous strain on the Internet delivery mechanisms (likely not fiber to the home) of those partners. I can just hear cable’s new Slowsky commercials now.

Of course, all of that’s not even taking into account the issue of the content deals Sezmi is negotiating. Video deals are notoriously difficult to arrange, and certainly if cablecos and telcos ever truly sees Sezmi as a threat, no doubt those operators will bring every bit of leverage they have to bear to make sure the content Sezmi gets is not as good or wide-ranging as theirs.

Sezmi is attempting to do two things that consumers are anxious for: provide a cheaper option to cable TV, and create an effective interface that combines broadcast video with Internet video. On the first point, I think it will be blocked at every turn. On the second point, I think the company may show others a way forward, but it’s a problem that all the big guys are already working on, and will bring out their own solutions for when they’re good and ready.

Best of luck to Sezmi. These guys have been really innovative, and deserve huge kudos for trying something new. I wish the obstacles in front of them weren’t quite so daunting.

We finally hooked up the JVC KD-HDR1 in my husband’s car (okay, Tweeter hooked it up), and I filmed a quick Flip video showing the device’s add-on iPod module. Very few after-market car stereos include HD radio and an iPod connector that lets you not only listen to you iPod through through the car speakers, but also control the iPod through the dash. The JVC device is great, but unfortunately iPod navigation with a four-button interface still leaves much to be desired. My advice: get the KD-HDR1, then store some playlists and memorize the button clicks you need to get to those music tracks. I wouldn’t want to be fiddling with up, down, left, right while driving.

Still haven’t toyed much with the HD radio options, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much HD content there is on the radio dial. I’ll have to start tracking what new stations (not already broadcast in analog) are available in the Philly market in HD.

I’ve been living with the Slacker Portable device for about six weeks now and have accumulated a slew of thoughts/insights/revelations on what I like and don’t like about the music player. In case you’re really ADD or just don’t have the time to read the details, here’s the bottom line: the functionality of the Slacker Portable is phenomenal, and far outweighs the hardware and software quirks that come along with it.

First, if you’ve never used the Slacker service online, go check it out. It’s like other customizable Internet radio applications (Last.fm, Pandora), but the personalization tools are particularly flexible and produce great results. So far, having a Slacker Portable is just like carrying the online application around in my pocket, and I don’t need a constant broadband connection.

Like Slacker’s online service, you can use the Slacker Portable to create custom Internet radio stations, or select from DJ-derived stations based on genre. It comes with built-in Wi-Fi, which you can use to transfer station content to the device any time you’re in range of an open wireless network. (No feature yet to enable connections to password-protected networks) In a brilliant move, the Slacker folks let you pre-load your device with stations from your online account when you order it. This is nice because otherwise the first-time download of music via Wi-Fi takes hours. Content refreshes are much faster.

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If you follow the DVR market, you likely remember Digeo’s spectacular failure-to-launch earlier this year. After hyping a line of retail DVR products through the Consumer Electronics Show, the company suddenly pulled the launch and cut half its staff in mid-January. We got word that Digeo would continue to focus on one retail DVR product with details to be announced later in the year, but in general the news was pretty bad.

Now, Jeff Baumgartner has made the savvy discovery that at least in the cable world, Digeo is still on track with new hardware. CableLabs leaked the news in a press announcement about products that will be on display at the Cable Show next month. Digeo’s new product, the Moxi HD DVR 3012, will include CableCARD support (a first, I believe), dual tuning, a larger hard drive, and the lawsuit-free-thanks-to-a-Gemstar-licensing-deal Moxi interface.

Still no word on a retail Digeo box. Maybe next CES?

Full Disclosure: I work with Motorola, which is both a technology partner and sometime-competitor of Digeo’s.

HDTV just never gets old. According to a friend at the NAB show, companies are still shouting HD from the rooftops. Or in this case, from their booth displays.

Weather and traffic are in on the game. AccuWeather was showing off HD content for all types of displays and platforms. Here are some photos of the “CinemaLive HD Weather Display System”. Can’t tell much about the actual scenery, but the graphics sure look good! There’s lots more detail on the Accuweather site showing 3D graphics, Microsoft VirtualEarth integration and more.

Meanwhile Navteq was showing traffic solutions for newscasters. One pic below. Apparently the rendering detail is unbelievable in person. Navteq, by the way, does a whole range of digital navigation and location-based technologies. The company just announced it’s working with the Broadcaster Traffic Consortium to provide services to both portable devices and automobile in-dash systems via HD radio.

Finally, Chopper 5000 made an appearance at NAB. Yes, you too can buy a tricked-out helicopter for broadcasting HDTV. No word on price.

(Thanks, Paul!)

After the explosive hype around Amazon’s launch of the Kindle, things have gone kinda quiet on the new e-book reader, with the exception of reports on shipping delays last month. So are people buying the Kindle? Are they using it? Are they liking it?

I can’t answer any of those questions, but I can relate one Kindle user’s experience. A certain unnamed relative of mine received a Kindle last Christmas. She’s not a techie. She’s not using the Kindle to keep up with RSS feeds or for most other Web uses related to the Whispernet connection. She’s using it to read books. Lots and lots and lots of them. And she loves it.

Said relative is the kind of customer Amazon must covet for the Kindle. Recently we talked about buying a pair of books and then exchanging them next time we saw each other. I went out and bought my book in short order, but she decided she couldn’t wait and ordered the book for her Kindle that day. Turns out she already had a hard copy too! It’s a good thing Amazon warns users when they’re about to re-purchase an e-volume.

I could regain half the real-estate in my house if we ditched real books for their electronic versions. It’s not likely to happen any time soon, but clearly the Kindle is a good substitute for some book junkies. And if anyone reads books in the next generation - the truly digital, but also ADD generation - the Kindle is proof against Sony that e-reading has a promising future… delivering instant gratification.

Wondering if Verizon’s FiOS is available in your area? Look no further than the FiOS wiki. If you click on the states listed you’ll see a detailed accounting of counties or townships where the Verizon service is available. Of course, I live in Upper Merion Pennsylvania and FiOS isn’t actually in my neighborhood, but it is around the corner. Any day now?

(Thanks to Jim and Beth for the photo)

A number of companies racked up fines today for violating FCC rules tied to the digital TV transition. According to Jeff Baumgartner, the FCC put out $6 million in fines targeted mainly at retailers who did not correctly label TVs with analog-only tuners. A couple of companies got hit on interstate shipping rules and a couple were fined for violating V-Chip rules.

So is this how the government plans to answer the next funding request from the National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) to continue implementing the DTV coupon program? The fines are a hardly a drop in the bucket compared to the $450 million the NTIA plans to ask Congress for. But then again, $6 million is nothing to sneeze at.