In trying to track down information on Microsoft’s Origami project, I came across a recent MS trademark application. On February 10, Microsoft requested the rights to the character mark MovieScout in relation to “providing online information concerning entertainment, movie schedules and locations, movie reviews, and ticketing.” The domain name is currently held through Market Vision’s squat and sell service. No telling if Microsoft has bought it or wants to buy it as MovieScout branded features could also exist within MSN, Xbox 360 Dashboard, MCE, or somewhere else entirely.

Democracy, who bill themselves as a free, open source, Internet TV platform, is now available for PC and Mac beta testing with planned support for Linux. The combination video player, publisher, and aggregator seems to be getting a decent amount of attention, but I’m not quite sold. I already have free software which handles video podcasts, home videos, and movie trailers just fine. And let us not forget there’s a reason why VH1 calls it Web Junk. Democracy’s biggest hook is that it will allow people to publish or retrieve BitTorrent content in an automated fashion… which is how folks will pick up what they really want: television shows and movies. So, what’s the over/under (in weeks) before the studios conclude Democracy sounds a lot like Piracy?

If you’re wondering what video formats are supported, the Windows player is powered by VLC and the Mac’s by QuickTime.

Democracy says: “The days of waiting for internet video to buffer and watching it in a tiny box are over,” says Participatory Culture Foundation co-founder Nicholas Reville. “With Democracy, internet video is ready to play when you want to watch it, like TiVo, and it fills the entire screen.” Democracy builds on cutting edge RSS, Firefox, and BitTorrent technology to empower anyone to watch, share, broadcast and download video over the internet in a way that enables higher digital resolution, full screen video playback, continuous non-buffered play, and an open standards environment free of adware or spyware — a much more TV-like experience than traditional web video, and with far more diversity and freedom than traditional TV.

TiVo offered up a little more Valentine’s Day love for us yesterday when they released TiVo Desktop 1.9.2 for OSX. So I went ahead and installed the brand-spanking new software. No new features as far as I can tell, but both Panther and Tiger are now listed as being fully supported. The good news: TiVo obviously has some Mac expertise on staff. The bad… if TiVoToGo for Mac were anywhere need ready to ship, I don’t think this package would have been released as an obvious stop-gap. The update doesn’t support Intel-based Macs, but I’m giving TiVo a pass on this one since Apple delivered 6 months early and few people have them in their possession.

Update: Bob Poniatowski, of TiVo Product Marketing, is hopeful an Intel-compatible TiVo Desktop will be available in 6-8 weeks. Additionally, Mac hacker Dennis Wilkinson has uncovered TiVoToGo-related code within 1.9.2. Makes ya wonder if Mac TTG is only 8 weeks out…

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I woke up to some depressing news this AM… Leon Nicholls, the sole developer of Galleon, has decided to move on to “other interesting technologies.” TiVo subscribers are losing a great resource, and TiVo, Inc. is losing a great advocate. I’m hopeful that TiVo enthusiasts with some coding chops will pick up where he’s left off and that TiVo will do more to encourage HME development going forward.

Leon says: I think that TiVo has not done enough to keep my interest in their technology. I think that they can still do something about improving the situation, but then they have to be committed to really supporting third-party developers. They need to do much more than throwing their SDK over the wall and hoping that something will come of it. So what does this mean for the Galleon media server which is based on HME? As the lone developer of the project, its been interesting and fun playing with the technology sofar. However, the hope was that the technology would go somewhere and that TiVo would communicate with third-party developers about their roadmap. So, I’m sad to announce that I’ve decided to reduce my development efforts on the project. I might still release some bug fixes, but these won’t be as frequent as the releases in the past. I also don’t have any plans on adding any additional functionality to Galleon.

As reported last month, TiVo’s been busy updating their online scheduling tools. The refreshed TiVo Central Online is available now and features an enhanced, customizable AJAX-animated grid guide with improved search functionality.

As you may recall, BitTorrent began their uphill battle towards legitimacy by partnering with the MPAA last fall to crack down on movie piracy. Now they’re taking it a step further by introducing a video download service with UK cable provider NTL. Once they add a custom storefront, will the service really be much different than an iTunes or Vongo… other than the P2P method of distribution and download?

Reuters says: UK cable firm NTL is teaming up with BitTorrent Inc., the company behind the popular file-sharing software, to test a new service that will let users purchase movies and music video downloads. “We’re working with rightsholders and ISPs because we view ourselves at the center of a lot of the activity going on here,” said BitTorrent Inc. Chief Operating Officer Ashwin Navin. “There’s been a lot of banter about video over the Internet this year, but for BitTorrent it’s a few years old.”

(via GigaOm)

In case you weren’t aware, a few months back my Engadget handlers let me out of the basement research department to write the occasional tutorial. This week’s how-to describes streaming any audio through your TiVo, such as Sirius, XM, or your locked down iTunes. While the hack isn’t new, it isn’t well publicized so I took the opportunity to share the love. Before enlisting Galleon to help pass the audio, you may want to try loading the .m3u playlist into TiVo Deskop — on one of my machines it works, on the other it crashes. The article can be found here.

If all you’re after is streaming music, TiVo’s new online apps include Live365 and apps.tv offers Last.fm. If you’re interested in a more robust MP3 player than TiVo’s Desktop software, both AudioFaucet and Galleon’s music support are worth checking out.