Mari’s favorite independent & foreign film download service is hooking up with TiVo… Later this year, Jaman will join Amazon Unbox on TiVo in bringing digital movie rentals to the TV.

“By capitalizing on TiVo’s vast big-screen user experience, we’re making it even easier for people to discover, browse and enjoy our catalog of high definition, edgy and award-winning films on their TVs,” said Jaman’s CEO Gaurav Dhillon. “This venture cements our position as a leading online provider of movies, offering unique and original content that viewers can’t find anywhere else.”

This is a good move for both companies - Netflix seems to have proven (and banked on) the value of long-tail content, the sort that Jaman provides. However, TiVo’s challenge continues to be marketing the benefits of their box and service over the competition. And I’d like Unbox in HD.

Looks like I only managed to get half the story last Sunday - it was literally the last 5 minutes of the event and I missed a critical piece of the equation. Thursday AM I managed to swing by TiVo’s booth and got a bit more information…

In addition to manually configuring video folder monitoring on a PC as I reported, TiVo users will also be able to subscribe to categorized video podcasts on-box. For example, in the screenshot above we’re looking at the upcoming merged TiVoCast + Web Video area, within the Comedy section. We’ll still need a PC and TiVo Desktop to manage the downloads and perform video conversions, but this isn’t nearly as geeky as I thought. (Though, keeping the PC on will still be a conceptual hurdle for many.) The advanced Desktop option is pretty much for folks who aren’t offered the feeds they want via the TiVo interface, already have iTunes configured, or have other sorts of video (BitTorrent?) they’d like to auto-convert.

Both the TiVo update and new PC Desktop software (2.6) are scheduled for a March delivery. And while I couldn’t get anything specific out of TiVo, they seemed quite aware of their Mac clientèle and the additional video playback capabilities of the Series3/HD platform… I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll be seeing Mac support and less PC transcoding at a later date.

Both TiVo and Sling had tables at the Digital Experience press event last night, so with about ten minutes left in the show I was able to sneak away for more details on the forthcoming TiVo Desktop PC software. Perhaps I’m overtired, because when I had originally received the embargoed press release on Saturday I just didn’t have a handle on what’s new with this transcoding functionality. Having seen it in action, it’s much clearer…

TiVo Desktop 2.6 allows you to monitor a folder of video - which is automagically transcoded and transferred to a networked TiVo. What’s new is the whole element of automation… Here’s one of example of how you might put this to use: Subscribe to various video podcasts via iTunes, have TiVo Desktop monitor that folder, and specify the number of videos (of each podcast) the TiVo should store (as shown above). Once that setup is complete, whenever your PC is powered up new videos are automatically transcoded and transfered - meaning, video content resides on the TiVo and doesn’t require the PC stay powered on for television playback.

I can’t say most customers will utilize this feature or get the concept, but it’s a nice-to-have feature for those that do. And something no other DVR provides. (If you already have a TiVo, it’s also much cheaper than investing in an Apple TV.) TiVo Desktop 2.6 is due in March, and as before, transcoding carries a $24.95 fee. Current TiVo Desktop Plus licensees will receive a free upgrade.

It’s time to look back on the year that was, and perhaps speculate a bit into 2008. Overall, 2007 was evolutionary in the consumer electronics space… More folks upgraded to digital HD televisions, embraced DVRs, and downloaded content (legally or otherwise). There wasn’t much new in the way of technology or trends that really moved me.

The only game changing hardware has been the iPhone. Apple’s success proves there’s a market for thoughtfully designed convergence devices. They’ve also proved smart phones need not be limited to the business and geek crowds - the mainstream is willing to partake (despite the cost). Apple has also done a nice job educating the market as to what more advanced handsets offer — good for all players. Once they fully commit to the Apple TV platform, I expect similar success (for them and that segment) next year.

As far as game changing trends, some the major labels (EMI, Warner) have started to line up behind DRM-free music — perhaps to address the cries of their (former and potential) customers, perhaps to stop the bleeding. Probably both. I expect we’ll see more of this next year… in audio. Video is a different sort of animal and that model won’t work. However, Hulu has also broken new ground - by bringing together many studios in one place to offer free-with-commercial-advertisement cross-browser web streaming of both current and classic (not always in the good sense) television shows. We’ll see both of these trends continue in 2008, as the studios and networks more fully embrace the digital marketplace. To protect and monetize their assets.

Unfortunately, 2007 brought no clarity to the next-gen high definition optical disk battle. For a few months, it appeared Blu-ray might be taking a commanding lead. However, the HD DVD camp bought relationships with two additional studios (to the tune of $150 million) and sharply discounted hardware pricing. So I’m back to my original theory that both formats will coexist indefinitely - studios intent on maximizing their earning potential will ultimately produce titles in both formats. And the slow adoption of players will continue until they do.

On the interesting tech front, the Amazon Kindle and Eye-Fi got my attention. Though, it’s yet to be seen what sort of long-term impact these products may have.

Personally, 2007 was notable for both Mari and I. Early in the year, she launched Motorola’s Connected Home 2 Go blog and I joined Sling Media.

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I’ve lost track of how many times ReplayTV has switched hands. And today they’ve ended up under DirecTV’s wing for who knows what purpose. Replay had abandoned the hardware DVR market, though they still have subscribers, and they’ve been making a play for the PC software DVR market. A small fish in a small pond.

So far, this is all we know:

Japan’s D&M Holdings Inc said on Thursday it had sold its ReplayTV business, which develops software for digital video recorders, to DirecTV of the United States for an undisclosed sum.

Perhaps DTV will put out a release and clue us in to their intentions. Until then, we’ll just have to speculate… I suppose it’s possible they could (think about) using the ReplayTV interface on their satellite DVRs, re-enter the stand-alone hardware business, or (most likely) just hang onto Replay’s patent portfolio for a rainy day (when/if their do-not-sue deal with TiVo expires in 2010). Or to prevent that rainy day. (more…)

From TiVo’s press release:

Music Choice will deliver its wide-ranging catalog of several thousand music videos and original programming to the television through the TiVoCast service. At launch nearly a thousand video titles are available and this number is expected to grow significantly in the coming weeks. When considering the robust Music Choice offering and the recently announced availability of Rhapsody, with the current Internet radio offering from Live365, TiVo users truly have a 360-degree musical playground.

I just gave the (free) service a quick spin (check out the screen grabs below) while blowing time in the Toronto airport before heading down to NYC. Music Choice doesn’t do much for me, but TiVo’s obviously done a nice job beefing up their broadband offerings this year (Amazon Unbox, Rhapsody, many more “TiVoCast” partners, etc) - helping set it apart from the generic cableco DVR. (Then again, cable offered VOD and Music Choice long before TiVo…)

Broadband-connected TiVo units can now access Picasa Web Albums (Google) and Photobucket images. From the press release:

“By working with these well-respected and popular photo-sharing partners TiVo enables families to share their pictures in new, fun ways. TiVo continues to show our commitment to differentiated product offerings by allowing subscribers to share their memories on the best picture frame in the house - - their television.� Photos will be displayed at the highest possible resolution on each TiVo box, meaning TiVo Series3™ and TiVo HD subscribers can see their memories in full high definition.

The original (and now dead) Yahoo Photos widget is still listed within the Music, Photos, & More menu, though it remains to be seen if it will ultimately be replaced with a Flickr stub incorporated into this new Photos and Slideshows widget. I haven’t really put the photo apps through their paces yet (I’m on the road this week), but did notice some of my pics appear as broken images (shown below) and wonder why the new HME app is buried so far down the menu. However, I do prefer accessing already-organized online photos rather than keeping a local computer running to feed the TiVo (via TiVo Desktop software).

Click the thumbnails for a larger view:

Mari’s leveraged her Motorola connections and dug up some USB SDV “tuning resolver” details:

• Working prototype produced in only four months
• Committed to deployment by end of Q2, 2008
• Boxes provided by MSO, pricing undetermined
• Motorola’s form factor similar to small DCT700 cable box (shown above)
• Initial implementation does not support VOD, but it could in the future

For more interesting reading, check out TiVo’s brief FCC filing which discusses both the SDV Tuning Resolver and proposed retail OCAP DVR.