What’s wrong with this picture? Raw Feed reported late last week on a new yoga mat that streams audio and video. The theory is you can get yoga instruction or mood music right from the mat. Seriously, has whoever designed this ever done a yoga practice? The whole idea is to disconnect. Plus, I can’t imagine trying to twist around to see the video on the mat while trying to get into a pose. Vinyasa class anyone?

Namaste.

Building the perfect DVR/video-entertainment device is hard, which is why cable or telco TV plus a Netflix or Blockbuster + Movielink service is probably your best bet right now. But lest ye be sitting in your living room bemoaning the state of your set-top set-up, let me offer up a bit of context on why building the perfect box is so hard.

There’s the leased set-top model used by cable operators. In an effort to make those set-tops as cheap and efficient as possible, a lot of constraints are applied. There can’t be too much storage or processing power, too many added features or too much open access for modification that could muck up the service for everyone. Not an ideal situation, but on the other hand, these operators bring DVR to the masses.

There’s the retail model, which is owned by TiVo. People who have TiVo tend to love TiVo, but relatively few people have it because of the price. Plus, there’s the issue of plugging TiVo into your cable or telco network. Either you need a separate set-top from your service provider or you need a CableCARD. CableCARD certification is a serious technical challenge (more than I think most people realize) and it still doesn’t provide access to two-way services like video-on-demand and switched digital video.

Finally there’s the Internet model. All those media extenders that made big news early in the year, and P2P services like Joost (the box here being your computer). Here the problem is both content and bandwidth. Not enough appealing, timely content to keep people happy, and/or not enough bandwidth to keep content flowing efficiently.

So what’s on the horizon? (more…)

I don’t read much in hard copy anymore, but I did leaf through the print version of PC World while on the beach last weekend. One article caught my attention as much for what it didn’t say as for what it did report. The piece, Early IPTV Uses Only a Little of Its Fat Pipe, missed a few critical points. And having made my own share of mistakes and errors of omission in the blogging business, I thought I’d make some amends by adding in information where I do have a little knowledge.

First, the IPTV story profiles AT&T and Verizon, but it does so without making the distinction that AT&T delivers all-IP TV, while Verizon uses RF with an IP return path. Essentially Verizon has chosen to use IP only for certain interactive services, and actually more closely emulates a cable network architecture than AT&T’s offering.

(more…)

Emerging Media Dynamics has a report out claiming that 20% of broadband homes (roughly 12 million households) will have media extenders by the end of this year. Anybody else astounded by that number?

The report is including in this category devices like Apple TV, the Xbox 360 and Sling’s SlingCatcher. All of these products are brand new so it utterly shocks me that 12 million people will have them by the end of 2007. Wishful thinking?

As you probably know, I work for Motorola – but until recently have had very little to do with the mobile devices side of the business. So it’s not shocking that when I traveled up to NYC last week for our press event in NYC, I was in store for some surprises.

Sascha Segan (gimpy from a broken toe, but witty as ever) has already covered the new IDEN phones, and I only have one minor point to add. Don’t knock the rubberized phone backing until you try it. Love the grip.

On the other hand, nobody has made much comment about the slew of Bluetooth accessories on display. When I say slew, I mean they almost equaled mobile phones in their proliferation. And, while the Bluetooth devices are first and foremost designed for wireless communication, their expanding functionality is quite interesting. Check out this little gadget to the right for streaming music from a PC, DAP or mobile phone to your mobile phone headphones. (It’s the piece plugged in to the bottom of the iPod -yes Motorola had an iPod on display) Sure, lots of devices do this kind of thing, but I love the idea of packaging this with your phone. Your earbuds theoretically go anywhere your phone does (i.e. everywhere), and if you take along the tiny little plug-in gadget, you can stream music wirelessly from virtually any device.

(more…)

With relatively little fanfare yesterday, AT&T launched their cell phone Video Share service in nearly 160 markets. Sure the iPhone has brought in a lot of buzz not to mention revenue for AT&T (more on AT&T earnings later), but in the long run, the launch of video sharing is a bigger deal.

Years ago I worked with Motorola on the launch of the ill-fated Ojo video phone. There are many reasons why Motorola discontinued the product, but for me, the Ojo still has an important place in my living room. My almost-two-year-old talks to her grandparents on it several times a week, and has almost since she was born.

One of these days, video phones will hit the mainstream, and AT&T has found a way to ease people into the idea. Text messaging and photo messaging are common now, and video on a cell phone is simply the next logical step. I even think that sending a video clip versus talking via live video is a smart way to start with the concept. People are vaguely uncomfortable about sharing themselves live on video (think Jane Jetson’s morning face mask), but taking a quick clip of something and sharing it is as comfortable as posting something on YouTube. And on a cell phone it’s much easier, immediate, and more relevant.

(more…)

Consider this an ongoing thread. First, I was right in my snide comment about Wii availability. Second, I was wrong, or rather JP Morgan was wrong about an iPhone Nano. Third, there are already many things to add to the list including Slingcatcher (thanks, Dave), ultra-portable Mac (wishful thinking?) and TiVo Series 3 Lite.

Let’s revisit this in a month or so.