Never enough time… in Canada!
Never enough time… in Canada!
I no longer ride the subway to work, so now my commute is far less interesting and far less productive. However, I still have a fond place in my heart for portable multimedia. The two media apps I find myself using most frequently (which can’t be accessed on a subway) are the portable Slingbox player (it does go full screen) and MiniXM (as shown above on my Sprint 6700). I’m obviously on XM, but Sirius subscribers can stream stations via SiriuCE. TiVoToGo converted shows are played back via the included Windows Media Player and ripped DVDs through TCPMP. Orb could stream my home music collection, video, pictures, and television if I wanted — the TV component isn’t nearly as slick as Sling’s box and custom app, but it is free if you have a PC with tuner card. Down the road, I’d really like to see Windows Mobile support PMP services such as Vongo’s all-you-can-eat movie rentals.
The Akimbo story isn’t over yet… As Om Malik reported yesterday, Akimbo has picked up $15 million dollars from a variety of investors including Cisco and AT&T. Not so coincidentally, Akimbo will be providing content downloads for AT&T’s upcoming Homezone service. While Akimbo’s hardware revision has been pushed to the fall, PC Magazine just published details on the updated hardware and service. Given Akimbo’s intended partnership with Movielink, it’s no surprise they’re moving to a Microsoft platform that supports Windows Media Video (and DRM). As announced at CES, RCA will manufacture the box. They estimate it’ll cost $200 – $300 and include basic content downloads at the current $10/mo price point, while prime content and movies will incur additional fees. Movielink’s fairly large library (much larger than MovieBeam’s 100 flicks) is compelling, but paying monthly service fees plus rental fees on top of a hardware expense doesn’t sit well with me and I don’t think the market will support this model… We’ll see how things play out in the fall and learn if this is indeed their final pricing scheme.
Never enough time…
