Beginning next month, broadband-connected Series2 TiVo units will be able to subscribe to multiple new downloadable web and television video offerings in addition to the current CNET and Rocketboom services. I’m envisioning TiVoCast will be housed in a HME subscription application, similar to the recently launched ProductWatch.

Interestingly, no money is changing hands (yet) between TiVo and the content providers who will advertise their brands while selling commercials. In return TiVo continues to differentiate themselves from generic DVRs while refining the service and looking to partner with bigger fish. You know… the kind of fish that can provide movies on demand. As with MovieBeam, I’m willing to pay for true VOD distinct from a cable or satellite provider.

(I’m surprised that Brightcove isn’t referenced…)

TiVo Inc., the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), today announced the launch of TiVoCast(TM), a revolutionary new service which will deliver broadband video directly to the television sets of TiVo subscribers. The TiVoCast service turns Web video into television by bringing top broadband content now only available on the PC to the TV set.

“The range and quality of broadband video is exploding on the Web, but it’s not TV until it is on the TV,” said Tom Rogers, CEO of TiVo. “With the TiVoCast service, we are once again transforming the television experience by bringing the rapidly expanding array of video content on the Internet into the living room.”

“Television is still the preferred platform for watching video. The TiVoCast service captures mainstream and specialty-based content on the Web, delivering programming that is not otherwise available through the TV today and providing a wide variety of choice that will be of interest to all segments of the TV audience,” said Tara Maitra, TiVo’s Vice President and General Manager, Programming. “The TiVoCast service provides niche networks and broadband content suppliers, for which the economics of television distribution might not make sense, a way to connect with audiences in the living room via their favorite medium for watching video, TV and TiVo.”

As part of the launch, TiVo announced that it has reached new agreements with leading video content providers including the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), The New York Times, Heavy, iVillage and CNET among others. The broadband video content will include:

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Dell has the Harmony 880 for only $109, shipped free. If you’ve been sitting on the fence and/or waiting for a bargain, you’re not going to do better than this! The 880 retails for $249, but coupon code LWLCHHGG9Q7C9W gets you a $120 discount. Additionally, Logitech is offering a $20 mail-in rebate. The offer is good until tomorrow AM or until they sell 3000 remotes.

Harmony 880 reviews.

Never enough time…

• ReplayTV recruits for PC DVR software beta testing. (ReplayTV)
• Hollywood, retailers eye movie download kiosks. (Reuters)
• Cablevision begs for network DVR mercy. (Reuters)
• Sony’s eReader delayed until late summer. (Sony)
• Yet another home media extender, though this one touts Viiv and HDMI. (eHomeUpgrade)

Congrats to Peter Thill, a pediatric intensive care doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Minnesota! Stay tuned for more giveaways in the coming months.

Originally demo-ed in January and targeted for a Q2 release, the Mac SlingPlayer is being pushed back to September. While I can’t say I’m happy about a delay, I do appreciate upfront communication of the development status. (Hey, what’s up with Mac TiVoToGo?) I assume Apple’s early Intel adoption may have slowed things down somewhat. Additionally it’s my understanding that enabling Mac support is a huge undertaking because it changes the way video is handled on the Slingbox itself, potentially impacting and requiring changes to the PC software client. The good news in all of this? Sling has confirmed Mac software will be free and beta testing opportunities will be available as early as next month.

Sling says: Ultimately, we recognize that many Mac users have high standards for digital media products, and we are working hard to ensure we will meet and exceed those standards with the upcoming SlingPlayer for Mac. Unfortunately, while it’s probably not exactly what you wanted to hear, I hope you understand just how tricky some things are to manage for a small company. Bottom line is despite our initial intent to deliver a Mac/OSX version of the SlingPlayer in Q2′06, we are moving our target to Q3′06. As you are probably aware, the Mac landscape changed dramatically this year, and as a small company, we chose to shift development paths to deliver universal Mac support. The net effect of this shift has been to delay our Mac plans by about 90 days.

At some point right around the beginning of July we will begin the official signup process to become a Mac beta tester (just as we’ve done for all prior beta programs). Our public beta test (the one anyone can download) should be made available in late August. Commercial release will occur in September. One important piece of good news: we can put to rest the debate over charging. There will be no additional fees to download the SlingPlayer Mac software. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Never enough time…

• The “Academy” hinders modern movie distribution. (Pan and Scan)
• $200 three-way HDMI switch. (HD Blog)
• Movielink for sale? (Hacking Netflix)
• PSP firmware update supports game demo downloads. (jkOnTheRun)
• Another Mac Mini as theater hub experiment. (MacWorld)

I’m surprised it took nearly a year for some clever company to offer SlingStream recording, a frequently requested feature, but now it’s arrived in the form of Applian’s Replay SlingCorder. Why hasn’t Sling Media integrated this functionality into the SlingPlayer? As with limiting SlingBox connections to one person at a time, I believe this decision was made to minimize exposure to legal issues.

I’ve spent some time with the SlingCorder and it does exactly what it advertises — it records to hard disk whatever your SlingPlayer is broadcasting. Additionally, simple time and channel scheduling is offered. With this initial release, your computer needs to be powered on with your SlingPlayer running for the SlingCorder to function. Output files are 320×240 ASF, which can be easily viewed within Windows Media Player and on portable devices. Folks without a DVR attached to their Slingbox or without an easy method of archiving DVR recordings should find SlingCorder useful.

UPDATES:

• 7/2/06, SlingCorder Gets New Name, Features
• 7/13/06, SlingPlayer 1.3 Beta Doesn’t Support SlingCorder

If you recall, MovieBeam is the movie rental device and service spun off from Disney and backed by Cisco. Unlike Akimbo’s internet downloads, MovieBeam contracts local broadcasters to distribute films over the air. The box supposedly holds 100 movie rentals at any given time, including several offered in HD.

A few weeks ago, MovieBeam lowered the hardware fee to $200, soon followed by a $50 blogosphere deal. At $200, I felt the device was still too expensive given per movie rental expenses ($1.99 - $4.99). However, $50 seemed reasonable and I decided to join in (though they ultimately gave me the box). I figured in the worst case scenario I could cannibalize MovieBeam for the 160GB hard drive.

Overall, I’ve been relatively pleased with MovieBeam. While I have no control over the movies in the library, the selection is quite broad covering a variety of genres with both recent and classic films. Movies do not appear on the box until they’ve been downloaded; therefore, rental playback is immediate. Rented flicks remain available for 24 hours and typical in-movie VCR controls are offered. I found standard definition films upscaled from 480p (using a HDMI cable) to look and sound very good. Those without a cable/satellite box offering PPV or not conveniently located near a Blockbuster will appreciate MovieBeam for spontaneous movie rentals.

So how does MovieBeam perform with true HD? I have no idea — my box only has a few HD films in stock, the most recent being Bubble followed by Kill Bill, Volume 2. Because of a poor selection and being connected to a 30″ HDTV (not large enough to perform a reasonable analysis of HD picture quality), I chose to pass. Though others whom I respect have chimed in… Ben feels HD quality is poor and Jeremy opined while it isn’t Comcast HD, it is better than DVD-quality. The good news is that MovieBeam can most likely improve HD quality in the future by simply using less compression.

Two minor annoyances to consider before purchase: 1. MovieBeam needs a landline to periodically dial in for billing purposes. I have it working through my Vonage box, which is inconveniently located in another room. 2. Service is not offered in all regions. Even in my supported area, the flat antenna needed to be precisely placed on a window sill with good visibility for download reception.

And now for something entirely different (and hopefully useful) on ZNF… I present a MovieBeam video overview.