The Ridiculous AT&T Galaxy S4 Pre-Order

Dave Zatz —  March 28, 2013 — 5 Comments

samsung-galaxy-s4

Over the last few years, we’ve witnessed a bizarre new marketing trend in which products are put up for pre-order… without an actual release date or itemized spec sheet. And, amazingly, even occasionally neglecting to specify a price. AT&T is up this time, with a Samsung Galaxy S4 (pre) pre-order announcement:

Continuing our legacy as the first carrier to launch Samsung’s Galaxy series, we are excited to announce AT&T customers will be able to begin pre-ordering the Galaxy S® 4 beginning April 16 for $249.99 with a two-year commitment.

Our assumption is that AT&T’s strategy is designed to one up T-Mobile’s claims of May 1st availability. Although, the artist formerly known as Ma Bell doesn’t specify an actual release date or which model (color, memory capacity) they’re making available for that $250. Hopefully details will come into focus on April 16th. While we continue to pine for the HTC One on Verizon…

In Advertising, Mobile
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TiVo Android App Updated… Without Stream Support

Dave Zatz —  March 28, 2013 — 7 Comments

tivo-android

TiVo has just refreshed its line of Android apps, with the highlight being Jellybean (4.2) support. Unfortunately, TiVo Stream capabilities remain MIA… despite Android representing greater than 50% of US smartphones and presumably frustrated MSO partners.

The complete rundown:

  • Additional Away Mode functionality so that users can manage their Season Passes and ToDo Lists while on the go!
  • The new TiVo tablet Browse experience
  • Support for Jelly Bean (Android 4.2)
  • General Bug Fixing Continue Reading…
In Android, Apple, Mobile, TiVo
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Popcornflix Catalog Comes to Sony Devices

Mari Silbey —  March 18, 2013 — 1 Comment

PopcornFlix on Sony

The free, ad-supported Popcornflix movie service is coming to Sony’s connected Bravia TVs and Blu-ray devices. Already available on Roku and Boxee, Popcornflix draws from the movie catalog of its parent company Screen Media Ventures. This is no Netflix alternative, and you won’t find recent movie hits available for free. However, Popcornflix reportedly has a library of more than 650 films, and it’s adding more each month. The service was already available on both Roku and Boxee boxes.
Although I admit my tastes are probably too mainstream for most of the movies on Popcornflix (or at least I don’t have the mental energy to search for something I’d like), I do find it interesting to see a content company pursuing direct distribution. This isn’t necessarily a viable solution for many studios who have other types of revenue models in place, but it does suggest that there is a level at which direct distribution works beyond one-off productions like the upcoming Kickstarter-funded Veronica Mars movie. Last June GigaOM reported that Popcornflix was behind only the big guys like Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix in number of Roku downloads. The fact that distribution is expanding suggests the revenue stream is worthwhile.

Related- Remember when Sony was considering its own virtual MSO last year? It looks like the company is hoping to add to its content stores in other ways now.

Continue Reading…

In Blu-ray, IPTV, Video
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Why Indie Cablecos Think a Crisis is Coming

Mari Silbey —  March 13, 2013 — 13 Comments
ACA Summit Matthew Polka Ajit Pai

ACA President Matthew Polka with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai

You know how a lot of consumers are fed up with rising cable bills, excessive program bundling, and limited access to TV shows? It turns out independent cable operators feels the same way.

Over and over and over at today’s American Cable Association Summit – a policy-driven event put on by the independent cable organization – I heard frustration about the state of the pay-TV business from small cable companies who feel outgunned in a market where the content bills just keep going up. Indie operators have two main complaints, and they’re both related. First, they have no leverage in licensing retransmission agreements because content owners can threaten TV blackouts. Second, in some markets, broadcasters are working together to set licensing fees, a practice the cable operators consider to be collusion. According to Wide Open West CEO Colleen Abdoulah, collusion is taking place in 20% of TV markets and is driving up retransmission costs by at least 22%. Continue Reading…

In Industry, TV Shows
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The TiVo Mini Review

Dave Zatz —  March 10, 2013

tivo-mini

TiVo’s been talking up their DVR extender over a year, since it was first introduced last February as the IP-STB. And, while we didn’t get the 2012 retail launch we were hoping for, the TiVo Mini ($100, plus service) has finally arrived. But is it everything we’d hoped for?

Instead of sprinkling a number of DVRs around the home, the TiVo Mini essentially leverages a 4-tuner TiVo Premiere as a central media hub – relaying both live and recorded content. This thin client approach features a variety of practical advantages including a lower total cost of ownership, via waived CableCARD and Additional Outlet fees, energy efficiency, and the simplicity of managing a single drive of scheduled recordings. Of course, TiVo isn’t first to this space,  joining very fine satellite offerings from DISH and DirecTV on one side… with years of Windows Media Center extenders at the other end of the spectrum.

TiVo Mini Unboxing & Setup

The TiVo Mini ships with a standard Peanut remote, including batteries, and TiVo has kindly included a HDMI cable. However, in order to keep the Mini’s size under control, TiVo passed on standard component jacks and folks reliant on them may have a difficult time connecting their TVs. So, perhaps, they should have provided that rather rare breakout cable instead. Monoprice to the rescue? Speaking of connectivity, Continue Reading…

In Reviews, TiVo
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