Douglas L Ross: Consumer Home Storage Devices

HP E-Book Reader

Tue, 26 Aug 2003 17:20:53 GMT

Here's another example of a networked appliance that also has a lot of local storage, the application being reading stuff.

Hi-tech tome takes on paperbacks. US researchers have developed a prototype e-book which can hold a whole library on a gadget no bigger than a paperback. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

PC to TV Blackboxes

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 15:50:43 GMT

Hauppauge [HAUP; Nasdaq] and others are making these devices that the NYT's Mcmanus describe as "bridging the gap" between the PC and the TV enabling consumers to display "media content" that resides on PCs. Curiously, there is no word on the Hauppague website about the MediaMVP product that Mcmanus references in his article [From PC to TV Screen, a Stream of Multimedia. Your PC is brimming with great photos, MP3's and videos. But your family and friends are glued to the television. By Neil Mcmanus. New York Times: Technology] and no indication of its price or feature set.

Among other things, Hauppaauge makes a 350 Meg PC/DVR card that sells for $200.

Targeted Television Advertising

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 14:28:06 GMT

There is a significant battle going on for control of the intellectual property surrounding the delivery of targeted television and internet advertising.

Ad firm 24/7 pushing for patent power. 24/7 Real Media wins another patent for delivering digital ads, giving it new authority over the online-ad serving market as it pursues patent licenses to improve shareholder value. [CNET News.com]

New ReplayTV's

Mon, 21 Jul 2003 16:21:04 GMT

ReplayTV's New Owners Drop Features That Riled Hollywood. The development of consumer-friendly electronics products may be a hallmark of the digital age, but that engineered friendliness is not always appreciated in Hollywood. By Eric A. Taub. [New York Times: Technology]

Sony Plugs TV Into Notebooks

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 20:03:06 GMT

Sony plugs TV into Vaio notebooks. The Japanese company looks to boost its PC fortunes with a notebook that lets people pause and record live TV for future playback and another that packs Centrino wireless technology. [CNET News.com]

Microsoft At NCTA

Tue, 10 Jun 2003 19:10:46 GMT

Yesterday at NCTA, Microsoft introduce Microsoft^® TV Foundation Edition what they descirbe as "a new digital TV software platform designed to help cable operators get more value from on-demand and other digital TV services"

They simultaneously announced support (http://www.microsoft.com/tv/mstvIndustrySupportPR.mspx) for the platform from cable industry vendors Motorola, Inc., SeaChange, Concurrent Computer Corp., MetaTV Inc., Two Way TV Ltd. and Advanced Digital Broadcast Ltd.

They also announced a customer win (http://www.microsoft.com/tv/cablevisionselectsmspr.mspx) for the software platform with Televisa's Cablevision (CVC) subsidiary, one of Mexico City's largest cable MSO with ~450k subscribers announcing that they will adopt it.

Sony's New Playstation 2 PSK Introduced Today

Thu, 29 May 2003 20:57:25 GMT

NYT is reporting that Sony previewed a new Playstation in Japan today with built in DVD and a hard drive. They didn't announce the price and only allueded to availability in the USA "next year" with introduction first in Japan later this year.

Sony Previews Many Talents of PlayStation [New York Times: Technology]

SnapStream's TiVo on the PC

Thu, 29 May 2003 20:43:25 GMT

Software Anoints the PC as an Alternative to TiVo. People who adore the idea of TiVo but can't afford it may want to weigh the option of recording television shows on the hard drive of a personal computer. Personal Video Station 3 is the latest version of a software program from SnapStream Media that bestows TiVo-like powers on the humble PC. By J.d. Biersdorfer. [New York Times: Technology]

Motorola PVR Announcement

Tue, 06 May 2003 19:34:02 GMT

Motorola announced it's long awaited DCT6000 family of digital settops. Not much new in the announcement. The first product [DCT6200] is PVR "capable" which means a side-car hard-drive. Their angle is to combine HD and PVR functionality along "entertainment system" outputs and a really big processor (800 MIPS), but there is no word on availability of the integrated PVR/HD device.

Disney's Moviebeam

Fri, 02 May 2003 15:32:23 GMT

Disney has announced a service called Moviebeam which will deliver "VOD" movies to consumer homes via analog broadcast tv signals using datacasting technologies. The service requires a side-car TV settop box that will apparently have enough [PVR-like] memory to store up to 100 movie titles [~150 to 200 GB]. Disney plans to test the service in Salt Lake City apparently via its ABC affiliate station there.

This brings up the interesting question again about whether or not cable operators are obligated to carry the "datacasting" information embedded in the ABC television signal and thus to enable the use of Cable's network to compete with their own VOD services without any compensation from a broadcaster like Disney?

New Stuff At CeBIT

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 18:32:49 GMT

InforWorld article with an interesting list of the new stuff at CeBIT.

Gadgets galore at CeBIT 2003. Division between computing, consumer electronics continues to narrow [InfoWorld: Top News]

It includes a blurb on WiFi Video:

"At first glance, BenQ's WM1000 Wireless Media Adapter looked like a typical Wi-Fi access point. But looks can be deceiving. The device is designed to stream DVD-quality MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)4 video and MP3 music over an 802.11b wireless LAN connection, and can stream video from a PC to a television. In addition to receiving video streamed from a PC, the WM1000 can handle input from a DVD player or cable television, he said. The WM1000 will begin shipping next quarter, the company said, and pricing was not immediately available. The company, based in Taipei , will initially release the product in Asia before rolling it out to other regions. The company did not give a timeframe for worldwide rollout. "

Sonicblue to Sell Replay TV To Japanese Consumer Electronics Companies

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 18:07:09 GMT

Sonicblue seeks bankruptcy protection. The hardware maker files for Chapter 11 status, with the intent of selling its ReplayTV digital recorder and Rio MP3 player businesses. [CNET News.com]

According to announcements by Sonicblue in relationship a Chapter 11 filing, they hope to sell their ReplayTV and Rio subsidiaries for ~$40 million to Japanese consumer electronics companies D&M Holdings and Marantz Japan.

LA Times Article on DVR Rollout

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 15:53:30 GMT

LA Times reporter Michael Hiltzik writes about DVR adoption problems.

Media2Go From Microsoft

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 16:34:20 GMT

CNet reporting on Microsoft's launch of Media2Go software at CeBit.

Tablet PCs

Tue, 04 Mar 2003 18:55:43 GMT

Planet PDA magazine says Tablet PCs will "revive the PC market?" http://www.planetpdamag.com/content/030403rt.htm

Oh, Blissful Portability...

Thu, 13 Feb 2003 14:09:35 GMT

It is very likely that we will carry a good portion of "our stuff" with us eventually in portable storage media...here's a current example...

POCKETEC 60 GB USB "Shirt Pocket sized" Portable Hard Drive ($369.99)

"The pocket-sized Pockey 2.0 offers up to 60GB of storage capacity, fast transfer rates, and ultra-portability, measuring just 5" x 3" x .5". Transferring large amounts of data is a snap with the USB 2.0 interface which offers transfer rates up to 480 Mbps – 40 times faster than USB 1.1 speed!

Best of all, the ultra-portable Pockey does not require any additional power source because all necessary power is drawn through the USB cable. You can take it Anywhere! The Pockey is compatible with laptops and desktops, PC/Mac/Linux, so cross-platform file sharing is a breeze. Plug-N-Play, hot-swappable, and hot-pluggable features make the Pockey convenient and easy to use.

Pocketec Pockey USB 2.0 Portable HD

USB 2.0 Certified with transfer rate up to 480 Mbps (40x faster than USB 1.1)

Backwards compatible with USB 1.1

No additional power source required (no batteries or AC adapter required)

Tiny footprint offers maximum portability

Massive storage capacity

Stackable (multiple Pockeys can be attached to your computer)

Cross-platform compatible (PC, MAC, and Linux)

Plug-N-Play operation

DOS Level Support makes the Pockey a powerful tool for even the most demanding IT manager

Access Time: 12ms

Transfer Rate: up to 16 MB/s

MTBF: 300,000 power on hours

Shock: 150 G 2mS (operating), 700 G 2mS, 120G 11mS (non-operating)

Weight: 5.5 ounces

Requires Microsoft Windows 98/98SE/2000/Me/XP, Macintosh OS 8.6+, or Linux Kernel 2.4+, available USB Port (To achieve USB 2.0 speeds, your computer must be USB 2.0 enabled), CD-ROM Drive for driver installation or internet connection for driver installation download

Includes Drive, USB Connection Cable, User's Manual, CD-ROM installation disk, Slim line carrying case

Dimensions: 5" x 3" x .5"

Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year "