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TiVo turns on custom RSS video feed support

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 5th 2009 at 2:47PM


More than a year after dropping video podcast support into TiVo Desktop 2.6, the company will let users download them directly to their Series3, TiVo HD and HD XL set-top boxes. This allows expansion beyond its own directory of web videos, allowing users to stream instantly, download a single episode, or setup a Season Pass (subscription) and download them automatically. As Dave Zatz points out the press release mentions supporting h.264, but offers no specifics on resolution or bitrate. Check out TiVo's site for more info on setting it up either through the box or creating a compatible feed, and let us know if your preferred web series are working yet.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

ZeeVee releases Zinc TV browser for Macs

by Richard Lawler posted Jun 4th 2009 at 4:37PM


ZeeVee has announced a Mac version of its Zinc video browser. Aimed ata TV-compatible interface to any streaming website Zinc should run on any Intel Mac running OS X 10.5. Specifically pointing out boxee, Zinc says users can create access to new sites just by adding an rss feed to their favorites tab. Give it a shot and let us know if its as easy as they make it sound, Mac owners.Speaking of remote-focused interfaces for streaming sites, ZeeVee has announced a Mac version of its Zinc video browser. Aimed at the suddenly crowded field of giving a TV-compatible interface to any streaming website Zinc should run on any Intel Mac running OS X 10.5. Specifically pointing out boxee, Zinc says users can create access to new sites just by adding an rss feed to their favorites tab. Give it a shot and let us know if its as easy as they make it sound, Mac owners.

Hulu blocks boxee browser entirely, gloves get ripped halfway off

by Darren Murph posted Mar 6th 2009 at 6:55PM Breaking News


As a wise man once said: "Damn, that's just cold, son." Merely hours after boxee announced its latest alpha build along with RSS feed support for Hulu, said video portal has now blocked off boxee's browser entirely from accessing its content. If you'll recall, boxee saw a huge increase in interest when it first added easy access to Hulu, and once Hulu demanded that it be removed, boxee sadly complied. The latest move just seems "cold blooded," as now boxee users who attempt to surf over via a Hulu RSS feed link will be greeted with an infinite amount of nothing. boxee is quick to point out that its browser doesn't access Hulu content "any differently" than IE, Firefox, Opera or any other browser, which does a good job of explaining just how deliberate this move is. Needless to say, we get the feeling this bout is just getting started.

[Image courtesy of ZatzNotFunny]

Update: boxee now says things are working. For the moment, anyway. Feel free to join us as we throw our hands in the air and give up on understanding this mess.

Poll: Will you buy an internet-connected HDTV?

by Darren Murph posted Jan 24th 2009 at 12:00PM


Outside of 3D, the hottest thing going at CES in terms of high-def was internet connectivity. When we outlined the HDTVs that are destined to ship this year, a huge chunk of 'em were spotted with Ethernet jacks and promises of widgets galore built-in. So, here's the question: are you planning to replace your perfectly good set this year with a connected HDTV? Does the concept of widgets and web content on your screen make you giddy inside? Feel free to discuss below after casting your vote.

Will you buy an internet-connected HDTV?

PlayOn media server brings Hulu / YouTube to consoles, Netflix coming soon?

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 19th 2008 at 5:52PM


PlayOn wants to make sure you can get your daily dose of Barackrolls and Airwolf episodes beyond the desktop, while Hulu might not have a slick streaming set-top box of its own, this media server software turns flash video RSS streams into easily browsed folders for your DLNA-compliant hardware. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and HP MediaSmart HDTVs being at the top of that list (with Nintendo Wii support planned by year-end) owners can grab the beta release of the software and stream low-res episodes of Psych, or any assortment of YouTube video they please. With Netflix support "just down the road" this could provide an end around for PS3 owners looking for streaming love, or Xbox 360 owners without Xbox Live Gold (we know you're out there.) Bad news is the beta only lasts 60 days and there's a $30 pricetag waiting at the end of the free lunch highway. Our experience was good, with no stutters in a Psych episode streamed via Wi-Fi to the PS3 (albeit with no choice of HD clips), but we'd wait for confirmation on the whole Netflix bit before dropping any dough.

Update: Getting 69-C00D36C4 / folder could not be accessed errors on your PS3 or Xbox 360, or waiting for 64-bit Vista support to dive in? PlayOn CTO David Karlton updated the official blog to let users know fixes and additional support is in the works, so keep an eye out for more news shortly if things aren't working just yet.

Gallery: PlayOn Media Server

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Samsung intros new 1080p LCD HDTVs, Ethernet / interactivity included

by Darren Murph posted Jan 6th 2008 at 5:01PM

If you've got a thing for cutting-edge LCD HDTVs, you've come to the right place. Starting with the big boy, we've got the 65-inch LN52A750 (also available in 40-, 46- and 52-inches), which sports a 1080p resolution with 120Hz Auto Motion Plus technology. Additionally, you'll find an Ethernet connection for accessing customizable RSS feeds, 1GB of internal flash memory that "includes interactive content such as cooking recipes, children's entertainment, HD artwork and more," a four-millisecond response time, four HDMI 1.3 sockets with CEC and a USB 2.0 port for connecting PMPs and the like. Also on the way is a slightly downgraded 6 series sans flash memory and side mounted USB port, due in March in the same sizes.

Continue reading Samsung intros new 1080p LCD HDTVs, Ethernet / interactivity included

New DVR coming from Comcast and Panasonic

by Matt Burns posted Jan 18th 2006 at 3:32PM

Comcast logoYour old Moto 6412 DVR from Comcast might soon be replaced with state of the art HD set-top boxes from Panasonic. The new cable boxes will encode in both MPEG-2 and H.264. It has USB 2.0 for connecting digital cameras and MP3 players. Best of all though, these boxes comply to the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP). This is the most important feature, even more then the 250 GB hard drive, as it allows people to interact with their HDTVs a bit more then ever before including using a single remote for a Comcast box and Panasonic home theater equipment.

Think of OCAP as an operating system that interacts between the devices on the cable network: video on demand and a variety of interactive services. This system has been in test markets (New York; Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wis.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Waco, Texas later this year) for some time now and it seems to be going well.

Note to developers of OCAP: we would like RSS feeds on our widescreen TVs. This cannot be that hard to do. Eventually we would except to see teleconferencing like in the current season of 24; work on the RSS feeds first though.

If you could add features or benefits to your cable system, what would they be?

Akihabara HD

by Richard Lawler posted Dec 31st 2005 at 2:41PM


AkihabaraNews is one of our favorite sites, the best English language site I know of for tech news in the land of "gadgets we'll never see here", aka Japan. They also feature video downloads of some of these cool items, and now will be showing them off in stunning high definition.

So if you could, please stop by and check out the test clip they're distributing via BitTorrent (uTorrent is the best client out, period), and look forward to some sort of Sanyo HD surprise on January 11th.

tvRSS brings TV to you

by Kevin C. Tofel posted Dec 20th 2005 at 10:35AM


tvRSSThis is long overdue: having television shows delivered to you in the format you want to watch when you want. Plenty of "you's" in there, but isn't that what "you" want? Sure you do and so do we! That's why we're excited about tvRSS, a young site that shows a ton of promise and a ton of television shows.

tvRSS uses RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, to BitTorrent files to you as they become available. When a new episode of "Lost" is found, your computer will automatically pull down the file if you've subscribed, for example. We'd love to see this type of functionality built in to Windows Media Center, but alas, Microsoft doesn't appear too keen on supporting the file formats you'd see here.

Read [via MicroPersuasion]




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