Douglas L Ross: Streaming Media

AOL Video Instant Messaging Ban Lifted By FCC

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 16:06:20 GMT

The NYT wrote another editorial in its news pages by focusing about 75% of the arguments in this article on the anti-monopoly viewpoint and backhanding the logic for why the FCC had no business interferring in an emerging technology in the first place.

F.C.C. Lifts Ban on Video for AOL Instant Messaging. The Federal Communications Commission has granted a request by AOL Time Warner to drop restrictions on adding video to its AOL instant messaging service. By David D. Kirkpatrick. [New York Times: Technology]

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.

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]

Alcatel acquires ImagicTV

Fri, 16 May 2003 20:51:08 GMT

ImagicTV has a TV software platform that is deployed mainly in DSL platforms. Alcatel is acquiring them as part of their effort to complete the "triple-play" with DSL.

Sony's Streaming IP TV Set

Fri, 04 Apr 2003 19:43:37 GMT

Sony TV would grab streams from the Net. The company is developing a plasma screen TV set that's intended to tune in streaming video from home networks and the Internet as easily as regular TV programs, sources say. [CNET News.com]

Microsoft Windows Media9

Fri, 04 Apr 2003 14:29:39 GMT

This is an interesting analysis of the DRM issues surrounding Windows Media9.

Microsoft's digital media mogul. Dave Fester, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Media, needs to balance the use of digital media to boost Windows sales with the piracy concerns of the entertainment industry. [CNET News.com]

Internet Streaming Media Alliance

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 17:55:15 GMT

"The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA), a global alliance of nearly 40 industry leaders in content management, distribution infrastructure, and streaming media, today announced that it is releasing for peer review a new content protection specification which will serve as the technical foundation for the secure delivery of streaming and download media content."

[See press release http://www.isma.tv/pub/resources/pr.shtml?PR1011.txt ]

DSL Conference Says xDSL "Video Is Ready"

Thu, 03 Apr 2003 17:21:42 GMT

A premsis of this Pulver.com "Fast Net" conference is that DSL is "ready" for video.

Sub $150 DVDs With MPEG-4-compatible Decoder Chips

Mon, 31 Mar 2003 15:12:51 GMT

EETimes reports that Cirrus Logic has licensed the DivX technology for its DVD processors. http://www.eet.com/sys/news/OEG20030326S0049 According to the article:

"By early 2004 Cirrus Logic said its chips would allow users to play DivX content from the web in real-time as well as access the Internet and play streaming audio content. The devices would also enable service providers to offer direct video-on- demand services. "

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. "

Coalition of Broaband Users and Innovators

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 16:20:30 GMT

A fight is brewing between a Coalition of so-called broadband "users" [comprised primarily of companies interested in access to broadband for Internet e-commerce] and the Cable industry. The link is to the Coalition's recent exparte filing with the FCC

Internet Video Magazine - Top 10 Cool Video Websites

Thu, 06 Mar 2003 16:49:56 GMT

The magazine published this list today. Interestingly it includes the video sites from BMW and Chrysler: http://www.internetvideomag.com/News/News2003/03-06-03TopTenCoolestVideoWebSites.htm