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What does the iPad mean for internet video?

By now you’ve heard about Apple’s newest product, the iPad. Steve Jobs calls it “magical” and “revolutionary.” Apple stocks fell dramatically upon its announcement. It is sexy. It is familiar. It will be popular, if for no other reason than the media will convince everyone it is (kind of like Twitter).

Whatever you think about this new iPod Touch XL, it has people talking. It seems some people pay no attention to any technology unless Steve Jobs shows it at Macworld. I heard someone on the radio express how wonderful Apple’s idea was to make a device that allows you to carry lots of books around with you; it was as if the last two years, the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Sony e-Reader never existed. And that’s how powerful Apple has become. The innovation of an entire global industry is ignored, but when Apple introduces their version the whole American media world acts like Steve Jobs descended from Mount Sinai.



All this as an introduction simply to suggest the iPad will undoubtedly create another cottage industry dedicated to iPad apps. Apple locks everything down so much it’s unlikely they will allow much competition with their own iTunes store (prediction: antitrust lawsuit in Europe), but many people will find new ways to use the portable video screen to access their entertainment.

Even though the claim by Apple about the iPad is “The best way to experience the web,” the lack of support for Adobe Flash and Microsoft SIlverlight does cripple the browser from accessing several sources of video, it’s more than likely apps will be made for specific services. iTunes is a direct competitor with Amazon Video On Demand and Vudu, but Netflix’s subscription service may make the cut. Maybe one of these days Apple will allow a Pandora app.

But apps aside (it is all speculation after all), how will this device be used to enjoy TV shows and movies? The iTunes store will of course allow rentals and purchases, but will people take a 10-inch tablet with them on the Subway to watch last night’s Colbert Report, or will they stick with the iPhone? The dock for the iPad is on the bottom edge, meaning docking the screen leaves it in portrait mode, so how will one watch wide-screen TV? The screen’s aspect is somewhere between 4:3 and 16:10 when in landscape mode, but there is no kickstand or dock (yet) for hand’s free use. Are we expected to always hold this device? Like the iPod, the iPad is a breeding ground for accessories.

Finally, most home automation and entertainment control companies offer iPhone/iPod Touch apps to allow control of your home system on your portable device; Control4, Crestron, AMX, Speakercraft, Savant, and more all offer apps in the iTunes store. These apps should work immediately on the iPad without changing a thing. New apps will undoubtedly be created to utilize the larger display. This is probably the most exciting use for the iPad that I can think of, though a $499 10-inch touch panel seems unfair when a Control4 7-inch panel is $2,499. It’s nothing like Samsung’s prototype panel, but the multiple uses the iPad has can certain advantages.

(Imagine that: A whole article and not one mention of Google.)

YouTube Rentals now available

This past Friday, YouTube and Sundance Film Festival made five full-length motion pictures available for online viewing as a paid rental. This is just the beginning of the future for YouTube Rental.

The rentals are available at YouTube Movies at a cost of $3.99 each. You will be required to open a Google Checkout account, if you haven’t already. When you select a movie to play you will be prompted to pay. A simple log in is all you need and your account will be billed.

The initial Sundance Film Festival movies will only be available through January 31st. They include three world premiers from this year’s festival, and two favorites from last year. The titles include: Children of Invention, Homewrecker, The Cove, Bass Ackwards, and One Too Many Mornings.

Watch this instructional video on how to rent movies on YouTube:

Sony introduces network media player

Most of Sony’s 2010 model HDTVs, and all of their 2010 BD players, include what they call BRAVIA Internet Video. Connected to a broadband internet, the devices will instantly stream movies, videos, music and more from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Slacker Internet Radio, Pandora, NPR, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and many more.

Coming in September, Sony will offer the SMP-N100 network media player which provides their BRAVIA Internet Video platform in a simple set-top box. With a suggested retail at $149, the device will feature DLNA, USB, built-in WiFi, DivXHD, and HDMI and component video outputs. The box will be about the same size as the AppleTV.

Netflix streaming becomes ubiquitous

The number of products shows at CES 2010 with Netflix streaming is remarkable. Netflix has announced partnerships with Toshiba, Sanyo, Panasonic, Sharp, and even discount brands Haier and Funai. Practically everyone not named Pioneer has Netflix streaming implemented in Blu-ray Disc players, network video set-top boxes, and HDTVs. Netflix expects over 100 devices will stream their Watch Instantly videos in 2010.

It seems like many people are adopting a multiple-sources approach to getting their online video. A Netflix subscription supplemented by rentals from another source, like iTunes, Amazon Video On Demand, or Vudu, seems to be the most frequent.

Do you stream video to your main television? If so, what providers do you use?

Preorder XStreamHD now

Beginning today, XStreamHD will be offering their media server for preorder on their website with a $25 reservation. The balance of the $399 price will be due on April 30 when the product ships.

Now that hardware specs are out, we learn that the HD Media Server includes 1TB of storage (scalable to 4TB), three ATSC tuners for off-the-air reception, pre-fetching of content, and a ZigBee Pro remote. The server is a DLNA device, so the content can be streamed to other devices, such as their HD Media Receiver, and presumably the Sony PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Xbox 360. The PRO Media Receiver adds multi-channel analog outputs, and other features high-end systems might desire.

They are claiming same-day delivery of movies as the DVD release, but so far there is no indication as to which studios are on board.

The XStreamHD FAST Start includes an HD Media Server, an HD Media Receiver, an RF remote, plus all the cables and accessories you need for hook up. The PRO Start includes all of this, plus a PRO Media Receiver. The FAST Start will sell for $399, and the PRO Start for $499.



When XStreamHD was announced last year it seemed they had something going for them: 1080p video and lossless 7.1 audio. Now that Vudu is streaming 1080p with 5.1 audio, and new partnerships with many hardware manufacturers, it seems they have their work cut out for them.

(Press Release)

Vudu adds apps

This year’s CES expo has certainly been well for Vudu. Not only has LG announced a Blu-ray Disc player with Vudu and a 250GB hard drive, and new partnerships with Sharp, Mitsubishi, Vizio, Toshiba and Sanyo forged, but they’ve also improved their service for their users.

Vudu Apps is a platform these stated manufacturers may add to their hardware, much like the Yahoo! Widgets we’ve seen on TVs last year. The user can chose amongst the apps to install on their own device, while manufacturers can deny certain apps at their discretion.



There are over 100 apps already available. The more popular apps include:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pandora
• Dailymotion
• Picasa
• Flickr
• The New York Times
• Associated Press
• NBC Nightly News
• DiggNation

It seems Vudu is becoming a very serious competitor in the streaming video market. With last year’s introduction of 1080p video, true 5.1 Dolby surround sound, the addition of the Criterion Collection movie library, and Rotten Tomatoes, they truly have an enviable service.

ZillionTV shifting strategy

The online-based media service ZillionTV, with grand aspirations of changing the way we receive media from content providers (which is suspiciously the same way other companies have been doing it for a couple years now) is shifting their game plan slightly. Instead of a set top box supplied by an ISP, they are looking to another technology many other services have been using for over a year – embedding their service in television sets.

While claiming to be a leader, they’re just now catching on that the industry is changing faster than they can get their hardware to the market. Mitchell Berman, CEO of ZillionTV, says they’re “moving forward with efforts to embed the ZillionTV Service in an assortment of consumer electronics devices as industry statistics point to embedded services as the future of video on demand.” I guess that’s like Amazon Video on Demand in LG, Vizio, and Panasonic TVs; Netflix in LG, Samsung, and Sony Blu-ray Disc players.

Yet their bold claim is ZillionTV is “a first-of-its-kind personalized television service … providing instant, subscription-free access to an extensive entertainment library of new and classic TV shows, movies, sports, music and more – all on-demand and delivered directly to the television set via a common high-speed Internet connection.”

Sounds like they might have something going for them. Video content delivered from an internet connection directly to your television! What will they think of next? A phone that has a web browser?

Press Release

But seriously, I’m concerned with the way television is headed. With ad revenue drastically dropping on broadcast television, and revenue from online video less than half of that, how are these shows going to be funded? It’s true killer shows are coming out on smaller cable channels, but they are low budget affairs. SyFy doesn’t have the budget for Heroes. FX doesn’t have the budget for CSI. I guess we’ll have to live with product placement and shows revolving around finding a good insurance company.