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1. INTERNET TV
What it is
A host of new startups - led by Akimbo, Brightcove, and DaveTV - have cut deals with copyright owners for video clips that viewers can download over the Internet to a TV or a PC. The business model: Customers pay for everything from CNN news shows and A&E specials to fanfic movies and random snowboarding wipeouts.
Why it matters
Internet TV circumvents traditional delivery methods - cable, satellite, broadcast - and in theory offers unlimited programming. Networked TV is coming, and these companies are leading the way.

2. P2PTV
What it is
Because traditional P2P networks like LimeWire rely on a single host to upload an entire file, they choke on huge video transfers. But in 2002, entrepreneur Bram Cohen unleashed BitTorrent, an ingenious file-sharing application that pools many wimpy Internet connections to form a mondo download network. Almost overnight, trading video files became feasible, if not always legal. Today, BitTorrent accounts for a remarkable 30 percent of Internet data traffic, about 60 percent of which is video (roughly half is porn, a third TV programming and short clips, and the rest feature films).
Why it matters
The rise in illegal file-sharing is cutting into Hollywood's revenue stream. But apps like BitTorrent also promise to help crack the technical problems involved in distributing legitimate video over the Internet. Even Microsoft is experimenting with the technology. It won't be underground for long.

3. HDTV
What it is
Most people think of HDTV in simple numbers - a bump up from standard television's 480 picture lines to 720 or 1,080 lines. Oh, and the aspect ratio of 16:9 gives you a wider viewing area than the traditional 4:3 spec. But even more important is the fact that hi-def TVs are digital. Old tube sets were dumb terminals connected to the Hollywood mainframe; today's models pack substantial computing power, capable of handling multiple video formats and grabbing software updates from the Internet.
Why it matters
Channels like Mark Cuban's HDNet are just the beginning: Falling prices will bring jumbo HDTV sets to the masses, and within three years nearly 40 percent of US households will have a hi-def screen. Expect the supply of HD content to explode. And don't be surprised if the decline in US moviegoing accelerates. After all, they call it home theater.

4. IPTV
What it is
Looking to cut in on the cable companies, telcos are spending billions to build ultra-high-speed networks that use Internet protocol to deliver video over phone lines as a stream of data packets. More than 100 regional telcos already feature IPTV. But the big companies are just now stretching their fiber-optic fingers close enough to homes to provide adequate bandwidth for hi-def IPTV streams. In partnership with Yahoo!, SBC Communications is in the middle of a $4 billion expansion that's expected to deliver 25-Mbps connections to 18 million customers by mid-2008.
Why it matters
Just like cable, IPTV offers several hundred channels, but viewers can also download what they want from a huge video library. Cable companies have video-on-demand capabilities, too, but they've been slow to develop them. Competition from telcos might speed things up.

5. STREAMING VIDEO
What it is
Though it's been with us since the days of the JenniCam, streaming video has taken off in the past year thanks to a confluence of developments: broadband penetration­, widespread­ fiber-optic lines, leaner compression­ standards, and cheap storage­ and bandwidth. As a result, a company like iFilm can stream 40 million free downloads a month. Major players are jumping in, too: CNN and CBS provide­ free streams of their news programs­, Yahoo! offers videostreams (including an episode of Showtime's Fat Actress), and AOL hosted webcasts of this summer's Live 8 concerts.
Why it matters
Millions of viewers are dialing back on TV and getting their video fix online. On the Net, where production costs are minuscule, indie producers and video bloggers can compete alongside the studios and networks.

6. CELL PHONE TV
What it is
Mobile phone companies have offered streaming video for the past year or so. Of course, squinting at clips - mostly sports, news, and minishows - on your cell can be frustrating. And a herky-jerky 15 frames per second is the best you can hope for (regular TV is 30 fps). So a couple cell phone companies are signing on to an old-fashioned notion: broadcast. Crown Castle, a major owner of US cell towers, is building a broadcast network that should be delivering sharp video in 18 to 24 months. Qualcomm plans to launch its own network in late 2006.
Why it matters
Television ubiquity is coming. Just as mobile audio unleashed a new era in portable players - from the Walkman to the iPod - so mobile TV will expand the market for phones and other handhelds that can handle video. And as traditional TV viewership declines, advertisers will be looking for new avenues to reach consumers. Mobile TV will be

Creative’s latest: The Zen Patent >

Related entries: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Still waiting to see whether they patent their unique process for putting worms on MP3 players, but in the meantime Creative just scored a patent for its user interface for portable media players. To make things simple for us they’re dubbing this the “Zen Patent”, and, surprise, surprise, they’re already making some noise about how the patent covers the UI used in the iPod and iPod mini. You probably already know how dim a view we take of the USPTO these days, but c’mon, a patent for a UI that “enables selection of at least one track in a portable media player as a user sequentially navigates through a hierarchy using three or more successive screens on the display of the player”? Isn’t that sort of obvious? No matter, we’re counting down the minutes until Creative files suit against, well, everybody.

[Thanks, Dave Z.]

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The Tuny8 >

Related entries: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Wasn’t aware that there was even that much of a market for the Olympus m:robe MR-100, let alone for a knock-off, but check out Dyne Telecom’s eerily familiar new Tuny8 MP3 player. The two players might bear a certain, uh, resemblance to each other, but it’s all on surface: whereas the MR-100 can only play music and has a 5GB hard drive and a monochrome display, the Tuny8 can play video (it supports MPEG4, WMV, ASF, and AVI formats), comes in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB versions, and has a 1.6-inch, 160 x 128 pixel, 260K color LCD screen.

[Via The MP3 Players]

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Monday, August 29, 2005

The Archos Gmini 500 >

Related entries: Portable Video

Those two updated versions of the Gmini 400, the Gmini 402 and the Gmini 402cc, didn’t exactly set us on fire, so you can probably understand why we got all excited at the prospect of Archos introducing a new Gmini 500. Prepare to be disappointed. Not sure what their master plan is here, but to our tired eyes this looks exactly like a rebadged version of the AV500. Sure, there are few minor differences in the specs department, but this wasn’t exactly the upgrade we’d been waiting for.

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Friday, August 26, 2005

Cowon iAudio A2 pr0n and prices >

Related entries: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Akihabara News scored some pics of Cowon’s sweet new PMP, the A2. We also now know it’ll do 10 hours of battery life in video mode and 18 in audio. When it rolls out (still no word on when!) it’ll be 420 euros ($517 USD) for the 30GB version, and 350 euros ($430) for the 20GB unit. Click on for more pr0n!

Continue reading “Cowon iAudio A2 pr0n and prices”

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Thursday, August 25, 2005

PSIX’s digital camera linkup and media playback for the PSP >

Related entries: Digital Cameras, Gaming, Handhelds, Portable, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Sony PSP

It wouldn’t surprise us if any day now Sony came strolling along with a slew of new PSP accessories and peripherals, but until we get the real deal PSP camera (or any of the other things Sony’s been talking about like a keyboard, mouse, Flash support, email client, etc.), we’re gonna have to stick with projects like PSIX. With it they’ve successfully connected a Sony Ericsscon P800/900/910i with a modified data cable and run the camera on the thing, in addition to loading a rather slick looking custom desktop with audio and video playback functions.

[Via PSPrumors]

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Samsung’s latest DMB phone, the SCH-B250 >

Related entries: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Seems like every other week we’re hearing about portable DMB (digital multimedia broadcasting—a primarily Korean standard) devices overseas, but Samsung’s multimedia-centric line of phones always seems to be the cream that rises to the top. We can’t say the SCH-B250 is any exception, what with the rotating screen, 2 megapixel camera, 128MB memory, and built-in Office/PDF functionality. While the approximate $735 pricetag might be a little hard to swallow, but it’s not like you’d ever buy one for North American use anyway, so for now let’s all just sit back and watch what wonders they can work outside our antiquated American gadget market.

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Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Archos goes live with the Gmini 402 and AV500 >

Related entries: Portable Audio, Portable Video

So being that Archos’s new Gmini 402 and AV500 devices—both of which we’re certainly down with—have gone live on their site, we’re gonna guesstimate that it’s not long now. Of course we still don’t know when they’ll be released for sure, but if nothing else we’ve got the final final list of specs (which happen to be nothing more than a refresher from what we already knew). The AV500 will have 30 and 100GB mass-storage compliant models, 4-inch 480 x 272 pixel 262k color screen, and a removable battery with “super battery pack” option. The 402 will have the same 20GB drive as before, in addition to WMV10 support; both will support MPEG-4, DivX, WMV9, and AVI, PlaysForSure WMA, MP3, JPEG, and USB On-The-Go.

[Thanks, bigouz]

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Monday, August 22, 2005

iRiver U10 gets a price >

Related entries: Portable Audio, Portable Video

You know, we keep wanting to trash the U10 (iRiver’s new ultra-tiny flash-based portable video player), for only having a 2.2-inch LCD screen, but that’s actually the same size as the screen on the Archos Gmini 400 and we’ve had no problem watching plenty of video on that (besides, the 320 x 240 pixel screen on the U10 is actually higher res than the 220 x 176 pixel display found on the Gmini). Anyway, we still don’t have a confirmed release date, but the U10 has finally made an appearance on iRiver’s US website, looks like the MSRP will be $250 for the 1GB version and $200 for the 512MB version.

[Via MisticRiver]

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Wednesday, August 17, 2005

iStation’s V43 gunning for the PSP >

Related entries: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Posted by JimmyO |

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