Bringing prime time to video iPod

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In other cases, organizations that distribute and manage video are touting their ability to convert content into iPod-playable forms. Hollywood-based company Bitmax, which manages and stores video for businesses, said Tuesday that its clients will soon be able to offer up their content onto iPods.

"Apple's product offering made this a 'no-brainer' for us, and we are excited to offer it to our clients," Marjorie Bach, a Bitmax executive, said in a statement.

From manual to automatic
The Video iPod can actually play back any video stored in the H.264 or MPEG-4 format and properly sized for the iPod's screen. Apple's own QuickTime Pro software, for example, can convert many types of digital video for playback on the device.

"It's very manual," Benamou said, noting that some software often requires four or five steps to get the video ready to go on the iPod. "We're kind of automating that."

What's on TV?

Video on sale at the iTunes store compared with what's available via MyTV ToGO (if you have a Media Center PC).

iTunes	MyTv ToGo
5 ABC/Disney shows 11 NBC Universal shows 6 Pixar short films 2,000 Music videos	All of ABC's lineup All of NBC's lineup CBS Fox UPN All of cable TV (provided you remember to record the show when it airs)
No commercials	Shows have commercials
cost: $1.99 apiece Source: Apple	cost: $30 (one-time fee)

With MyTV ToGO, it is a seamless, if somewhat time-consuming process to move video onto the iPod, a PSP, a Pocket PC handheld or a Microsoft Smartphone, Proxure said. It can take about half the time of the program to create a suitable iPod file, though the company is working to speed this up. The file itself is a fraction of the size of the original recording, which is also preserved.

Not all content owners have been thrilled with seeing existing TV content become portable. NBC complained after TiVo announced Nov. 21 its plans to allow iPod transfers.

"In making this announcement, TiVo appears to be acting unilaterally--disregarding the established rights of content owners to participate in decisions involving the distribution and exploitation of their content," NBC said at the time. "This unilateral action creates the risk of legal conflict instead of contributing to the constructive exploitation of digital technology that can rapidly provide new and exciting experiences for the consumer."

For now, MyTV To Go appears to have found a key niche, offering iPod video fans a significant "ease of use" advantage. In the next few weeks, Proxure plans to release a new version that will offer the option of automatically creating an iPod-friendly version of shows after they are recorded. The shows could then be easily and quickly downloaded the next morning.

Cardone has been testing the updated version and loves that one even more. But it hasn't stopped him from buying episodes of TV shows from Apple.

"'Lost' is one of my favorite shows," he said, referring to the ABC drama, one of several shows available through iTunes. "I've bought several of those. I'd happily pay my $1.99 for those episodes, and they come commercial-free."

[nasser0000]

Why no flap over this?

They're making a big deal about the Tivo thing. This is a small company which I would assume the "big boys" could crush. Why no flap over this?

[R. U. Sirius]

Because

the mpaa and riaa are too busy suing unwed mothers I guess.

[Joe Blow]

Proxure Only Has ~1,000 Users ...

and, at $30 a pop, it's not worth the lawyers' time to even read about it, much less file a lawsuit. Although TiVo has only had one "profitable" quarter in seven years, burned through somewhere around $800 million in investor money, and shows no signs of ever really making a significant profit, they do have an annual revenue stream in the tens of millions of bucks, and that _can_ be sued for (it would probably finally put TiVo out of business, or just sooner than would otherwise have happened, though). If/when the little MyTV ToGo company, Proxure, has amassed enough users/money to make it worth it for the lawyers to stop yawning, say a few hundred thousand users, then the lawyers will "leap" into action, taking several more months to file the paperwork, and who-know-how-many-years before it would go to court and/or be settled in a smoke-filled back room ("OK, Proxure, bend over while we check here for a Prostate ... who's yer daddy, BTW? ... That's what we thought ... " ).

[catchall]

The other question

is why was there a flap over Tivo? Seriously, I've been recording TV to my computer for years. With Media Center (or MythTV), it simply becomes easier to do. And with Media Center, the ability to convert/move content to a portable device has also been around for a while. Nothing really in any of it, just making it a little easier.