News Blog

Kodak's new little black media player.

(Credit: Kodak)

I'm not sure whether I should call the new Theatre HD Player Kodak's answer to Apple TV, but that's the best analogy I can come up with on short notice. Whether it is or not, Kodak is doing its best to get into your living room with a little Wi-Fi-enabled black box that connects to your HDTV, displays images and other multimedia content, and links directly to Kodak Gallery, the company's online photo-sharing service, and Flickr. Due to roll out in September, the Theatre HD Player will retail for $299.99 and continue to add features through firmware upgrades after it's launched.

Kodak calls the Theatre HD Player, "An interactive device displaying personal content--pictures, video, podcasts, music--and Web-based content on a HDTV, while wirelessly connecting to a household's private Wi-Fi network." In a nod to the Nintendo Wii's popularity, Kodak includes gyroscopic remote, and you navigate the onscreen menus much like you would with the Wiimote. Like Apple, Kodak has an alliance with YouTube for video content. RadioTime is onboard for streaming audio.

The Theatre HD Player's connectivity options.

(Credit: Kodak)

In its press release, Kodak notes that the "Theatre HD Player lets consumers relive their favorite, and even forgotten, memories in customized slide shows, incorporating their personal music and video collections, Internet Radio, plus online video- and photo-sharing sites. Consumers can also edit and upload images and videos to popular online content sharing sites on their HDTV from the comfort of their living room." It's able to display high-resolution still images in a 16:9 aspect ratio and 720p video through it's HDMI and component video connections.

I got a look at the unit last night at an event for the product's unveiling (along with a few other Kodak products) and thought it had some nice features and an elegant menu system. There's some promise here. However, the Theatre HD Player is going to pose a marketing challenge for Kodak. Company reps seemed to shrug off the fact that the little black box's price tag approaches that of the Playstation 3, which not only has built-in memory card slots (and a hard drive), a good photo viewing application, and the ability to play back music and video files from your computer, but there's that built-in Blu-ray player--and oh, it plays games and has a Web browser. In my humble opinion, this device needs to cost less than $200 and probably closer to $150 to be viable. Of course, I keep telling Apple TV reps the same thing about their device, but that hasn't seemed to have had much of an impact.

Anybody interested in buying this thing? And, at what price? Or would you rather go for Apple TV or a PS3 for that matter?

Satellite TV provider Dish Network said Tuesday that AT&T will end its agreement to bundle its TV service with AT&T's broadband and phone service at the end of the year.

AT&T and Dish have had a joint marketing deal since July 2003, which allows AT&T to package the Dish TV service with AT&T's phone and Internet packages. But AT&T has decided not to renew the agreement, and as required by the contract between the two companies, AT&T is giving Dish six months notice that the deal will expire December 31, 2008.

The move is likely a way for AT&T to negotiate a better deal with either Dish or its competitor DirecTV. In April, AT&T expanded its partnership with Dish in the old BellSouth territory. (AT&T bought BellSouth in 2006.) And it stopped marketing a similar package with DirecTV.

At the time, it looked as if AT&T had dropped DirecTV for Dish. But AT&T has always maintained that it's discussing partnerships with both companies. And now it looks like the company is free to pit one company against the other to get the best possible price.

AT&T said in a statement that it will continue to discuss options with Dish even though it has terminated the current agreement.

Video is a key part of AT&T's strategy. The company has spent millions of dollars over the past few years to upgrade its network with fiber so that it can deliver TV over its IP network. The new U-Verse service is up and running in parts of AT&T's network. But the company isn't able to deploy U-Verse everywhere, so it has been relying on deals with satellite TV providers to deliver a so-called triple-play bundle that includes TV, phone, and broadband services in a single package.

Despite reports of setbacks, Panasonic is still aiming to have its Tru2way TVs on store shelves by the holidays.

(Credit: Panasonic)

Panasonic has confirmed to CNET that it still intends to deliver Tru2way TVs to the market before the end of 2008. A company representative e-mailed us with the following statement:

Panasonic's Tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTV is in the certification process at CableLabs. Panasonic expects to deliver Tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTVs to the market in time for the holiday season.

Of course, the company's expectation does not equal a guarantee that we'll see the product on store shelves before the end of the year. But it does represent an affirmation that Panasonic is actively working to address the alleged issues that cropped up during the CableLabs certification process. That's certainly a contrast from the "no comment" we received Thursday.

Previous Tru2way coverage:
The rocky road to Tru2way
Can Tru2way succeed where CableCard failed?
Sony commits to Tru2way

(Credit: CableLabs)

Update: Subsequent to the publication of this story, Panasonic has released a more detailed statement on the status of its Tru2way TVs.

CableLabs' Tru2way got a big boost last month when Sony signed on with a pledge to design and deliver TVs that incorporate the standard, bolstering an already impressive list of backers. The Web was flooded with optimistic reports of a post-cable box Valhalla where you could simply buy a Tru2way TV, screw in your coaxial cable, and have plug-and-play access to your 1,000-channel universe. Before those miracle TVs hit the market, however, they need to be certified by CableLabs--and there are rumors that the initial trials aren't going well. According to IP Democracy, the initial certification tests for Panasonic Tru2way TVs were unsuccessful--to say the least. The post cites "folks close to Tru2way" as calling the Panasonic tests a "'disaster of spectacular proportions'" that resulted in "'dozens and dozens' of bugs."

In an attempt to verify those dire--but anonymous--quotes, we contacted Panasonic and CableLabs for their responses. ... Read more

The transition to digital TV is not going as smoothly as some had hoped, according to some government agencies that testified to Congress earlier this week.

A report issued by the Government Accountability Office showed that nearly half of the households that could lose TV service after the transition to digital broadcasting are still unprepared for the switch.

About 84 percent of consumers were aware of the transition, but many didn't know what they had to make sure their TV service wasn't interrupted, the GAO report said. More than half of those surveyed said they were aware of the government's voucher program to subsidize the cost of converter boxes that are needed to view digital TV on older analog TVs. But about two-thirds of those people didn't know how to get a coupon.

Even consumers who won't be affected by the switch were confused, The Washington Post reported. Roughly 30 percent of those who don't actually need a converter box said they were getting ready for the transition.

The confusion is occurring despite broadcasters and cable operators airing public awareness campaigns on TV.

The vouchers, which cover $40 of the cost of the converter boxes, started being sent in February. But they expire after 90 days. The agency overseeing the program reported that more than 40 percent of the 800,000 vouchers that have already been sent out have not been redeemed. And the agency doesn't have enough money to pay for the postage to resend these vouchers.

In February 2009, TV broadcasters will vacate wireless spectrum used to broadcast analog TV signals. Instead, broadcasters will transmit digital TV signals, which use spectrum more efficiently and provide better picture quality. The transition to digital means that some older TVs, and TVs with analog-only tuners, will have to be retrofitted to tune into digital signals.

Preparation for the switch to digital TV is being closely watched since some older TVs that have not been retrofitted won't work after the analog signals stop broadcasting.

Many of the 70 million or so analog TV sets that rely on over-the-air signals belong to minorities, senior citizens, low-income individuals, and people who live in rural areas. The fear is that these individuals will not be ready for when broadcasters stop transmitting analog TV signals in February 2009.

LOS ANGELES--Michael Eisner wasn't miffed enough at Veoh to stop him from investing in the company once again.

Dmitry Shapiro, Veoh founder

Last week, the former Disney chairman took the stage at Digitas' "Newfront," a showcase of Web video for potential advertisers held in New York. Joining him was Veoh's founder Dmitry Shapiro.

According to Silicon Alley Insider, Eisner used the opportunity to chide Shapiro about when Veoh, a company that bills itself as a Web TV network, is going to pay off. Silicon Alley Insider called the exchange between the two men "uncomfortable."

On Tuesday, Shapiro was at the OnHollywood Conference and he said he was dumbfounded after reading the story. He and Eisner were joking around and that everyone in the audience understood that except Silicon Alley Insider. What should have tipped off the blog's reporter, according to Shapiro was when Eisner started picking fun at Veoh for posting an ad for a penis enlargement herb.

Shapiro said Eisner is pleased with Veoh's progress and was part of a $30 million funding round the company closed recently that included such other investors as Intel and Adobe Systems. This was Eisner's second investment into the company.

Maybe the important question is whether Eisner should be down on Veoh. In a sector where YouTube has devoured almost everything video on the Web, Veoh says it has 28 million unique visitors worldwide. They spent more than 100 minutes each month on the site. The company is able to keep them there so long because it offers long-form content and a recommendation search engine that helps people find the clips that appeals to them.

Veoh's goal is to attract the best videographers on the Web or the people Shapiro calls "the YouTube graduates."

But when can he start putting cash into Eisner's already deep pockets?

"We'll be profitable in 2009," Shapiro said.

TakeTV and Fanfare never made it to their first birthday.

(Credit: SanDisk)

SanDisk has killed off the Fanfare video download service and its companion hardware, the TakeTV. A terse note on the Fanfare Web site indicates that the "Fanfare beta has come to a conclusion, and the Fanfare application will be disabled as of 5/15/08." As for the TakeTV hardware, a representative for SanDisk has confirmed to CNET that the TakeTV is no longer being sold. However, she went on to point out that existing users still will be able to use the product's drag-and-drop feature for watching a variety of (non-Fanfare) digital videos on their TV. In other words, unlike those stuck with oversized paperweights when the Akimbo and MovieBeam services shut down, the TakeTV, at least, is still a usable product.

Web TV network Revision3 had a temporary outage on Tuesday, the company said.

The news was originally reported on Twitter by none other than Gen X Web 2.0 personality and former CNET producer Veronica Belmont, who was recently hired to work on Revision3's Tekzilla program. "Holy DDOS attacks, Batman! Rev3 is under fire!" she wrote.

All I could get out of a Revision3 representative was this statement: "The Revision3 Web site experienced a disruption in service earlier today, but it has been addressed."

But Valleywag reports that Revision3 co-founder David Prager attributed the outage to a possible distributed denial-of-service attack.

Now who would want to attack Revision3?

(Credit: Verizon)

On Tuesday, the Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) of New York voted unanimously to approve Verizon's proposal to provide Fios TV service in all five boroughs. The vote moves the service closer to becoming an option for customers in New York to choose over cable or satellite TV.

"If we are successful in the last steps of the approval process, we will deliver on our promise to begin offering Fios TV in parts of each of the five boroughs later this year," Monica Azare, Verizon senior vice president for New York and Connecticut, said in a press release. ... Read more