Technologizer

Is Sezmi a Cable TV Killer?

Monday, November 16, 2009

I’ve written periodically of my flirtation with dumping cable for an Internet-only approach to my TV watching. I haven’t, however, pulled the trigger–mostly because cable still has a lot of live programming, such as news and sports, that I can’t replicate over the Net alone. That’s why I’m intrigued by Sezmi, a TV service that’s announcing [...]

Clicker’s TV Guide For the Web Opens Up

Thursday, November 12, 2009

2 Comments

Clicker, the search engine for TV shows on the Web that was announced a couple of months ago at TechCrunch50, is now open to the public. I like the idea, the interface, and many of the features, although it’s still rough around the edges in places. The site’s mission is simple enough: It wants to help [...]

Hands On With Roku’s New HD-XR Internet Video Player

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

1 Comment

Roku’s little video player is one of my favorite ways to get movies and TV shows off the Internet and onto a TV: It’s cheap, inconspicuous, and ridiculously easy to set up and use. And the content providers–Netflix, Amazon, and Major League Baseball–make for a nice lineup of entertainment. Today, Roku is announcing that its lineup [...]

Let Them Charge. Hulu Can Only Improve

Saturday, October 24, 2009

1 Comment

The interwebs are abuzz (OMG!) with Hulu’s confirmed exploration of paid tiers and pay-per-view, in addition to the current ad-supported video content model. News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, as quoted by the Associated Press: Are we looking at it with a view of adding subscription services in there and pay-per-view movies? Yes, we are looking at [...]

Eleven Sites for Watching and Downloading Free TV and Movies

Thursday, September 24, 2009

3 Comments

Last week I told you about Sling’s MediaCatcher, the device that’s ideal for viewing streaming videos on your TV, as well as MediaGate’s MG-800HD, the other gizmo for watching downloaded movies on your TV. (See “Stream Movies from Your PC to Your TV.”) This week I’ve got a score of spots where you can watch legal movies [...]

ZillionTV Gives Up on 2009

Saturday, September 19, 2009

0 Comments

A Q4 2009 release has morphed into a second half of 2010 launch as, I assume, ZillionTV struggles to find distribution partners, perhaps feeling threatened by local broadcasters which don’t appreciate the studio-backed over-the-top video set-top box encroaching on their turf. I also assume their business plan of a free box streaming ad-supported content will [...]

Stream Movies From Your PC to Your TV

Friday, September 18, 2009

7 Comments

This is a long article. It’s technical and at times downright complicated. [I never knew I had attention deficit disorder until I started reading about media streaming devices. --Tech Edit.] I know some of you are going to skipit. At the same time, I get e-mail kvetching that I’m not writing enough about technology. So there [...]

More Apple TV for Your Money

Monday, September 14, 2009

8 Comments

I can’t remember if anyone onstage at Apple’s press event last week even mentioned the words “Apple TV.” It certainly didn’t announce any major news associated with it. But the product which Apple loves to tell us is a mere hobby is now a better buy. Apple has discontinued the 40GB model (the one I [...]

Roku Adds Baseball’s MLB.TV Service

Monday, August 10, 2009

4 Comments

Roku, the Internet video box that’s simple and fun to use, with a near-impulse price ($99.95), has a new source of content: Major League Baseball. The Roku folks have signed a deal with the MLB to put live broadcasts of all games on the player, starting with the rest of the reason. The games are [...]

What’s Next for Roku? Five Suggestions.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

2 Comments

[A NOTE FROM HARRY: I'm tickled to announce that we'll be republishing some of Dave Zatz's posts from his blog Zatz Not Funny here on Technologizer. Dave's a frequent commenter here, but I was a fan of his blog--which focuses on digital media--long before there was a Technologizer. Welcome, Dave!] I love my little Roku box. [...]

Maybe Apple TV Should Be a TV

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

8 Comments

Alas, poor Apple TV. Its manufacturer likes to treat nearly everything it makes as both a technological breakthrough and sales blockbuster, but when it discusses Apple TV at all, it usually dismisses it as a “hobby.” As New TeeVee’s Chris Albrecht points out, the little white set-top box got nary a mention during Apple’s financial [...]

On Demand Online: Reason to Stick With Comcast?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

3 Comments

I keep talking about dumping Comcast, but I’m beginning to think it’s more inevitable than death or taxes. (I recently tried to cancel my Comcast phone line, and they told me that doing so would raise my monthly bill by $4. Checkmate!) If I stick around with Comcast, I might as well enjoy it–and I’m guardedly [...]

Joost Starts to Fade Away

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

0 Comments

Joost was supposed to be a major part of the future of TV. Instead, the streaming video service went from hot startup to a candidate for “Whatever Happen To?” lists surprisingly quickly. On Tuesday, news broke that it’s refocusing on providing white-label video services, losing its CEO, and laying off much of its staff. What happened? [...]

The Simpsons Are Making Money Online

Thursday, June 25, 2009

3 Comments

Normally, I wouldn’t write here about ad rates for Web content. But as a consumer of Web-based entertainment and information, I found this kind of encouraging: Bloomberg is saying that The Simposons is making more money on ads in its online incarnation on Hulu than it is on broadcast TV. Um, that’s revenue per thousand [...]

Hulu Builds Itself a Boxee Clone

Thursday, May 28, 2009

3 Comments

When last we reported on the odd relationship between the Hulu Internet TV service and Boxee media center software–part tango, part warfare–Hulu was doing everything in its power to foil Boxee fans who simply wanted to watch Hulu programming via Boxee’s TV-friendly interface. Today, the company launched a new product: Hulu Desktop. It lets you [...]

SlingPlayer for iPhone–Cool. And Crippled!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

5 Comments

Back before I had an iPhone, I owned an AT&T Tilt phone. I ran the Windows Mobile version of SlingPlayer on it to watch my TiVo back home from my phone, courtesy of the Slingbox in my entertainment center. It worked wonderfully well over the AT&T network, and when I bought an iPhone 3G and [...]