tv

SplashCast gets a little more social, bird-like

SplashCast is launching a handful of updates to its player this morning. The biggest is inline chat, which was essentially the next step after last month's inclusion of inline text, voice, and video commenting. Although this new feature isn't rolling out to everyone right away--the company is beginning with the branded artist channels launched a few months back. To jump into a chat, there's a simple "join chat" button on the bottom-left-hand side of the player. Clicking it takes you right in to an IRC-style simple chat.

Also new is a feature called FanCast which is kind of like Kyte.TV in that you can give your users an e-mail address to send photos and videos, and they'll go up in an ad-hoc playlist made available to all. If you're the channel owner, you can also moderate that content, keeping some amount of editorial control over what your viewers are adding to the conversation.

SplashCast is also adding integration to Twitter. The service gets its very own icon, which, when clicked, lets you log in to your Twitter account and post a brief note along with a link to the show as a status update. If you're already using another service like TwitThis (review), this might not be so important, but unlike sharing the whole player, you can drill down and share any piece of media therein.

I've embedded an example player after the break. To view it, click the read more button below.

Yahoo wants its MTV

An unnamed Yahoo spokeswoman recently bristled at the notion that the company ever attempted a period of "Hollywood-ization" under former chief executive Terry Semel, a former CEO of Warner Brothers. She argued that Yahoo had never done original programming, despite the fact that their original content division, dubbed "Originals," used to be called "Studios" and was headed by former CBS TV executive David Katz. And, not to mention that Yahoo executives publicly announced in 2006 that they were backing away from TV-style programming.

I don't want to get into a semantic squabble here, … Read more

MySpaceTV to debut original show, 'Quarterlife,' in November

We reported back in July that MySpace in the midst of a deal with the creators of the movie Blood Diamond to create a new Web-based program called Quarterlife. At the time, it wasn't confirmed, representatives from the parties involved declined to comment, and quarterlife.com was password-protected.

Now, it's official: a release from MySpace has confirmed that Quarterlife will debut on its MySpaceTV platform on November 11. A project of Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who created the TV shows My So-Called Life and Thirtysomething in addition to Blood Diamond, the new Web show will follow the … Read more

DirecTV faces setback in dubious antipiracy campaign. Good.

DirecTV lost an important case on Tuesday. Programmers, security researchers, and anyone who believes in a limited government won.

In a 2-1 split decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out a default judgment against a pair of alleged DirecTV television pirates, saying an "unauthorized decryption device" law the company invoked against them does not apply. That law promises statutory damages of $100,000 per violation.

The two defendants, Hoa Huynh and Cody Oliver, may eventually be held liable for copyright infringement or lesser violations, of course. But now DirecTV will have to fight harder for it, … Read more

CNET Live - Episode 22 - Show Notes

It's all about the Apple stuff today. Donald Bell, one of our in-house music gadget experts was on hand to help us clear up the confusion around the new iPod line. And he helped me get through the iPhone price drop shock. Thanks Donald! Watch the show soon on CNET TV.

Things we Crave

Telecommuting robot

Self-destructing USB key

First Look

Apple announcements

Steve Jobs offers $100 credit to iPhone purchasers.

Best of the Web

Google Earth Flight Simulator.

Your calls

Mitsubishi will show off their Laser TV … Read more

Hands on with the new Vudu

Vudu won't be shipping for another few weeks, but I was fortunate enough to get one of the first review units of the device--and my gadget-jaded eyes were somewhat impressed. The Vudu box aims to deliver a wide variety of on-demand movies to your TV (no PC required) via a broadband Internet connection--think Netflix or Blockbuster, but with immediate gratification. The idea of a dedicated video-on-demand box has been tried before (Akimbo, MovieBeam), but the Vudu sidesteps many of the issues that made those previous boxes hard to recommend. It's got actual content that you want to see--all … Read more

MyStrands launches MyStrands.TV, non-stop music video discovery

Yesterday MyStrands, the music discovery service/social network launched MyStrands.TV, a new offering that serves up music videos related to your tastes. If you've ever used Last.fm, the idea is similar--just type in an artist name and you'll get a playlist full of their videos, along with several recommendations for similar artists or genres. The service keeps track of which videos you've watched, and shows you a listing of members who have added that artist to their own playlists. There's also a social element with user pages full of custom band picks you can … Read more

Combo TV-microwave to feed addiction

Talk about evolution. A decade ago the iconic appliance of digital age was the Internet toaster; now say hello to the microwave TV.

Thankfully, no one seems to be viewing this latest invention as the ultimate device in technological convergence--quite the opposite, actually. But that hasn't stopped Holland Electro Wave TV from debuting its Frankenstein creation at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The concept is rather silly, if you ask us: The "Wave," according to Gizmag, is basically a microwave oven with an LCD built into the door.

Not only does it cost about $680, which … Read more

The world's new largest TV?

Tucked away on the JVC stand at this year's IFA trade show in Berlin was a little surprise. A 110-inch LCD projection TV, using three D-ILA--or to use the more descriptive name, liquid crystal on silicon--chips, through which light is projected to create an image on screen.

Easily the most impressive thing about this telly is the fact that it uses very little power. Indeed, JVC claims it uses roughly the same amount as a 37-inch LCD screen. That means that it drinks less precious electricity, which puts less of a strain on our planet and the bunnies can … Read more

Jacked launching Netvibes-like platform for live TV

This weekend Jacked.com is launching the first stages of its service. The easiest way to describe it is like a souped-up Netvibes you can use as a reference while watching live television programming. The service is rolling out its features slowly, beginning with a partnership with Notre Dame and NBC Sports to serve up real-time content for Notre Dame's football season which starts on Saturday. NBC is billing the service as "Play Action." You can visit the site now, but there won't be anything on it until game day.

Jacked is linked up to what you're watching on TV, so say you're watching the game, and a player scores. Jacked's smattering of Web widgets will pull up the player's stats, photos, related news stories, a comparison chart of that play to others, etc. The idea is to save you from having to track down player, team, and historical information on your own, and serving it up automatically.

The widgets are powered by a group of underlying technologies that scan through live TV content and grab bits and pieces of information from its metadata. Combine that with things like optical character recognition, and you've got lots of information to work with. The result is an impressive array of widgets, that--when viewed during a live broadcast--will pull up information and related content seconds after it happens.… Read more