Archive for January 7th, 2008
After a few months in beta, Comcast is taking the wraps on Fancast, its online video service. At first glance, it looks similar to Hulu (Comcast-owned ThePlatform is helping power Hulu), with full shows available from NBC, CBS, Fox, Bravo, FX and more. But Fancast also has some nifty additions, like a TiVo-like personalization feature that asks you a few questions and then suggests upcoming shows you might want to watch on your cable system (hmmm, it’s suggesting I watch “The Bad News Bears” tonight on TNT.) And coming soon, you’ll be able to program your DVR via the site. Fancast also plans to add in-depth content on movies and TV shows, a la IMDb, which could be migrated to a set-top box in the future.
Updated: The other big announcement from Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts is “Project Infinity.” The centerpiece is a new high-speed internet service called “wideband” that promises that users can download an entire high-definition movie in four minutes instead of as long as six hours with DSL. Plus, Comcast is planning to offer a huge menu of on-demand films — ultimately 6,000, up from its current 300 — along with 1,000 clips of HDTV video. Here’s the Project Infinity press release and the Fancast release.
January 7th, 2008
With the threat of pickets from the WGA and promises form SAG members to not cross the picket lines, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has decided to cancel this weekend’s Golden Globe awards. But you can watch an exciting press conference to announce the winners.
January 7th, 2008
In his speech at CES, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang demonstrated a beta version of Yahoo Go 3.0, its mobile platform, which will soon include mobile widgets from third-party content providers like MTV and Facebook. But the biggest news is Yahoo is opening “Go” to third party developers, similar to Google’s earlier “Android” announcement. While Google has more developers on board, Yahoo is hoping that its greater mobile penetration will lure top programmers. “We’re committed to creating the best and richest mobile experience for all consumers,” Yang said. And similar to its web strategy, Yahoo hopes that people use “Go” as its mobile start page.
January 7th, 2008
A little non-CES news that’s making headlines…
- Philadelphia’s KYW-TV fires controversial anchor Alycia Lane
- WashingtonPost.com hires outside firm for major redesign
- Washington Post admits it “incorrectly” reported RIAA story
- Stewart, Colbert back on the air without writers
January 7th, 2008
Despite being told the site wouldn’t launch until Wednesday, it looks like NBC News launched Nightly.msnbc.com tonight. You can check it out now. The site features a large video player with a lot of “web only” clips. I’m a huge fan of content being produced that compliments what is aired, and this presentation showcases it well. Share your reviews in comments!
Also, MSNBC.com video is now embeddable, as promised.
January 7th, 2008
As previously announced by NBCU, but now the redesigned site is live.
Plus, here’s NBC’s CES blog with a video tour of their monster booth.
January 7th, 2008
Panasonic unveiled a 150-inch plasma at CES, calling it the “world’s largest.”
Panasonic calls it the “Life Screen.” By the way, Panasonic also took the wraps off something it calls the “Life Wall” — a wall of video displays that you can install in your house. Apparently, it has face-recognition software and some kind of user interface so you can watch TV and surf the web. Wicked.
January 7th, 2008
WMUR.com in Manchester, NH has hired a 22-year-old college student to cover the primary. Called “Your Fate ‘08,” his reports are appearing on WMUR.com as well as YouTube and Facebook. “The whole point of doing Your Fate ‘08 is getting our message out to as many people as possible,” says WMUR News Director Andrew Vrees. “We’re doing the things younger users say they want to see more of.” Also, WMUR worked with YouTube to distribute free flip video cameras to encouarge people to upload their primary-related video. The highest-ranked videos will make it on the air. Screen grab of WMUR’s YouTube page below…
January 7th, 2008
So how do you get around all the legal uncertainty while giving TV viewers the ability to take the same shows they recorded on their DVR available on a portable device? You make a DVR that doubles as a portable device. That’s what Comcast and Panasonic have done with AnyPlay, a new device revealed at CES. AnyPlay can record up to 60 hours of standard-def video and also plays DVDs and CDs. And it docks right into your cable service (that photo shows the AnyPlay docked) so it also acts as your at-home DVR and cable set-top box. Not as cool as an iPod, is it?
January 7th, 2008
NBC’s Brian Williams had planned to report from CES today to debut the new Nightly.msnbc.com, but a message on the site says it has been pushed back to Wednesday “due to upcoming live coverage of the New Hampshire primary.”
January 7th, 2008
Samsung announced a deal with USAToday.com to deliver news and local weather information direct to your TV. “Weather is the most popular feature (in trials),” says a Samsung spokesperson. Separately, Sharp announced it would pipe selected internet content directly to its Aquos TVs, including local weather and Traffic.com updates. NBC will be one of the content partners, with others to be announced later. Both Sharp and Samsung TVs don’t require any extra hardware — just plug an ethernet cable directly into your TV set. This is just one more development of how local consumers are able to bypass local media for their local weather and traffic — this time right on their TV sets.
January 7th, 2008
