Pick up the remote, turn on the television and watch YouTube.

The blurring of the television and the computer, envisioned by technology enthusiasts for years, advanced another step on Wednesday when TiVo, the popular maker of digital video recorders, announced an agreement with YouTube that will deliver millions of Web videos directly to users’ TV screens.

“TiVo’s strategy is to bridge the gap between Web video and television and make as much content available as possible for our subscribers,” said Tara Maitra, TiVo’s vice president and general manager for content services.

TiVo is the latest entrant into the marketplace for porting Internet videos to television. Apple has introduced a version of Apple TV with similar features. Although several companies are trying to merge online content with the big screen in the living room, no one product dominates the market.

“Leaning forward at my computer screen, I’ve got this giant amount of content,” said Dmitry Shapiro, the founder of Veoh, one such company. “But as soon as I want to relax in my living room with friends, I’m stuck with what’s on my TV.”

TiVo pioneered the digital video recorder technology that enabled television viewers to time-shift their favorite shows, and its set-top boxes are increasingly acting like digital video retrievers and receivers as well. The company already makes video from about 40 partners available through its box.

Just as users can sign up for a season pass to record “Desperate Housewives” on ABC, they will be able to subscribe to CNet video clips, CBS episode recaps and other segments and have the content downloaded to their hard drives. The YouTube clips, however, will be streamed by broadband Internet connection.

When it is introduced this year (the exact time has not been specified), the YouTube service will be available only to TiVo users who have up-to-date hardware — a Series 3 or HD set-top box — and a broadband connection.

Of the four million TiVo users nationwide, more than half get their set-top box from a cable operator. Of the 1.7 million who bought their box directly from TiVo, only about 800,000 have the necessary broadband connection.

Users will be able to log into their accounts and gain access to playlists on the video-sharing site directly from their televisions. The company also plans to let users subscribe to video feeds from across the Internet by using software called an R.S.S. reader.

“TiVo should be the best experience for all video options, whether it’s coming from cable, satellite or off of a server,” Ms. Maitra said.

The integration of Web video and TiVo was a result of YouTube’s decision, announced last August and made public Wednesday, to open the YouTube platform for outside developers. The platform promises to make it easier for other sites to upload and manage videos.
[Via: NYTimes]

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Labels: tv, youtube

How do the corespondents of NBC News stay alert and up all night when covering the U.S. Presidential primaries? Adrenaline? The thrill of being on live TV? Nope. They get all drugged up on caffeine, sugar and energy gels.

Here's a video that documents the talent of NBC News and their substance of choice.







Brian Williams (NBC Nightly News)
Power Bars and gels

Ann Curry (Today Show)
12 shots of Starbucks espresso

Tim Russert (Meet The Press)
Diet Coke & licorice

Mara Schiavocampo (NBC News)
gallons of Red Bull



I'm not exactly sure who at NBC News is in charge of scraping an over-caffeinated Ann Curry off the ceiling. Probably some poor intern.


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Labels: tv

This past Tuesday was "Super Tuesday" in the United States. Both the Republican and Democratic political parties held primary elections in 22 states to help decide which candidate would represent their parties in the upcoming November U.S. Presidential election.

On Tuesday's episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jon jokingly wondered "What's bigger than Super Tuesday?" These are what the American cable news networks came up with and Jon Stewart's reactions.

1. Chris Matthews: "Super Duper Tuesday"
   Jon Stewart: "That's kind of retarded... infantile."
   
   
2. CNN: "Super Fat Tuesday"
   Jon Stewart: "Well that's certainly.... dope."
   
   
3. Fox News: "Tsunami Tuesday"
   Jon Stewart: "Yes I believe the plethora of state primaries is reminiscent of the sudden and horrific deaths of a quarter million people living on the Indian Ocean."
   
   
4. MSNBC: "Monster Super Tuesday"
   Jon Stewart: [Jon needs a fire extinguisher to hold off MSNBC's hype inferno. Just watch the clip. It's great.]
   

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Labels: tv

Last week Apple announced they needed another couple of weeks to finish updating the Apple TV software that will finally allow users to rent movies directly from the TV rather than having to download on the computer and sync or stream the video to the Apple TV device.

This anticipated software upgrade will be available as a free software download to existing Apple TV users sometime in February. By the end of February, Apple’s iTunes online music store should have more than 1,000 movie titles available including more than 100 high-definition titles. The DVD-quality movies will be available to rent for $2.99 for older titles and $3.99 for newer titles while high-definition costs a buck more.



Also last week, Apple announced the MacBook Air has started shipping. Hopefully Apple packages the MacBook Air in something a little more sturdy than the envelopes featured in the ads!

Here's a video of the old Apple TV software:




Source: Gizmos for Geeks.

Labels: apple, apple tv, itunes, macbook, tv

Could it be true? Is one of the most traditional news organizations partnering with Kevin Rose's Digg.com?



This week CBSNews.com announced that they would be integrating with the social news discovery site Digg.com for their 2008 US Presidential election coverage.

Starting January 8th...

• political related stories discovered by Digg users will be featured on CBSNews.com.
  
• Digg buttons will appear at the bottom of all CBS News stories encouraging Digg users to Digg and comment on them
  
• Digg.com will start distributing CBS News’ "Campaign '08" video content.

The Digg/CBS News partnership is just the latest example of traditional news media linking to and driving traffic to other sites (even competitors). For example, recently the New York Times Web site has begun highlighting stories from various prominent blogs and even competitors such as The Financial Times.

Guess they learned that trick from the Blogosphere.

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Labels: tech news, tv

Call me crazy, but when a group of Police officers approach me holding guns and start yelling "Get down on the ground," I'm gonna listen. This guy... not so much.

Watch this clip first from the popular American TV series "Dateline: To Catch A Predator", then read my explanation. I've analyzed this YouTube clip frame by frame and watched it like 50 times. I think I've got it all figured out.

The perp unknowingly shows up at a "Dateline: To Catch A Predator" sting house looking for a sexual encounter with an underage teen. After Chris Hansen pops out and basically tells him that he's on national TV, the guy tries to put on his shoes and walk out the front door to freedom. But the cops are outside. They yell "Sheriff's office" and the perp panics and runs back inside the house. So the cops shoot him with a taser but only one of the taser prongs connects and he only gets a partial charge.



At this point the perp starts screaming like a little girl. Then the perp runs towards Chris Hansen and the Dateline NBC security guards usher Hansen away to safety. After the cops finally get the perp secured on the ground, he starts yelling for help from God. I don't know why this clip isn't on the dateline.msnbc.com website. It's riveting!

UPDATE: A tipster sent us the following: "This Dateline bust was in Bowling Green, KY. The guy is 24 years old. He came to meet a 13 year old girl. In a chat room he told her he was a police detective in Indiana. Actually he was only training to be a police officer but got asked to leave the department for violating procedures."

It's really scary to think that this guy could have been a cop.

If the embedded video above doesn't load, you can watch the clip here.


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Labels: internet, tv, video

Do you work in local TV ads sales? You might want to polish up your resume and send it to Google. According to WSJ.com (subscription required), Google is buying giant blocks of local TV advertising at discounted rates and auctioning off the time to the highest bidder online. They are calling the program Google TV Ads.

Google’s current partners in this endeavor are EchoStar and Astound Cable (a unit of WaveDivision Holdings LLC) and they are using Concord, California as a trial area. Astound Cable has 25k subscribers in Concord... just enough to test the computer and network infrastructure needed to broker and deliver commercials to cable systems more widely.

The entire process will be completely automated using a video version of Google’s highly successful AdWords reporting center -- from planning the campaign to uploading and serving the ad to reporting on its effectiveness. The flexibility of this model also allows advertisers to make changes to their campaigns as often and as quickly as they like. Google has even made a multi-year deal with Nielson giving them access to ratings data. This is the first time that advertisers and agencies will have this level of detailed measurement available in a single place and at such a large scale. Additional details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"This is an important, strategic relationship for both companies and a great fit," said David Calhoun, Chairman and CEO of The Nielsen Company. "We are pleased that Google looked to Nielsen to provide the demographic data that is so critical to the clients of its TV advertising platform. The relationship with Google – which we expect will expand significantly in the months ahead – is a prime example of the ways Nielsen is embracing new technologies, platforms and relationships worldwide to serve clients more completely, to provide companies with its insights and to help expand the base of potential advertisers everywhere."

Google has registered several domains to support this program including googletv.com and googlehdtv.net. Before Google launches new services, they tend to register Google.com based names before they create subdomains (ie. VIDEO.google.com, NEWS.google.com, etc.).

So what's Google's longterm plan for the television industry? Do they plan creating their own branded digital television DVR / satellite service? Garett Rogers from ZDnet thinks so. He posted these ideas on his blog.

Imagine the possibilities... You are watching Google Satellite TV through your "internet ready" Google DVR:

1. You receive a new Gmail and it pops up automatically on your TV
2. A ticker at the top of the screen shows recent news that interests you… or better yet, it shows new items from my Google Reader!
3. A more personalized TV experience which will serve up relevant commercials on commercial breaks based on your interests.
   

If you are an advertiser, you can buy an ad and participate in the Concord trial here: http://google.com/adwords/tvads/


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Labels: tech news, tv

It looks as though Quarterlife creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick have managed to get their show on the air after all.

NBC picked up the rights to broadcast, sell on DVD and stream the show in the U.S. and internationally, planning to premier it on air sometime in February or March after it completes its initial 36 webisode run on Yahoo TV.



The deal breaks mold in various ways. It is the first primetime show to debut online then secure a network spot. (Herskovitz and Zwick first pitched Quarterlife to ABC 3 years ago, but the network ultimately passed on it.)

Although NBC will contribute to production and development costs, the two producers will retain ownership and creative control of the show, according to reports.

Finally, the show may be strike proof as it's primarily an independently-financed online venture not subject to the strike embargo.

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Labels: tech news, tv, video

As part of TODAY’s historic broadcast from the “Ends of the Earth,” exploring the extraordinary diversity of life on the planet and the limits of human exploration, anchor Ann Curry traveled to the very bottom of the globe, Antarctica, broadcasting from such extreme locations as the McMurdo Research Station. Her team's ultimate goal: the South Pole.

Twelve thousand miles away from Matt Lauer, who was reporting live from the North Pole Monday, Curry proudly announced it was the first time NBC News was reporting live from Antarctica, calling it a stunningly beautiful continent.

Antarctica, which is one and a half times the size of the U.S. is often called the coldest, driest, windiest place on earth. With 90 percent of the world's ice, it is the planet's cooling system regulating temperatures worldwide. The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was in Antarctica at minus 128 degrees Fahrenheit.

Read On:TodayShow.com
Click Here to Check out Ann's Photos!!

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Labels: environment, tv

After spending most of last Saturday criticizing Hillary and Bill Clinton, US Presidential candidate, Barack Obama [see widget], took the stage with two impersonators - Amy Poehler and Darrell Hammond - on "Saturday Night Live."

The opening sketch of Saturday's broadcast featured Poehler and Hammond, as the Clintons, hosting a Halloween party. Toward the end of the sketch a man walked in wearing an Obama mask - which he removed to reveal he was, indeed, Obama.

"I have nothing to hide," Obama said. "I enjoy being myself. I’m not going to change who I am just because it’s Halloween."



Campaigning in South Carolina earlier, Obama accused Hillary Clinton of giving voters "vague, calculated answers to suit the politics of the moment instead of clear, consistent principles about how you would lead America." And he subtly swiped at former President Bill Clinton by listing problems that "existed long before George Bush took office."

Obama wrapped up his brief late-night comedy stint with the show's signature line: "Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night."

[Via MSNBC.com]

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Labels: tv

On the week of November 5th NBC Nightly News is airing a series profiling recipients of the Medal of Honor including Sammt Davis, the man the movie Forest Gump is based on.

The recipients are from the most difficult and recent conflicts the US has faced—from WW2, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq—and each branch of service. Sammy Davis is the real Forest Gump. He’s receiving this award for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty. Similarly, Jason Dunham is receiving his medal of honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Rifle Squad Leader, 4th Platoon, Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, First Marine Division (Reinforced), on 14 April 2004.

There’s also Vernon Baker who already received this medal while serving as a POW, and was the only African American still alive when Medals were presented to blacks from WWII. And Tibor "Ted" Rubin (Army - Korea - Medal for action in Korea from 1950-1953) who distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism by serving as a rifleman with Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division in the Republic of Korea.

The program is outlining their stories by collecting interviews with them, their families, and comrades. Their stories will also be complimented by the interviews with personal photographs, newsreel and archival footage and stills.

Source: The Daily Nightly


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When considering some of the most extreme environments on the planet, surely Antarctica, one of the coldest, driest and windiest places on earth (average temp of -56º F) comes to mind. Now imagine trying to conduct a live TV broadcast there. Sounds crazy right? My Direct-TV dish can't even get a clear signal when it's raining outside let alone an Antarctic blizzard. But on Nov. 5th & 6th the Today show will try when Ann Curry and Matt Lauer report live from Antarctica and the North Pole in a segment the Today Show calls The Ends of the Earth. This will be the first live simultaneous broadcast in history from the top and bottom of the globe.

When facing some of planet’s harshest conditions, how do you even begin to coordinate a live TV shoot? Well, it might not seem like such an insurmountable feat when you consider that there are 1,000-4,000 people living and working in Antarctica on any given day (mostly scientists and their support staff). In fact, there are several year around permanent research stations in Antarctica. According to this article, the Today Show recruited the help of one such research station supported by the National Science Foundation. The NSF’s established base in Antarctica has advanced technological capabilities including a pre-set data circuit that show was able use for transmission. Using this system paired with a software program called Qvidium, there was no need for satellites. So no matter what the weather is like, NBC will still be able to broadcast live.



The actual equipment in use for this shoot is pretty straightforward. The shoot will be a single camera shot using the Ikegami HLV55 with it’s feed hooked up to a laptop computer that runs the Qvidium software to stream live video. The Qvidium system transports and/or captures live video feeds for IP networks, including High Definition video. It enables this high-quality video transport over unconditioned IP networks, including wireless links and the Internet. It can operate on a single path due to the limitations of bandwidth.

As far as other equipment, goes it was all very standard. Nothing special was used with regard to the microphones, batteries, or the like. It seems as though Antarctica is pretty advanced for a giant desert of ice, especially when considering the fact that NBC’s director of production operations was easily reached on his cell phone down there.

Ironically it looks like the biggest challenge of this shoot won’t be technology, but rather making sure that the production crew stay warm. Also, the Antarctic Boomerang won't make it an easy trip home.

You can track Ann Curry's progress online here: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/21487444

Brrrr voyage Ann!

[Sources: CaptClicker.com & Wikipedia]

Labels: tv

NBC News anchor Brian Williams tried to give a tour of his new TV studio live on the air but oops.... the studio DOOR WAS LOCKED!!!

I wonder how many people got fired for that? You can see the clip here on YouTube.com.



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Labels: tv

Next month, NBC.com is launching a new service, called NBC Direct, to allow users to download full episodes of NBC shows directly to their desktops.

Using NBC Direct, due out for Windows PCs (no mac support?! what is this 1995?) in October, will eventually be like setting your Tivo's Season Pass in that you can "subscribe" to a show once then automatically receive it each week. The software client will store each ad-supported episode for up to one week, after which the license expires.

Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will be available at launch.

Future plans include developing DRM-protected versions of shows that can be downloaded to an iPod, installing a P2P system to enable high definition downloads and experimentation with download-to-own, rental and subscription models.

But is this really what consumers want? Chris Crotty, an analyst for iSuppli, an independent firm that analyzes electronic media, said of the NBC move, "I think it’s a stretch." He argued that consumers have shown they are extremely happy with the iTunes service and that it would not be attractive to consumers to have to range far and wide over a number of services to find the programs they want to download.

"It’s not just a shift from a supermarket to a mom-and-pop story, it’s a shift to one store that only sells bread, another store that only sells dairy products. The consumers have decided they want to get their content from iTunes."

Will NBC Direct add up to a significant number of downloads? Who knows. But by trying different approaches like Hulu, Amazon Unbox and NBC Direct, NBC will be able to find out.

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Labels: internet, tv

MTV's latest reality show - A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila - is built around the dishy, scantily clad singer/model who is reputed to have the most friends in the history of MySpace (2,009,335 at last count).

Tila's career began at the age of 18 when she was discovered at a shopping mall by a Playboy scout and was offered a chance to model nude for the magazine and did a test shoot. Tila was featured as Playboy’s Cyber Girl of the week on April 22, 2002, and a couple weeks later became Playboy’s first Asian Cyber Girl of the Month.

Besides MySpace and Playboy, Tila is also known for her photo spreads in Stuff, Maxim, and her role as host of the popular Fuse TV show Pants-Off Dance-Off.

MTV ordered 10-episodes of Tila's elimination-format dating show. It's slated to premiere on October 9th on MTV (USA).

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Labels: internet, tv

Can an Asian-American ever hold the American Idol title? Paul Ethan Hahn says a resounding "yes" and Internet video might be his Ace in the Hole.

Paul grew up in Murray Hill, New Jersey and has always been a big country fan. He also loves the hit FOX-TV program American Idol. And if Paul has his way, he’ll be the first Asian country singer on American Idol.

"I wanna make Paula Abdul cry and show that jerk off Simon how to sing. I want to be the next American Idol!" Paul quips.

This week, Paul Hahn entered an online FOX 29 Philly Idol contest and hopes that a hi-tech edge will help him bypass the massive lines outside the first round of judges.

FOX 29 posted an open American Idol audition on their website. The winner gets to perform live on Fox's morning show, Good Day Philadelphia, and gets to bypass the first round of judges at the open American Idol Philadelphia auditions later this month. To enter, all you had to do was upload a video of you singing.



Paul recorded his American Idol demo using his Apple MacBook Pro laptop, with a built in iSight camera, and the video editing program iMovie.

"It was so easy," says Paul. "I just opened iMovie, recorded about a minute sample of my singing, burned a DVD and threw it into the mail. The whole process only took about 10 minutes."

Since Idol's first season, we've seen Kelly Clarkson belt out high notes, a plethora of Sanjaya hairstyles, and even a contestant who went on to win an Oscar. But we haven’t seen any serious Asian-American contestants get a real shot at the Idol crown (sorry but William Hung doesn't count).

Will Paul's dream of telling off Simon and getting to sing a country song on American Idol come true? Can Internet video voting give this American Idol hopeful a back door to stardom? That's in the hands of you, the voters.

You can watch and vote for all the top 10 Philadelphia contestants, including Paul Hahn, on FOX 29’s web site: http://media.myfoxphilly.com/idol/idolvote.html. The top 5 get to perform live on FOX 29's morning show Good Day Philadelphia and the winner gets to bypass the massive lines at the Philadelphia open auditions for season 7.


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Labels: internet, tv