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Introducing the Future of Mobile TV

This could be the big end-around to the wireless companies...

Introducing the Future of Mobile TV As Korean companies bring new technologies to the U.S., broadcasters are investigating simpler, cheaper ways to put shows on portable devices

Want to check out Friday Night Lights during your commute home? How about Boston Legal? Good luck. Despite all the talk of watching live television on your mobile phone or other portable device, the idea is more promise than reality these days. What you can get, if you can get anything, is short, prerecorded video clips or a handful of channels that your all-powerful wireless carrier has chosen for you.

All of that may be about to change. Two companies from Korea, land of the wireless future, are bringing technology to the U.S. that will allow television stations to bypass wireless carriers altogether and deliver programs directly to mobile phones. The latest development on this front came on Apr. 3 when LG Electronics, in partnership with Harris Corp. (HRS), unveiled new, inexpensive technology that allows stations to zip local news and other video content to phones, portable video players, and in-car entertainment systems within a 45-mile radius. [MORE]

Sirius announces Backseat TV details, Chrysler exclusivity - Engadget

Link: Sirius announces Backseat TV details, Chrysler exclusivity - Engadget.

Sirius spilled quite a few details on its self-descriptive Backseat TV service back at CES, but the company's now thrown up a bit more info on its website, along with the news that the setup will be exclusive to Chrysler vehicles for the 2008 model year. That deal will apparently begin with the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country and 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, followed by other Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles later in the year. It also looks like the system will be a tad more expensive than was earlier reported, with the factory installed option now carrying an MSRP of $470. In addition to the necessary hardware, that price will net you a one-year subscription to the service (which now includes Nickelodeon, the Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network), after which you'll have to fork over $7.95 a month on top of the $12.95/month for the standard Sirius radio service.

Faith in GPS sends Mercedes downstream - Engadget

Faith in GPS sends Mercedes downstream Posted Mar 27th 2007 10:14AM by Donald Melanson Filed under: GPS, Transportation So far, over-dependence on GPS devices has resulted in more inconvenience than actual danger, but things took a turn for the worse earlier this month when a U.K. woman sent her £96k Mercedes SL500 flying into a river, trusting the car's optimistic GPS guidance instead of the road signs warning of impending doom. Matters were made worse as the river was swollen from recent heavy rains, which caused the vehicle to be swept some 200 meters downstream before the woman was able to escape. While she emerged unscathed, the car unfortunately wasn't quite so lucky, remaining stuck in the river for a week after the incident and now believed to be a complete write-off.

News Corp., NBC pull together to challenge YouTube - Los Angeles Times

Link: News Corp., NBC pull together to challenge YouTube - Los Angeles Times.

Several media giants are teaming up to challenge Google Inc. and its YouTube video-sharing service, seeking to blunt their incursion into the entertainment business.

News Corp. and NBC Universal plan to announce as soon as today that they are creating an online video site stocked with TV shows and movies, plus clips that users can modify and share with friends, according to people close to the negotiations.

BMW shows off WiFi / cellular-based in-car multimedia system - Engadget

Hopefully this will be availabe around the time my lease expires (hopefully not before then)

Link: BMW shows off WiFi / cellular-based in-car multimedia system - Engadget.

Among all the new cars unveiled at the recent Geneva motor show, BMW also took the opportunity to show off a little in-car action, letting show-goers take its still-in-development dashboard console for a spin. According to Wired blog Autopia, the system can be loaded up with audio and video content off your PC via WiFi while you're parked in the driveway, or via a cellular link when you're on the road. Unfortunately, they didn't provide many details on the console itself, other than that it boasts 20GB of storage and will apparently be able to record radio content as well. It's also not clear when we might see such a system installed in a future BMW, with the company only saying that it "could" be commercially available within three years, adding that licensing and copyright issues are (not surprisingly) the main things holding it back.

The Last Days of Internet Radio?

Yikes!  This is the first I've hear of this...

Link: The Last Days of Internet Radio?.

The Last Days of Internet Radio? A decision by the Copyright Royalty Board to raise royalty fees could put some small online radio stations out of business.  Kurt Hanson runs a Chicago-based online radio station that streams more than 300 channels of classical, jazz, oldies, and other music genres aimed at adults. The station, AccuRadio, lures more than 1 million visitors a month—not bad for a startup that's only been around since 2002. If a Mar. 5 decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) takes effect, AccuRadio may not be around much longer. [MORE]

Wired News: Music Vets Prep Next-Gen Player

Link: Wired News: Music Vets Prep Next-Gen Player.

Music Vets Prep Next-Gen Player Page 1 of 1 See Also Can Surround Sound Save MP3? Note to Sony: Skip iPod Knockoff Inside Look at Birth of the IPod The Music Store in Your Pocket By Eliot Van Buskirk| Also by this reporter 02:00 AM Feb, 12, 2007 Three digital music veterans have launched a stealth startup and are close to unveiling both a new portable media player and what they're calling an "internet radio ecosystem," Wired News has learned. [MORE]

All-Star weekend will unveil 3D HD - Los Angeles Times

Link: All-Star weekend will unveil 3D HD - Los Angeles Times.

All-Star weekend will unveil 3D HD By Larry Stewart, Times Staff Writer February 12, 2007 NBA owners and executives, media members and invited guests will be shown the latest in sports television technology — three-dimensional high-definition — at two private showings next weekend at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas. [MORE]

Amazon Partners With Tivo; Steals Walmart’s Thunder

Link: Amazon Partners With Tivo; Steals Walmart’s Thunder.

Amazon Partners With Tivo; Steals Walmart’s Thunder Steve Poland 12 comments »On the same day that Walmart launched a competing movie download service and then fell flat on their face over simple browser compatibility issues, Amazon announced an incredibly cool, long rumored new partnership with Tivo. After several months of rumors, Amazon and TiVo have partnered to make Amazon Unbox content available from user PCs to their broadband-connected TiVo units.

Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal - New York Times

Link: Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal - New York Times.

Wal-Mart and Studios in Film Deal Sign In to E-Mail or Save This Print Reprints Share Digg Facebook Newsvine Permalink By MICHAEL BARBARO Published: February 6, 2007 Stores">Wal-Mart Stores may have lost the online DVD rental battle, but it has no plans to lose the higher-stakes video downloading war.