Movie Studios Get A Clue - Launch Epix Film Streaming Service
 Date:  Category:  Source:  Link:  Remark:  June 08, 2009 Internet ars technica http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/06/movie-studios-launch-epix.ars Big movie studios Lionsgate, Paramount, and MGM have partnered up to create Epix (www.EpixHD.com). The multiple bitrate choices & bandwidth monitoring features, which work to give viewers the best smoothest picture possible, sure sound cool. Early tests show that this works well, but will it hold up under pressure? Is it really free? Too good to be true? Well, yes you guessed it, there's a catch or two. Apparently Epix won't be available directly to consumers. You have to subscribe to your ISP's internet service as well as that provider's TV service, then maybe you can get Epix depending on the policies (& billing decisions) of each provider. "The Epix TV network will air movies that are in the 'pay-TV' window, those weeks before a film appears on DVD in which it is available on pay-per-view or HBO, among others." ... "The video is offered through Flash and is multi-bitrate enabled; the player checks the available bandwidth every ten seconds" ... "creates six different encodings of each film which range from full HD support all the way down to 500Kbps (cell phone quality)." |
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House & Senate Disagree on DTV Delay Bill
Date: Category: Source: Link: Remark: Jan 28, 2009 DTV Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50R5RK20090128 Given the current stress, financial & otherwise, many people are under these days, giving people a few extra months sounds like a good idea. In times when millions in the US barely have enough money for food and could use a bit of TV entertainment just to make it through the day, pushing an arbitrary & inflexible deadline seems callous. Even with the govt coupon, most consumers are forced to pay $15-$25 more out-of-pocket (finding an actual $40 DTV box is difficult), which may not seem like much to those opposing the delay, but to millions it's the difference between several days of groceries or starvation.
Add to that, the shortage of coupons & the shortage of DTV converter boxes on retail shelves & making the DTV transition in February looks ill planned & uncoordinated. |
Violet-Ray 1TB Drive/Disk, Next Contender in Format War with Blu-Ray?
Date: Category: Source: Link: Remark: May 28, 2008 Formats / Storage Media The Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/28/call_recall_optical_drive/ Just when you thought it was safe to declare a winner in the hi-def (HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray) format wars, here come the next contenders. Anyone else feeling format fatigue yet? When will we have one disk to rule them all? "Call/Recall [the company] has announced it is developing a 1TB optical drive and disk, backwards compatible with Blu-ray, in partnership with with the Nichia Corporation of Japan. Call/Recall began synthesizing 1TB materials for Nichia’s blue-violet laser diodes [already commercially available & used in Blu-Ray drives] in December 2007, with first initial testing successfully completed in March 2008."
...[competing company] "InPhase has just this year announced its revolutionary 300GB holographic disk and here is another optical format with more than three times the capacity. How realistic is this?"
..."This is not fluff. Rentzepis is a former head of Bell Laboratories who has authored approximately 85 patents. These are referenced as existing technology by 45 optical technology providers, who number IBM, Panasonic and Hitachi in their ranks." ... "Reversibility is being worked on and there is a generalised roadmap out to 5TB, still on CD-sized 120mm platters." ... "use of pretty standard components apart from the lens and recording layer should make for a more affordable drive than..." |
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