Out of the Box

The results of the multi-year effort to bring over-the-air digital broadcasts to mobile handheld devices will bear fruit in 2010 as we see the first devices that support MDTV. As I noted in a recent Webinar, the addressable market for mobile DTV includes tens of millions of devices with screens, including cell phones, notebook PCs, portable DVD and flash-based media players, rear seat entertainment systems, tablets, e-readers, portable game consoles, maybe even portable navigation devices (outside the car, of course) and digital picture frames.

But one of the more intriguing devices that can receive the new MDTV standard, as it will be called moving frorward, is the Tivit. In an interesting contrast to FLO TV, which recently rolled out its own dedicated Personal Television, the Tivit has no screen at all, but rather acts as a personal “DTV server” (or “rebroadcaster” to use terminology less palatable to the broadcasters) that can send video to nearby Wi-Fi devices such as cell phones, notebooks, and he iPod touch. Assuming MDTV lives up to its reception claims, this should be an attractive product for use in a vehicle.

Tivit’s operation is very similar to how Novatel’s MiFi delivers 3G access to Wi-Fi devices, with two key differences. The bad news is that,, unlike with the MiFi, client devices will need specific client software to support its output. The good news is that, unlike MiFi, Tivit won’t have a charge for the service it delivers.

Down the line, the two devices may be more competitive than complementary, though. Novatel has built the MiFi to be a platform, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason why Novatel couldn’t deliver a MiFi equipped with an MDTV tuner that subsumed the functions of Tivit.

Those planning to start 2010 on the right foot connected to a healthier body may have been interested in one of the accelerometers married to a monitoring Web site such as the Fitbit or the Philips DirectLife. However, only one of those is currently available as production delays have plagued the Fitbit and the pre-order backlog is scheduled to start shipping again after the end of January.

Enter the DirectLife, which lacks the OLED display of the Fitbit but is waterproof; Philips claims you can even swim with it. The company has also integrated the services of human coaches to help motivate buyers to keep using the DirectLife device.

But their services cost $12.95 per month. What if you want to keep using the DirectLife without their counsel, simply uploading your activity and self-monitoring as you would with the Fitbit, or share the information with your own fitness counselor or coach or doctor? Too bad. If you stop paying the subscription price beyond the four months of service included with the price of the device, the little white gadget turns into a (rather ineffective judging by its bantam characteristics) paperweight, and you lose the ability to upload data.

It’s unfortunate that Philips didn’t take the Fitbit route and enable self-monitoring for free as the Nike+ site also offers, particularly in this emerging device category that faces competition from smartphones and particularly for a target customer who has no problems finding excuses.. If the counselors are good – Philips says they are pre-qualified and they’ve gotten some good early reviews – then their value should be manifest for those who want to take advantage of them after a trial.

IT’s been a few weeks since news broke that Microsoft would be winding down the MSN Direct service in 2012, ending an eight-year run for the technology that used FM radio sideband to deliver snippets of information to low-power devices. I remember attending the CES keynote at which MSN Direct was unveiled and receiving a flyer from competitor Ambient Devices. That bit of guerilla marketing occurred as Ambient’s product line was more objects d’arte than consumer products, but Ambient Devices is still plugging away at products that use such little power they often don’t need a plug. One of its latest to incorporate its paging network receiver is a hybrid alarm clock/weather station that has long been an obvious opportunity to me. Best Buy apparently thinks so, too.

MSN Direct delivered worthwhile functionality. Its two main forays were smart watches (Switched On discussed one of the last smart watches for which Microsoft licensed the Abacus brand from Fossil.) and portable navigation devices. Alas, the service’s demise has been announced comes just as we are seeing Microsoft’s rival Google decide to front the cost of two-way turn-by-turn direction with the Droid. Another Microsoft competitor RIM (it of the Nokia alliance motivation) lend the BlackBerry brand to a smart watch that tips the fashion scales back toward geek chic with he InPulse smartwatch. Surely there will be more of these wrist-mounted cellphone companions as the low-power Bluetooth spec formerly known as WiBree enters the market.

It’s disappointing to see MSN Direct go because I appreciate clever hacks and because it tantalized us with connecting devices that had no other practical means to receive information. Indeed, Microsoft clearly continues to look for alternative means to affordable wireless bandwidth via the White Spaces Coalition, and has teamed up with some powerful allies toward making it a reality.

Regardless, though, the superior price-capacity ratios of 4G wireless networks will open up many new devices to wireless connectivity. Ironically, economically servicing devices that may have modest bandwidth needs becomes practical for the carriers as they deploy their fastest networks. The power requirements may not accommodate a smart watch, but it will clearly have a big impact eventually. As for Ambient Devices, it looks like a case where David managed to outlive Goliath.

I had a chance to catch up yesterday with Avaak, the Demo-launched company that wil be bringing the Avaak Vue system to market later this year. One part of the company’s messaging that I hadn’t heard was the focus on its “peel and stick” cameras to encourage ad hoc webcasting.

The company acknowledged as i suspected that the first-generation Vue will be focused more on telepresence than security applications per se. That’s a bit of a strike against it as security seems to be the best justification for buying a bunch of networked webcams. Avaak also talked about social networking aspects of the system, which I think will be even more of a niche. But if it can be done securely, perhaps there’s opportunity to bring in remote relatives to a ceremony in a home and I can certainly see commercial applications. However, as PogoPlug is showing in relation to the NAS market, secondary applications (in its case, file sharing) can emerge as a viable alternative to a primary application (backup).

As to the Vue’s incredible battery life, I finally got an estimate on what the company considers to be the “typical use” that will enable a year’s worth of usage – ten minutes a day, which I think is more than fair. Some quick math, then, reveals that Vue should be able to broadcast straight for about 2.5 days from a full charge.

I also hadn’t seen any announcements from Avaak about pricing or archiving, but the news here was good overall as well. Avaak plans to include the first year of video storage (up to 2 GB) included in the purchase price. For subsequent years, the price would be an incredibly reasonable $19 per year for that amount of online storage. Avaak is also taking a smart approach to heavy users, saying it would welcome an opportunity to structure a tier of pricing to appeal to them. Overall, I remain very keen on this product and its potential to break open the market for networked cameras.

A recent Switched On discussed the latest offering from Lala.com, which is trying to pioneer the dirt-cheap Web song as an alternative to downloads. As part of its new offering, Lala provides hosted online access to your local music library, a feature that led to the demise of longtime digital music gadfly Michael Robertson’s MP3.com.

But today the BBC reports on Robertson’s new venture Datz, which offers a different take on subscription and music. Like Nokia’s Comes with Music program, the Datz device, a security key that attaches to your PC (Windows-only for now), enables all-you-can-eat access. Unlike the Nokia program, though, the songs are in MP3 format and can presumably be used with any device . The product/service combination costs £100 for a year of access, kind of the digital music version of magicJack, which has done well spreadking its message via infomercials.

Only two of the big four music labels have signed up for now, and of the program is limited to the UK, but it seems like a fresh and winning approach, certainly one that will offer a better value than existing subscription services if Sony BMG and Universal Music come on board and the subscription price after a year stays below $15. I only question why the hardware is needed. What difference does it make if someone is turning on the spigot from only one PC in the house?

Both Lala and Datz are showing that access and ownership are not mutually exclusive ideas, although Datz offers a level of assurance that consumers can continue to use their media should the venture fail.. And Datz not funny (sorry, Dave).

Very often, people post ad hoc directions on how to reach customer service lines while circumventing  what an be daunting, time-consuming interactive voice response or menuing systems used by large companies. Fonolo plans to turn that into a scence wit a Web site that will list various departments at institutions such as banks, airlines and telcos. Better yet, it will call those companies, navigate the phone system menuingstructure and call you back just as the system needs your unique input.

It could be a great time-saver and, what’s more, doesn’t disrupt the systems that companies have in place. It simply automates using them. One limitation is that, in the case of long queues, Fonolo can’t “wait on line” for you, but the company says they’re working toward that.

Fonolo is a Web site, but it would be much handier as a mobile application.because most people have the least patience for such systems when they’re on their cellphones, burning up their talk time.

It looks like most of what came out of CEDIA this year was thin TVs and powerful projectors, the latter of which rely on screens that make even the thinnest flat-panel look obese, but TiVo, which has been positioning like mad as a media company lately, remembered that they still need a way to get their service onto boxes in living rooms — and in ways that less dependent on an MSO’s fiat.

First from CEDIA is a the TiVo HD XL DVR that brings it back close to the price of the now-discontinued Series 3 at $599. It lacks the Series 3′s classy chassis, but beefs up recording capacity while reclaiming THX certification and the posh remote. At least for the custom install market, box looks don’t matter much anyway because professional installers often hide the electronics. But the HD XL will also be sold in made to the less-elite masses at retailers such as Magnolia and Amazon.

The more important development for TiVo in terms of scale would be news that DirecTV, which had forsaken TiVo after becoming cousins with NDS, will introduce a new set-top box that brings the DirecTV TiVo experience well into the 21st Century. However, details appear short at this point, and DirecTV may well position TiVo over the price of the NDS solution. That would reinforce TiVo as a luxury niche alternative, but it’s something that you can build on.

If your company is a startup, I’m generally not a fan of trying to distribute your product or service exclusively through established TV and landline service providers such as Comcast or Verizon. Mobile apps via wireless carriers are but one exception. But if you’re Starz Entertainment and you have relationships with these service providers and your product is a movie distribution service based on subscription, then it’s also a different story.

As a standalone service, the cost of acquiring customers to Vongo must have been expensive. But by taking advantage of the existing billing relationships that Verizon’s FiOS TV has with its customers, Starz Play as the revamped service will now be known, will garner more exposure and, more importantly, more bundling opportunities. As Netflix has shown, a sustainable number of consumers like a subscription option for movies on demand. It’s just unfortunate that the handoff from Vongo couldn’t have been made more seamlessly.

On the heels of MediaMax/TheLinkUp shuttering its doors, TechCrunch reports that AOL will close down two of the more well-conceived online storage experiences, XDrive and Bluestring. The former gave away five gigabytes of online storage space accessible via the Web as well as a Windows and promising Adobe AIR application. This may actually mark Xdrive’s second death as the original version offering free storage went down during the dotcom bust along with competitors iDrive, Netdrive and others. The latter was another personal media sharing site albeit one that provided automatic uploading of content folders to the Web for free.

What killed them? Storage is cheap but bandwidth is expensive. Microsoft is still offering a little bit of storage space in the cloud via Windows Live SkyDrive and of course there are a number of subscription-based backup plays like Mozy and Carbonite. And Cucku gets around the hosting problem by enabling consumers to back up their hard drives to a friend for free. But none of the online backup plays have very robust media sharing features yet.

I’ve long enjoyed the Pandora and Slacker Internet radio services for different reasons and the two companies have taken different paths to get their services playing on non-PC devices. I was really excited for a long time about the concept behind the Slacker Portable — a portable music player that gets loaded up with genre- and artist-driven music stations via Wi-Fi and can then be played practically anywhere with no monthly service fee required. However, the initial hardware execution left me a bit cold.

Pandora, meanwhile, has developed a simple but terrific free iPhone app that has become one of the most popular out of the gate. The main catch, though, is that since Pandora is only a streaming service, it isn’t available if you don’t have coverage. The Slacker service on the iPhone or iPod touch, though, would essentially be the best of all worlds, taking advantage of the device’s Wi-Fi, superior user interface and slim design while utilizing its storage for cached Internet radio stations that work where here is no connectivity.

I’m not sure how this would impact Slacker’s financials (the company pays a much higher licensing fee for the right to cache music locally on the device) or its strategic goals of developing a more cost-effective satellite radio competitor, but broadening device support to Apple’s mobile platform would certainly create a bigger pie from which to drive premium radio subscriptions. And competitive pressure may not provide many alternatives as it seems nearly every other Internet music site is developing some kind of iPhone presence.

Update: Looks like Slacker agrees. Laptop reports on information I’ve also received that a Slacker application is coming to the iPhone and Blackberry. Funny how, despite the success of Windows Mobile here in North America, it’s getting caught in the middle between these two vertically integrated offerings.