Category Archives: AppleTV

Boxee CEO Avner Ronen Interview

Written by Scott on 8 September 2009 — Leave a Comment

Intruders.tv interviews Avner Ronen of Boxee at the Media Futures Conference.
In this interview, Avner discusses the future of TV, the importance of interface design to building a successful product and why Sacha Baron Cohen might be a likely candidate to transform the media’s approach to online.
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Also posted in Boxee, Distribution, Interactive Video, iTV

Flash as the Set-top Operating System

Written by Scott on 20 April 2009 — Leave a Comment

Roundup/bits about Adobe’s “Flash Platform for the Digital Home” launch/announcement.
Can Adobe’s Flash Take TV To The Next Level?
Adobe Partners With Media Giants To Control Internet TV
Launch partners include Atlantic Records, Broadcom, Comcast, Disney Interactive Media Group, Intel, Netflix, and The New York Times Company. The Adobe Flash Platform for the Digital Home is available immediately [...]

Also posted in Boxee, Distribution, Film+Video, Formats+Codecs, Interactive Video, Settops, iTV

Understudy: Front Row Plug-in For Streaming Video. Yes, Netflix+Hulu.

Written by Scott on 14 February 2009 — Leave a Comment

Yes. Yes. Yes. Awesome. Yes. Still kinda embryonic, but lets hope this goes somewhere.
@Google Code:
Understudy allows access to streaming video through the Front Row interface of Mac OS X. The user can subscribe to multiple feeds, and select a video to watch from them. Understudy currently supports Hulu and Netflix.

Also posted in Apple, Netflix, video

Some AppleTV Goodies

Written by Scott on 23 October 2008 — Leave a Comment

Some new stuff to add/help hack your ATV:

AppleTV USB patchstick creator.
AppleTV Linux bootloader.
Install XMBC Media Center on AppleTV.
Install Boxee on AppleTV and watch Hulu.

XBox Steps Up, Takes a Swipe at iTunes

Written by Scott on 14 July 2008 — Leave a Comment

XBox news roundup from E3:
A price cut and more storage and interface and functionality upgrades.
Netflix-on-360—finally.
Details:

_For now, Netflix will only stream in about-SD resolution.
_As Netflix transitions to HD, Microsoft said it stands to reason that streaming HD to the Xbox should be feasible.
_Netflix will be for Xbox Live Gold members only, so you’ll be paying that [...]

Also posted in Distribution, Interactive Video, XBOX, iTV, video

Netflix’s First Set-top Launched

Written by Scott on 20 May 2008 — Leave a Comment

Netflix dropped it’s first set-top box, dubbed “The Netflix Player by Roku” (Roku is a CE company founded by ReplayTV’s Anthony Wood). The device is strictly for watching “Instant Viewing” streams from your Netflix account.
The Pros:

Cheap ($100)
802.11g wireless
Firmware upgradeable (to what extent remains to be seen)
HDMI
optical audio (though no surround–the Netflix streams aren’t surround anyway)
Movies [...]

Also posted in Distribution, Film+Video, video

Is The Set-top Box a Stop-gap Technology?

Written by Scott on 23 April 2008 — Leave a Comment

A thought-provoking piece from Joel Johnson (Heh…no relation.) at Boing Boing gadgets. It really is only a matter of time before “little computers” are actually built-into monitors.
In Appledom, iTunes is the future, not AppleTV. AppleTV and other PC-based media centers only exist because no television manufacturer has figured out how to make a passable, low-priced [...]

Also posted in Distribution, Interactive Video, Media Technology, iTV

Walt Mossberg Talks Internet Video + Broadband

Written by Scott on 6 April 2008 — Leave a Comment

Also posted in Interactive Video, Media Technology, video

Apple DVR Patent

Written by Scott on 15 March 2008 — Leave a Comment

It was disclosed this week at Appleinsider that Apple filed a patent in Oct. 2006 over what appears to be DVR functionality. Apple’s interface design and usability brought to the DVR could be the killer app for the AppleTV.
The patent at USPO.

Also posted in Apple, Media Technology

Interactive Video + Blu-ray. Notes and Stuff.

Written by Scott on 15 March 2008 — Leave a Comment

Worthwhile: Saving the HDi platform for non-HD DVD media.
MS Don’t Kill HDi! An Open Letter from Format War Frontline
On a technical implementation level HD-DVD was farther along than Blu-ray, even at the time of its death. HDi comprised a powerful tool and a competitor that raised the stakes on its rival, especially because it was [...]

Also posted in Apple, Blu Ray, Distribution, Film+Video, Formats+Codecs, Interactive Video, Media Technology, iTV, iTunes

001- Women in Trouble
One crazy day in the lives of 10 wildly different women -- including a porn star, psychiatrist, flight attendant, housewife, masseuse and others -- forms the basis of this indie comedy from writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez. Starring Carla Gugino as adult film actress Elektra Luxx, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Adrianne Palicki, Connie B […]
002- Thirst
When the smoke clears from a failed experiment to find a cure for a fatal disease, a devout priest finds himself forever changed. Specifically, he's a vampire -- but that isn't the only thing that's different. Now he's also willing to commit adultery with the wife of his childhood friend, a sin he never would have considered before. Kang- […]
003- Switchblade Sisters
Director Jack Hill's kinetic, 1975 cult classic tells a lurid tale about girls, guns and gang wars. The addition of a cool blonde newcomer (Joanne Nail) to the Dagger Debs -- a female gang led by Lace (Robbie Lee) -- sets off an internal power struggle. With a conspirator in their midst, two bluecoats just waiting to bust them and a rival, male-gang lea […]
004- Bronson
Nicolas Winding Refn's vivid and unflinching biopic delves into the life of Britain's most notorious prisoner, Charlie Bronson (Tom Hardy) -- who's been jailed for nearly 35 years -- and attempts to dissect the real man behind the deranged persona. While Bronson's primary ambition was to be famous, he became a celebrity of sorts as a crim […]
005- 24 City
From director Zhang Ke Jia comes this drama about changing times in Chengdu, China, where state-owned factory 420 is closed by the government to make way for a high-end apartment complex called 24 City. The film tells the story through the lens of several distinctive characters, from factory workers to executives to the newly monied, who are all affected in […]
006- American Experience: The Lobotomist
First hailed as a promising cure for mental illness, the lobotomy soon became known as an utterly barbaric procedure that ruined lives. This documentary explores the history of the surgery and its early proponent, Dr. Walter Freeman. Uncover the rise and fall of this "medical miracle" through interviews with historians, health experts and relatives […]
007- Friday Night
Paris, 1995. Laure (Valérie Lemercier) is about to meet friends for dinner to celebrate her moving in with her boyfriend. But on her way out, she discovers that the entire city is stalled by a massive transit strike. When a handsome stranger (Vincent Lindon) offers her a ride, Laure takes a highly charged, impossibly erotic detour. […]
008- La Ronde
Set in Paris on the eve of World War I, Roger Vadim's remake of the 1950 film follows a lusty soldier (Claude Giraud) as he engages in a number of affairs. He sleeps with a prostitute (Marie Dubois), seduces a chambermaid (Anna Karina) and beds a married woman (Jane Fonda) before coming full circle, returning to tryst with the streetwalker once more. Va […]
009- The Silence
Three passengers travel through a foreign country on the brink of war. Taking ill, Esther checks into a hotel room, with her sister Anna and Anna's son, Johan, occupying the adjoining suite. Still unable to travel the next day, Esther gives Johan a list of helpful translations for their journey and stays behind. Part of Ingmar Bergman's trilogy of […]
010- Through a Glass Darkly
Recently released from a mental institution, Karin is on holiday with her family. But their inability to give her love and support causes a mental breakdown that leads to a hallucinogenic episode during which Karin envisions God as a spider. Director Ingmar Bergman's experimental "chamber play", which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is par […]
011- Schlock!: The Secret History of American Movies
Ray Greene directed this engrossing documentary that features clips of independent movies made in the pioneering era of the 1950s and '60s, along with interviews with the cinematic mavericks who made them (such as Sam Arkoff, Doris Wishman, Vampira, Roger Corman and Peter Bogdanovich). Includes rarely viewed clips by Wishman, David F. Friedman and Harry […]
012- Cockfighter
After an offhand boast costs him his best fighting cock -- and his chances at the Cockfighter of the Year award along with it -- Frank (Warren Oates) swears not to speak again until he has redeemed himself by winning that medal. But his fortunes continue to decline, and soon, he's lost much more, including his girlfriend. Monte Hellman directs this bloo […]
013- Dark City: Director's Cut
Alex Proyas directs this shadowy sci-fi masterpiece about a man (Rufus Sewell) who awakens to find himself accused of murder in a strange city. Now, he must untangle his jumbled memories while eluding both the police and a woman claiming to be his wife (Jennifer Connelly). This special edition director's cut boasts 11 minutes of new footage, plus commen […]
014- Alexandra
Nominated for a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this meditation on the effects of war from director Aleksandr Sokurov follows an elderly woman named Alexandra (Galina Vishnevskaya) as she travels to Chechnya to visit a grandson posted there. As seen through Alexandra's eyes, the barracks and its inhabitants reveal the staggering costs -- bo […]
015- Near Dark
In the dusty heart of the American southwest, innocent country boy Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) is handily seduced by a beautiful girl (Jenny Wright) into joining a pack of vicious drifters, which turns out to be no ordinary band of outlaws. Soon, Caleb is trapped in a nightmarish world of soulless evil and hellish mayhem that thrives on blood and absolute horror. […]
016- The Quiet Earth
After surviving the apocalypse, scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) faces a dangerous and uncertain new world in this thriller. The government researcher wakes up to find all human life on the planet completely destroyed. That is, until he encounters a lovely young woman (Alison Routledge) and a trucker (Pete Smith). Tension mounts as the survivors adapt t […]
017- Ace in the Hole
Fired from a number of big-city papers, reporter Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas) tries to reestablish himself in New Mexico. When a local store owner is trapped in a cave-in, Tatum turns the victim's misfortune into a media frenzy to further his own career. A local sheriff agrees to help prolong the rescue efforts, thereby helping build up the story. This […]
018- Wide Awake
This disturbing Korean thriller centers on a little boy who -- due to a lack of sufficient anesthetic -- remains in a conscious but immobile state during open-heart surgery. Not surprisingly, he's severely traumatized by the torturous experience. Many years later, the now-grown man embarks on a homicidal tear in an attempt to exact revenge on the powers […]
019- Burnt Offerings
A vacationing family rents a sprawling mansion for the summer and soon discovers that all is not as it should be. Among other equally strange things, dead plants come back to life, and the swimming pool kills bathers -- which makes a quick dip out of the question. Stars Oliver Reed, Karen Black, Bette Davis and Burgess Meredith. […]
020- La Collectionneuse
The third of director Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" finds foxy and licentious Haydee (Haydee Politoff) bedding a different male each night on the French Riviera. When Haydee's moral well-being becomes the concern of self-absorbed Adrien (Patrick Bauchau) and his friend Daniel (Daniel Pommereulle) -- neither of whom will sleep with Hayde […]