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Mediacom Lands Distribution Deal with EpixHD

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What would you get if you combine the forces of one of the leading local cable telecomms service provide in the U.S. and a next-generation multiplatform premium entertainment channel backed by the movie industry’s biggies such as Viacom, Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate?  Some, if not most of the blockbuster movies of all time available on your TV screen. That’s what’s going to happen after Mediacom and EpixHD roll out the conditions of their partnership.

The two media companies has just agreed on a distribution deal.  Epix will be making available its blockbusters to Mediacom customers across multiple platforms. That means that come April when the deal is launch, Mediacom customers will have viewing access to movie hits such as GI Joe, Star Trek, Paranormal activity, to name just a few of the most recent Hollywood movies.

The deal is actually a perfect fit. Epix has acces to more than 1,500 movies from its partner studions, while Mediacom has a wide reach among U.S. Cable TV audience.

If you want to take a peek at what Epix is offering, you can visit its linear channel at www.EpixHD.com. Through this site, Mediacom customers will be able to watch more than 150 films and other online programs on demand format at anytime and anywhere.  EpixHD.com even offers studio exclusive, behind the scene footages and other movie extras.

If you’re into great movies, you should watch out for the materialization of this Mediacom and EpixHD deal. It’s just a couple of months to go of waiting.

Mark Greenberg, president of EPIX, has this to say about their deal with Mediacom:

“We are focused on providing a compelling and unique entertainment experience in a way that every consumer can enjoy — whether that’s a traditional television viewing experience, on demand or on the Internet where video consumption is growing. Mediacom is a great distribution partner that serves a unique marketplace in our country – smaller towns and rural communities. We are particularly excited to work with them and to demonstrate the on demand and online capabilities that EPIX has developed.”

Originally posted on January 14, 2010 @ 10:13 am

CES 2010: Axar Multiple HDTV Streaming Technology

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Screen shot 2010-01-04 at 6.54.40 AM

With CES 2010 just a few days away, manufacturers are already prepping up their latest wares for display during the said event. One of these latest wares that caught my interest was Provision Communications’ AXAR Technology that allows streaming of video content from one source to multiple HDTVs wirelessly.

AXAR Technology currently supports two separate HD streams at the same time, although Provision says it can handle more. Unfortunately, Provision has no plans yet of making this new technology available to consumer level. But it is already negotiating with various major players in the TV and network router markets to incorporate Axar technology into their products and services. And if we are lucky, AXAR will find its way to home TVs, set-top boxes and network devices just in time for Christmas 2010.

Pocket-Lint was given a demo by Provision of the AXAR technology. What it does is to stream HD video content from any HD source to AXAR enabled TVs or Wi-Fi connected PC and other mobile devices including your mobile phone. Or if luck comes our way, perhaps the new Apple iSlate or the rumored Google Tablet, without lag time. The video source can be anything from a Blu-ray player, PVR or HD set top box.

So, how good is this new technology really?  Pocket-Lint has this to say:

Picture quality was very good with the green hues of the grass of Centre Court at Wimbledon recaptured perfectly even though the signal was being fired over the air from a ground floor living room to first floor bedroom.

With new technology as good as the AXAR, I really envy those folks who will make it to CES 2010. If you’re going to be at the gig, be sure to look for Provision Communications booth and check out the AXAR.

Via Engadget

Originally posted on January 3, 2010 @ 7:00 pm

D-Link Boxee Box Connects Multimedia Entertainment to your TV

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It looks like CES 2010 will be dominated not only by netbooks and tablet PCs, and e-book readers but also of multimedia entertainment hub that brings various content from multiple devices to home TV viewing.  We’ve covered AXAR technology and Popbox Hub recently, and now here comes another one straight out of CES 2010 announcement – D-Link Boxee Box.

The Boxee Box brings movies, TV shows, music and photos from your computer, home network, and the Internet to HDTV. Aside from this, Boxee Box also has social networking features including direct access to Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.

The Boxee Box takes the popular PC, Mac and Linux software in the form of a HDTV device to bring access to a huge library of content direct from the Internet. You can also add your own content through RSS or XML feeds. Users will also have access to music sites including Pandora, last.fm, shoutcase and We are Hunted as well on photo sites such as Flickr, Picasa and Facebook.

In addition to Internet content Boxee Box also works with your digital media content that you have accumulated on your computer hard drive or home network. It finds relevant cover art, synopses, reviews, and other information about your digital content to form your multimedia libraries.Boxee Box supports various formats as well and supports Wi-Fi 802.11.

And finally, Boxee Box lets you discover multimedia content of your Facebook and Twitter friends as well as share your own multimedia list to them.

Boxee Box is expected to ship later this year.

Update: The Boxee Blog official announcement.

Originally posted on January 5, 2010 @ 8:46 am

Skype Supports HD Video Calls on PC and HDTV

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As if awakening from a deep slumber, Skype suddenly comes back to life and announced just in time for CES 2010 their latest offering – 720p HD video calls on Windows PC as well as Skype enabled-HDTVs.  Oh wait, are you still using Skype? If yes, then read to find out what these announcements are all about. If you’ve stopped using Skype a long time ago, this might be the right time to start using it again.

New Skype HD Video Calling

Although not really a full 1080p, Skype’s new 720p HD-quality video calling feature at 1280×720 resolution and up to 30 fps is enough to give you smoother and richer video calls.  To use this feature, you need a new HD webcam, PC with at least 1.8GHz dual-core processor, high-speed broadband connection and of course Skype 4.2 Beta for Windows. In case you’re wondering what HD webcams to get, be sure to check out announcement from faceVision and InStore Solution during the CES 2010. These two manufacturers are said to be coming out with new HD webcams that will work fine with Skype. These webcams will set you back for around $99 to $140.

Skype Video Calls on HDTVs

Now this one made me feel bad since I just bought a 32-inch Samsung HDTV. I should have waited for LG and Panasonic’s new HDTV models that will have an embedded Skype Software. Anyway, Skype’s video calling on HDTV will let you do the following:

  • Free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls
  • Calls to landline or mobile phones at Skype’s low rates
  • Receive inbound calls via user’s online Skype number
  • Skype voicemail
  • Voice conference calls with up to 24 other parties
  • Support for 720p HD video calls

Are we all excited about this now? I do hope so that this new features will revive the sparkle that Skype once had.

Originally posted on January 5, 2010 @ 4:36 am

“Welcome to Mac” Docu Film to be Aired on CNBC

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If you haven’t had the chance to watch the independently produced documentary “Welcome to Macintosh”, mark your calendar on January 4 as CNBC is about to bring this docu film to the American Television.  The airing starts at 9:30PM ET during the show “First in Business Worldwide.”

According to the documentary’s co-director Rob Roca, airing their film on CNBC is like finding a perfect home for them.

We took the people and the passion felt for Apple seriously, and CNBC provides the ideal venue for informative and entertaining content to be presented.

Josh Rizzo, the other co-director said that this is perfect opportunity to share what they have been evangelizing about in the film – explain why so many people love the Macintosh in a way that even those who have never used a computer will understand and appreciate the Mac’s value.

While watching the teaser, I couldn’t help but admire the tenacity by which the film was created.  No wonder, even Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder couldn’t help but admire it and calls it one of the best independent film he has seen by far, when the film was screened during the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

The film has been going around various Macintosh User Groups globally as well as in several film festivals but this is the first time that it will be shown on national television.

Let’s see whether the film will successfully bring more Mac converts into the fold.

Originally posted on December 29, 2009 @ 6:46 pm