Blog articles from 12/2008

Verizon's FiOS TV service has a couple of new features, one of which I tried over the weekend with good success. The Remote DVR feature allows users to manage and schedule DVR recordings from any Internet-connected computer. This feature was slick! Subscribers must have the Home Media DVR feature (allowing multi-room DVR functionality and access to music and photos from home computers at any TV with a set-top box). To initiate the feature, I just had to go to FiOS TV Central...

Parks Associates announced that almost 66% of U.S. consumers have altered their spending habits in 2008 as a result of the country’s deteriorating economic conditions. These changes have had the greatest impact on entertainment spending outside of the home, according to Digital Media Evolution , a new consumer survey, but also open new areas for growth in customer support services. Parks Associates reports consumers have cut spending in 2008 primarily on outside entertainment...

International research firm Parks Associates announced four free newsletters , distributed online to inform industry executives on developments in home networking, digital health, digital entertainment, consumer electronics, broadband services, wireless connectivity, and home systems. Parks Associates’ industry analysts, with over 20 years experience studying advanced technology markets, produce these newsletters on a monthly basis to provide analysis on industry topics and...

Cisco's CEO John Chambers made some interesting comments in his remarks to the C-Scape event yesterday. He talked about building operational excellence and efficiencies internally, using tools such as WebEx, TelePresence, and a Facebook-like application where Cisco employees can connect to company experts, read materials, and connect to teams for collaboration. One interesting comment that Chambers made was the company's push to the consumer market. He talked about freeing up...

Last week, the Journal had a review of some of the consumer electronics products that can access Netflix Internet video content at the TV. They looked at the Roku player, the Xbox 360, and the LG Blu-ray player. Looks like the Roku player came out on top. The Xbox's loud fan annoyed the reviewer (and the game controller was not the optimal control) and the LG Blu-ray player apparently had issues with dropped home network connections.

The one consumer electronics product about which I'm being asked the most this year is Blu-ray. Hollywood, the retailers, and of course the consumer electronics manufacturers are trying to figure out how sales are doing, particularly in this challenging economic environment. We got some clues from the industry last week that indicate that the aggressive price promotions for Blu-ray players seems to have paid some dividends. Our own Digital Media Evolution study also offers some...

Art Hair, Disney Studios CTO, is speaking now at C-Scape. Disney has released a Blu-ray version of Sleeping Beauty that includes the interactive features of BD-Live. There's actually a good video demonstration of the functionality on YouTube . Disney has launched the BD-Live Network that offers chat, gaming, and other interactive features. Our Digital Media Evolution study, the results of which will be available soon, reveals that consumers are more likely to view such BD-Live...

The Recession On December 1, 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the U.S. economy was in a recession that began in December 2007. While it took these experts a year to make this official determination, consumers have most certainly had a cloud of economic uncertainty hanging above them. The economic news in 2008 has come in constant waves of news, with increasing severity. From talk early in the year about plummeting home values and mortgage defaults, gas...