Yahoo!’s fourth screen is Google’s radar

Earlier this week, Yahoo! acquired most of the assets of Meedio, one of a handful of Windows Media Center-like software products that had its roots in open-source. The other major Windows-based products are from SageTV and Media Center predecessor SnapStream, with Linux offerings MythTV and Freevo still options for the open source crowd. Whereas Medio had become a commercial product, Yahoo! will give away its rebranded version Yahoo Go!.

Following last year's acquisition of Konfabulator technology — now called Yahoo! Widgets, Yahoo! now has platforms in place for each of the major "three screens" of TV, PC and mobile phone. However, even though Yahoo!'s acquisition strategy has created a predictably disjointed family of products, the diversity of the products demonstrates the tremendous differences in context that media companies will face developing a three-screen strategy.

In these times when Google has been aggressively adding many sites that rival Yahoo!'s, Meedio's acquisition provides fresh fuel for the old rumor that Google would acquire TiVo. Unlike Meedio, which is still simply Windows software, TiVo has actual eyeballs in front of the glass it commands, and Google could afford the kind of generosity that would eliminate its odious monthly fee, boosting TiVo's popularity. EPIC may not be far away.

And then there were less than Digital 5

Mediabolic acquired Digital 5 today, bringing inevitable consolidation of the home networking middleware market. Digital 5 had actually powered many of the early "connected DVD" players as well as the NetGear networked music player, but such products were beyond the home networking state of too many consumers' homes. Competitors remain, however, including Fabrik, the software behind the recently released Maxtor Fusion NAS drive from Seagate, and Implicit Networks, which developed the server software for the Acoustic Research MediaBridge digital media receiver.

Mediabolic has made good inroads with Intel and some of the networked storage vendors. It now needs to make more inroads with mainstream consumer electronics companies. At CES, DLNA was encouraging these giants to look more seriously at home networking than they ever have. That's a good climate for Mediabolic business development.

Out of the Box is a month old!

I’ve now been blogging for a little more than a month — 23 posts in the first 30 days.

Navigating Sony’s GPS options

I’ve had a lot to say about mobile navigation this week. First came a presentation on the state of the market given to institutional investors. Also, my Engadget column this week focused on fusing portable video with GPS devices. Last year, I’d had discussions with one portable video device manufacturer planning to do just that, but it seems those plans haven’t yet come to fruition.

However, a reader pointed me to software for the TomTom Go that will enable it to function as a video player. Developing this should be pretty trivial as
TomTom’s portable navigation software and devices are based on Windows Mobile.

Of course, one reason many eyes are on this space is because of Sony’s entry with the Navu-U. The Navu-U a great product… for 2004. I haven’t found it particuarly easier to use than, say, a TomTom Go (although the text may be more legible) and the icons that lacked labels were, of course, confusing. Sony touts its front-firing speakers, but I’ve never heard anyone complain about GPS directions being hard to hear. Sony should follow through on concept designs that would add GPS to the PSP. UMD would make it easy to update maps and a simple USB connection could link the antenna.

Microsoft should embrace U3

From U3, –the company supported by SanDisk and msystems hoping to replace hard drives with tiny flash-based key fobs that we move effortlessly from computer to computer — comes news that it is expanding support in Japan. I've been somewhat surprised that Microsoft hasn't done more to embrace this initiative as it's an interesting new usage model and way to add value to Windows applications. While the phenomenon is in its infancy, there's no similar architecture around Mac OS or Linux. I'm sure Microsoft would rather that all of its applications already be purchased on whatever PC you use, but this is one of those cases where the company has to put on its platform developer hat.

Microsoft is better served by having people move their applications around this way than having them get their word processors from Google or Michael Robertson.

Hope for Helio

No two MVNOs seem to be going more directly head-to-head than Helio – the JV between EarthLink and Korea's SK Telecom — and Amp'd Mobile, Verizon Wlreless's hipper half. I suppose CDMA is the official network infrastructure of youth. Whereas Amp'd seems to be focused more on entertainment, though (albeit "cooler" entertainment), Helio CEO (and EarthLink co-founder) Sky Dayton offers a cool head when it comes to cramming convergence down acolytes' handsets in another great Engadget interview. On digital photography:

We’re not going to integrate technology just for the sake of technology, like putting a ten megapixel camera on a phone. We could do that — we know where to get ‘em, you know — but it’s a little bit of a freak show as a handset, right? I mean it’s not a very good phone, it’s huge and it’s not really a very good camera. If you want ten megapixels, go get a D50, you know; that’s a great camera.

Game over for Gizmondo?

With all the intrigue surrounding its former executives and their cars, I’ve been surprised to see no coverage regarding Gizmondo’s Web site being down for weeks. I fear this may be the end for what one of the few reviews I read described as the taco-shaped portable console. While the little handheld that couldn’t followed in the footsteps of Tapwave, another handheld gaming failure based on a PDA operating system, I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before some of Gizmondo’s unique features such as WAN and GPS data support appear in products from more established companies.

Reminder: Tactile feedback is good

The Odyssey 2 was not only one of the earliest videogame consoles, but one of the first devices outside of a typewriter to bring a keyboard into American homes. Unfortunately, it was a flat membrane keyboard that offered no tactile feedback. Technologies such as DialKeys and projection keyboards seem to be repeating this mistake.

Adobe’s bagging it

This wasn't quite what I had in mind, when I suggested that Adobe should get into the hardware business, but accessories may be the closest you can get to software margins in the technology business and it may be the best looking leather mega-murse I've seen this side of Kenneth Cole, even if it is "for creatives and designers." The bag's exclusive brick-and-mortar retailer will be Barney's New York.

From the PDF (of course) press release:

The carryall balances form and functionality with style and elegance. Produced in striking black leather and outlined in red stitching, it’s designed to hold a 17-inch laptop, folders, PDAs, keys and cell phone.

I don't think even the most mindful "creative" would tote the space-wasting box used by most software as Adobe shows in the interior shot.

Universal apps arriving at a good clip

Of Apple's three main transitions (the other two being PowerPC and Mac OS X), the switch to Intel has been going the smoothest. Just this week, we've seen Aperture 1.1, a new Firefox release, and an update to the WMV plug-in for QuickTime all arrive with Intel-native code. And via Boot Camp, Apple has opened its Intel-based computers to a few Windows programs that can take advantage of Intel processors as well. It's ironic, if not embarrassing, that the fastest version of Photoshop you can run on a MacBook Pro is available by booting into Windows, However, the path to a "Universal binary" when using Apple's development tools doesn't seem too rocky.

Prediction: Leopard may be a feline, but it will run like a dog on PowerPC.