Boxee is sending out a test version of a firmware update to “early access users” for feedback and comment, before issuing the update to all users in May, the company said on its blog late Wednesday. The update is part of a plan to issue quarterly updates for the media player, the company said. The May patch is slated to improve browser speed and video playback control, update the on-screen display, add languages including Arabic, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish, and add support for an iPad app. The fix will also address bugs frequently reported on the company’s user forum, including a “signature failed” message that appears when users try to install and download applications. Other issues addressed in the fix include glitches in the USB IR receiver that result in duplicate button presses, lack of access to HTTPS URLs, stuttering in Flash-based video, and a prompt that appears when video is paused saying users need to perform an update. Users currently have no way of deleting the prompt overlay, the company said.
ILECs will get a chance to pursue “just and reasonable” pole attachment rates through the Telecom Act’s Section 224 complain provisions under a draft order that commissioners will take up next week, agency officials said. Chairman Julius Genachowski’s staff is still revising the order and it may well change, but a draft circulated earlier this month (CD March 9 p5) would lower CLEC rates to that of cable companies and let ILECs pursue lower rates through the complaint process. Genachowski and his staff are thought to be worried about the public relations implications of the order, FCC officials said. Utility companies have accused the commission of bailing out ILECs in the draft order, and the accusations have given Genachowski and staff pause, agency officials said.
Electronic Arts plans to reduce the amount of printed materials in packaged products by 40 percent as part of a global green initiative, it said Tuesday. It’s “committed to a healthy and sustainable environment,” said Chief Operating Officer John Schappert. The move follows similar initiatives by companies including game maker Ubisoft and camera maker Olympus.
Quebec’s Videotron said it will introduce a new pay-TV user interface later this year that is “fast, intuitive, effective and fun.” It said the enhancements will improve managing DVR recordings, selecting VOD titles and include a more powerful search engine. The upgrade will also allow subscribers to pause content on TV and resume viewing on a PC or mobile device, Videotron said.
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution said Tuesday it will begin testing movie sales and rentals through the Warner Bros. Entertainment Facebook page. Consumers will use Facebook Credits to buy or rent select titles while remaining within Facebook. According to Warner Bros., fans who “like” The Dark Knight can rent the title through that page and begin watching the movie “within seconds.” The rental fee is 30 Facebook Credits or $3, Warner said. A member buys Facebook Credits using a credit card, PayPal account or a mobile phone. The movie offer is available only in the U.S., Warner said, and additional titles are slated for availability over the next few months.
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution said Tuesday it will begin testing movie sales and rentals through the Warner Bros. Entertainment Facebook page. Consumers will use Facebook Credits to buy or rent select titles while remaining within Facebook. According to Warner Bros., fans who “like” The Dark Knight can rent the title through that page and begin watching the movie “within seconds.” The rental fee is 30 Facebook Credits or $3, Warner said. A member buys Facebook Credits using a credit card, PayPal account or a mobile phone. The movie offer is available only in the U.S., Warner said, and additional titles are slated for availability over the next few months.
The FCC proposed fining stations as part of ongoing efforts to enforce equal employment opportunity rules, among the areas the agency was criticized for not doing more in by 23 groups on Wednesday (CD Feb 24 p2). Twenty-three stations have received notices of apparent liability totaling $52,000 for EEO rule violations since June 2009, an agency spokesman said Wednesday night. The Media Bureau has sent letters of warning to stations that haven’t complied with the rules, he said. “This commission is committed to upholding the rules and laws governing equal employment opportunity and will continue to take appropriate action when FCC licensees fail to meet these important requirements.” Over the past year, the bureau “has taken numerous actions to address EEO compliance issues, auditing hundreds of stations and reviewing thousands of broadcaster reports,” he added. The bureau audits at random 5 percent of all radio and TV stations and cable systems each year for EEO compliance. The FCC’s comments didn’t address the concerns of the 23 groups, said Executive Director David Honig of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, which sent the letter. The agency hasn’t responded to a June letter from the council in which it asked the commission to pause EEO enforcement while it overhauled the system, Honig told us Thursday.
Having introduced a remote-storage DVR (RS-DVR) in its New York City system, Cablevision executives are looking at new products and service offerings the technology will let them introduce, they told investors Wednesday. Because the technology allows any digital cable box to function as a DVR, with storage taken care of at Cablevision’s headends, there are many possible new products, they said. “We could do free previews of DVR service. We could do very limited storage and include that as part of another package,” said Chief Operating Officer Thomas Rutledge. “Or we could expand the storage and sell that as an incremental price opportunity. There are a variety of ways of looking at the DVR currently in the market, breaking it into various components and selling it for less or more depending on how you put it together."
Having introduced a remote-storage DVR (RS-DVR) in its New York City system, Cablevision executives are looking at new products and service offerings the technology will let them introduce, they told investors Wednesday. Because the technology allows any digital cable box to function as a DVR, with storage taken care of back at Cablevision’s facilities, there are many possible new products, they said. “We could do free previews of DVR service. We could do very limited storage and include that as part of another package,” said Chief Operating Officer Thomas Rutledge. “Or we could expand the storage and sell that as an incremental price opportunity. There are a variety of ways of looking at the DVR currently in the market, breaking it into various components and selling it for less or more depending on how you put it together."
The FCC is launching a “broadband acceleration initiative,” Chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday. An internal task force made up of FCC staff is to develop “concrete recommendations” on which the FCC will seek comments in a notice of inquiry to be released in April, he said. Genachowski said the staff task force is to build on work done so far by the commission’s newly reconstituted Technology Advisory Council, headed by Tom Wheeler, former CTIA and NCTA president.