"tv" entries

Four short links: 29 November 2013

Four short links: 29 November 2013

Hardware Market, Bio Patent History Lesson, Multiplayer Mathematics, and TV Numbers (Down)

  1. Huaqiang Bei Map for Makers — excellent resource for visitors to an iconic huge electronics market in Shenzhen. (via Bunnie Huang)
  2. A 16th Century Dutchman Can Tell us Everything We Need to Know about GMO PatentsThere’s nothing wrong with this division of labor, except that it means that fewer people are tinkering. We’ve centralized the responsibility for agricultural innovation among a few engineers, even fewer investors, and just a handful of corporations. (and check out the historical story—it’s GREAT)
  3. Polymath Projects — massively multiplayer mathematical proving ground. Let the “how many mathematicians does it take” jokes commence. (via Slashdot)
  4. Stats on Dying TV — like a Mary Meeker preso, accumulation of evidence that TV screens and cable subscriptions are dying and mobile-consumed media are taking its place.

Aereo’s copyright solution: intentional inefficiency

Aereo's backward architecture could be the thing that keeps it in business.

Aereo, an online service that sends free over-the-air television broadcasts to subscribers, scored a big win in court this week.

At first glance, it would seem the service has to violate copyright. Aereo is grabbing TV content without paying for it and then passing it along to Aereo’s paying subscribers.

So how is Aereo pulling it off? Over at Ars Technica, Timothy B. Lee deconstructs the service’s blend of tech and legal precedent:

Aereo’s technology was designed from the ground up to take advantage of a landmark 2008 ruling holding that a “remote” DVR product offered by Cablevision was consistent with copyright law. Key to that ruling was Cablevision’s decision to create a separate copy of recorded TV programs for each user. While creating thousands of redundant copies makes little sense from a technical perspective, it turned out to be crucial from a legal point of view …

… When a user wants to view or record a television program, Aereo assigns him an antenna exclusively for his own use. And like Cablevision, when 1,000 users record the same program, Aereo creates 1,000 redundant copies. [Links included in original text; emphasis added.]

Creating lots of copies of the exact same content is inefficient. No one can argue that point. But if you can get past the absurdity, you have to admit Aereo’s architecture is quite clever. Take thousands of tiny antennas, combine them with abundant storage, and now you’ve got a disruptive service that might survive the onslaught of litigation.

Note: Aereo’s recent win only applies to a request for a preliminary injunction. Further court proceedings are likely, and you can bet there will be a long and winding appeals process.

Four short links: 12 September 2012

Four short links: 12 September 2012

Time-Series Database, Multi-Device TV, C# to Javascript, and Tiny Research

  1. Seriesly — time-series database written in go.
  2. Tablets and TV (Luke Wroblewski) — In August 2012, 77% of TV viewers used another device at the same time in a typical day. 81% used a smartphone and TV at the same time. 66% used a laptop and TV at the same time.
  3. Saltarelle — open source (Apache2) C# to Javascript compiler. (via Javascript Weekly)
  4. Tiny Transactions on Computer Science — computer science research in 140 characters or fewer.

Apple's iTV and the implications of what Steve said

Why the rumors about Apple building a television are wrong.

Mark Sigal challenges the conventional wisdom about the rumored "iTV" and offers a much different prediction about an Apple-television marriage.

The magic adapter: Apple TV and the battle for the living room

Why conventional wisdom about Apple's failure to secure the living room is wrong.

The Apple TV appears to be an afterthought, but its iOS-based second generation may actually blaze Apple's trail into the connected living room.

Boston Globe Spins Off Weekly Sports Tabloid

Newspapers are turning to niches these days. The latest example is "OT," a new weekly sports tabloid from the Boston Globe: The 24-page, full-color, oversize tabloid – called OT, which stands for "Our Town/Our Teams" … costs 50 cents and will be published every Thursday … The publication's goal is to provide coverage of professional sports teams that goes beyond…

News Roundup: Foldable E-Reader Coming Soon, New "Libraries" Bring New Privacy Issues, Analyst: Digital Change Targets TV and Film

Foldable E-Reader Launching in Europe This Fall, U.S. in '09 The New York Times takes a look at the Readius foldable e-reader: … the Readius, designed mainly for reading books, magazines, newspapers and mail, is the size of a standard cellphone. Flip it open, though, and a screen tucked within the housing opens to a 5-inch diagonal display. The…

Analyst: Digital Disruption Has TV and Film in Crosshairs

In the wake of Lehman analyst Anthony DiClemente downgrading a wide swath of the entertainment industry, paidContent.org provides some blunt analysis: Boiled down, the core argument is basically: You saw what happened to the music industry and the dramatic fall-off in CD prices. You've seen what's happened to the broadcast TV and newspaper industries. Now it's time for it…