On the subject of sony. Sony lacks any vision.
Their idea of a media player is something that plays their movies or their music... like the completely proprietary PSP movie format, like the completely proprietary minidisc, like the completely proprietary a-trac format. The only reason they've created a device that created MP3's which they only started doing AFTER last christmas... is because EVERYONE in the world was making *mp3 players* and the operative word in *mp3 player* is *mp3*... logic even a child could figure out. Bottom line don't look for an integrated media player from Sony anytime soon that plays mp4's, mp3's... various other common video formats and aggregates audio and video podcasts and what not. They lack the vision to create a well rounded media player. Sort of like Microsoft and the Zune. Ironicly like the zune, sony's hardware is capable, but the software is crippleware. The worst part of all is that these platforms are closed and proprietary so noone else can add functionality. Instead I'd look for more "creative" makers like Nokia, which I've been really impressed by lately for their n-series, and Creative, and other smaller and more innovative players like the makers of the Archos and other media players. Nokia is doing two things right. 1) they've got vision... they're actually making devices capable of playing all manner of media with a wide spectrum of codecs and formats 2) their platforms are open, either running symbian or linux... so people can develop on them and extend them On a side note I've got a a question for the Fireant crew, and the democracy crew if they're listening. I just got my hands on a Buffalo, Link Theatre. You can think of it like Apple's upcoming iTV. It's a set top box with no hard drive in it. It just connects to other computers on the network and streams video over the network to play on your TV / stereo / entertainment center. I've had it for less than a week and already I've fallen in love with it. It seems to support a HUGE variety of media formats, with the sole exception of .MOV, a big exception because most vlogs are in MOV. Most interestingly it has a plug-in architecture which has added support for iTunes and several other pieces of software. Basically the itunes support allows me quick and easy access to all my iTunes playlists on my TV. Which is VERY awesome for listening to music and above all audio podcasts. Oddly I haven't thought of trying to use it to watch video podcasts through itunes until this moment, but I'll have to try that out. The question is... is fireant or democracy interested in making a plugin for such devices. I think it's based on UPNP (universal plug and play) standards... and the plugin architecture seems extremely simple, so hopefully a little bit of work will give Fireant and or democracy interface to a wide range of devices. BTW... some final notes on the Buffalo Link Theatre... it's very easy to use with Windows, Linux, and Mac... you just download a single peice of software to your computer you want to connect to and automatically you have access to the media on that computer. It's so simple I installed it on all my computers so I now have access to media on all my computers from my entertainment center. Also, it retails for about $200-$250 and of course comes with a remote. Anyway, I didn't think the Buffalo Link theatre could compete with my old powerbook titanium as it can play pretty much any audio or video format... and run any aggregator (itunes, democracy, fireant)... but the Link Theatre has something my powerbook doesn't have... a) a remote, and b) a interface MADE for TV that can easily be read and navigated on the TV. Anyway, that's my random thought of the day. Peace, -Mike mefeedia.com mmeiser.com/blog On 12/16/06, Steve Watkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Well I think fireant did get there before apple, before itunes had > podcast/video podcast support, but at the time there was no video ipod > so it didnt look like such a glaring ommision on Apples part. > > Here in the UK the Zune is not available. I wonder whether Microsoft > will launch it internationally if it doesnt catch on too well in the USA. > > Another coproprate player in this field is Sony, with an aggregator > that works with the PSP, but last time I checked it wasnt free, and > Sony have real problems joining up their strategy and building a media > portal that compares to itunes etc. > > At the opposite end of the spectrum there is the opensource democracy > player and their channel guide (which is at > https://channelguide.participatoryculture.org/ ). > > Any idea if the fireant directory will eventually be replaced by your > network2 stuff, or is this so far just a deal for the zune version of > fireants software? > > Cheers > > Steve Elbows > > --- In [email protected], "[chrisbrogan.com]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > The coolest thing *I* heard mentioned about the Feed Your Zune is that > > it scooped Microsoft on giving Zune owners a usable way to catch > > downloadable content. It would be as if Josh and the team invented > > iTunes before Apple. > > > > DISCLOSURE: We work professionally with Fireant. > > > > BACK DISCLOSURE: I'm a big fan of Josh's work, and Jay and everyone > > behind the heart and DNA of FireAnt. And I give their full team credit > > with making a big buzz on a device that is scraping to get coverage. > > > > --Chris... > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
