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Current mood:  creative Category: Blogging
 Jaman.com Makes it Easy to Find a Movie for Every Mood
 Jaman.com, Inc., the leading Internet service that delivers feature-length international and independent films in hi-def, today announced several new and improved search features based on community feedback that make it easier to find movies suited to an individual's tastes. Unlike other movie download sites, Jaman uses the power of its community to discover, interact, and share recommendations with other members and help users find the movies they want to see.
"The number one question we receive from our users is 'how do I find a movie I want to watch?'" says Jaman CEO, Gaurav Dhillon. "With our upgrades and new features, we're making it even easier to answer that question by utilizing our best asset -- our community."
The new Movie Finder feature allows Jaman members to create a personal profile that customizes film recommendations based on individual tastes. By adjusting four different preferences, from serious to funny, mellow to charged, deep to shallow and tears to bullets, the Movie Finder provides the most relevant film suggestions based on the member's selection as well as help connect members who share similar tastes.
In addition to the Movie Finder, new and improved searching and browsing features make it simpler to discover movies in Jaman's library of thousands of titles. Visitors can quickly find movies by genres like comedy, drama and action, as well as movies by specific regions like North America, Asia, and Europe. And, with the new discovery by tag function, Jaman visitors can find groups of movies by keywords including terms like Independent, Bollywood, suspense, biography and more.
Joost to Broadcast Live TV (Maybe)
 An interview with content strategy and acquisition EVP Yvette Alberdingkthijm, reports (via ZNF): "Joost plans to begin testing live TV shows alongside its on-demand content in the first quarter of 2008." The service is said to provide a "catch-up option to watch on-demand shows following live transmission" and allow for bookmarks of their favorite show or sports action moments, which I assume means they can share them with others. But don't get your hopes up yet... the feature will require distributors to acquire costly live Internet rights licenses to provide such content.
When an Apple TV Falls Far From The Tree
 Seriously, what is up with Apple TV? It's been such a spectacular commercial failure (in my opinion), that I now have to wonder (in paranoid fashion) if there's a master plan we the public are simply not aware of. Since the Apple TV launched earlier this year, it's been heavily eclipsed by other online video news and new hardware players like Vudu and the new TiVo. Apple's given its TV box virtually zero attention and the company refuses to publish sales numbers. (Analyst estimates are low)
So what's the deal? Was Apple TV created just to give the company a brand in the living room video space? Is Apple biding its time until a 2.0 version is ready to take the world by storm? Or is Apple TV just a flop?
More Vudu Video On Demand Details
 Vudu is in town (NYC) and Gizmodo was given a briefing. Back in April I heard the Vudu video-on-demand box would land at a price point competitive with AppleTV ($300-$350). However, Giz now reports the device will be launched later this year "somewhere under $500."
Vudu will have a few things going for it such as a large library of thousands of flicks, instant playback of content, and a rich yet simple interface. But that $400 - $500 price point (plus the cost to rent or buy movies) will be hard to overcome in a marketplace where everyone's cable or satellite provider offers video on demand - plus multifunction devices like the Xbox 360, AppleTV, and TiVo also provide movie downloads. Additionally, HD purists (who have the motivation and disposable income needed for this device) will balk at the upscaled 480p content (without even seeing it). And the fact is, the economical Netflix snail-mail DVD rental solution is still working well for most. I may spontaneously order a flick on Xbox or TiVo, but the bulk of my movies (and TV shows) are delivered via Netflix.
Closer To A Netflix Set-Top-Box?
 Several months ago Netflix brought on Anthony Wood (founder of ReplayTV) to "deliver movies directly to subscribers' televisions via the Internet"- substantiating years of set-top box rumors and speculation. It now appears they're closer to making it a reality given a recent Netflix trademark update filing:
Computer hardware, set top boxes and computer software, namely audio and video receivers and transmitters and computer software programs enabling receipt, download, playing, viewing, and rental of audio and video programming through the use of internet connections to computer hardware and receiver and transmitter apparatuses that connect to a television set or monitor.
If you're taking requests, Netflix, I'd like to suggest maintaining the current online viewing fee structure (with super-size upsell options) and introducing hardware @ $199 with $50 price reductions every six months to hit the 99 dollar magic number within a year. Can you succeed where others (Akimbo, Moviebeam) have failed?
12:17 PM
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