December 12th, 2007NBC Sidles up to SanDisk
With iTunes out of the NBC Universal picture, where will you go to get your Heroes and Battlestar Galactica fixes? Probably not to the SanDisk Sansa TakeTV video player.
According to the SanDisk Press Room, “hit current TV shows” from NBC, USA Network, SCI FI Channel, Bravo and “vintage library” shows from NBC Universal will be available in January on fanfare, SanDisk’s web-based service which is currently in beta. And yes, they like it all lowercase.
Cancel your iTunes account? Nope. This is not a replacement for getting NBC content in the Applesphere after Apple and NBC’s public spat, but rather another way to watch purchased content on your TV (and on your TV only).
There are two new parts to this system: the TakeTV hardware and the fanfare web service for downloading content. The TakeTV itself is available now. You can get one with 4GB for $99.99 or 8GB for $149.99. It works on Mac, Windows and Linux machines and lets users drag and drop video files or use the fanfare service to purchase content. It’s made up of:
- Video player (connects to your computer, then to the cradle via USB)
- Remote control (battery included)
- TV Cradle with integrated cables (connects to your TV via S-video or composite video inputs)
- AC power adapter
Supported video formats are MPEG-4, DivX and xVid with resolution up to 720 x 576 and up to a bitrate of 7Mbps.To get purchased content (like stuff from NBC Universal) onto the player, you’ll need to use fanfare, which works like this:
- Plug the TakeTV player into your computer (via USB).
- Browse for TV shows and movies on the fanfare site.
- Download what you want to the TakeTV Player. (Make sure you’ve installed fanfare.exe. Shouldn’t this be step 1 in their list?)
- Dock the TakeTV into its cradle and watch TV.
How does Fanfare itself work?
- There are no subscriptions fees
- This is not a rental service. You permanently download the shows and store them on your computer’s hard drive.
- New episodes will be available the day after they air on the original network.
- You must watch the downloaded content on a TV - not on a computer or portable device
- System requirements: Windows XP SP2 or Vista. Internet Explorer 6 or above. Microsoft .NET framework 2.0 or above. Adobe Flash Player 9.0
Angry Puppy’s conclusions:
It seems odd to have to physically carry the player to the cradle - especially when almost everything else is wireless these days. Of course, its small size means you can take it with you and watch TV elsewhere, but one of my main reasons for downloading TV shows is to watch on my iPod on trips, not so I can carry it to the in-laws’ place for Thanksgiving dinner.
About Macs, they say this: “Nope. Sorry, the fanfare service is supported only on Windows XP SP2 and above.” About Linux they say nothing, but the same applies. That’s understandable for a beta, but Internet Explorer only? I’m double out.
My favorite lines from the press release:
“Under the terms of the deal, SanDisk plans to use their security expertise in collaboration with NBC Universal to implement a series of measures to protect NBC Universal content, including partnering to explore the implementation of watermarking and filtering technology solutions.”
TRANSLATION: “Consumers will be locked into viewing this purchased content in the way SanDisk and NBC deem appropriate.”
“Additionally, NBC Universal and SanDisk will collaborate on new consumer content acquisition models, including flexible pricing and packaging.”
TRANSLATION “Sucks to you, iTunes. We’ll charge $4.99 an episode for popular shows if we want.”
