Weekend of May 29th, 2009
We're helping you be smarter than your smartphone! Dave and the team are answering your tech calls! Learn about the Roku digital video player to watch movies instantly at home on this week's Product Spotlight.
Guests joining Dave this week include:
HOUR 1:
Carson Conant, CEO & Founder – Mediafly
Do you want media on-demand that follows you on-the-go? Mediafly offers personalized audio and video Internet media content delivered to virtually any media-enabled device. You can listen to the “Into Tomorrow” podcasts and watch our videos at Mediafly.
HOUR 2:
Kelly Starling, PR Manager – AT&T
Are you prepared for the upcoming hurricane/storm season? Kelly has important tips to keep our families safe.
HOUR 3:
Aaron Vronko, CEO – Rapid Repair
Rapid Repair customizes, upgrades, and repairs consumer electronics including: Apple iPods, iPhones, Microsoft Zunes, and game consoles. Learn about their DIY-kits.
Patrick Koppula, CEO – ffwd
Do you find yourself tweeting about cool videos on the Internet? Ffwd offers audiences a personalized adaptive lineup of channels organized by the entire web video audience and available from any web-enabled device.
Into Tomorrow Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza
Watch movies instantly at home! Check out Roku's digital video player.
Most people know it as the Netflix player, but you can also access Amazon’s Video On-Demand service.
With Netflix, you can access over 12,000 movies and TV episodes. Many are in HD and they’re available instantly. Membership costs stay the same and you continue to get DVDs by mail. So, you get to watch more movies than your Mail Queue allows. The only problem is that the Netflix streaming library is a bit limited when compared to its DVD by mail offerings, especially with recent releases. However, you may find that classic movie you’re looking for. To add movies to your Instant Queue, you have to log-on to your account online. Depending on your Internet speed, you’ll see the movie on the Roku almost instantly.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for on Netflix, you can watch over 40,000 movies and TV Shows from Amazon Video On Demand. Unlike Netflix Instant Queue, you can order hit new releases and watch the latest TV show episodes. There are some programs available for FREE like pilots of some new series. We like how you can preview some shows for FREE for 2 minutes to decide if you want to buy it.
We love the menu interfaces of the Netflix and Amazon services on the Roku. However, we prefer the Amazon video on-demand because you don’t have to log-on to your computer to choose your programming. You can do it right from the Roku player with its remote! The remote is simple to use and the controls are few, but pretty obvious. You can pause, rewind or play, just like a DVD.
Setup was not hard at all. It connects to the Internet via an Ethernet cable or to a wireless network. We prefer a more solid connection, so we used a LAN cable.
The Roku digital video player is available for a one-time price of $99. No monthly fees. You only pay for rentals on Amazon, which vary from $0.99 to $4.99 for HD Rentals. You also have the option to buy movies.
What do you think about this product? Share your opinions with us via email.
Submitted by Rob Almanza
Additional Resources & Websites Mentioned on this Week's Program
Find Your Headset - A Bluetooth headset guide from Plantronics
iPod and iPhone: TV-out support
PathFindIR Thermal System - A compact thermal imaging camera that significantly reduces the hazards of night time driving.
CNET: Best AT&T phones
Cepstral - Text-to-Speech applications
If you have any questions, please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Scosche: solChat - solar-powered handsfree speakerphones
SmartShopper Electronics: SmartShopper Electronic Grocery List Organizers
World Plus Products: ScreenGuard Foam Cleaning Spray for your electronics
ITTV Video
How do you watch movies at home? Learn about Roku’s digital video player on our Product Spotlight with Rob Almanza. Also featuring: This Week in Tech History with Chris Graveline.
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