Tidal TV: A Look At A New Streaming Video Site

SpecialComputers are fast creating a virtual perfect storm. The slack-jawed Web surfer has successfully merged with the glassy-eyed couch potato to form TV viewing on demand. Watching TV on the computer is not a new concept. You can download shows on iTunes, and you can watch many network shows on their Web sites usually the day after an episode airs in primetime. There are also sites like Joost and Hulu that exist to give surfers a boob-tube fix. But there's a new kid on the Information Super Highway that's offering even more options when it comes to watching television while you work. It's called Tidal TV, and it's the brainchild of CEO Scott Ferber, an engineer who felt his creation had a place among the cyber TV viewing sites already out there.
The look and feel of Tidal TV will give many television watchers who are used to viewing a program grid with their cable or satellite a sense of familiarity. Upon entering the site, you're greeted by a similar program grid that lets you immediately scroll through what's available.

Ferber's goal with Tidal TV was to create another way for viewers to watch television.

"We're not meant to replace television," he said. "We're extending it. We're trying to reach people where they are."

People spend about 10 to 20 percent of their waking hours in front of the TV, Ferber said. And about 50 percent of their time is spent at a computer.

Ferber's goal is to give those computer users some of the same quality content that they find on television.

Of course, quality is in the eye of the beholder, but Tidal TV has offerings that will not only entertain but inform. And isn't that what the computer should be used for?

Ferber wants his site to be the place for users to go for their relevant interests.

"If you're a food fanatic, you're going to come to our site," he said.

Serendipitous discovery
One of Ferber's marketing catch phrases is "serendipitous discovery."

It's basically a fancy way of how Ferber hopes to capture a lot of his audience.

Most people these days don't tune in ahead of time for a particular program. They, instead, discover while surfing a channel guide, he said. That is serendipitous discovery.

Which is, perhaps one of the main reason the site emulates a cable grid.

Ferber said his site does offer some programming from CBS and CW, but its main focus is on shows with news and instructional content, at least for now.

You'll find a lot of shows from Food Network, HGTV, CNBC, The Weather Channel and National Geographic, just to name a few. If you float your cursor over a show, you immediatley get more information. If you want to watch it, just click. You can also create a list of favorites.

Ad-supported
You'll have to create an account to make a favorites list, but if you don't want to, you can just start watching any content Tidal TV has to offer. It's free, thanks to advertising. But unlike a DVR, you'll have to watch those commercials. Well, you could grab a sandwich or take a bathroom break, but fast forwarding to the next act isn't going to happen, so sit tight and enjoy the ad.

Tidal TV won't make you forget about the other sites. And if you missed your favorite program last night, you're not going to find it here. But it is a welcome addition to the streaming video sites that offer actual quality content, with a dash of classic television thrown in for good measure.

And after all, isn't that YouTube video you've watched 200 times getting a little old by now?

ITN to partner broadband TV and radio site Livestation

ITN has joined the broadband TV and radio player, Livestation, as a partner, in what Livestation's CEO called a 'perfect' arrangement.

ITN On, which is ITN's broadband and mobile content supplier, will broadcast news, entertainment and sports stories from ITN on LIvestation, 24 hours a day.

"ITN On is a perfect partner for Livestation," said Matteo Berlucchi, CEO of Livestation, in a release.

Berlucchi said that ITV On's 'continually updated' news content made it 'an ideal addition for the growing choice of news perspectives offered via Livestation'.

"It [Livestation] offers us a great opportunity to expand our business and brand globally. We also believe users will see the real benefit in viewing a made-for-broadband news channel over linear TV models online," added Nicholas Wheeler, managing director of ITN On, in the release.

Livestation has existing partnerships with Al Jazeera, BBC, Bloomberg, C-SPAN, Deutsche Welle, euronews, France 24 and Russia Today.

The platform allows viewers to watch television and radio content through a desktop broadband connection. In addition to streaming the content of its partners, viewers can also search 1,300 other channels.

Acne, ADHD sufferers more likely to stream "House"

Acne and adult ADHD sufferers are the condition groups most likely to watch their TV on the Internet, according to a Manhattan Research survey.

The Cybercitizen Health v8.0 study found that as less than half of US adults reporting doing all their TV viewing the old-fashioned way, through TV sets, some condition groups are more predisposed to online TV viewing. After acne and adult ADHD sufferers were those with eczema, allergies and bipolar disorder.

If those disease states would seem, unsurprisingly, to suggest a younger demographic, that's no coincidence. The average age of those streaming or downloading their shows was 39. But it's nonetheless important for companies marketing products for those ailments to know where they can reach their intended audience, says Meredith Abreu Ressi, VP research at Manhattan Research.

“With television networks partnering with video-sharing websites like YouTube and Hulu and DVR adoption increasing, one thing is clear – when it comes to media, the consumer is in control,” says Ressi. “For healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers, it's critical to understand how adoption rates and media mix differ by disease group. Brand teams in the know will take advantage of new advertising capabilities to hyper-target desired audiences and give them a customized brand experience.”

The survey of 8,714 US adults also found the Internet surpassing doctors as a source of health and medical information for the first time, with more than 145 million US adults surfing the Web for health info.

“The thing that was most striking is that there really are these emerging segments of consumers who are not being reached through those traditional channels,” said Ressi. “They're almost exclusively relying on online sources in managing their healthcare.”

Realview TV selected to deploy American University's "Virtual Campus Experience"

Oct, 2008 th ATLANTA, GA and WASHINGTON, DC., th Realview TV, an award winning new media video agency and American University, a leading national university in Washington, DC, today announced a client agreement, whereby Realview TV will design, produce and stream American University's online "Virtual Campus Experience."

WASHINGTON, DC., – Realview TV, an award winning new media video agency and American University, a leading national university in Washington, DC, today announced a client agreement, whereby Realview TV will design, produce and stream American University’s online “Virtual Campus Experience.”

Realview TV, an Atlanta based leader in online streaming video, is proud to announce a client relationship with American University. Realview TV has set in motion their plan to produce, film and distribute the interactive campus tour for American University. Named the “Virtual Campus Experience,” the Realview TV online video solution enables American University to showcase its students, faculty and virtual campus on the web via an interactive video-based micro site.

“We are excited to work with Realview TV to create a sophisticated and engaging video solution for visitors to our Web site,” said Terry Flannery, executive director of university communications and marketing at American University. “A unique user experience has been the primary goal of our comprehensive Web site redesign, expected to launch early in 2009. The Realview TV solution will provide us the video content needed to differentiate our university and achieve our mission to recruit the highest quality applicants.”

“American University’s ‘Virtual Campus Experience’ will push the innovation boundaries for college videos and virtual tours,” says Courtney Cable, VP Education Channel. “This innovative solution will help American University connect with their student audience online, through a medium that all students crave – online video,” says Darren Starr, Regional Sales Manager.

Realview TV gives American University a competitive advantage as today’s generation of students are heavy consumers of video. “We’re thrilled to announce the deal with American University. I believe American University’s “Virtual Campus Experience” will set a new standard for college web marketing,” said Jonathan Clues, Realview TV President.

HAVA Titanium HD Wi-Fi

Pros: 802.11g Wi-Fi dongle allows for pure wireless setup and operation; good quality streaming over both local and remote connections; can record streams from local connections
Cons: no Mac software; can’t schedule recordings or record at all from remote connections


The advent of the digital video recorder has given us “timeshifting,” the freedom to watch our favorite TV shows on our own schedules rather than those of the networks without the legendary headaches of VCR programming. But to achieve true television nirvana, you also need “placeshifting,” the ability to use a PC to watch TV from any room in your home, or via the Internet, from anywhere you happen to be. The HAVA Titanium HD Wi-Fi ($249.99) is a device that does exactly that, and it does so without the need for an Ethernet connection to a wireless bridge or powerline network adapter, such as the one required by Sling Media’s popular and well-regarded Slingbox products.

Hardware and physical connections

The Titanium HD Wi-Fi is a nondescript gray plastic box approximately 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.75(WDH, inches) that’s devoid of logos or even labels for the array of indicator lights on its front bezel. Instead of 802.11g Wi-Fi integrated directly into the device, it uses a USB dongle and extension cable and weighted base that plug into one of two ports at the rear of the device. This approach has two benefits. First, it allows you to position the Wi-Fi antenna for optimum reception as opposed to having it buried in the bowels of an entertainment center. Second, modular Wi-Fi is also potentially upgradeable Wi-Fi. Hava says an 802.11n-compatible dongle is on the road map, although a release date and pricing have not yet been set.

Setup

We tested the Titanium HD Wi-Fi with a TiVo Series 3 HD-compatible DVR, though it should work with almost any cable/satellite set-top box, Media Center PC, DVD player, or similar AV device (and you can connect multiple devices at the same time). To make the physical connections between the TiVo and Hava units, we went from unused component video and analog audio outputs on the former to corresponding inputs on the latter, and also connected the IR blaster for remote control functionality. The Titanium HD also has AV outputs, which are invaluable if your source device doesn’t have any available outputs, as it allows you to set up a pass-through connection (by connecting your source outputs to the THD inputs and then connecting the THD outputs to your TV).

Although the THD has an Ethernet port, you don’t need to use it, even for initial setup. When first powered on, the THD cleverly broadcasts its own wireless SSID which the setup software detects and connects to in order to configure the device. The setup wizard goes through the process of updating the THD firmware (if necessary) configuring the Wi-Fi adapter with parameters for your network, testing the video/audio streams and identifying your AV source device for the purpose of selecting remote control codes. The wizard also configures the THD for remote viewing by assigning it an ID (the default is a long and impossible to remember alphanumeric string—fortunately, you can substitute your own) and registering it with Hava’s central server, which acts as a directory allowing THD units to be found and accessed behind firewalls.

The wizard worked well and configured our THD without any problems, though the preview window used to tweak video quality settings is a bit too small. Once setup was complete, the unit rebooted and was joined to our existing WPA2-encrypted wireless network without a hitch.

Watching TV

The Hava PC Player is easy-to-use, with straightforward video and audio controls. (A minor annoyance—running the player software on Vista requires confirmation via UAC.) You can pause and rewind the stream thanks to a buffer whose size can be customized based on available hard drive space. Video streams can also be recorded for later viewing or copied to DVD using a built-in burning utility. The ability to record streams is handy. It would more useful if you could schedule recordings, but you can’t. The remote feature is also available only when connected to the THD via your local network.

You change channels and otherwise manipulate your AV device using a graphical image of its remote control that resides in its own window that you can move or hide as needed. Using the on-screen remote takes a bit of getting used to, because there’s a three-to-five second lag from the time you click a remote button until you see the command executed on your device.

We installed the Hava PC Player on several Windows Vista and XP PCs on our local network and found the video and audio quality to be quite good over both wired and wireless connections, even when we tried accessing the THD from two systems at the same time. The THD can’t display HD signals in their full-resolution glory (that’s not possible over an 802.11g link) but local clients do get a 720 x 480 MPEG2 streaming at 30 frames per second, and you can watch streams in 16x9 format. We were able to get streams of around 5 Mbps from wired clients, and about 3Mbps from wireless ones.

Going remote

To see how the THD streaming quality would fare over the Internet, we hauled our notebook to a local hotspot-equipped restaurant. The Hava PC Player had no problem locating and connecting to our THD, which delivered an 800-900 kbps stream (remote clients get a more compressed 320 x 240 MPEG4 stream of between 15 and 30 fps) of good quality—although the video was a bit soft-looking, the frame rate was smooth and there were no audio dropouts.

We arrived at the hotspot just before the lunch rush, and as the establishment got busier, the streaming rate began to fall. For the most part our remote stream’s quality degraded minimally and gracefully—only when the data rate fell to around 250 kbps was there a noticeable drop in quality, which was manifested by blocky compression artifacts in the video. Suffice it to say you’ll need an Internet connection of at least a 300K upstream and preferably 512K or higher for best results with remote viewing.

In addition to the Windows XP/Vista player software (there is no Mac client), Hava offers versions (available for free download) for Windows Mobile 5/6 devices, Nokia S60-based phones, and the Nokia N8xx series Internet tablets.

The Hava Titanium HD Wi-Fi’s ability to stream high-quality, if not high-definition video and audio to around the house or around the world—and do it completely wirelessly—provides great television-watching flexibility. Anyone that wants to keep up with shows while on the move should check it out.