While chumby has been available in beta for a while and we had our hands on the final version last week, today is the official public launch of the little Wi-Fi beanbag, as well as the Chumby Network, with big media content partners CBS, MTV, The Weather Channel, AOL Shoutcast, Scripps and more. The network is ad-supported, but you’ll be able to watch Letterman Top 10, grab MTV news (the scrolling app I sorta complained about) and more. We’ll have a full review later this week of the new fully loaded chumby.
As if it hasn’t been a rough enough patch for Yahoo, the company just announced that it would be ditching its iffy attempt at all-you-can-eat DRM music, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, and turn what subscribers it does have over to Rhapsody. This is good news for people who may have signed up for Yahoo before reading reviews; in our observations, Rhapsody is a much better service. The only thing that strikes fear in us, from the press release: “A simple process…will convert Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers’ music libraries to Rhapsody.” Uhhh, just don’t call it ConvertsForSure, okay? Thanks. Press release after jump.
Sony announced last week that, yes, it’s still releasing UMDs, baby! Partnering with MTV, PSP owners will soon be able to purchase “Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection,” volumes 2 and 3; “Jackass,” volumes 2 and 3; “Wildboyz,” volumes 1 and 2; “Viva La Bam,” volumes 2-4; and “Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection.” While Sony has to know that UMD has become a game-only format, small, thematic releases like these aren’t really going to hurt/help the format or the bottom line. It’s like gambling on the penny slots after losing for a few hours of $20 blackjack. [Reuters]
You know Music Choice, the provider of beloved music-only cable channels from Adult Top 40 to Salsa Y Merengue? Well, they’re coming to TiVo with nearly 1,000 music videos at launch, and several thousand in all. You can access them at no charge through the TiVoCast interface. Remember videos? As if to remind us, TiVo asked original MTV VJ Martha Quinn for a comment: “In a way, I see this as a new video revolution whereby fans pick the videos they want to watch and when.” Sounds like Martha’s just convinced herself to retire. (Awww, we love you Martha!) No word on the music-only channels, though, and we can’t live without our Underground Rap (Uncensored) channel.
UPDATED Real and MTV are putting together a Voltron-like online retailer called Rhapsody America in order to better combat Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The V Cast Music over-the-air service from Verizon Wireless will form the 3G-powered mobile-distribution arm. Though no pricing or timing details were announced, Verizon’s John Stratton did allude to the future availability of over-the-air all-you-can-eat subscription downloads.
The positioning is obvious to anyone who’s watched the bloodbath of non-Apple music stores over the past few years. Urge was supposed to be Microsoft’s darling, and the key to its Windows Media Player 11 and Vista music strategy. That is, until the new baby Zune came along and Urge was left playing in the road like a foster child. An article today in the Wall Street Journal said that the Verizon Wireless angle is also clear, since Apple “angered” many carriers by deciding to go exclusive with AT&T.
Regarding DRM-free music, Real chairman Rob Glazer said that the company started its trial of DRM-free tracks fro Universal today, but did not indicate if DRM-free music would ever be available for download to a cell phone.
As the Journal predicted, Urge’s GM, Michael Bloom, will run the new company, and the Urge brand will cease to exist.
[WSJ]
The latest installment in the “if dumb people watch, it must be smart” genre—a category that brought us Big Brother, The Real World, Making The Band and David Blaine—is the descriptively named Band In A Bubble, airing tomorrow on MTV. Somehow, we got blueprints of the bubble.
MTV and Cisco are doing a “Digital Incubators” program, a joint venture between mtvU and Cisco that offers $30,000 in seed money to college kids who come up with buzz-worthy convergence-stuffed project to connect with the kids. There’s even an extra opportunity for another $100,000 in funding if they come up with something better than a cellphone game about bongs, which comprised about half the entries.
Check out this years top entries after the jump, and feel free to dissect them and come up with your own, better ideas in comments.
