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May 31, 2006
Replay SlingCorder Release
For all you SlingBox lovers, you'll be delighted to know that you can now record your SlingPlayer streams on your PC.
Our new Replay SlingCorder product lets you record high quality video from your SlingBox (tm) so you can watch anytime, anywhere. It's easy to record right away, or schedule recordings for a later time and channel. Videos are saved as unprotected Windows Media Video files.
Until today, the only way to record from your SlingBox was to use Screen Capture programs like Replay Screencast. This type of solution suffers from being harder to use, as well as losing quality. Replay SlingCorder makes an exact copy of the video stream, then reassembles the bits into a playable file, giving you the best possible quality.
It's curious Sling didn't add this capability to their player, and they showed no inclination to do this, so we built the solution for their customers. I suppose if I were rebroadcasting video feeds without the permission of the content owners, the last thing I'd want to do would be to further enrage the big media companies by also adding a recording feature. Nevertheless, recording is well within your legal rights, as long as you don't redistribute the content you've recorded. Rebroadcasting rights are much less clear.
Anyway, if you're a SlingBox owner, learn more or download a free trial here. Replay SlingCorder is $29.95.
And if you order by June 5, you can save $10 using this coupon code:
RSLBLOG0531
Finally, if you like what we're doing, help us get the word out! Please "digg" this news at digg.com here. If we get enough diggs, more people will discover the software by virtue of being on the digg.com front page.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 02:06 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: slingbox recorder capture sling media sling software video | Comments (0)
May 19, 2006
XM's Statement defending Lawsuit
This came into my mail box today from XM regarding the meritless lawsuit over their recording receivers. Definitely well articulated:
Everything we've done at XM since our first minute on the air is about giving you more choices. We provide more channels and music programming than any other network. We play all the music you want to hear including the artists you want to hear but can't find on traditional FM radio. And we offer the best radios with the features you want for your cars, homes, and all places in between.
We've developed new radios -- the Inno, Helix and NeXus -- that take innovation to the next level in a totally legal way. Like TiVo, these devices give you the ability to enjoy the sports, talk and music programming whenever you want. And because they are portable, you can enjoy XM wherever you want.
The music industry wants to stop your ability to choose when and where you can listen. Their lawyers have filed a meritless lawsuit to try and stop you from enjoying these radios.
They don't get it. These devices are clearly legal. Consumers have enjoyed the right to tape off the air for their personal use for decades, from reel-to-reel and the cassette to the VCR and TiVo.
Our new radios complement download services, they don't replace them. If you want a copy of a song to transfer to other players or burn onto CDs, we make it easy for you to buy them through XM + Napster.
Satellite radio subscribers like you are law-abiding music consumers; a portion of your subscriber fee pays royalties directly to artists. Instead of going after pirates who don't pay a cent, the record labels are attacking the radios used for the enjoyment of music by consumers like you. It's misguided and wrong.
We will vigorously defend these radios and your right to enjoy them in court and before Congress, and we expect to win.
Thank you for your support.
It's good to see them willing to fight. It's too bad Sirius didn't have the cohones to do the same.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: xm sirius lawsuit inno helix nexus satellite | Comments (0)
May 17, 2006
XM Sued for Copyright Violations
Read the article from Information Week here.
My guess is that XM's service doesn't fall under the true definition of radio, and as such, they have to follow different rules. Or maybe they have chosen to do so. They are probably under an obligation to pay a license fee for all the music they stream. Traditional radio, on the other hand, has a non-negotiable license, and can play anything they want. If Clear Channel were to sell a similar radio receiver, there would be no such issues.
Sirius is in a similar pickle - they opted to limit the number of units of their recording-capable receivers. Which really sucks from a business perspective, but I guess it's better than losing your license to play music.
Should be interesting to see how this turns out...
Posted by Bill Dettering at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: xm riaa copyright | Comments (0)
May 14, 2006
End of allofmp3.com?
Looks like allofmp3.com - that funny Russian site that sold songs at a fraction of the cost of iTunes - is dead.
These guys were taking advantage of a loophole in Russian Copyright Law, but apparently the powers that be have shut them down for good - one way or another. I'm not sad about it, as songs should be $0.25 anyway.
We've also seen an uptick in Replay Music sales in the last couple of days. I'm not sure if there's any correlation, but maybe now more people are recording songs and listening before buying since $0.25 per song was a no-brainer, and $0.99 per song can add up quickly.
Posted by Bill Dettering at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Technorati Tags: allofmp3 itunes mp3 riaa download music apple | Comments (0)