With the new customer homepage that launched late last month, WOW Internet and Phone customers were given access to some really cool online phone features. Click here to go to the homepage. When you login to your account from the homepage, you’ll see a new voicemail and phone manager tab. From the voicemail tab, you can manage voicemail settings, listen to voicemail messages, download or delete them. From the phone manager tab, you can enable call features like selective call rejection, anonymous call rejection, and others. One of the most exciting features is that you can set the number of rings before calls are sent to voicemail. This is one you have been asking for, so now you have it! If you need help navigating around the site, please feel free to give us a call at 1-866-496-9669 and we’ll walk you through it. And, in closing, I have an “inside scoop” for our blog readers. I was at the employee summer event yesterday afternoon (a talent show and barbecue) and I spoke with our Product Manager, Ray Rouleau. Ray says there’s more cool features coming soon, so stay tuned.
3D Pundits-Gotta love ‘em
In followup to my post last week, Studio Daily, a great web site dedicated to the professional motion picture/audio industry, has posted the latest forecasts for sales of flat panel internet-enabled HDTVs. Interestingly, from a professional group who has heavily promoted the idea and pushed acceptance of 3DTV, they are now willing to admit that for this year anyway, sales of 3DTV are a bit of a “bust”– 4.2 million 3DTV units contrasted with 27.7 million units of Internet Enabled TV (IETV).
“Despite aggressive promotions from the industry and intense consumer interest generated by the blockbuster Avatar and other titles, the 3D TV market in 2010 will be limited to a small pool of enthusiastic early adopters,” said Riddhi Patel, director and principal analyst for television systems at iSuppli. “In contrast, IETV is entering the mainstream in 2010. This is because 3D is still dealing with a number of barriers, including cost, content availability and interoperability, while IETV provides immediate benefits by allowing TV viewers to access a range of content readily available on the Internet.”
Duh!! Obviously a true statement, but I get the feeling that the industry in general and content providers specifically would much rather have had 3D enter the mainstream in 2010 rather than that “internet thing” where video has become something of an industry phenomenon. Loads of “free” (You Tube) and “commercial reduced” content is made available on the internet, ironically by many of the same content providers who extract premium prices for the same content from cable companies and other more traditional distribution mechanisms. I’m not complaining, particularly as a consumer, but it points out the schizophrenia that is rampant in the business at present.
As I’ve discussed before, 3D will enter the mainstream if and only if it is embraced by a broad consumer spectrum. My sense is that consumers may not be willing to pay a premium for 3D equipment and content. I’m already seeing that at my local theatre–it has one screen playing a local 3D release in 3D (at a $3 price premium) and 3 other screens playing the same release in 2D. Local folks don’t seem that enamored by the experience, particularly at $12+ per ticket. (Having said that, IMAX has proven that there is a niche for “enhanced” visual experience, and one of my local theatre contacts indicated that there seems to be some customer excitement when those two technologies are combined, even at a $5 price delta.) The question remains as to whether 3D will be accepted as mainstream, or simply remain a niche for certain content. Message to industry–if the primary goal of 3D production is to extract additional profit as opposed to truly enhancing the visual experience on appropriate content, good luck on selling that to a broad consumer base.
Until next time….
What’s all the Hoopla about Hulu?
Our Entertainment Editor, Libby, wrote an article last week about Hulu and encouraged you to go out to our new customer portal and check it out. She says it’s an easy way to watch all your favorite programs on the internet and I wonder, with my big two big TVs at home and my DVR why would I even want to do that? I’m intrigued so I thought I’d explore this topic a bit further. So off to the hulu.com site I go to see what all the Hulu hoopla’s about.
Internet Ready HDTV–Ready for Prime Time?
In this column I’ve discussed a number of new technologies for HDTV. While visiting with a colleague the other day, the subject of “internet ready” televisions came up, and it occurred to me that I had not covered that topic in this space.
The current definition for “internet ready” TV is not the same as it was several years ago, when several manufacturers and/or service providers offered the ability to surf the web on your television set. Most of the interfaces for these products were so poorly designed and the performance so dismal that they died a quick and welcome death in the marketplace.
However, with the recent interest in streaming web based video, internet interface specific to video and audio content is certainly a timely consideration for HDTV designers eager to get a “leg up” on competition. A number of manufacturers are presently offering internet interfaces specific to video providers such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Google, and Vudu. I’ve tried a number of these interfaces, and in general they’re pretty good. It’s a great idea to have the TV be the master control center of the video experience, which, I think is the idea here. Further, it is a popular option–internet ready televisions are significantly outselling 3D ready televisions. But here’s a couple of things to consider….
The problem with most of the internet video implementations that I’ve seen is that the vendor interfaces are “frozen in time”. Now, I think that most would agree that the likes of Google, Amazon, and Netflix are going to be around for a long time, but some of the niche providers in this space haven’t even come on line yet. Most of these sets do not have the capability to refresh internal EPROM with a new interface/provider subset, although Samsung specifically is experimenting with an Apple-like App Store (presently with about two dozen apps vs. Apple’s 185,000) which might get around this problem as new content providers come on line. It remains to be seen, but it seems Samsung is at least thinking ahead about the future possibilities in this space.
Internet ready sets will cost between $250~$350 more than their non-internet ready cousins, and several companies offer sets identical in every particular except for this feature set, so it’s relatively easy to compare the actual cost associated with the internet interface. With that delta, several other possibilities come to mind which may be a better fit, depending on your circumstances.
1) You can save the money altogether and muddle through with the current interfaces you presently use to access these services (Wii, PS3, some Blu-Ray players, etc.)
2) You can buy a new full featured, killer BluRay player that has the same internet capability for less money, AND has the ability to flash its EPROM with updates from the net.
3) For about twice the money, you can purchase a Mac mini (or similar computer) that supports superb video through an HDMI interface to your television, and be ready for anything that the streaming space presently offers or will yet offer in the future. This would mitigate some fear of obsolescence around a major purchase like a large LED HDTV.
At all events, it makes sense to think about your options carefully before plunking down the big bucks.
Until next time…
Hulu and WOW!
Who would have thought that watching TV shows on the Internet would be as big as it is today? I remember back in college the excitement of installing a video card that gave me the opportunity to watch TV on my PC.
Hulu has taken the Internet by storm and continues to grow in popularity. So much that WOW! has teamed up with Hulu to offer to our customers an easy way to watch your favorite TV shows without leaving your WOW! homepage. Loving it!
I am able to catch up on my favorite shows such as The Bachelorette or Greek without ever leaving my page.
I would highly encourage you to check out this great new addition to our customer portal at www.portal.wowway.net and click on TV shows.
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