Wheels Turning: Mobile TiVo
So now that I've actually seen live streaming video over wireless digital networks, my mind is starting to process that experience and, of course, think about what's next. We just had a "water-cooler" meeting here in the office to see the MobiTV in action again and chat about where it's going from here. More channels is the first thought. Porno is the second thought (of course). And my thought? TiVo.
I just got to see TiVo in person when I came back to the States last month. Greg gave me a quick 5 minute overview of the process and it was definitely a "gee whiz, that's cool" experience to be able to pause live TV and see what has been recorded for you while you were away. It definitely enhances the experience of plain TV.
Now how about making those shows available where ever you go? I'm not sure if this would be considered rebroadcasting since you would be watching the shows on a different device - I'm sure that the networks would say "yes" - but I think it's a matter of advanced time shifting. It's your content on your device, broadcast only to you, so it shouldn't be infringing on anyone.
Here's how I envision the process - in addition to the full-on MPEG4 video that's being recorded by your TiVo, it would also saves a smaller condensed version for mobile viewing right alongside. I guess this could be offloaded to your MMC card to watch on your phone, but what would be better is "on demand" viewing where ever you are. Thus your TiVo would be connected to the Internet and simply use a server-side reflector to stream the content to your phone. Because the recorded material has already been processed during the recording, all you need to manage is the connection and controls from your local J2ME app to your TiVo.
And even though I said that being able to see Live TV is part of what makes the experience of MobiTV so compelling despite it's slow frame rate, on demand video from your own customized video store would make the experience even cooler.
Very neat stuff, especially since this is all a matter of "when" not "if".
-Russ