Thanks for the Vote of Confidence - Sort Of

Richard Lawler, who writes for EngadgetHD, just gave PlayOn the Thumbs Up. The PlayOn Beta has only been available for the past 12 hours and he has already downloaded it and watched Psych on his PS3. Impressive. He says that while his experience was good, he'd wait before paying the $30 post-trial price. OK, we hear you. We'll earn your $30. We'll add Netflix and CNN as we move from Beta to GA (General Availability). We'll continue to make it better and better with your feedback. After all - there is no advertising in the interface (yes, Hulu has pre-rolls and mid-rolls to support their business), but the license fee is the only way we can support the product -- and we do have to eat...at least every once in a while ;).

OK - So I'm Not a Gamer

So I have been visiting the many PS3, Xbox360, and Wii forums to try to figure out how to garner interest for beta users of our new game console product (I blogged about here)...and I have realized that I am SO not a gamer! The lingo, the avatars, the passion for games and game consoles - it's intimidating! I LOVE video (ok, mildly addicted) and the internet has the best library around -- so Active-TV really appeals to me. I think folks who have PS3s/Xboxs/Wiis will be psyched to use them to play internet video on their TVs, but the fact of the matter is - I really don't know how to talk to them. So - if you know of a way to get in front of a bunch of gamers or want to help out -- let me know!

Some of the gamer forums I have come across include: gamepro, ps3forums, boardsus.playstation.com, psu.com, and playfire. If you know of others -- let me know as well!

tracy@themediamall.com

Release?

OK – so I spoke too soon (it happens...). The release IS coming – it will be out by 4/26. We encountered a bug that takes hours to replicate, so resolving it has taken a loooooooong time. Folks are working on fixing it tirelessly and my hat is off to them.

I have seen some speculation that we are adding Hulu support in this release – and want to set the record straight (and manage expectations a bit). In fact, we have included the technical capability to watch Hulu content (the good news), but we haven’t yet completed the ad insertion piece (the bad news). Since Hulu uses their own video/ad player, it will take some time for us to include that. But, it is coming – just not in this release. If you REALLY want a sneak preview, you can request the update file from us (email me at tracy@themediamall.com) and we can give it to you once it is ready – but this will only be a BETA/sneak preview and not the official, sanctioned code.

Thanks to the folks who have started reading our blog and commenting on it. I hope it is both enjoyable and helpful. If there are topics you are interested in, please let me know so we can address them here.