Tuesday was a pretty bloody day for fledgling mobile-TV companies -- well, for those that weren’t fortunate enough to align themselves with AT&T or Verizon Wireless, anyway.

The first news to break on this front was the impending shutdown of Amp’d Mobile. Amp’d sort of aligned itself with Verizon Wireless, if you want to call owing the telecommunications giant some $54 million aligning. Its service functioned as a mobile virtual network operator piggybacking on Verizon Wireless’ network.

However, despite some programming successes -- notably Lil’ Bush, which evolved into a series on Comedy Central -- Amp’d may go the way of the E...Read More

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Despite the fact that David Cohen is a fairly common name -- ask anyone who’s ever had to deal with Comcast, or, for that matter, anyone who lives in Manhattan -- I can honestly say I don’t remember any TV characters named David Cohen until Thursday night’s debut episode of AMC’s Mad Men.

Sadly, it appears that my namesake will be a one-and-done character, as he was merely the token Jew brought upstairs from the mailroom to try to influence a potential Jewish client.

But despite the likely demise of my namesake, I loved the show. I thought everything about it was well done, from the acting, to the scenery, to the music.

And...Read More

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Did somebody officially declare July to be “Technology Company CFO Switch Month” and neglect to tell me?

In just the past few days:

• TiVo chief financial officer Steve Sordello left the digital-video-recorder vendor to become CFO of online professional network LinkedIn. Financial Leadership Group principal Cal Hoagland stepped in as interim CFO.

• Former Knology CFO Robert Mills, who had been serving as CFO of Tri-S Security, now sits in the CFO seat at broadband-...Read More

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OK, I’ve had it. Enough is enough. I want a simple yes or no answer to this question: Is there going to be a Deadwood movie?

I was a Deadwood addict from episode one, and the sudden announcement that HBO was pulling the plug on the series, followed by the rather anticlimactic ending to the final episode, left me with a bad taste.

Prior to this week’s Television Critics Association tour, I had given up all hope for the Deadwood movie HBO mentioned when the show was canceled.

But now, the fire is stoked again. Or is it?

If you listen to HBO co-president Richard Plepler, the chances of a Deadwood movie are 50-50.

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As a Yankee fan (in case my caricature didn’t give that away), I felt that it was almost my duty to watch the debut episode of ESPN’s new series, The Bronx Is Burning.

I was nine years old during the 1977 season, so I remember a lot of the baseball. Naturally, I also remember the Son of Sam killings and the chaos they caused in New York. But between my age and the dramatic difference in media coverage back then -- obvious difference No. 1: no Internet -- I didn’t have the same depth of knowledge on either topic that I would have if they occurred today.

So, my impressions of the first installment of The Bronx Is Burning:

The good:

• Lunatic serial killers aside, the 1977 and 1978 baseball seasons fueled my passion ...Read More

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After reading about Sling Media’s Slingbox, then writing about it, I finally got to experience it first-hand Friday night, and I was quite impressed.

My friend who came to the Yankee game with me pulled out his cell phone to “find out what’s going on in the Mets game,” so I figured he was going online to check the score.

It turns out that he has a Slingbox, and the picture over his Motorola Q phone was absolutely unbelievable.

From the seat next to him, I could clearly read the guide information from his cable operator at the bottom of the screen, as well as the narrow bar across the top of the screen with the score, count and number of outs.

Very, very impressive.

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There’s a Web site called Woot, which offers one item per day for sale -- usually electronics, and usually closeouts or refurbished items.

Earlier this week, Woot’s item du jour was the original Slingbox, refurbished and priced at $99.99.

For those who might not know, the Slingbox, from Sling Media, is a device that hooks up to your cable or direct-broadcast satellite box and an Internet connection, then allows you to watch your own cable or DBS service, via broadband, on a laptop or desktop, from anywhere you can get online.

I passed, asking myself what I possibly needed a Slingbox for. But now -- alas, several days too late -- I’m starting to s...Read More

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If I wrote this Sunday night, Monday morning or even Tuesday, I’d have gone in a completely different direction. But surprisingly, the controversial ending to The Sopranos is starting to grow on me.

Like a great many people, I absolutely hated it at first (and at second and third, as I also rewatched the finale on HBO West at midnight Sunday and on HBO at 8 p.m. Monday).

But one of the many theories floating around about what “really” happened is starting to stick. I’m now a believer in the theory that the screen going black meant that Tony got shot. The repeating of the scene when Tony and Bobby are discussing what they think happens when “it” happens pushed me toward that line of thinking, as did the way most of the final sc...Read More

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The National Cable & Telecommunications Association and Cable in the Classroom are onto something.

The two organizations announced the launch of PointSmartClickSafe.org Wednesday, claiming that the site “contains information on everything from ‘cyberbullying’ to tips on adhering to piracy and copyright laws,” as my colleague, Steve Donohue, put it.

From the site: “Don’t post images of yourself or make online comments you wouldn’t want mom or dad to see.” I’d say that qualifies as sound advice.

But if people don’t know that PointSmartClickSafe exists, what good will it do?

NCTA vice president of comm...Read More

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Elvis is alive and well, and he helped me set up Verizon DSL at the beach house I share with nine friends.

No, not that Elvis.

Elvis is a technician for Verizon DSL, undoubtedly located closer to the Taj Mahal than to Graceland based on his accent and all the stories I’ve been reading about customer-service and technical-support functions being outsourced across the ocean.

And, chuckles about his name aside, Elvis did a very good job, spending about one hour on the phone with me Saturday morning and getting our DSL service up and running, along with our wireless router.

This will be the third consecutive summer with Verizon DSL for my beach house, and ...Read More

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Every once in a while -- but, sadly, not often enough -- I come across an interview where the subject is refreshingly candid and doesn’t rely on sales pitches, corporate mantras, rhetoric or other tricks.

One of those rare occurrences was today’s interview by our very own technology editor, Todd Spangler, with Disney-ABC Television Group vice president of technology Skarpi Hedinsson, for a story on how the HD video scheduled to begin appearing on ABC.com in early July will actually work.

Hedinsson didn’t make any outlandish claims about the quality of the upcoming HD video exceeding that of HD fare currently available via cable or direct-broadcast satellite.

Where I almost expected him to proclaim, “Once you see Lost, ...Read More

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The online-video joint venture announced in March by NBC Universal and News Corp. may not have a name yet, but that hasn’t stopped it from harvesting ample amounts of content.

Wednesday’s announcement of deals with Oxygen, Fuel TV, Speed Channel, Sundance Channel and TV Guide Channel followed previous entries CNET Networks and Comcast’s E! Entertainment Television, Style, G4, Versus and Golf Channel, among many others.

So this yet-to-be-named site won’t just be a clearinghouse for content from NBC and News Corp. And it seems to be covering all the bases: sports, women, Hollywood, independent film, video games, fashion and TV itself, just from the network...Read More

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