As cable TV watchers migrate towards online content, the future of traditional TV looks uncertain. Network bigwigs are capitalizing on the growing trend around online viewing, or rather filtering it as much as possible to assert greater control over their content, while keeping a bigger piece of the ad revenue pie.

On the other side of the fence, the Internet TV space is gaining popularity, but not without its own challenges. The mission of bringing interactivity to the TV set should consist in allowing more content freedom and accessibility to users, with the choice to pay or sit through highly targeted ads in exchange for premium content. This so-called freedom is not yet a reality, with geo-blocking still prevailing, not to mention alliances of monstrously scary proportions between networks and cable providers threatening to dictate the future of video media, if not swallow it whole…

Until content providers unclench their rears… uh, start allowing the distribution of their content across borders at reasonable costs through partners, mainstream media consumers will continue expressing their discontent via illegal downloading and P2P sharing. Rights owners are bound to give way at some point, as they are now opting to give up their profits in favour of piracy rather than share and expand revenue with distribution partners.

From Moovida’s perspective, we think the best way to achieve connected tv’s mission is to strike a balance between what users want without undermining copyright laws, which is probably the most sustainable solution anyway. Let’s just hope media dictators come to their senses relatively soon to make this a reality.

Justin.tv is now available on Moovida. So I joked in my last post about some of the random content uploaded by users, but in all seriousness, Justin.tv is a great plugin which streams content worldwide, that means NO GEO-BLOCKING, and there’s no one more happy about this than me. If you’re not in the U.S. or Canada and miss afternoon programming of classic reruns such as The Office, Family Guy, That 70’s Show, Friends, The Simpsons, as for your daily Star Trek TNG Klingon fix, you’re in luck with the Justin.tv plugin, which streams these shows pretty much 24/7.

They have a loads of content from categories like Entertainment, Gaming, Science & Tech, Sports, Education, Animals, Social, etc. I also found interesting that they categorize High Stakes Poker as a Sport. Probably the only channel in which commentators can get away with describing a female player as having a pair of 10s.

Besides that, make sure to check out the following:

• New Movies (2009-2010)
• Comedy Movies

So do share your favourite Justin.tv channels on Moovida in the comments section. What’s your guilty pleasure?

Have you heard of Blue Monday? Not the song by New Order, but rather the “scientific” theory that the Monday of the last full week of January, which was yesterday, is the most depressing of the year. Hopefully this theory was proven wrong for you, but just in case it rang true, the Moovida Team has come up with a list of recommendations to start infusing post-Blue Monday with positive vibes.

5) Get comfy

There’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable. Whether it’s wearing clothes that don’t fit you, or being forced to watch Spanish tv broadcasting (expats are behind me on this), it bites to be in a situation that doesn’t feel quite right. The Moovida team recommends you get organized to avoid mediocre entertainment. How? First, get Media Center harware that includes Moovida, and browse our plugins for quality content. Moovida makes it easy for you by offering a 5% discount.

4) Never stop being entertained

Wifi has become our best friend, allowing us to stay connected 24/7. Instead of moping on your way to work this week, make sure to stream funny videos and good tunes on your mobile for the trip. The Moovida Team recommends a Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer. It’s ain’t cheap, but it’s currently the only mobile powerful enough for Moovida… we’d love to have Moovida packaged for it one day . It’s got the usual goods, Wifi, 5 px camera, GPS, Blue Tooth stereo music, so you can stay entertained while on the road.

3) Diversify your stimuli

Let’s face it, your local cable only allows you to watch a limited number of channels, 90% of which is mediocre at best. Watch what you want, when you want, on your own time thanks to Moovida’s plugins. Here’s a sample of some of the great content you can find:

• Funny vids

• Explore new music

• If you’re thinking of other kind of stimuli, I’ll let you use your sense of initiative to find the appropriate links…

2) Read more

How about reading 52 books in a year? Or if you haven’t gotten started yet, 49… Kindle can help you make it happen by allowing you to download a book under 60 seconds. Reading just got a whole lot easier with this gadget, so no more excuses (or maybe one more excuse not to exercise).

1) Produce something

Let’s face it, most of us prefer sitting back, relaxing, and letting ourselves be entertained. To conquer this sense of passivity ruling our lives in winter, be creative and produce something! Consult Vimeo’s plugin on Moovida for some cool suggestions… or produce your own video to share with friends or the whole world via YouTube and Vimeo.

Moovida’s beta tester program is kicking into full swing by making the Justin.tv plugin available for testing. You heard right, one of the most important live video sites on the web with over 500,000 channels broadcasting live content will be going through rigorous testing before it’s available to all Moovida users. Beta testers, this is your time to shine! If you’re a first timer to this blog and wondering what the heck a beta tester is, find out here.

Justin.tv’s got a large variety of content in 20 languages, in plenty of categories ranging from Entertainment to Animals. There’s even a channel entitled Chicken Coop Living where you can follow the exciting life of chickens in an enclosure… If you already followed the link, I apologize for taking part in wasting 5 seconds of your life you’ll never get back. If you follow the link after this warning, well you asked for it.

Besides useless chicken streaming, there actually is cool content. For a humorous stroll down memory lane by outspoken and slightly nutty commentator ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, check out the Nostalgic Critic. He’s worth it!

Arte, the award winning plugin (as in Moovida’s developer contest award), has been recently upgraded to support videos from the site in German. The plugin reserved for French and Germans will automatically detect in which region users are located to play the corresponding language. If you’re in bizarro world and wish to view videos in the other language, for example a French person living in Germany (crazy!), you can simply change the option in the plugin’s configuration file.

Big thanks to community developer Guillaume Desmottes for this latest plugin release.

It was with a slight smirk in the Fluendo offices as the Moovida team looked at the latest 3.0 update to Apple’s ‘Hobby’ project the AppleTV. What caused us to smile was the new changes to their ‘Main Menu’ with Apple declaring that it ”…features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content” [1]. Haven’t we seen this somewhere before and came to the same conclusion?

It is interesting to see someone like Apple struggle with the complexities of a media center and despite its ‘hobby’ status it stands out as one of the poorest products in their inventory. How do you transport desktop features and methodology to a TV set and offer a simple interface that everyone can understand and find easy to use? Apple is failing at this. Some of the Moovida team has been doing this media center gig for nearly ten years and we feel we have the answers. We have been wrestling with interface ideas and that healthy balance of power versus simplicity as we continually ask ourselves that very question. I feel we are getting it right and on the verge of making it even better.

When Moovida replaced Elisa, we redesigned our Main Menu. The reason for this was to remove clicks, to make the experience as speedy and intuitive as possible and more importantly put a real emphasis on ’simpler and faster’. In fact, at the time I highlighted the AppleTV as a shining example of what NOT to do! (hey, I don’t like everything Apple does!). However, Apple updated their Main Menu and in effect ‘borrowed’ one of the key aspects that make our media center so much more intuitive. Is Apple following in our footsteps? In many ways they are, but in a smug way it is nice to see a ‘competitor’ as big as Apple trailing behind us and yet still not achieving the level of user experience standard we feel Moovida offers (but maybe we’re just full of ourselves?).

Still, the good thing about our project being open source is, we have the chance to move faster and more importantly for us, it isn’t a hobby!

[1] Apple Introduces Apple Tv 3.0 Software With Redesigned User Interface – Eddy Cue VP of Internet Services: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/10/29appletv.html

Today another exciting addition was made to Moovida’s continuously growing plugin collection. Thanks to Arnaud Marlot, an excellent French contributor, Moovida users worldwide can now watch all the un-encrypted video content streamed by Canal+, a French premium pay television channel.

Canal+ boasts high quality content, essential for any French speaker. Ranging from the latest news to sporting events, cultural documentaries, and daily political satire such as Les Guignols de l’info, this plugin offers you a wide selection of video content.

Get it now from Moovida’s plugin repository!

Moovida’s plugin collection enriched with a new plugin from the community. Thanks to Arnaud Marlot, a French contributor, everyone can now watch all the video contents streamed by France Télévisions, the French public national television broadcaster.

Quality content, ranging from daily news to documentaries, sport and cultural programmes, await you, and all in French! You will have full access to the contents broadcast by no less than 5 channels: France 2, 3, 4, 5 and Ô.

Don’t wait to try it out, it’s available from Moovida’s plugin repository.