Introducing Akimbo for Media Center
Introducing Akimbo for Media Center | New York’s Jacob Javits Center this weekend. Later this month, Akimbo’s award-winning Internet to television video-on-demand service will be available in two ways, on the Akimbo Player and on Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Akimbo will support Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, including streaming high definition video to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system as a media extender. The Akimbo Service will be available through the Online Spotlight feature in Media Center Edition 2005, where consumers can view all the programming available and sign up for a free two-week trial subscription.
Offering programming from more than 150 distinctive providers and over 75 categories of video content, Akimbo is a complement to existing broadcast, cable and satellite services – bridging the gap between broadcast and broadband. Akimbo’s collection of on-demand video includes well-known names like BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, and the Hallmark Channel, as well as hard-to-find specialty offerings, such as independent film from IFILM and Underground Films. At DigitalLife, for the first time, Akimbo will be showing Major League Baseball playoff games delivered the next morning in a ten minute condensed version to Akimbo subscribers. In addition, Akimbo will preview high-definition video capabilities that are enabled by Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
“Media Center is a perfect platform for Akimbo and a great example of how TV and the Internet are combining,” said Joshua Goldman, CEO of Akimbo. “With Akimbo’s collection of over 5,000 titles from 150 partners, we can serve interests such as foreign films and TV series, education, health and fitness, collections of popular TV shows and much more. Media Center owners will now have access to thousands of new shows and can experience the freedom of being in charge of what they watch.”
Akimbo’s proprietary “Queue and View™” technology delivers an onscreen program guide filled with channels, information, previews and viewer options, including full parental controls. Subscribers use the Akimbo Guide to select programs they want to download to view later at their convenience. Each time Akimbo subscribers turn on their TVs high quality videos are ready and waiting so that there’s always something good to watch.
“Akimbo Service for Online Spotlight provides a new way for consumers to get a wealth of entertainment programmed to suit their interests,” said Dave Mendlen, director of Windows Consumer Marketing at Microsoft Corp. “We’re pleased to work with them to offer consumers new ways to conveniently discover and enjoy new digital content using Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.”
According to a recent report from Endpoint Technologies, Media Center shipments will double to about five million units this year and double again in 2006. Akimbo has tailored its interface to take advantage of the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 television interface, with no additional hardware required. Because Media Center 2005 is able to stream content to Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles acting as Media Center Extenders, game players can view Akimbo programs anywhere in their house. Whether they receive the Akimbo Service from a Media Center PC or an Akimbo Player, subscribers need to have a broadband connection and a home network to receive programming.
Learn more about Akimbo at www.akimbo.com. Or visit DigitalLife, where the Akimbo Service will be demonstrated from Oct. 14 – 16 at:
1. Akimbo booth 350
2. Microsoft booth 618
3. Intel booth 732
In addition, Akimbo’s Jim Funk will participate in a panel on the future of entertainment that will take place at 2 p.m. on Friday, October 14th in the Digital Life Theater.
