The jig is up, people. The contest to name the 50-channel, world's largest DVR wrapped on Friday, April 30. We reviewed your entries until our bellies ached with laughter. We loved your creativity. But, there is only one iPad up for grabs.

And the winning entry is...

"The Kraken"

Congratulations to Andrew Brack for submitting this fantastically fitting name.

His accompanying explanation for this name read:

This mythical beast was supposed to be so large it could be mistaken for an island. Seems appropriate for a DVR of enormous proportions. Besides, the 'We've released The Kraken' headline for a press release sort of writes itself, right?

We cast our votes and this imaginative idea soon emerged as our favorite. When I asked Andrew how he thought of the name, he explained how he had just rewatched the original Harryhausen Clash of the Titans a few weeks earlier.

"I came up with the name by thinking of the biggest monster I could think of from mythology and of the two or three contenders, 'The Kraken' was the one that sounded the most awe-inspiring," Andrew said. "It all just seemed to fit."

Andrew lives outside Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and enjoys reading, travel and watching movies (new and old). His favorite shows currently on TV are Mad Men, True Blood, Friday Night Lights and Doctor Who. (I'd say it's evident that his acquired taste for film and television paid off quite nicely, here.)

Congratulations again, Andrew! Enjoy your brand new Apple iPad in good health.

P.S. We recognize that there were multiple entries of "The Kraken," but Andrew was the first.

Spring is in the air, and it's the perfect time for road trips. This month, we're leaving Houston in the rear view, touring to Kansas, Georgia and Ontario to convene with three different government crowds. The schedule of events is leaning towards public safety, information and communication.

Along our way, we'll pick up our friends from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Overland Park Fire Department and Plano Police Department.

Once we're cruising, we'll get to talking about television monitoring, workflows and best practices, all from the PIO's point of view. (PIO = public information officer)

First stop, Kansas

KAPIO | Lawrence, KS | Thurs. May 13, 12 pm

SnapStream, I've a feeling we're not in Houston anymore. We're hightailing it to Kansas for the first, ever, statewide gathering of PIOs, not to mention officers from surrounding states like Missouri. We are thrilled to be a part of the Kansas Association of Public Information Officers' inaugural conference, where we're hosting the headlining educational seminar.

Panelists: Tom Erickson, president of KAPIO and PIO for Johnson County Sheriff's Office, and Jason Rhodes, PIO of Overland Park Fire Department

Next up, P-I-O' Canada!

IACP PIO | Toronto, ON | Fri. May 21, 8:30 am

The week after KAPIO, we're trekking to Toronto for a friendly meet-up with our neighbors to the North. American and Canadian public information officers will come together at this joint event between the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) for an open exchange of information and training across borders.

Panelists: From the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Steven Lusignan, Media Monitoring and Analysis Unit of Public Affairs and Communications Services, and David Patterson, Operational Readiness and Response Coordination Center

A Peachy Finish

IACP LEIM | Atlanta, GA | Thurs. May 27, 10:15 am

Last in the lineup, we head to the Peach State for the 34th annual IACP Law Enforcement Information Management (LEIM) training conference, where we'll learn about the technology that battles crime and helps departments run at tip-top speed.

Panelists: From the Plano Police Department - Rick McDonald, Public Information Officer, and Heather Bowden, PIO Coordinator

Oh, the places we go! That wraps up the trips for May. Thanks to everyone who's coming along for the ride.

Hear ye, Hear ye. The contest is officially open. Let the name game commence! After you've read up on all of the technical specs of the 50-channel, world's largest DVR--or maybe just gotten the gist of it--rack your brain for what we could name this crazy thingamajig. Engadget is calling it a "Monster DVR." But can you come up with something more awesome? The best entry will win a free Apple iPad + case. Click here to enter.

We took it to our TV Trends analytics to investigate the uptick of buzz surrounding the iPad, which hits the market tomorrow. The forecast calls for an explosive spike in the media frenzy as users get their hands on experimenting with the highly anticipated Apple tablet. This Wednesday's episode of Modern Family indicates that it's going to be a full-on mob scene. Brilliant stroke of product placement, I might add.

Let's conduct a side-by-side comparison next to other major tech product launches from recent history to see where the iPad stands. If I've missed any big debuts, you can plug in keywords yourself on the TV Trends database.

Tech Product Launches in Review

April 2, 2010 - Day before the iPad launches. Media index currently at 146.

January 27, 2010 - Coming of the iPad is announced. Media index shoots to 289.

January 5, 2010 - Google's Nexus One Phone premieres. Peak of 180.

October 22, 2009 - Launch party for Windows 7. Interest caps at 155.

November 11, 2008 - Google launches Gmail video chat. Reaching 147.

October 22, 2008 - Google's first Android phone, HTC Dream is released. Index is 77.

Based on our data history, the iPad is positioned to be the overwhelming winner in garnering extensive interest from broadcast media. We will continue to monitor how the world reacts to the iPad post-release.

Click the graph to manipulate the search and view specific channel sources.

Before we started tracking TV trends in October 2008, there are some prime dates from recent memory that would be cool to look at as a frame of reference. These hallmark technology events generate contagious excitement in the media.

July 11, 2008 - Nationwide launch of Apple's iPhone 3G.

November 19, 2007 - Amazon Kindle launches.

June 29, 2007 - iPhone is introduced into the United States.

January 9, 2007 - Apple's first iPhone model is announced.

Global DVD sales are projected to decline by 12% this year, compared to 9% in 2009, according to a recent report from Strategy Analytics in Home Media Magazine. Even with Blu-ray expected to rake in $6.5 billion in worldwide sales, it won’t be enough to sustain or regain the industry’s momentum.

No surprise here, with all things digital these days. At SnapStream, we have been early proponents of digital media delivery. The same way iTunes flipped the music industry; DVR and VOD technology are changing the game for Hollywood, which has been slower on the uptake. It’s time to get with the program.

Going digital is right on track with going green; it’s like going paperless. And who has the space for masses of old CDs and DVDs, right? Upload this stuff to your SnapStream archive of however-many-terabytes and eliminate the needless clutter. Reinvent it.

Following this eco trend, every week, I’ll be featuring unique recycled art made out of the nostalgic discs of yesteryear.

If you come up with something cool, send me a pic and I’ll post it! rachel@snapstream.com

Learn how Plymouth Public Schools streams TV

Join the conversation at our webinar next Wednesday with Rich Trudeau, director of technology for the Plymouth Board of Education. He'll be logging in with us to co-host “Streaming TV into your School” on March 31 @ 2:30 PM CST. (That’s 3:30 EST/12:30 PST.)

Rich will share his thoughts on media delivery and streaming TV. It’s a real treat when we get to bring a current customer into the mix, live and ready to interact. It makes things more three dimensional for the attendees and also opens up the floor for discovering how SnapStream flows into real-world application.

The setup at Terryville High School in Rich’s district allows 50 classrooms to connect with the SnapStream Server over the LAN. From their PCs, teachers can record the freshest-airing educational content and search by keyword to pinpoint subject-related programs.

Teachers at Terryville can then create focused clips, or stream the full-length programs into their classroom activities. Up to 10 channels can DVR at one time, so conflicts don’t ever occur, and everything is stored in a shared video library that holds 2,000+ hours. No more bulky VHS and DVD archives!

One year out with SnapStream, Rich tells us that teachers in his district are “definitely integrating it into their plans books” and are “more than happy with it.”

To hear more from Rich Trudeau, consider joining us next Wednesday, March 31. Sign up here.