Archive for Set Top Box
Posted on Apr 21, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:53 am
Set top box maker Digeo has substantially bumped the functionality of its Moxi DVR, adding support for YouTube, Rhapsody streaming audio, DLNA networking, and PlayOn, a program that sucks web-delivered video from sources like Hulu and Netflix and sends it to your TV.
I’ve not encountered a Moxi box in the flesh, but with the new feature set, it certainly looks to be one of the leading challengers to TiVo’s supremacy in the space.
While it’s fairly widely agreed that set top boxes will be one of the major future paths for converging web-based content – audio, video, and photos – and the living room TV, how the space will shake out is less clear.
I tend to think that the set top box with the most compelling features and best user experience will net the most and best partnerships with cable companies, likely leading to the greatest user adoption.
It looks to me like Digeo is bulking up on great features.
Posted on Apr 18, 2009 by admin at 2:18 am
It seems nearly inevitable that connected TVs – TVs that can stream audio, video, photos, and other content from the web to the living room – are the wave of the future. New research from Parks Associates not only bears this out, but also shows that consumers are willing to pay a premium for these TVs.
The research found that nearly 2.5 million consumers in the U.S. are already eager for connected TVs. And, what’s more, they’re willing to pay as much as a US$100 premium over non-connected TVs to get the features they want. That willingness to pay a premium price could add as much as a $250 million boost to electronics company bottom lines.
Video-on-demand is the key driver that consumers are seeking according to the research, though I suspect as they move beyond that they’ll want to deliver photos, cartoons, and other information to these connected screens.
Posted on Apr 14, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:20 am
It’s not just streaming movies that are poised to come to set top boxes everywhere: streaming music’s right behind.
The latest evidence of this is the announcement that Pandora, the popular Internet radio service, has been ported to the VUDU set top box via VUDU’s RIA platform.
The expansion of the kinds of media that are supported by these boxes can only be good for consumers, and VUDU is certainly supporting a wide variety of media types. As the screenshot shows, not only is the company’s built-in movie rental feature in place, so too are photo sharing, music, YouTube, and more.
Posted on Apr 8, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:15 am
Getting content from the web to the TV is a key goal for a lot of content companies these days. While set top boxes are one approach, those trying to reach that particularly tough young male demographic are targeting other hardware: game consoles.
All the major game consoles – Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii – have web connections and content delivered online. The Xbox boasts integration with Netflix to allow the online rental company’s Watch Instantly service to route through the box to TV.
Now, though, it appears that Netflix is looking to expand its domain and bring its service to both the PS3 and the Wii. Though these reports are basically in the rumor category for now, they make a lot of sense and point the direction a lot of content – not just video – may be headed in coming years.
Posted on Apr 1, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:11 am
As chronicled in this space over the last year or so., the integration of web-based video content and the living room entertainment center is accelerating and expanding seemingly every week.
One the leaders of that pack is TiVo, the DVR company whose set top boxes are already in thousands, if not millions, of homes. With two new moves, TiVo is making even greater strides in the web/couch integration space.
First, the company has announced that it’s teaming with Blockbuster to bring the video rental giant’s Blockbuster OnDemand video-streaming service to its set top boxes. This is in addition to an earlier deal with Blockbuster’s ach enemy, Netflix. Expect to see the fruits of this deal in the second half of 2009.
Second, TiVo and Amazon are working together to bring the web retailer’s Video on Demand HD offering to TVs. Dates for rollout are less clear on that one.
What is clear, though, is that web/TV integration is continuing to grow and that the set top box is one key point of growth. Streaming music is joining video as a prominent content type in this space and I suspect we’re going to see that menu broaden sooner than later.
Posted on Mar 4, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:42 am
If you live outside Europe and want to enjoy some the sleek, media-player goodness that LaCie is offering to folks in the EU, you are out of luck: the LaCie Black MAX set top box isn’t available in your market.
Here’s hoping that changes soon. The Black MAX is a set top box with a 500GB or 1TB hard drive, an Ethernet or WiFi connection, and the ability to stream all kinds of digital media – photos, video, music – to HDTVs.
No word on if or when the Black MAX will be available stateside, but given that so many set top boxes are so visually unappealing, I’d love for North Americans to have the chance to make their living rooms as appealing as Europeans. The box is running about UK$389.99 (about US$554) right now.
