Archive for January, 2009
Posted on Jan 30, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:37 am
Furthering the integration between TVs and Internet-delivered content, Sony has added support for the Slacker Radio music streaming service to its Bravia Internet Video Link. The Sony Bravia Internet Link is a hardware/service combination that allows users to deliver web-based content to their Sony Bravia HDTVs.
Slacker Personal Radio is a service that allows users to stream millions of songs to the Internet Link for playback over the TV or home stereo system. Other services offered by the Internet Video Link, which retails for about $300, include movies, TV shows, and other web-based video.
This deal is yet another in a long line of pacts that have married web-delivered content with traditional home-entertainment options like TVs. These combinations are to be found in set top boxes, Blu-ray players, and many other products. What’s not present in any of these deals – yet – is support for photo-sharing services.
Things like movies and music may drive people to these products initially, but I suspect we’ll see photo-sharing support added to at least some of these devices in 2009.
Posted on Jan 27, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:34 am
The web is increasingly coming to our cars and trucks – whether it’s in the form of data delivered to dashboard-mounted GPSes or via turning the whole car into a WiFi hotspot.
Looking to ride this trend, Chrysler has unveiled a “Web Edition” add-on package for its vehicles. The Web Edition includes the Chrysler uConnect service installed in the vehicle (uConnect is a private-labeled version of Autonet Mobile) along with a passel of gadgets including an iPod touch for $1,999. That includes one year of service, after which an additional monthly fee accrues.
Customers who don’t need the gadgets can go for a lower price-point version that ditches most of the gadgets, but maintains the WiFi, for $1,100.
While I’m not sure what attraction that a car full of gadgets will hold for consumers, bringing the Internet to the car probably will be attractive – if not now, in the next few years for sure.
Posted on Jan 23, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:28 am
The combination of photo-display devices with printers is a natural one – and one covered here in the past – but that combination normally involves a digital picture frame. Thanks to the new Sharp AQUOS HN-PP100, the combination can also include your TV.
The HN-PP100 accepts photos on memory card and via Bluetooth or infrared and attaches to a Sharp Aquos television via HDMI to display the pictures. If you want to print them, the built-in dye sublimation printer handles the job.
What really caught my eye, though, is the HN-PP150 model, which adds network connectivity, allowing users to grab images from their local PCs or from the Internet for display and printing. When tied to a photo-sharing service, this functionality makes the device really exciting.
The HN-PP100 is available now in Japan, while the HN-PP150 hits store shelves in January. They run US$207 and $259, respectively. No word yet on U.S. availability, but here’s hoping.
Posted on Jan 19, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:16 am
The Telenav Shotgun is a new GPS device that delivers all kinds of content to the dashboard over the Internet: everything from real-time traffic alerts, web search, gas price locator, restaurant reviews, and more.
The device, which run $300 with a $12/month subscription for updates, sports a 4.3-inch touchscreen, 2.5-hour battery life and built-in speaker.
Updates are delivered to the Telenav GPS via GPRS – a somewhat slow cell phone standard. It would be great to see WiFi or 3G added in a later revision to speed up the delivery of content over the web.
Posted on Jan 15, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:30 am
Neuros, whose open set top box the LINK we mentioned a few weeks back, has taken the wraps off its first set of bounties – cash prizes designed to spur development of applications that the company would like to see run on its hardware and software.
The desired functionality being subsidized by the bounties includes support for Watch Instantly Netflix streaming, a Move networks plug in, support for iTunes playback (including iTunes DRM-protected content), and a network configuration wizard.
This is a neat opportunity for Linux developers and points to one of the strengths of an open platform for set top boxes: anyone can create new applications to add important functionality, making the box more expandable and capable, as well as a platform for innovation.
Neuros is hoping to have many of these bounties claimed early in 2009 to outpace other development teams. It will be interesting to track the results.
What I want to know, though, is when will we see the FrameChannel bounty?
Posted on Jan 13, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:09 am
Among LG’s CES announcements from earlier this month were two devices that make clear that the Korean consumer electronics company has seen the future of living room entertainment and has decided it lives on the web.
The first devices, which made the bigger splash, is a line of HDTVs that include Netflix Watch Instantly streaming built directly into the TV. With it, Netflix subscribers will be able to navigate with their remote control through Netflix’s library and start streaming movies right away.
No word on price yet, but the TVs should hit the streets in the spring.
The second device announced is a Blu-ray player that adds support for streaming video from YouTube and CinemaNow. This expands LG’s line of players that integrate with the web – it already offers a Netflix-integrated Blu-ray player. No word on price or availability here.
With these announcements and its previous products, LG is leading the charge into the future of living room entertainment. More and more, I suspect that content delivered over the web will make its way to TVs and entertainment centers. As it does, I suspect we’ll see more than just video on these screens – photos, cartoons, and more seem very likely (and are already offered by devices such as the Apple TV).
