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08 Jul 09

Netflix Boss Plots Life After the DVD - WSJ.com

online.wsj.com/...SB124570665631638633.html - Preview

netflix stb set-top-boxes roku

Moreover, Mr. Hastings stumbled in an earlier effort to introduce a set-top box that would bring Internet video service into the living room. Netflix developed the hardware but then abandoned it after Mr. Hastings and other executives got cold feet.
Mr. Hastings predicts the company will still be shipping discs to consumers 20 years from now.
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- Now more than 20% of Netflix members regularly use the service
- The online model has another benefit for Netflix. The company currently pays about 80 cents to post a DVD to a customer's home and back. Its bandwidth costs for streaming a typical two-hour movie: roughly a nickel.
- In contrast, to deliver movies and television shows over the Internet, Netflix has to license them from studios. So far, it has gotten only about 12,000 titles, a hodgepodge of older films such as "Diehard," episodes of popular TV shows including "30 Rock" and a smattering of new releases.
  
  The main reason: Netflix must compete with television subscription services like Time Warner's HBO, Viacom Inc.'s Showtime and others that gain exclusive rights to show studio movies on cable channels or through on-demand systems. These pay channels have bigger audiences than Netflix and a longer history of hashing out complicated licensing agreements to secure movie rights. Their lucrative deals can prevent Netflix from getting Internet rights for movies until years after they're released on DVD.
- Mr. Sarandos, Netflix's point man with the studios, says Hollywood is "clearly conflicted" about the online service's growth because it could help accelerate the decline of DVDs.
- The group's conclusion: Netflix would stay out of the hardware business, handing the project to Roku Inc., a privately owned start-up that Mr. Wood had founded. Netflix invested $6 million for a minority stake in Roku and sent about 20 Netflix employees to work there under Mr. Wood. The decision was disappointing for employees across Netflix who were preparing for the product launch.
- he company reached agreements over the next year to get Netflix into Blu-ray high-definition movie players by LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Co., TiVo Inc. digital video recorders, Microsoft Xbox 360 and big-screen television sets by Vizio Inc.

04 Jan 09

Combined, those cable systems reach 82 percent of all U.S. cable subscribers. Now that is an install base
An open java-based platform, tru2way allows developers to create all manner of interactive applications (like games, or eBay notifications, or interactive guides) for the television. The standard allows developers to write the application once, and have it run on any cable system.
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- I’ve written before that cable and satellite companies have a leg up in the set-top space because they are already in the home, and agreements with big, brand name companies like Sony will just accelerate their lead. TiVo is smart to move into licensing its interface as there will be no need for its box. And with studios like Warner Bros. releasing all of its movies on VOD day-and-date with DVD, what will you need an Apple TV for?

04 Nov 08

Roku to Stream HD Movies by Year’s End « NewTeeVee

newteevee.com/...-stream-hd-movies-by-years-end - Preview

roku stb hd

30 Jun 08

The Google Set-Top Box (Think Android For TV)

www.techcrunch.com/...t-top-box-think-android-for-tv - Preview

stb google android

19 Jun 08

The Internet Set-Top Box Scorecard « NewTeeVee

newteevee.com/...the-set-top-box-scorecard - Preview

stb set-top

19 Feb 08

A search engine… for your television - Lost Remote TV Blog

www.lostremote.com/...rch-engine-for-your-television - Preview

samsung stb

A new Samsung set-top box, called See’n'Search, is a search engine of sorts for your television. Using closed captioning and program listings, the box automatically searches the internet to give viewers more information on the shows they’re watchin

Samsung's See'N'Search set-top TV / Internet box demo video - Engadget

www.engadget.com/...top-tv-internet-box-demo-video - Preview

STB engadget see'n'search settop

intelligently and automatically pulls content from the internet to match whatever TV show is on sounded nice enough, but we wanted to see it in action.

13 Feb 08

CES 2008 Brings Lots of IPTV Innovations

amazing todas las novedades de ces sobre stbs y paso de internet a la tele

www.dailyiptv.com/...s-2008-iptv-innovations-011508 - Preview

iptv stb

A major theme of the show was the ability to send online video or applications directly to the TV, bypassing the need for a set-top box altogether. This could become important for online IPTV services like Joost N.V. and for new video-distribution services like NBC Universal Inc.’s Hulu portal. It could also change the telco IPTV landscape, particularly if it eliminates the need for DVRs, although this would likely not be seen for quite some time. Sharp Corp., Samsung Group and Panasonic Corp. all made announcements on this topic.
In other news, Sling Media Inc.’s SlingCatcher was finally revealed — a set-top box that delivers broadcast TV, Internet content and personal media to the TV. The SlingCatcher includes three built-in applications: SlingPlayer for TV, SlingProjector and SlingSync. SlingPlayer for TV offers the ability to send programming to another TV in the home or to a TV in a remote location without a PC. SlingProjector enables viewers to project Internet and PC-based digital content, such as downloaded movies or YouTube videos, directly to the TV. SlingSync gives users the ability to sync files over their network connections and store them on third-party USB flash drives or other portable hard drives attached to their SlingCatchers, giving them the ability to use the SlingCatchers to replay content on demand and manage content from PCs via the SlingCatcher user interface.
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- D-Link Corp. also announced a media player that allows a user to stream Web-based content available on his or her PC to a TV, either wired or wirelessly , without the need for a proprietary media player. Virtually any local video content can be sent to and viewed on a TV using a media player such as iTunes, Nero, Windows Media Player or RealPlayer.
  Whether set-top boxes will become obsolete remains to be seen, but the development of Internet-enabled TVs is worth watching. As more consumers want content delivered to the living room, such developments are not surprising. More advanced solutions will come, and IPTV players will want a piece of the action.

09 Sep 07

How TiVo Can Get Its Groove Back « NewTeeVee

newteevee.com/...w-tivo-can-get-its-groove-back - Preview

semana9sept stb tivo

Variety.com - Tech firms eye set-top opportunities

www.variety.com/...VR1117970505.html - Preview

box semana9sept set-top stb

Even as some ventures to introduce new tech atop the TV, such as Akimbo and MovieBeam, have struggled to gain momentum, other startups haven't been dissuaded from seeking their own spot in the den. Silicon Valley-based Vudu Inc. soon will start selling an Internet-connected box that marketing VP Patrick Cosson describes as "a DVD replacement." At less than $500, it will deliver about 5,000 movies from all of the major studios, plus 15 independent distributors. Pics, priced at 99¢-$3.99 for rental and $4.99-$19.99 for purchase, will start playing almost instantly.