set-top box
Gadgets
4:00AM Dan Nosowitz | A recently dug-up Time Magazine article from 1951 applauds Zenith’s “Phonevision,” a way-ahead-of-its-time invention that allowed movies ordered over the phone to be watched on a set-top box, no physical media required. More »
Phonevision: The Death Of Physical Media Started In 1951
4:00AM Dan Nosowitz | A recently dug-up Time Magazine article from 1951 applauds Zenith’s “Phonevision,” a way-ahead-of-its-time invention that allowed movies ordered over the phone to be watched on a set-top box, no physical media required. More » 
Online
The Government is NOT Spying on You Through Your DTV Converter Box
11:20AM Adrian Covert | Last week, Spokane-based engineer Adam Chronister posted a Youtube video, where he cracked open a government-subsidised DTV converter box, only to find a hidden camera. Turns out, the whole thing was a hoax. More »
Software
Do You Want a Boxee Dedicated Set-Top Box?
12:50AM John Mahoney | Boxee, makers of fine open-source media centre software, apparently couldn’t go anywhere at CES without someone asking them to build a set-top-box. Now they’re asking you if they should go through with the plan. More »
Gadgets
DTV Coupons to Run Out Next Month?
7:30AM Mark Wilson | The government has been handing out $US40 DTV converter coupons left and right—so many, in fact, that they may reach their $1.34-billion budget cap before the transition happens February 17th. More »
Entertainment
11:00AM Nick Broughall | Come December 31st, 2013, people like you and me can expect quite a few tech support calls from family and friends. Because that’s when the last analog TV transmission will be switched off, moving us into a glorious age of digital-only TV entertainment.
But what about all the people out there who don’t know a tech-savvy young person to make their TV work? How will they cope with plugging in a digital set-top box to their old analog CRT TV? Apparently, only 42 per cent of households have a digital-ready TV in the house.
Fortunately, the Government understands that there are people who won’t be able to upgrade to digital because they are either a) Unable to understand the potentially confusing cabling between a STB and a TV; or b) Too poor to be able to afford the purchase of a digital set-top box. More »
The Government May Make Digital TV Switch Free For Poor And Elderly
11:00AM Nick Broughall | Come December 31st, 2013, people like you and me can expect quite a few tech support calls from family and friends. Because that’s when the last analog TV transmission will be switched off, moving us into a glorious age of digital-only TV entertainment.
But what about all the people out there who don’t know a tech-savvy young person to make their TV work? How will they cope with plugging in a digital set-top box to their old analog CRT TV? Apparently, only 42 per cent of households have a digital-ready TV in the house.
Fortunately, the Government understands that there are people who won’t be able to upgrade to digital because they are either a) Unable to understand the potentially confusing cabling between a STB and a TV; or b) Too poor to be able to afford the purchase of a digital set-top box. More »
Entertainment
10:46AM Nick Broughall | I’m not sure what to make of this report in the Oz today that Telstra is planning on taking their transition from phone network to media company to the next level early next year by launching a set-top box to take on TiVo. Part of me loves the idea – getting legal content from the interwebs to your TV is still way too difficult for most people today, and if done right, a BigPond STB could be everything the Apple TV should have been. But then again, it is Telstra, and until we hear some firm pricing – especially for people not on BigPond’s broadband network – we have to expect the worst.
The box itself, according to the Oz’s source, will not just stream content from the net (like the Roku Netflix box from the US), it will also feature two TV tuners (no mention of whether they’ll be HD or SD) and an EPG, and will stream both TV shows and movies from BigPond. And although this is entirely speculation on my part, considering BigPond has their music store as well, I expect it would offer music downloads as well, essentially making it an Apple TV with a TV tuner inside… More »
Is BigPond Launching A Set-Top Box?
10:46AM Nick Broughall | I’m not sure what to make of this report in the Oz today that Telstra is planning on taking their transition from phone network to media company to the next level early next year by launching a set-top box to take on TiVo. Part of me loves the idea – getting legal content from the interwebs to your TV is still way too difficult for most people today, and if done right, a BigPond STB could be everything the Apple TV should have been. But then again, it is Telstra, and until we hear some firm pricing – especially for people not on BigPond’s broadband network – we have to expect the worst.
The box itself, according to the Oz’s source, will not just stream content from the net (like the Roku Netflix box from the US), it will also feature two TV tuners (no mention of whether they’ll be HD or SD) and an EPG, and will stream both TV shows and movies from BigPond. And although this is entirely speculation on my part, considering BigPond has their music store as well, I expect it would offer music downloads as well, essentially making it an Apple TV with a TV tuner inside… More »
Gadgets
Blockbuster May Launch Set-Top-Box By the Holidays
12:44AM Sean Fallon | Rumours like this have been wrong in the past, but word is that CEO Jim Keyes told investors that Blockbuster will be delivering Movielink downloads via their own set-top-box by the holidays. No details have been announced, but Blockbuster got burned badly on this one already, so they are going to need to bring something new and exciting to the table to stand any chance of competing with Netflix. [Home Media Magazine] More »
Home
LG BD300 Is First Blu-ray Player With Built-in Netflix Streaming
3:17PM Matt Buchanan | We’ve been waiting for this since January: LG’s promised Blu-ray player with built-in Netflix movie streaming is official. Available this fall for “well under US$500,” the BD300 is the third major box Netflix has invaded with its unlimited streaming service offering over 12,000 titles.
Home
TiVo De-lists Series3 Boxes From the Online Store
1:59AM Jason Chen | TiVo’s removed their Series3 DVR from the main shop, leaving only the TiVo Series2 at US$150 and TiVo HD at US$300. What’s the upshot of this? To us, it seems like they’re either phasing out the Series3 entirely in favour of the cheaper-to-produce TiVo HD, or they’re liquidating the units for an upcoming Series4 featuring all those bad arse things we wanted. If you still adamantly want a TiVo Series3, you’ll have to look elsewhere, since the entry buried deep inside the store is out of stock. [TiVo via Engadget] More »
Gadgets
