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…
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]
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.
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]
This would be great: Intel reps paid a visit to the FCC to lobby for making ethernet ports a requirement in new set-top boxes, meaning every set-top box would be IP capable. So connectivity like the cable industry’s tru2way dealio and home networking would go from bustable industry pact to government mandate. Odds of this happening? Well, there is a precedent like this, and FCC Chairmain Kevin Martin does enjoy stabbing the cable industryin the balls with burning pokers of openness, but nothing’s certain. [Ars]
Today, a startup called ZeeVee is launching the ZvBox, a three-part plan for getting all the good HD video content from your PC out to all the TVs in the house: • The box itself converts the video from the PC’s VGA port into a high-def channel and sends it out to your home’s coax cable network. • A PC app acts as a launcher for all the good PC-based internet video clients, like Hulu, Joost and even Microsoft’s own Media Center. • The remote controls not just your TV, but the app on the PC too, giving you decent control over the otherwise PC-locked experience.
The Vudu software has just been updated to version 1.2, and with it comes 80 new HD titles for rent. The new additions will be in the price range of US$3.99 – $5.99, but the upgrade will also bring added functionality, including instant HD, (an indicator that alerts the user broadband speeds are high enough for HD content downloads); speed limit adjustment control, (user definable bandwidth limits and recommendations based on the imposed limit) and a constant audio setting for high-end audio equipment compatibility. In addition the UI will also get a slight re-work. Apple TV, are you scared? Not even a little? [Vudu Forum via TV Snob]
The Scratch: Motorola is launching a new line of MPEG-4 set-tops designed for HD video and surround sound—DCX. They all rock 1GHz tuners (good for bandwidth-binging HD and VOD) and support whole home networking, which is useful for sharing DVR goodness. The DCX3400 (picture) is a dual-tuner HD DVR, while the DCX3200 is a single-tuner HD set-top and the DX100 is standard def set-top box. The Catch: Whether or not you’ll see ‘em on your shelf depends on your cable company. [Motorola]
This winter, Vudu will give every Vudu owner and new buyer copies of both The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, pre-loaded on their boxes in glorious HD. They will also have the opportunity to download The Bourne Ultimatum to own for $25. This is a sign that Vudu—and Universal—are looking past the current format war towards the increasingly inevitable download-only distribution.
Chip manufacturer Broadcom has gone ahead and decided to add Bluetooth to its reference platform for consumer set-top boxes. Not only does this mean that you might be able to use a Bluetooth device as a remote control, but also opens up the possibility of having direct audio transfers. That means either wireless speakers or headphones are a very easy and real possibility. Maybe Sony wasn’t as crazy as we originally thought for skipping IR on the PS3. [The Register]
