Yesterday Janko made the case for why a family man without cable access might buy a Boxee Box. There are many reasons why I won’t be buying one, but it mainly comes down to price, competition and content availability. Read more »
The new Apple TV box isn’t the only way to stream digital content to your TV. So that’s why we want to know if you’re finding room for Apple TV in your home entertainment system — or if you’re happy with another solution. Read more »
Apple unveiled its updated TV set-top box today, with new streaming functionality and 99-cent TV rentals from ABC and Fox. This incarnation comes at a lower price point, but before consumers run out and buy one, they should consider the competition: Roku and Boxee. Read more »
Roku is looking to make its broadband set-top boxes more attractive to consumers ahead of upcoming Google TV products and a rumored new Apple TV device expected to be announced Wednesday, by lowering its prices and adding 1080p video capability to its top-of-the line HD-XR model. Read more »
Vimeo is expanding the availability of its online video site with a new universal player that will work on iPhone and iPad mobile devices, as well as a channel on Roku broadband set-top boxes. The site is also adding a “Watch Later” feature to its player. Read more »
Dyyno announced today that it has rolled out a solution for customers that want to stream live or on-demand video to Roku’s broadband set-top box, allowing them to instantly build pages that appear in Dyyno’s Roku channel or build their own branded channels with its help. Read more »
Samsung and Roku are going to pay for TV applications that work on TVs, Blu-ray players and broadband-connected set-top boxes, with both running developer contests that offer up prizes for innovative new apps that were created on their respective connected TV platforms. Read more »
Roku announced this morning that it added the MOG on-demand music service to its broadband set-top box, expanding the number of streaming services that are available through its platform. The addition of MOG comes as Roku strikes partnerships with a growing number of content providers. Read more »
Roku users could soon have access to VOD and linear programming offered by their cable TV operator, thanks to a new partnership between the set-top box maker and TV start-up Clearleap. The partnership also paves the way for Roku to work closer with pay TV operators. Read more »
Today on the Net: Rogers Communications gets 100,000 subscribers to sign up for TV Everywhere, Netflix’s new UI causes some trouble for Roku users and Spotify lands on TV sets for the first time in Sweden and Finland, but still has a long way to go. Read more »
Google unveiled Google TV at its I/O conference on May 20, promising to revolutionize the TV ecosystem by giving people “the power to experience what they love on TV and on the web on a single screen,” while turning the living room “into a new platform for innovation.”
It’s a promise made by others (including no-less formidable innovators such as Microsoft and Apple) but never delivered on. Much has changed since Microsoft failed with Web TV, however, and even since Apple introduced (and has since largely ignored) its Apple TV. The amount of premium video content available on the Internet has grown exponentially, while faster broadband connections have made delivering high-quality video over IP networks feasible. In this research note, we look at why the time is ripe for Google’s offering to succeed, what it si, and its potential impacts on the TV ecosystem, including users, hardware providers, app stores, content providers, distributors, and competitors (including Apple, Microsoft, and independent IP video platforms). Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With the introduction of Google TV, the search giant could majorly disrupt the online video industry by merging it with existing broadcast TV services. By doing so, Google might render obsolete standalone set-top boxes and DVRs that pipe online video content to the TV. Read more »
For years, companies that wanted to launch pay TV services had to invest heavily to do so. But now the acceptance of IP video services could provide a way to reach a large and growing audience without a huge upfront ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
TV apps — interactive, web-like applications meant to “enhance” the TV viewing experience by supplementing programming content with additional material and activities — are evolving quickly from a novelty feature on some Internet-enabled HDTVs and a few cable systems to a standard capability. Their rise is driven by rapid growth in the number of Internet-connected devices in consumers’ living rooms, growing consumer familiarity with mobile apps and strategic competitive forces that influence video service providers. In this report, we look at the market dynamics, key players, and provide forecasts for the market, including network-connected televisions, embedded app marketplaces, app downloads, paid TV apps, and revenue from the sale of paid apps to consumers, which will grow from $10 million in 2010 to $1.9 billion by 2015. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Roku is boosting the amount of sports content it carries through a multiyear deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that adds live pay-per-view events and archived matches to its broadband set-top box. It’s the third major sports deal for the set-top box maker. Read more »
Roku owners will soon be able to browse Netflix’s entire Watch Instantly catalog and search for titles through an entirely new interface, the company just announced. Watch the promo video embedded below the jump for a first demo. A company spokesperson told us that Roku boxes […] Read more »
Sports fans with a Roku player will now be able to follow two professional sports leagues live, with the availability of MLB and NBA content streaming through the broadband set-top box. Channels for both leagues can be added to users’ Roku players, which will allow fans […] Read more »
What can a media company do that wants to put content online, but doesn’t get enough ad dollars in return? Well, new research from In-Stat suggests that one way to monetize over-the-top video is by selling applications for the Apple iPad, Roku Player, Boxee Box or […] Read more »
It’s been a long time coming, but over-the-top video company Vudu has finally stopped selling its set-top box, according to the NY Times, preferring instead to provide its software and video marketplace to consumer electronics manufacturers. Founded in 2004, Vudu released its first Internet video set-top […] Read more »
In the weekly iPhone roundup there’s actually a good reason to reconsider the iPad if it looks like a meager performer upon first glance. Virtualization software on a large display could meet the needs of those wanting a full-fledged operating system. Read more »
In GigaOM Pro’s latest Connected Consumer quarterly wrap-up (sub required), we analyze how the world of NewTeeVee continued to shake the foundations of old media in Q4 2009. From the rapid growth of connected consumer electronics, the consumer’s ever-increasing appetites for online video, the socialization of […] Read more »
A new channel popped up on Roku yesterday called EroticVision.TV that makes adult content available on the broadband set-top box for the first time. But the new “adult entertainment” channel hasn’t actually been approved by Roku, and it operates in a kind of limbo where the […] Read more »
With the proliferation of new broadband-connected TV sets and Blu-ray players ready to take the world by storm, the demand for standalone Internet set-top boxes will be limited. That’s one takeaway from new research released today by The Diffusion Group, which estimates that Internet set-top boxes […] Read more »
UPDATED: Roku has let us know that it’s offering a special Black Friday deal on its top-of-the-line streaming set-top box, cutting the price in half for the first 500 customers who purchase the device. The high-end HD-XR, which supports 80211.n wireless networking and includes a USB […] Read more »
Roku vice president of marketing Chuck Seiber only gave us a teeny-tiny sneak-peek at the new Roku Channel Store at NewTeeVee Live couple weeks back, but the company officially launched the feature along with ten new free channels today. Roku owners will now be able to […] Read more »
