Category Archives: OTT

Igugu Internet TV

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Mario Cisneros talks about Igugu TV (www.igugu.com), a hardware and software combination that turns your existing Windows-based computer into a TV set top box enabling you to easily get over-the-top television content from your computer to your flat panel television.

Igugu has three kit offerings, including $99 dollars for the remote control unit and software, $129 for the remote control unit, software, and miscellaneous wiring kit, and $249 for a wireless version.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Lookee TV Desktop WiFi Internet TV & Radio Player

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Ted Aguirre talks about the three models of Lookee TV (www.lookeetv.com), a table-top model, a portable model, and a set-top box model that connects to a TV. Lookee TV devices retail for about $150 and are available right now. Lookee TV receives over 30,000 streaming radio stations and over 1,000 streaming TV channels. The company maintains its own strategically-located international content servers. All the content carried on the Lookee TV devices is free. Lookee TV devices are especially useful for international travelers who want to watch foreign television content or listen to streaming radio from other countries.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

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Samsung 58″ Class (58.0″ Diag.) 500 Series 1080p Plasma HDTV

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A few days ago I made a trip to my local Best Buy store and ended up walking out with a Samsung 58” 500 Series Plasma HDTV. I’d gone into the store thinking if I left with anything, it would most likely be an LCD HDTV. However, after spending quite a while comparing picture quality and prices on the massive number of sets covering the big-box store’s back wall, I happened upon the Samsung model PN58C500, a 58” Plasma.

This Samsung Plasma has an absolutely stunning picture, rivaling the best high-end LCD sets that cost two and almost three times more. The PN58C500 sells for $1,197.99. I happened to have a “Best Buy Rewards” coupon for 10% percent off of any HDTV set costing $750 or more, and the coupon did end up applying to the PN58C500. My final price, including our rather high local sales taxes, ended up being $1,147.

There’s no 3D circuitry, but that’s not a problem for me since I consider 3D TV’s (as well as 3D movies) to be a useless gimmick. The PN58C500 has Samsung’s “AllShare DLNA Networking” that allows the set to connect to computers and DLNA servers running on your home network to stream HD video via Ethernet. I’ve also got a Mac Mini, as well as a Western Digital HD Live Plus media player attached directly to the set via my surround sound receiver/switcher.

The PN58C500 has a useful variety of video formatting modes to easily cycle through via the remote control that facilitates getting the right picture format for the particular video you are watching or device you are watching it from. It has 3 HDMI inputs, and is a thin 2.8 inches thick.

The remote control seems to be a bit touchy, needing to be pointed at the set to ensure that remote control commands register. Also, the built-in speakers seem to fire out of the bottom, but the volume levels are more than loud enough to be usable.

If you are looking for a new big-screen HDTV, you can’t go wrong buying this set considering the price versus value. I cannot over-stress the absolutely stunning picture quality this set produces.

HuluPlus Activated on Roku for $7.99 – Should Netflix be Scared?

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Roku
Roku Player

Editors Note – As Blake pointed out, there is a 1 DVD + online movie plan for $8.99.

The wait is over…

Roku announced today that Hulu Plus is now available to watch as an application. You can try the service free for one week, but thereafter, for $7.99 a month, you can watch network television run shows within 12 hours of airing. You can also watch movies and other content that Hulu is publishing.

The $7.99 price also means it undercuts Netflix’s 2 DVD + streaming price by half. Netflix does offer 1 DVD and online movie subscription only for $8.99. Still, Netflix’s big advantage is their movies and TV shows come without commercial interruption and won’t edit for content.

The $17 combination might be a great duo to finally cut that cable TV cord.

Hulu Plus
Hulu Plus

Hulu Plus will start to show up on other platforms, like PS3 and XBox360 very soon. Of course, you can get it on your computer right now.

First Thoughts: Like I said in the review, Hulu Plus does have commercials. However, I can catch up on season shows like Glee and Grey’s Anatomy.

The one thing I am not too keen with Roku is their cataloging system. It would be nice to have a keyboard and a search option. However, I can go on the computer, type in the show I want to watch, then queue it up to play on the Roku.

I was really hoping the TV show “Sons of Anarchy” would be more up to date. However, restrictions only allow it to be seen via the computer. In fact, there are a few shows that are “Web Only”.

If I back out of a show, then go back in, I start from the beginning. Forwarding back to the spot I was at is a little choppy.

On the other hand, Netflix has their own limitations. If you want to watch the Starz channel, you have to switch over to a computer with Internet Explorer installed. Their search is almost non-existent. Once again, you can go to the computer to put shows in your queue, then watch on Roku.

At $59.99, the Roku is the cheapest option for IPTV. With $7.99 for Hulu Plus and $14.99 for Netflix, you might be able to justify cutting the cable cord and beef up your internet connection.  Not to mention the original programming from independent content creators.

Dear Roku, Best Buy is not Doing any Justice for your Brand.

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I decided to update my IPTV at home. A newer TV and Over The Top (OTT) system. I have run Boxee for a while, but wanted to get the Roku Box. I heard that Best Buy had the Roku box, so I made the trek out to the store.

That was a bad idea.

I was on the east side of town, so I stopped into the East side location. I figured the Roku would be somewhere next to the Google TV display. It wasn’t – In fact, I could not find it anywhere.

I did something I try not to do – envoke a Best Buy employee. I never have any luck with these guys, so I avoid them. However, since I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I had to walk up to one. And the following conversation is why:

Hello. I am looking for the Roku box

Yes. They are over here (we walk to where the supposed Roku is). Here you go. It comes with Blu-Ray.

Excuse me? Roku does not have a Blu-Ray Model.

This one is. You can get Netflix.

I am sorry, but that is not a Roku box. Just because it connects to Netflix doesn’t make it a Roku.

Oh… Well, we are out of Roku players (pointing to the other shelf)

When will you get more?

We only got one. I don’t know when the next one is. However, we have a great line of internet connected players (pointing down the row).

This conversation really pissed me off. The guy  was quick to say that a Roku Box was some Blu-Ray from Insignia for $99. At first I didn’t think of it, but a couple days later I was in Best Buy on the West side and the exact same thing happened.

The Best Buy employee tried to tell me that this Blu-Ray player with Netflix was exactly like a Roku. Once again, I was annoyed and told him off. I walked out of the store, putting down what I was planning on purchasing.

Both stores only received 1-2 models of Roku. Both stores sold out in an hour and couldn’t tell me when the next batch was going to be here. Both employees also said that another device was “Just like the Roku”.

Certain Blu-Ray players do have applications. You can get Netflix and Vudu – along with other cool options to the player. However, this is not a Roku.

I started thinking about this: With the news announcement that you can get a Netgear branded Roku at Best Buy, I wonder how many people ventured out to get this. I also wonder how many ended up getting something else?

I have never been felt so misled by an employee in a long time. The last time I was, it was a Radio Shack employee trying to sell me a CD player stating it had MP3 support. Over 10 years later, I walked out of a store feeling just as annoyed.

The worst part about the Roku at Best Buy is it’s overshadowed by Google TV. The humongous display might make people change ideas for IPTV.

I ended up purchasing the box online, although I thought it would be nice to have a Blu-Ray Roku Box. Nonetheless, I think I will be avoiding Best Buy for a while.

OTT Tsunami

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We’ve been hearing quite a lot about Internet-delivered video content lately. Trends sometimes seem to advance slowly over a long period of time but then tumultuous market shifts seem to happen overnight.

Blockbuster just filed for bankruptcy. Blockbuster was unable to reconfigure their business structure to compete effectively with Netflix. It seems that Netflix has won the ongoing war.

Streaming video and video podcasts have been around for several years – these are not new ideas. However, what is new is the proliferation and increasing popularity of set-top boxes.

Back in the 1980’s backyard satellite TV dishes were a hobby among people that were looking for something different and as many choices as possible. That quest for choice ended up going mainstream in the form of commercial cable and satellite providers offering hundreds of channels.

Starting in 2004 people began experimenting with Internet-delivered content in the form of podcasts. I believe that podcasting happened as a direct result of broadband availability getting to a certain critical mass, combining the existing elements of RSS, MP3’s, etc. into a new form of communication. This new form of communication offered something very different along with unprecedented levels of choice.

Internet-delivered content of all kinds is rapidly becoming mainstream.

I believe 2010 is the year of the app. Apps suddenly seemed to have come out of nowhere to seeming to pop up on every device imaginable. Why the sudden popularity of apps? Desktop and laptop computers have been around for a long time, along with full-blown applications. What has really happened is that computers have now shrunk down to the point where they not only are in our pockets in the form of smartphones, but they are also showing up in HDTV sets and plenty of other devices. These devices we are running these apps on are actually quite powerful computers in their own rights.

There is now a wide variety of content that is heading for every computer-enabled screen you own, especially your HDTV.

Netgear Roku XD Player

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Over 25,000 people are now watching Geek News Central on the Roku, and I was very excited to see that Roku has apparently made a distribution deal with Netgear. The evidence is this image that has surfaced at the FCC hat tip to wirelessgoodness.com for the source on this.

Up to this point the only way you could purchase a Roku was to do so online. You could not stroll into Best Buy and pick one up, now with Netgear’s International distribution chain that will not be the case for much longer. This equals more units in consumers homes, and more chances that we will pick up a new audience member.  If you do not think I am not excited about this space then you have not been listening to my show and or watching what we have been doing in this space at RawVoice.

So an early congratulations to the team at Roku for doing this deal, and we look forward to all the viewers when nation wide distribution of this new Roku box gets underway.