Feature
Bringing Internet Content to the TV: The Race Heats Up
By Kassandra Kania
Mar 1, 2007, 08:27

Consumer electronics companies are vying to find the most user-friendly way to stream Internet content to the TV. The prize: 162 million broadband-enabled televisions in 2011.

Only a few months ago, we reported on a group of companies that were trying to bring Internet content to consumers’ televisions. The potential market is enormous: According to research firm The Diffusion Group, the number of broadband-enabled televisions will reach 162 million by 2011. So it isn't surprising that this year's Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas in January, featured a new crop of entrants to this race, as well as new announcements from companies that had previously staked out claims.

Sony Electronics made a splash with its Bravia Internet Video Link, which it announced at CES. Its Internet video-ready televisions can receive streaming broadband video, including high-definition content, via a small optional module easily attached and concealed behind the TV.

This feature will allow most of its new televisions to access free Internet video content from providers such as AOL, Yahoo!, and Grouper, as well as from related companies Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony BMG Music. Sony Electronics and AOL announced at the show that the companies will work together to make content from AOL Video available through Bravia. Using the TV’s remote control and optional module, consumers can access the Internet and navigate through menus to browse and play videos from AOL Video.

Bravia wasn’t Sony’s only CES announcement. The company is also introducing a high-definition living room PC with integrated Blu-ray Disc technology. In addition to watching high-definition movies on disk and recording, storing, and playing back personal content on high-capacity BD media, users can browse the Web with a wireless remote and keyboard, all from the comfort of their sofa.

Cultivating Couch Potatoes

Other companies at the Consumer Electronics Show also showcased their visions for bringing Internet video content to TVs:

• HP's MediaSmart TV

  Hewlett-Packard’s MediaSmart TVs merge the PC and the TV with the ability to wirelessly stream digital photos, music, and videos from a PC onto an HP high-definition LCD display. The latest models feature 1080p performance and the new HP Entertainment Services Portal, which provides access to a variety of online services with the click of a remote. Services include Snapfish for photo sharing, Real Networks’ Rhapsody for music and CinemaNow, whose progressive download technology allows consumers to begin watching movies before the download is complete.

• Netgear announced a collaboration with BitTorrent to promote video downloads streamed to high-definition televisions through the new Netgear Digital Entertainer HD (EVA8000) media receiver. The Digital Entertainer HD is a set-top box that connects to a home-theater system to stream digital media from computers, network storage, and USB media players. It discovers, organizes, and plays high-definition movies, TV shows, music files, and personal photos as well as Internet-based video, news feeds, weather reports, and radio programs.
  

• Sling Media's SlingCatcher

  Sling Media, which became known for devices that transmitted content from television to the PC, announced a new product called SlingCatcher that works in reverse, delivering content to the television. Bundled with every SlingCatcher are two applications: SlingProjector, which wirelessly projects any Web site or digital audio/video format from a PC to the TV, and SlingPlayer, which sends content between televisions. SlingCatcher is based on the PC2TV chip from Quartics, which has also been bundled into products from Addlogix, DM Technology and others.

• SanDisk is betting that consumers will find it easier to carry a memory stick from the PC to the TV than to set up a new device between them. Its USBTV will let consumers transport downloaded digital content from a personal computer with a small flash memory-enabled media player and then plug-and-play it directly on nearly any TV.

• Akimbo Systems announced that its collection of video-on-demand titles will be available to subscribers of AT&T Homezone, a new video and Internet entertainment service launched in 2006 by AT&T Inc. Integrating Akimbo content into the Internet-connected set-top box will let consumers download and watch thousands of programs and movies on TV using the Homezone remote control. The company also announced that it is working with Yahoo! to bring Internet video directly to the TV via the Akimbo Service. Akimbo subscribers will be able to browse video updated regularly from the Yahoo! Video service, access titles for free, and watch them on TV.

• TVNGO’s middleware application enables Internet overlay on TV broadcasting. Using a remote control, the viewer can shift between broadcast channels and Internet content, and even blend Internet and broadcast content in a single frame.  

• DIRECTVannounced that its DIRECTV Plus HD DVR has been verified to work with Intel Viiv technology. Customers with a DIRECTV Plus HD DVR can send pictures and music from Intel Viiv PCs to their television sets.

• RealNetworksannounced the integration of its Rhapsody digital music service with TiVo's DVR service. TiVo subscribers will be able to stream Rhapsody’s 3 million-plus songs to any broadband-connected TiVo box in their house, as well as access their personal music libraries. Any song they flag using their TiVo remote will also be available in their personal Rhapsody library when they access it from a PC.

The Apple TV

One important PC-to-TV product didn’t appear at CES at all. During the same week, Apple showcased its much-anticipated Apple TV at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. Originally introduced in September as iTV, the new Apple TV lets consumers watch content from Apple’s iTunes store on a television. Though its choice of content is limited, its choice of connections is very wide, including USB 2, Ethernet, HDMI, component video, optical audio and three popular wireless standards – 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. Apple TV comes with an IR remote control.