Watching YouTube on the Boob Tube
on Wall Street Journal
by Bobby White, June 21, 2006
As online video becomes increasingly popular, consumers are finding more, if tricky, options for watching Web content on their television sets.
These nascent services -- which include home-networking systems, media players and set-top boxes that access online video libraries -- aim to let consumers watch from the comfort of their living-room sofas, instead of being locked into a desk chair in front of a computer. They offer access to a wide range of Web content, from Hollywood movies to amateur video clips of pets and children. Because these technologies are still developing, the quality can vary greatly once the videos are translated to a TV screen. But as consumers' appetite for online video grows, device makers and media companies are rushing to gain a toehold in this emerging market.
Electronics maker RCA, a unit of Thomson SA, is working with content providers Akimbo Systems Inc. and Movielink LLC to introduce a set-top box in September for $199, after a $100 rebate. The box will link a television to thousands of online offerings, from animated music videos to concerts and popular feature films, for a monthly fee starting at $9.99, plus some pay-per-view charges. Digital-recorder maker TiVo Inc. recently announced deals to give its customers more access to Internet video, including game highlights from National Basketball Association and news clips from New York Times Co., as well as consumer-generated videos posted on services such as Yahoo Inc. and Brightcove Inc.
AT&T Corp. earlier this week said it will launch its Homezone service in July, combining a set-top box with satellite and Internet service to offer content from Akimbo and Movielink on televisions. And home-networking company Netgear Inc. says it plans to launch an Internet-access device that connects to a TV this fall, though no details are available yet.
Some companies already offer devices that transfer certain video content from PCs to TV screens. Akimbo, for instance, offers a $200 set-top box that delivers Internet videos from its library of video blogs and international film festivals, as part of a monthly service that starts at $9.99. Home-networking company D-Link Systems Inc. sells $149 and $249 media players that wirelessly stream music, photos and video that users have saved on their PCs to the TV.
Cisco Systems Inc. makes a media-player device called the A/G Media Center Extender, which wirelessly transfers media saved on a PC to the TV. Microsoft Corp. has also outfitted its $399 videogame console, the Xbox 360, with the ability to forward video to a TV.
Many of the new devices can't mask the inferior quality of online video when it's transferred to a TV due to often amateur production and the software used to send the signal to the computer. Some services, such as Akimbo, avoid the issue because they use set-top boxes designed to work with their own online content. But the production quality of much of the content on amateur-video sharing Web sites is so poor that if viewed on a large TV, the picture becomes nearly unrecognizable.
In addition, some popular programming that is streamed live on the Web, such as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, is designed specifically to be showcased in a small display, like a window on a PC screen. Transferring the content to a large TV can drastically distort the picture.
"A lot of the major broadcasters are working to understand the medium [of the Internet] and the technology," says Ross Rubin, an industry analyst with research firm NPD Group. "They are experimenting, so not everything is meant to be watched on the television."
The amount of video content online is exploding. Much of it is amateur video and home movies, which users post on services such as Brightcove, Yahoo and YouTube Inc. But growing offerings from services such as Movielink and CinemaNow can include feature films and concerts. And broadcasters such as ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co., and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal have recently announced plans to make popular programs -- such as "The Office" -- available anytime on the Web, often for a fee.
Many consumers would prefer to watch online video on their TVs rather than their 17-inch computer screens -- if they could just figure out how to do it. It's technically possible to hook up a PC to a television to watch online content, using cables or certain types of wireless routers. But the process can still be a hassle, leading tech companies to find less-cumbersome solutions such as the set-top boxes and media players.
Steven Jones, a 37-year-old Chicago software engineer, became enamored of the amateur robot competitions broadcast on Web sites such as robot-fan.net and asurada.jp, but he wanted a way to watch the Web programming on his television. He turned to Akimbo's set-top box, which links his TV to Akimbo's online video library, which includes programming from niche Web sites and content providers like Bollywood.tv and the History Channel.
"I much prefer watching Internet content on my TV through Akimbo than my personal computer," says Mr. Jones.
The market for these devices and services remains nascent. About 43.9 million U.S. households have the broadband Internet connections necessary to watch online video, according to Jupiter Research. But in a March survey, Jupiter found that only about 57% of adults with broadband watched online video regularly, and nearly all of that viewership was on a PC.
Many of the devices available now aren't easy to use because the content is protected by copyright. Some video Web sites like CinemaNow, for example, encrypt their content. Apple Computer's iTunes has some agreements with broadcasters to offer video online, including episodes of "Desperate Housewives," but it uses proprietary software that restricts where content can be displayed. And Web services like Movielink and CinemaNow restrict the number and types of devices content can be transferred to.
Overcoming some of these technical impediments will require advances in broadband speeds and an improvement in how the video content is converted to digital format or encoded, says Joe Laszlo, a broadband analyst with Jupiter Research. He figures it will take three to five years before set-top boxes and online on-demand services go mainstream.
by Bobby White, June 21, 2006
As online video becomes increasingly popular, consumers are finding more, if tricky, options for watching Web content on their television sets.
These nascent services -- which include home-networking systems, media players and set-top boxes that access online video libraries -- aim to let consumers watch from the comfort of their living-room sofas, instead of being locked into a desk chair in front of a computer. They offer access to a wide range of Web content, from Hollywood movies to amateur video clips of pets and children. Because these technologies are still developing, the quality can vary greatly once the videos are translated to a TV screen. But as consumers' appetite for online video grows, device makers and media companies are rushing to gain a toehold in this emerging market.
Electronics maker RCA, a unit of Thomson SA, is working with content providers Akimbo Systems Inc. and Movielink LLC to introduce a set-top box in September for $199, after a $100 rebate. The box will link a television to thousands of online offerings, from animated music videos to concerts and popular feature films, for a monthly fee starting at $9.99, plus some pay-per-view charges. Digital-recorder maker TiVo Inc. recently announced deals to give its customers more access to Internet video, including game highlights from National Basketball Association and news clips from New York Times Co., as well as consumer-generated videos posted on services such as Yahoo Inc. and Brightcove Inc.
AT&T Corp. earlier this week said it will launch its Homezone service in July, combining a set-top box with satellite and Internet service to offer content from Akimbo and Movielink on televisions. And home-networking company Netgear Inc. says it plans to launch an Internet-access device that connects to a TV this fall, though no details are available yet.
Some companies already offer devices that transfer certain video content from PCs to TV screens. Akimbo, for instance, offers a $200 set-top box that delivers Internet videos from its library of video blogs and international film festivals, as part of a monthly service that starts at $9.99. Home-networking company D-Link Systems Inc. sells $149 and $249 media players that wirelessly stream music, photos and video that users have saved on their PCs to the TV.
Cisco Systems Inc. makes a media-player device called the A/G Media Center Extender, which wirelessly transfers media saved on a PC to the TV. Microsoft Corp. has also outfitted its $399 videogame console, the Xbox 360, with the ability to forward video to a TV.
Many of the new devices can't mask the inferior quality of online video when it's transferred to a TV due to often amateur production and the software used to send the signal to the computer. Some services, such as Akimbo, avoid the issue because they use set-top boxes designed to work with their own online content. But the production quality of much of the content on amateur-video sharing Web sites is so poor that if viewed on a large TV, the picture becomes nearly unrecognizable.
In addition, some popular programming that is streamed live on the Web, such as the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, is designed specifically to be showcased in a small display, like a window on a PC screen. Transferring the content to a large TV can drastically distort the picture.
"A lot of the major broadcasters are working to understand the medium [of the Internet] and the technology," says Ross Rubin, an industry analyst with research firm NPD Group. "They are experimenting, so not everything is meant to be watched on the television."
The amount of video content online is exploding. Much of it is amateur video and home movies, which users post on services such as Brightcove, Yahoo and YouTube Inc. But growing offerings from services such as Movielink and CinemaNow can include feature films and concerts. And broadcasters such as ABC, a unit of Walt Disney Co., and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal have recently announced plans to make popular programs -- such as "The Office" -- available anytime on the Web, often for a fee.
Many consumers would prefer to watch online video on their TVs rather than their 17-inch computer screens -- if they could just figure out how to do it. It's technically possible to hook up a PC to a television to watch online content, using cables or certain types of wireless routers. But the process can still be a hassle, leading tech companies to find less-cumbersome solutions such as the set-top boxes and media players.
Steven Jones, a 37-year-old Chicago software engineer, became enamored of the amateur robot competitions broadcast on Web sites such as robot-fan.net and asurada.jp, but he wanted a way to watch the Web programming on his television. He turned to Akimbo's set-top box, which links his TV to Akimbo's online video library, which includes programming from niche Web sites and content providers like Bollywood.tv and the History Channel.
"I much prefer watching Internet content on my TV through Akimbo than my personal computer," says Mr. Jones.
The market for these devices and services remains nascent. About 43.9 million U.S. households have the broadband Internet connections necessary to watch online video, according to Jupiter Research. But in a March survey, Jupiter found that only about 57% of adults with broadband watched online video regularly, and nearly all of that viewership was on a PC.
Many of the devices available now aren't easy to use because the content is protected by copyright. Some video Web sites like CinemaNow, for example, encrypt their content. Apple Computer's iTunes has some agreements with broadcasters to offer video online, including episodes of "Desperate Housewives," but it uses proprietary software that restricts where content can be displayed. And Web services like Movielink and CinemaNow restrict the number and types of devices content can be transferred to.
Overcoming some of these technical impediments will require advances in broadband speeds and an improvement in how the video content is converted to digital format or encoded, says Joe Laszlo, a broadband analyst with Jupiter Research. He figures it will take three to five years before set-top boxes and online on-demand services go mainstream.
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