Category: Tech

Set Box Tops

Many tech pundits feel that video set-top boxes will be gone in a few years, as more TV’s offer built-in Internet video. I tend to disagree.

TV’s with integrated VHS or DVD were/are a tiny segment of the market. They had a place in mobile homes and boats, and maybe in the kitchen, but that was about it. Streaming video players require no physical media, and they’re so small they can be put on a circuit board inside of a TV, yet I don’t see set-top boxes going away; in part because the boxes can be so small, but also because consumers like having a choice. Being stuck with whatever streaming video feature comes with a new TV might be enough for some people, but I suspect for many it will be an introduction to the format, and lead them to look for a dedicated box.

Internet video players are flooding the market, with Apple and Google following Roku’s lead with small, diskless models. Despite Netflix being available on all three products, they are as different as they are similar, and nobody knows how this market will shake out. I favor Roku, in part because it simply works great, and in part because I wince at the idea of being locked into iTunes. A few days ago I said Roku had sold 500,000 units, but Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood says the sales number is now closer to one million.

Wood looks a little nervous to me, which is to be expected, with not only Apple, but Google too, about to break into the STB market. I suspect D-Link’s $200 Boxee Box will be a specialty item for hobbyists, and Logitech’s Revue for Google is overpriced at $300, but Apple is in a position to roll over tiny Roku, now that Steve Jobs no longer considers IPTV to be a hobby.

Over on PCMag.com, a reviewer named Tim Gideon pretty much pans the new Roku XDS. Gideon undermines his technical credibility, however, because of his statement that, “If you live in proximity to multiple routers, good luck getting anything approximating an HD stream. In fact, you’re unlikely to get a wireless stream that doesn’t need to stop to buffer often.” Huh? I have no trouble at all with 720p on my Roku HD over 802.11g Wifi, and not only are there multiple wireless routers in my neighborhood, three of them are in my house, with the Roku having to jump from one to another to get onto the Net.

A more meaningful comparison of the Apple TV and Roku XDS is on Engadget, with a close-up screen shot from each player. Apple has the edge in picture quality here, I admit, but it’s possible that other examples would favor Roku. Netflix should look the same on both platforms.

Something else I had stated was my intention to buy a Roku XDS for use with my projector. But when I saw that Amazon had the discontinued XR model in stock, brand-new, for $100, the same price as the XDS, I ordered one, because I want the option of using component video without having to buy a special adapter, as required for the XDS. (My Kenwood THX receiver is seven years old and can switch component video, but has no HDMI jacks. I have no intention of replacing it, because it includes a phono input and it can switch the Dolby EX speaker terminal to LFE to power my passive sub-woofer.) Also, I prefer the original chunky Roku remote. It has a great feel, and I never need to look at the buttons. The new remote, without a backlight, looks like it will be as difficult to use as the remote on my Sony Blu-ray player is in the dark when the projector is on.

Talking about set-top boxes makes me think about one of my all-time top 10 singles, “The Letter” by The Box Tops. I was very pleased to hear, while conversing with Prudence Bury, that she absolutely loves the song.

May the Eforcity be with you

Praise and thanks for electronics vendor eForCity. The 50-ft. HDMI cables I use for my video projector came from Eforcity, through Amazon. They’re rugged, they work perfectly, and they cost a fraction of what a regular retailer would charge.

When Eric started school I ordered a 10-ft. HDMI cable to connect his laptop computer (with Blu-ray) to his LCD TV. Amazon insisted on using a slightly different address than the one the college lists, but the ZIP code was the same, so I went with it. Two weeks after Eforcity sent the cable it still hadn’t arrived. I don’t know if the Post Office decided it didn’t like seeing the section of the town listed, rather than the town itself, or if the package was stolen from the college’s mail room. Either scenario is possible.

Through Amazon, I wrote to Eforcity to say the cable was lost in shipment, but I said for the small amount of money involved, $3.56 total, I wasn’t going to worry about it. I was about to order another cable when I received e-mail from Eforcity, offering to ship another cable. I said thank you, and requested that the cable be sent home, instead of to school. The cable was sent Tuesday and arrived today. Thank you, eForCity!

ROKU rev 2

ROKU claims to have sold about half a million of its streaming video players. I don’t know how many had sold by February of last year, but that was when I got mine.

I love my ROKU HD! The thing simply works, and it provides tremendous video — and radio — bang for the buck. At first it was for Netflix Watch Instantly, and that’s still true, but now I can also listen to all of the local Boston radio stations on Radiotime, as well as various podcasts, including NPR news and shows on MEdiafly; and I never miss HD Nation on Revision3, but I don’t watch HD Nation in HD, because the ROKU is attached via S-Video cable to my 12-year-old, 32-inch, 168 lb. (excluding custom stand), Sony 32XBR100 XBR2, that I vow to keep until it dies.

I hope the ROKU HD lasts as long as the venerable XBR2, because ROKU has introduced revised versions of its players, and none of them has S-Video. Will ROKU continue to lead the market for streaming set top boxes, against the new Apple TV? I’ll cast my vote by buying a ROKU XDS for use with the video projector.

Bing bags the big ball game

It’s not often there’s new Bing Crosby news! A few months back I talked about Bing Crosby’s involvement in the development of magnetic audio and video recording. Now it’s been revealed that the only complete recording of game 7 of the 1960 World Series has been found among Bing’s belongings, and it’s in perfect condition. You’ll find the story at this link.

The five-reel set, found in December in Crosby’s home, is the only known complete copy of the game, in which Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit a game-ending home run to beat the Yankees, 10-9. It is considered one of the greatest games ever played.

It’s ironic, however, that Bing hired an outfit to record the game on Kinescope, rather than videotape, because he helped bankroll the technology’s development at Ampex.

Steve Jobs just does it — “wrogn”

Yesterday, the mainstream outlets picked up on something that had been floating around the tech sites, about Steve Jobs allegedly dumping on a journalism student. Since then there’s been some confusion over the facts, but for the sake of this post I’ll assume it’s true that a journalism student made repeated efforts to contact Apple’s media relations people, didn’t receive a reply, then texted Steve Jobs directly.

If this is correct, and if Jobs saw the message and actually replied himself, why would he have said anything other than, “I’ll have somebody get back to you”? To say anything else was simply wrong, and is another indication that Steve should step back from the day-to-day doings at Apple. He had the all-time greatest return to power of any CEO in business history, and he has nothing left to prove, especially after his brush — two brushes — with death. Steve, it’s time to start thinking about calling it quits, and if you don’t have anybody ready to step in, then you haven’t been doing your job, have you?

A cool experiment

My son wanted a small refrigerator in his dorm room. A freezer compartment was neither needed, nor wanted. Another consideration was compressor noise. I took a chance on Haier’s NuCool, which technically is a cooler, and not a refrigerator, because it doesn’t have a compressor. The NuCool uses thermoelectric cooling, which has limited effectiveness compared to conventional refrigerators that circulate a coolant.

At home, with an ambient temperature of 68 degrees, the NuCool did fine, and even went below 37 degrees, according to a thermometer I had placed inside. But in the dorm, without air conditioning, where the room temp was over 80, the NuCool managed only 50 degrees. This morning it was in the safe region on the thermometer, but considering NuCool’s inability to maintain a constant temperature, my inclination is to return it to Target and buy Haier’s conventional cube fridge.

Follow-up: The NuCool is a success, assuming it holds up. It seems to manage a 40-degree difference in temperature, and when it was up to 50 the room was probably 90. Since then it’s held at 35 degrees, even with the thermostat turned down a notch.