If there are lessons to be learned about the need for big companies to create platform-agnostic services, the BBC's iPlayer project may be one of the most shining examples.
Since the launch of the iPlayer, the BBC has been under fire not only from its viewers, but also members of the British Parliament. Parliament members have come down on the broadcasting corporation for its lack of support for open standards, and soaring costs in the development of the Windows-only software whose cost is estimated to be close to £6 million pounds (nearly $11 million dollars).
We've blogged about the service before, although haven't been able to test it because of the application's use of geo-IP tracking to (rightfully) limit viewing to the tax-paying UK citizens who fund it. Many users say the clunky interface and tough DRM make the software anything but user friendly.
The iPlayer software continues to be a Windows-only application, which has led to the controversy of those paying citizens using Mac or Linux who were unable to use the program to catch up on BBC programming without the need for a television. The iPlayer software uses Windows Media Player-based DRM that requires users to have the latest versions of Windows XP or Vista, leaving Mac and Linux users out of the picture.
UK residents can access a variety of BBC programming on the Web via streaming. Windows users can also download the programs to watch while offline.
(Credit: CNET Networks)In mid-December, the BBC responded by releasing a streaming version of the player that runs in Web browsers using Adobe Flash. Already the service has been a runaway success. According to a blog post earlier today from the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, 90 percent of the users of the streaming service are running Windows, while 9 percent are using mac, and 0.8 percent are using Linux. Despite the 9-to-1 user ratio, Thompson again confirmed that the BBC was still working on a Mac version, scheduled to be released by the end of the year. He also said the initial rush to make the service available had led to the single-platform offerings.
Based on the early success of TV on demand service Hulu.com in the states, and the recent roll out of Apple's timed-DRM, it's worth wondering if a standalone software version of the service is even worth the headache. The trade off of course is that the software users can "stack" episodes of their favorite shows and watch them without having to be tethered to the internet (except to connect to servers for the DRM). Time will tell.
(Credit:
Vok)
Interior designers have been doing their best to meld home media equipment and the fireplace, but to date most of the results have ranged from the awkward to the absurd--unless it happens to be in the back seat of a Hummer, of course.
But Germany's Vok may have changed all that, for it has had the audacity of combining an LCD TV, DVD player, PC, and Bose sound system directly above the hearth. Trendir says the entire apparatus--which can be made to order in oak, birch, or rosewood--comes in four sizes ranging from $23,800 to $31,500, accommodating screens up to 52 inches.
It's missing only one element that would make it the ultimate entertainment experience: a bar, naturally.
(Credit:
ViewSonic)
TVs and PCs may be taking their own sweet time to morph into one appliance, but some designs are starting to betray the romance. Case in point: ViewSonic's new "Diamani DUO" series (dynamic duo?) are meant to be used both as a desktop monitor and an LCD TV, in 19- and 22-inch models with 1,440x900 and 1,680x1050 respective resolutions.
Unlike other PC-TV screens, which are often indistinguishable from desktop monitors, this one actually takes on some of the design characteristics of a plasma or LCD set, such as today's popular piano-black gloss finish, contoured lines for built-in speakers and styled base. They're a little small for our taste now that we have to wear bifocals, but the price is right for a second TV (or third or fourth or fifth) at $350 and $400.
(Credit:
Chip Chick)
Apparently it's not enough to have a mirror that sends text messages or even engages us in conversation. We need one that'll run Windows too.
Facing stiff competition in its mainstay telly business, U.K.-based Mirror Media has created a line that incorporates a PC into its reflective TVs in sizes ranging from 20 to 36 inches with frames in wood, metallic and other finishes, according to Chip Chick. It remains to be seen, however, whether they'll be able to create the ultimate convergence appliance by including a radiator.
Rock's nutty professors have been hard at work cooking up the Meivo--a 22-inch LCD TV with a high-end PC stuffed inside it.
(Credit:
Crave UK)
The Meivo (pronounced my-vo) is Vista-ready, meaning it'll have awesome media-handling capabilities out of the box, and it'll have up to two hard drives and an incredible four Freeview or analog TV tuners--a media junkie's dream.
This does overlook the impossibility of there being four things on Freeview at the same time you desperately have to watch. "Oh no, the repeat of Deal or No Deal clashes with Hollyoaks, the local news and diamante discount day on QVC!"
We've seen this sort of thing before. And yawned. But the Meivo looks pretty interesting, particularly as Rock seems to be focusing on the IPTV potential--it comes with integrated Wi-Fi, so you can grab programmes off the Interweb. No accompanying services have been mentioned, but at the very least there's YouTube.
The 22-inch version (pictured) should be HD Ready thanks to its 1,680x1,050-pixel resolution (although we don't know if it has HDMI), and will cost 1,175 pounds (about $2,325) when it's released next month. Larger sizes may well follow. Watch out for a full review soon.
(Source: Crave UK)
(Credit:
Gearfuse)
This one definitely falls under the category of What Took Them So Long? Universal remotes have claimed (dubiously) to do everything under the sun, but they've gotten increasingly difficult to use by cramming in more keys and buttons, not to mention indecipherable commands.
Sharp has responded to that frustration with "the world's first remote controller with a touchpad," according to Gearfuse, for its updated line of Aquos TV-PCs. The design overhaul means 40 percent fewer buttons and computer-like navigation on the remote.
The new products appear to be available only in Japan for now, but we're just happy to see manufacturers putting more R&D into the remote. After all, when we're at home, it replaces the cell phone as our electronic appendage.
(Credit:
Coolest-Gadgets)
Who says the PC-TV is dead? A decade ago, a lot of bets were placed (and lost) on the convergence of television and the computer as a single uber-device for the home. But the concept is alive and kicking in, of all places, Italy.
Coolest-Gadgets says a company called Mc Person has unveiled an "all-in-one" system that will offer "television, radio, Internet, high-definition video, house automation, health monitoring and more." The "I-TV" concept, as it is known, works wirelessly and is controlled through a single remote.
It sounds too good to be true, unless the whole package is prohibitively expensive. But we certainly hope that the consolidation trend is revived, because we're tired of needing eight or nine remotes just to watch TV.
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