Crave

The new FreeAgent Theater+ from Seagate.

(Credit: Seagate)

Seagate on Tuesday announced the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player. The device enables users to take digital-media content from their PCs and play it on their televisions. All the content is controlled with an included remote.

The FreeAgent Theater+ connects to USB-attached storage drives through two USB ports. Once Seagate's device is connected to a PC, users can load the attached drive with movies, videos, music, and pictures. The FreeAgent Theater+ sports both HDMI and Component output, allowing users to watch up to 1080p content on their HDTV. It also has composite inputs for those with standard-definition televisions.

Although it works with any drive, the FreeAgent Theater+ is designed to work with Seagate's FreeAgent Go portable drives. Those drives can be slid into the device's dock, making it a bit more convenient to transfer the device.

To make it easier to transfer files, the FreeAgent Theater+ can connect to a home network via its Ethernet port. According to Seagate, it intends to release a USB wireless adapter in October to enable users to connect to their home networks wirelessly. The adapter will support 802.11n connectivity and cost $69.99.

Seagate's new player features several video formats, including H.264, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, DivX HD, and Xvid HD. It accepts AAC, MP3, FLAC, WMA, OGG, and more on the audio side.

Whether or not Seagate's new product can fix some of its past mistakes is still unknown. The company's previous device, the Seagate FreeAgent Theater, was the lowest-rated USB-ready digital-media player in a CNET Reviews roundup from April. Competing products from Iomega and Western Digital scored higher.

The Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ is available now for preorder at $149.99. For $289.99, consumers can pick up the FreeAgent Theater+ and a 500GB FreeAgent Go drive.

CNET plans to have an official review of the FreeAgent Theater+ later this month.

The TiVo: close, but no cigar.

(Credit: TiVo)

Roku announced this week that it signed on with Major League Baseball to deliver MLB.tv Premium to its set-top box. It's the first live content that the device, which is best known for its Netflix streaming, will offer.

But like many other set-top boxes on the market, the services the Roku box offers aren't unique to that device. Netflix streaming is available on a large and growing number of devices, including TiVo DVRs, the Xbox 360, and all newer LG and Samsung Blu-ray players and home theater systems. In addition to the Roku, MLB programming is available on the PC, through Boxee, and through various cable and satellite TV packages.

Indeed, many TVs, Blu-ray players, DVRs, and home theater systems now have a baseline configuration that makes it relatively easy to add streaming services via postpurchase firmware upgrades. At this point, adding content seems almost as simple as calling the content provider and having lawyers work up an agreement between the parties.

The problem is, those partners are not necessarily working together. The hardware providers want those streaming or download services to be exclusive to their boxes. The content providers want their entertainment to be made available on as many devices (STBs or otherwise) as possible. Those very different goals are causing set-top boxes to provide most, but not all, the services that consumers want.

Motorola says that the new set-top box it is developing for Japanese carrier KDDI will not use Google's Android operating system.

Last week, CNET News referenced a report from the Web site Android Guys that said Motorola is building a TV set-top box for Japanese telephone and broadband service provider KDDI.

The Web site reported that Masataka Miura, chairman of Open Embedded Software Foundation (OESF), had said Motorola was making the Android powered set-top box for KDDI. The OESF is a group that consists of several Japanese companies that plan to use Android in embedded devices. ARM, KDDI, Japan Cable Laboratories, Alpine Electronics, and Fujitsu Software technologies are among the group's members.

But Motorola says the device that it will deliver to KDDI, called the "au BOX," is not based on Android. Motorola said that the box uses an operating system developed by Motorola called KreaTV. This platform is based on the open operating system Linux . The company said there are no plans to produce an Android-based version.

The "au Box" will allow users to take their music and video content with them on the go. The box lets users play or rip a CD and either store the music or transfer it to a mobile handset or portable media player via a USB cable, Android Guys reported. The music files can then be played by the device through the integrated stereo speakers.

The set-top box also allows users to upload video to the device and then transfer it to a mobile device. And the device also plays DVDs.

Motorola said its KreaTV open software platform for set-top devices is designed to enable operator customers to easily add new functionality and services.

Android is also an open-source operating system, which is also built on Linux. It was originally designed by Google for mobile phones. But there has increasingly been more talk of the software being used in other devices like Netbooks, as well as on set-top boxes, TVs, voice over IP phones, digital picture frames, and even karaoke machines.

Editors' note: The original story incorrectly stated that Motorola is planning to build an Android set-top box for KDDI in Japan, based on reports from the Web site Android Guys. To avoid confusion, the story has been removed. Please click here to see the appropriate information regarding Motorola's set-top box.

A mockup of what a Boxee box could look like.

(Credit: Boxee)

Boxee was approached by several hardware makers at CES earlier this month about embedding the Web content streaming software directly into a dedicated set-top box, the company said Thursday on its official blog. And it's actually considering it.

The blog post was written by CEO Avner Ronen to solicit feedback from users as to whether this is an attractive option and how much they'd be willing to pay for it. (If you want to chime in, head over to blogg.boxee.tv.)

Boxee is software that works on any Mac/Linux/Windows computer and can stream content online (videos, music, pictures, whatever) right onto a television screen. There's also a way to install the service on Apple TV. But it can be an expensive proposition for some who don't have the right equipment, as Ronen explains:

The issue with connecting a computer to the TV is that if you don't have an extra one lying around, then you're looking at a $500 investment (Mac Mini or Dell Studio). Getting Boxee on Apple TV is not simple enough for many users (plus Boxee is not optimized for the Apple TV hardware, Netflix doesn't work on it, etc.).

(Credit: 2Wire)

2Wire has unveiled the MediaPoint, a thin-client set-top box that's designed to deliver HD video via broadband. The MediaPoint box will have a small footprint (just 7 inches square) and a good array of features, including HDMI output, wired and wireless network connectivity, USB expansion options, and UPnP and DLNA compatibility for streaming media from sources on the home network. The catch? MediaPoint won't be available to consumers--at least, not directly.

That's because 2Wire is effectively acting as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer). 2Wire's customers--broadband service providers--can customize the MediaPoint box to their specific needs, and then distribute the box to their customers under their respective brands. It's a model that's worked for 2Wire in the past, with products like its MediaPortal being marketed to end users by third-party providers such as SBC (now AT&T).

How long before a customized version of the MediaPoint hits the streets? We're hearing that the first deal's already been struck, and it'll be a matter of weeks--if not days--before you see a yet-to-be-named service provider offering its own version of the MediaPoint, possibly at a sub-$100 price point.

The question for you: do you have room under your TV to squeeze in the MediaPoint? Or is it already too crowded under there, with the cable/satellite box, one or two game consoles, Netflix Player, DVD/Blu-ray player, Windows Media Extender, Vudu, TiVo, and/or Apple TV?

As you might guess from this photo, the ZvBox isn't the easiest gadget to set up.

(Credit: ZeeVee)

Awhile back, I wondered aloud when we'd finally see a "Hulu box" that could stream on-demand video from that increasingly popular online video destination directly to your TV. And a couple of weeks ago, we got our hands on the first potential candidate in the form of the ZvBox. The PC accessory converts your computer's video output and makes it accessible on your home HDTV (multiple TVs, in fact, if your home is cable-ready). It also includes an RF remote with wireless-mouse functionality, so you can navigate your PC screen from afar, and pull up any computer-based media content on the TV screen--including Hulu, iTunes, BitTorrent, or whatever other Web- or PC-based video strikes your fancy.

Unfortunately, we found the ZvBox had too many caveats. ... Read more

Sony signed an agreement with the country's six largest cable companies Tuesday to develop a TV that will receive cable services without the need for a set-top box.

The Japanese electronics giant will make an LCD set based on the Tru2way cable platform introduced in January at CES by Comcast. Tru2way allows interactive cable services to be integrated directly into devices.

Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision, and Bright House Networks have all agreed to develop the technology behind Tru2way.

Sony's not the first consumer electronics company to announce a device based on the platform, however. At CES, Panasonic announced two high-definition televisions and a portable digital video recorder that use Tru2Way.

And last month Samsung, the world's largest producer of HDTVs, announced its own Tru2way TV and high-definition DVR.

(Credit: Sezmi)

We're constantly hearing that seamless integration of television and broadband video is fast approaching, but nobody's gotten it right yet. That hasn't stopped new companies from jumping into the mix.

Enter Sezmi, the latest start-up hoping to capture the market: on Thursday, the venture-backed company unveiled a piece of hardware that it claims will be able to handle broadcast and cable TV, as well as streaming and downloaded Internet video content.

Currently in testing, Sezmi has already inked partnerships with a number of broadcasters, content companies, and broadband service providers. The ambitious company hopes to start putting its wireless boxes in U.S. residences in a number of major markets by the end of 2008.

Sezmi, formerly known as Building B, isn't naming those partners yet, so it's not clear exactly how many channels or how much Web content will be accessible on the box. But the company nevertheless is willing to call its offering "a complete TV 2.0 solution." In addition to content, a Sezmi box allows for up to five personalized accounts and lets members share their video playlists with friends.

It's able to bridge the gap between television and broadband, according to Friday's announcement, thanks to an in-house technology called FlexCast.

"To deliver the full range of content that consumers expect at an affordable cost, we had to create a network that overcame the limitations of broadband and better aligned with mass-market content consumption," co-founder and president Phil Wiser explained in a release. No pricing information has been provided yet.

"Sezmi focused on the television consumer and built an entirely new television offering from the ground up to meet the needs of viewers that want a premium experience at an affordable price," co-founder and CEO Buno Pati said in Friday's release. "We have rallied support across multiple industries, and are excited to work with our partners to offer a new and differentiated TV choice to consumers."

Hey, Sezmi: Feed us more detail, and maybe we'll be more enthusiastic.