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Quick Jump Menu to this Month’s Articles Hey Baby, Are You a Media Player? Fiber to the Home or Financed to the Hilt? Project Management 101 Distributed PBX – a Churn Reducer? A Small Tribute to a Great Man Fall, iTVcc Update <\/p>\n
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June, 2003 Issue <\/b><\/p>\n
THE VIODI VIEW<\/b><\/p>\n
In this Issue: Media Player, FTTH, Small Tribute\/Great Man and More…<\/em> <\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0 <\/p>\n Hey Baby, Are You A Media Player?<\/strong> <\/p>\n So, I learned that Geraldo is not the only media player around. The other MediaPlayer is a compact set-top box from Prismiq<\/strong> <\/a>(pronounced prizmick). This device connects to the Internet and a user’s home PC and decodes MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and DivX\u00ae video files; MP3, WMA and WAV audio files; Internet Radio Stations; and JPEG image files for display on a standard television. This relatively inexpensive device [$250 quantity one from their web site] could offer telcos another way to get into to interactive television and VOD<\/strong>. <\/p>\n Prismiq has created a new product category that they call a, “Network Entertainment Gateway”. They define devices in this category to be those that “play and display media files from home computers, connect the television to the Internet and act as a platform for broadband services (VOD, IPTV, etc.).” The key is that it plays all kinds of files and not just a single type. <\/p>\n In my way of thinking, Prismiq has combined the functionality of a video decoder card along with a CPU and browser into a compact package that essentially allows a home PC to be extended anywhere in the house either via Ethernet or wireless (WiFi) network<\/strong>. What makes it intelligent is that one can browse the web without having to be connected to their PC. <\/p>\n One of the things that impressed me about this set-top is that it “found” the network and I was immediately surfing the web. A PC is not required for basic web surfing, online chat and email (only web mail services are supported). Accessing video and audio files, even if they are on the Internet, requires a PC loaded with the included MediaManager software. The PC doesn’t have to be state-of-the-art, but it does require at least a 300 MHz Pentium II, 128 Mbytes of RAM and a network connection.<\/p>\n This software essentially turns the PC into a low-cost server<\/strong>. I tested the complete system with various MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files loaded on my home PC and found the performance to be quite good. It was a very convenient way to convert an MPEG file to a VHS tape as the output of the Prismiq set-top fed my VCR, so I didn’t have to do any rewiring to connect the PC to the VCR. The set-top also made it easy for family and friends to watch some MPEG home movies around the television, instead of the PC screen.<\/p>\n Practically speaking, I don’t know how many people will use this device in the ways I just described. There are a few more applications, however, that could open up the market for this set-top, especially as a low-cost tool<\/strong> for independent telcos to take their first steps in interactive television:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Prismiq has an integration partnership with SnapStream<\/strong>, a company that makes software that can turn a PC into a Personal Video Recorder. A PC outfitted with a video card or a television tuner, a hefty hard-drive and the SnapStream software can be as robust as any of the PVR appliances currently on the market. The Prismiq MediaPlayer allows the playback of pre-recorded programs on the viewer’s television set.<\/p>\n Similarly, content could be downloaded via the Internet directly to the PC’s hard-drive with playback via the MediaPlayer. <\/p>\n Part II<\/strong> of this article will appear in next month’s Viodi View and will focus on how this sort of product could help a telco move into iTV and VOD. <\/p>\n Next Article<\/a><\/p>\n Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n Last Month’s Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Please forward this free publication to anyone you know who is involved in some way with independent telephone companies. <\/p>\n Mission of the Viodi View:<\/p>\n In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information on Viodi’s efforts to unite the independent telephone company’s interactive television efforts, please send an email to vodalliance@viodi.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/p>\n The Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] and its associates used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, the Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.<\/p>\n Click Here to Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n Click Here to Unsubscribe<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2003 Viodi, LLC<\/a>. All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Click Here to Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Last Month’s Issue<\/a> <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n
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