The Glowria IPTV Blog

XBox 360 IPTV, Apple TV: What's New in Digital Content-to-TV Devices

Between product launches at CES and the debut of Apple TV at MacWorld, devices that help consumers get their digital content via their televisions are clearly one of the hottest trends for 2007.

GigaOm's NewTeeVee blog has some great coverage of Apple TV, including a comparison against other new products like Sony's BRAVIA Internet Video Link Box, NetGear's Digital Entertainer HD, and Sling Media's SlingCatcher. 

At CES, Microsoft unveiled their new solution, which brings together the Xbox 360™ gaming console and the Microsoft® TV IPTV Edition software platform. Gizmodo has a great piece that clears up confusion about what exactly the XBox adds to the IPTV equation. The conclusion:

"it is essentially the same as the standard Microsoft IPTV software, it's simply running on a 360. Both deploying the service AND the available content is up to the providers, however, and who will be rolling out the service is still to be determined."

The devices will be available at different points in 2007, and it remains to be seen which will catch on  with consumers. Certainly availability of content, price, and variety of applicable formats will play a large part in any device's success.

(Thanks to GigaOm, engadget  and  Arstechnica)

The IPTV top 50 (or should that be "Internet TV")

Without even looking at the calendar, you can  tell it's the end of the year by the sudden pervasiveness of "top" lists. Monday, the blog IPTV Evangelist released the IPTV Top 50. The list is the result of a readers' poll looking for:

"...the most influential movers and shakers of the emerging field of Internet Television? Which individuals have created innovative technologies; lobbied for industry or regulatory change; created a killer on-line community or been the most visible personalities who are making IPTV a white-hot field for growth?"

There are a lot of familiar names on the list, particularly Chad Hurley, founder of YouTube at #1.  While the "mover and shaker" title certainly fits, YouTube does not (as the Evangelist admits) deliver IPTV content.

YouTube isn't the only questionable name on the list,  either. Not to say these folks haven't "created a killer on-line community" or aren't "visible personalities." They just aren't IPTV.

The distinction between Internet television and streaming video versus IPTV can be confusing, so in a year-end bout of reflection, I'd like to point out some articles and blog posts that deal with this issue, clarifying the differences.      

• IPTV Information's IPTV FAQ: Presents clear answers to simple questions like, "What is IPTV" and "When will I be able to watch it"

• IPTV and Streaming: Distinguishing the Differences: In this article from May 2005, Geoff Daily discusses these two approaches to content delivery, with commentary by Industry experts including Ed Graczyk, director of marketing and communications for Microsoft’s TV division, and Ken Pyle, cofounder of  Viodi.

• IPTV Vs. Internet Television: Key Differences: This post from June of 2005 again compares and contrasts the two approaches, ending with the big question - Which would you want?

• The Real Meaning Of IPTV: This article, penned by Mike Quigley, president and chief operating officer of Alcatel, begins its explaination with, ""Let's start with what IPTV is not. Specifically, it is not TV that is broadcast over the Internet."

• IPTV vs TV over IP: Om Malik puts his 2 cents in, as do his readers in the lively comments section.

If that's not enough reading, you can download the Broadband Services Forum's complete IPTV Versus Internet TV White Paperwhite paper here.

    

Key Players in Online DVD Rentals are best Positioned for VoD Success

In a December 2005 interview with Inc. Magazine, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was quoted as saying, "We want to be ready when video-on-demand happens. That's why the company is Netflix, not DVD-by-mail." While the company still views DVD rentals by mail as their core business, they are not discounting the coming importance of VoD.

Netflix has built a phenominally successful business out of providing customers with easy access to the programming they want, if not exactly when they want, at least in the order they want it. Their site features a personalized homepage with recommendations based on the customer's previous choices as well as from other customers with seemingly similar tastes. It's essentially video on demand, just with a one-to-three day lag time for shipping.

For Netflix, a transition to VoD would be very natural. Their customers already interface with the company entirely via the web. Migrating to a completely online delivery model simply leverages their popular approach, actually increasing the "when they want it" factor - no more waiting for the mail to arrive.

Video on demand also provides a strong model for operations. Netflix currently spends $300 million per year on postage, shipping over 190,000 disks per day. It's a massive undertaking with a massive inventory. I would imagine Netflix would be happy to eliminate physical DVD's and the management they require (not to mention customer complaints and even litigation), as would be possible with all digital delivery.

We do think Netflix is being shortsighted in their assumption that physical DVDs will remain the movie delivery mechanism of choice for years to come. In Europe, the large-scale transition has already begun http://public.glowria.fr/press/neuf_cegetel_glowria_en.pdf.