There are plenty of ways to watch digital content on your television. Solutions run the gamut from a set of cables outputting your Mac’s A/V signals to your TV, to dedicated set-top boxes like the Apple TV, Boxee Box, or even Google’s new Google TV platform, which is currently runs on a handful of devices from Sony and Logitech. But there’s one problem: while all of these solutions are great at some things, none of them are great at everything. Frankly, I’d even settle for “good” rather than “great,” if it meant I could get all my digital content when and how I want it, without having to juggle between multiple devices, interfaces, and remote controls.
After spending weeks testing several different set-top box platforms, a few things became clear. In my mind, I started building the perfect media device. No one’s built it yet, but I hope someday some smart folks will nail it. Apple hasn’t done it yet, but the market is ripe for someone to innovate, and more importantly, simplify our digital media consumption. Here’s what I would consider to be key features of the perfect media device:
Netflix: When it comes to streaming movies, Netflix is king. And my dream device needs to have a modern Netflix interface that allows for viewing your Queue, as well as searching and browsing for new content.
Hulu: Hulu’s new $7.99 Plus subscription has plenty of gaps, but there’s a fair amount of new content available, enough to make the service compelling for network TV fans.
TiVo: Yes, even with all this streaming, I’m still a fan of traditional TV. And regular TV without TiVo is torture.
A browser: Forget all the separate “apps,” “channels,” and other add-ons the other devices use. If I want YouTube, let me go to YouTube.com. Keep it simple. And sorry Apple, in this case, I still want my Flash.
A store: Apple will open up the iTunes Store to third-parties three days after never. But I still want to be able to browse and buy or rent digital content. Amazon on Demand is well-stocked, and Vudu offers lots of HD movies. But do us all a favor. Aggregate your content into one search. No one wants to perform the same search three times to see which store is offering the first few seasons of True Blood on demand.
Music: A decent interface for tunes is a necessity. After all, this thing is already hooked up to your audio equipment. Being able to connect to iTunes servers on your network would be sweet, too.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi is a nice touch, but for big media files, nothing beats good old fashioned copper. Thow an Ethernet port on there. And you’ll have to play nice with networked storage, too.
Internal storage: Man does not live by sometimes-flaky internet streams alone. I have tons of video and audio files, and I’d like to be able to store my favorites on my device, and play them back at a moment’s notice.
USB ports: Yeah, yeah, Wi-Fi, DLNA… blah blah blah. Sometimes good old fashioned SneakerNet is best. A couple of front-mounted USB ports for quickly moving files with a flash drive is a must.
Outputs: HDMI, obviously. But not everyone has an HDTV. Composite and component video outs, and analog/digital audio outputs will cover just about everyone.
Bluetooth: For connecting a small keyboard. It’s not something everyone will want, but a full keyboard can unleash the power of a fully-functioning web browser. Not to mention making Netflix searches faster.
Form-Factor: Again, keep it simple. Sure, giving your box a funny shape makes it stand out. It also makes it not fit in my entertainment center. Don’t make the thing any bigger, or more complicated than it needs to be.
Lights: If there are LEDs, make sure there are settings for turning them off! I’m trying to watch a movie here, and that blue LED is not helping.
Remote: I don’t need a bazillion buttons. And please, don’t make all the buttons the same size and shape. I’m using this thing in the dark, while watching TV. That means I should be able to control it fairly intuitively, without looking. And the remote should be able to learn basic commands for turning my other components on or off, and adjusting the volume.
ace.neerav
December 20, 2010 at 8:21pm
I got 3 remotes currently in my living room entertainment system. 1 for my LCD, 1 for my set top cable television and 1 for my home theatre. An apple tv would mean yet another remote. this is whats preventing me from getting one. whats needed is a globally platform for a new way of content distribution which can be commonly adapted by all manufacturers.
Cutitout
December 20, 2010 at 3:48pm
I have been experimenting with cutting cable for the last three weeks. TiVo Premier answers many of your and my concerns above:
Netflix [plays queue and search is integrated with TV, Amazon, etc in front end), Hulu Plus [coming within the next month although everything available on the computer for Hulu Plus IS NOT available through TV interfaces, LAME], TiVo [TiVo], Music [ok interface and can play music of the network], Connectivity [Ethernet included, wireless available], Internal Storage [XL available and can add external HD], USB Ports [There but I don't know what they accept], Outputs [Everything you wanted], Bluetooth [Included and once I bit the bullet and bought the keyboard remote, the form factor is well worth it], Form Factor [size of a Blu-ray Player], Lights [options include], Remote [see Bluetooth remark and it is lit].
You can also send shows to your portable devices. I too really wish it had a real web browser but then look at how Google TV has been blocked because of it. Also, if it had a good blu-ray player built in even as an option I would like that too. Windows Media Center also does all this but the upfront cost seemed more and my young kids could mess it up too easy. You can also use the TiVo with the cable company in case I go back to cable. They have a free Premier box with a 2yr $20/month contract. It isn't much more than Comcasts $14 HD/DVR rental price. Sorry about the long post.
