From: Alexander Harrowell (no email)
Date: Wed Jan 10 2007 - 10:25:31 EST
On 1/10/07, <> wrote:
>
> > > Then why can't they plug in Power, TV & phone line? That's
> > > where IPTV STBs are going...
>
> OK, I can see that you could use such a set-top box to
> sell broadband to households which would not otherwise
> buy Internet services. But that is a niche market.
>
> > Especially as more and more ISPs/telcos hand out WLAN boxen of various
> > kinds - after all, once you have some sort of Linux (usually)
> > networked appliance in the user's premises, it's quite simple to
> > deploy more services (hosted VoIP, IPTV, media centre, connected
> > storage, maybe SIP/Asterisk..) on top of that.
>
> He didn't say that his STB had an Ethernet port.
> And I'm not aware of any generic Linux box that can
> be used to deploy additional services other than
> do-it-yourself. And that too is a niche market.
>
For example: France Telecom's consumer ISP in France (Wanadoo) is
pushing out lots and lots of WLAN boxes to its subs, which it brands
Liveboxes. As well as the router, they also carry their carrier-VoIP
and IPTV STB functions. If they can be remotely managed, then they are
a potential platform for further services beyond that. See also 3's
jump into Slingboxes.
> Also, note that the proliferation of boxes, each
> needing its own power connection and some place
> to sit, is causing its own problems in the household.
> Stacking boxes is not straightforward because some have
> air vents on top and others are not flat on top.
> The TV people have not learned the lessons of
> that the hi-fi component people learned back in
> the 1960s.
>
Analogous to the question of whether digicams, iPods etc will
eventually be absorbed by mobile devices. Will convergence on IP,
which tends towards concentration of functions on a common box,
outpace the creation of new boxes? CES this year saw a positive rash
of "home server" products.
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