The brave New-TV world

I have been pretty happy with my HDTV solution thus far: Samsung HDTV + Networked Blu-ray player for Netflix + OTA Antenna for occasional broadcast TV. However, given recent major announcements in this space, I thought I'd atleast track the new solutions that have hit the market. I looked at four currently available solutions - Apple TV, Google TV, Sezmi and Boxee. My initial take below...

With Apple TV, a viewer is restricted to applications / web content that Apple chooses to integrate onto the Apple TV box. In return the viewer gets a slick user interface that runs on a HDTV via the $99 Apple TV box. Content available today includes videos rentable from Apple,  Netflix streaming as well as YouTube, Flickr, Podcasts and Apple Radio. Any content that a viewer has previously purchased through Apple is playable through the Apple TV box on the HDTV. In other words, the Apple TV strategy is that of "content curation combined with tight integration with the rest of the Apple eco-system".

Google TV instead has taken upon itself the task of combining all the disparate streams of content onto a viewer's HDTV. Technically a viewer can "search" for and play any content out on the internet or available through his/her cable/satellite provider on the TV (though some networks have blocked access to their web content on Google TV). The plethora of content types and content sources pose some interesting usability challenges for Google TV - I suspect that it will take some work to avoid search results overload. In addition, such a "wide" approach likely requires multiple years of building the ecosystem before the solution comes into its prime. Google TV itself runs on a $299 Logitech set top box although it can run within an adequately equipped TV as well (eg some Sony TVs).

The Sezmi solution can be characterized as "Cable over Internet. To use Sezmi, a viewer buys the Sezmi set top box  ($299) and a special antenna. The set top box enables the viewer to access the Sezmi web store from where he/she can select content for a fixed monthly subscription fee ($5/month). In addition, Sezmi broadcasts certain cable channels over-the-air to the TV - hence the special antenna to receive these broadcasts. However, one cannot access the general internet over the set top box. Thus the service appears to be a cheaper Cable-TV service.

The Boxee solution is geared towards those who want to access internet content though their TV. The Boxee set top box itself is a sleek looking $199 device made by D-link. It is essentially a computer that hooks up to a viewers TV and gives the viewer open access to content on the Internet. In addition, several well known content sites such as Netflix, Digg and the like are pre-integrated into the Boxee user interface to allow easy access to these portals. Finally, the Boxee user interface has a social element to it: "Friends" within the Boxee system can recommend content to each other and play recommendations that they have received.

In addition to the solutions mentioned above, there any number of alternatives including Roku, Vudu and Yahoo TV widgets. Just given the number of players, this space will likely stay murky for a while. But, there is clear opportunity for one or more parties to (a) deliver all available content to a HDTV (b) organize the content so that it is easily accessible.

Related articles

• Netflix streaming over a Samsung setup gets a B+ (hitechenergy.blogspot.com)
• Networked DVD players' interfaces need work (hitechenergy.blogspot.com)
• Streaming Netflix to TV: requires more research than you would expect (hitechenergy.blogspot.com)