Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"If you're a Netflix subscriber you may have noticed that in the last year or so the company has rolled out a Watch Now option that lets you instantly watch some of the movies and TV shows in the Netflix library on your Windows PC with a broadband connection. More recently, in upgrading its digital offerings, Netflix has taken things a step further by separating out the Instant Queue from your DVD Queue. While the all-you-can-eat streaming video option is a nice perk for users (it's available to any subscriber on the $8.95 per month plan or better), the real dream for many people is that instead of watching movies on your PC's monitor, you cut out the computer completely and go right to your TV. Well, with the Netflix Player by Roku ($100) that has become a reality."



CNET reviews the NetFlix Player (made by Roku) and gives it a solid 7.7. This little box connects to your TV and the net (via wired or WiFi) and allows you to play your Netflix "Watch Now" streaming content directly on your TV (without having your PC turned on). It only streams video at 480i, but is capable of higher resolutions, although, for now available bandwidth is a limiting factor here. One cool thing is you can start a movie on your PC, then automagically resume the same movie from the same spot on your Netflix Player on your TV. One thing I didn't like is that you can't add new "Watch Now" content to the queue directly from the player, you have to do this from your PC. I guess this isn't too bad as long as you fill up your queue beforehand. What do you Netflix users out there think about this thing? How about non-Netflix users, would this be a reason to make a jump to their service?

"ZvBox is the first device that allows you to watch anything you can get online or on your computer from all your HDTVs. Simply connect the monitor output of your computer to ZvBox, then connect ZvBox to your home’s cable TV wiring. ZvBox takes the high resolution output of your computer, including Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, and creates a new HD channel that you can tune in alongside your other TV channels from any HDTV in the home. ZvRemote, combined with a ZvReceiver that is attached to your computer, provides full control of your computer from anywhere in the house, including multimedia and cursor control. The optional ZvKeyboard, available August 2008, makes it even easier to compose email, surf the web, and type text for desktop applications."

For some reason I keep getting the news items about new hardware with goofy names. Luckily, the killer hardware usually makes up for the goofy name, and this plain-looking ZvBox definitely pulls off a unique feat. It magically broadcasts whatever is showing on your PC, along with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, as a new HD channel throughout your house. Just tune into this new HDTV channel on any TV in your house, and voila, instant media extender! I'm wondering if it comes with any type of software interface, or do you have to fire up Media Center (or some other type of media center) software to get that 10-foot experience? Also, for $500, wouldn't it be just as easy to buy a cheap PC with Vista Home Premium (which comes with Media Center), and an HDTV output card? Do you think the ZvBox will ZvTakeoff? Or will it ZvBomb? ;-)