For the longest time, I have thought that 2Wire might be the dark horse in the set-top box wars. The company has a very simple strategy - one wire for video, the other for broadband. Put them together, add a hard drive, layer it on top with a personal video recorder and Internet content from say Yahoo, and you have a perfect box that telecoms looking to offer triple play services can like. Well lo and behold, 2Wire has been picked to form a joint venture with none other than SBC, thanks mostly in part of its set-top box. The new company is called, SBC Media Solutions. (On a side note, I guess DISH network could become the back-end for all Virtual Satellite Providers as it competes with DirecTV!)
Despite all the hoopla around fiber to the home, video DSL and all, SBC instead of twiddling its thumbs is jump starting its triple play efforts by bundling satellite and DSL in one box, which is SBC branded and will be sold to SBC customers. 2Wire.com put out a press release which went unnoticed in all the hoopla around TiVo To Go, which is so yesterday! Look at this box - it has some serious wow factor! It has 250 gigabytes hard drive, which is about 180 hours of standard TV shows; four speed fast forward, and a built in DVD/CD player. Now why would need TiVo?
Now to the broadband part: Go to SBC Yahoo DSL page and click on the shows you want to record. A few months down the line you will be able to access the box through Cingular Wireless phones. the box will allow you to digitally stream music from your set-top box anywhere you are. (Whoops for guys Orb!) I suspect VoIP functionality is coming soon as well. So much for all the noise around Media Center PCs and TiVo.
1 trackback so far
5:59 PM PT
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nate
I’ll be sticking with Tivo. Not one competitor has been able to keep up with recordings and be as easy/nice to use as Tivo. And that’s hundreds of competitors so far.. Plus.. who wants to support SBC? Tivo works with anybody.
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: (link)
I know Adelphia has it in SoCal now. Good for the DSL/Sat companies that they are catching up to the advanced features on some cable providers tho. More competition = better for the consumer.
Comment by Jason — January 4,2005 @ (12:06 pm
2Wire MediaPortal
There’s an opportunity for set-top manufacturing companies like Moxi and 2Wire to really outclass TiVo, simply because they designing devices around a very specific set of, well, specifications. The newly announced 2Wire MediaPortal, for instance, isn…
Trackback by unmediated
I’ll stick with Tivo, thank you. Their program recording scheduler blows away every other DVR I’ve seen. Plus, knowing SBC, this box will be very expensive and work horribly. Just imagine, with your phone, long distance, dsl, satellite AND this new settop box, your SBC bill ought to be just about $175-200/month.
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9 comments so far
5:59 PM PT
Let’s hope “skip back and forward” means 30-second skip, otherwise this thing isn’t worth its weight in dog doodoo.
5:59 PM PT
HD would only be accessable to those with a HD Television set. Therefore, maybe the SD version would be better?
5:59 PM PT
“Now why would need TiVo?”
Um, to make sure that what you want recorded actually gets recorded. No one in the business has yet come close to TiVo’s comprehensive recording features.
Hardware is meaningless. It’s all about the scheduling engine.
5:59 PM PT
What a great box, and the remote that opens to allow for keyboard like entry is a great idea.
The only thing that would make it better would be to allow you to add a USB drive!! Now that would be the nuts!
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Fly in the ointment is SBC DSL. In suburban Indianapolis, I’ve been waiting 6 years for it.
5:59 PM PT
Om - Part of the Orb vs. 2Wire story that you missed though — for some reason (SBC) 2Wire won’t let you stream your TV everywhere you go! That is the killer app that Orb brings to your cell phone/pda/laptop…
11:56 AM PT
I’ve got Dish and DSL through SBC and everything works great. They’re all about consolidation so this product makes sense. I for one can’t wait to see it. I wonder if they need beta testers? They showed it at CES and from what I hear it was not quite ready for prime time. That was three months ago, surely it’s in beta now?
11:20 AM PT
to my friend unmediated, your bill might be that much a month, but guess what? ITS ONLY ONE CHECK TO WRITE!
8:16 AM PT
Anybody know the code for the IR remote to operate the 2wiremedia portal?
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