Connected Devices and Web TVs Special #165

Wednesday

Jul202011

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 08:52PM

Connected Devices and Web TVs Special #165

TWiST #165 State of Connected Devices and Web-enabled TVs
Not watching much TV on your TV lately? You're not alone. As connected devices drop in price and web-enabled TV sets become the norm, our viewing habits are shifting away from traditional cable and toward the fast-expanding universe of apps, direct content and streaming media. Join guests Ashwin Navin of Flingo and Steven Correa of Mahalo as they guide us through the options in this TWiST special.

For more information on Ashwin and the devices featured, go to http://bit.ly/TWiSTSpecial165.

0:00-1:00 Welcome to a special episode of TWiST!
1:00-2:00 We’re reviewing the state of web-enabled TVs and connected devices, looking at Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Boxee, Vizio and the Samsung Smart TV.
2:00-4:15 Welcome to Ashwin Navin of Flingo. He’s going to help us review all of these devices.
4:15-5:30 Thank you to Carbonite for sponsoring the show.
5:30-6:45 Steve, what are the two classes of devices we have today?
6:45-8:00 Ashwin, which of these two classes--TV sets or connected devices--is going to win?
8:00-8:30 What’s the power of this processor, is it about the same as a mobile device?
8:30-9:15 How much does that add to the cost of the television?
9:15-10:30 How big of a part of the audience are the gaming consoles? Is this a trend?
10:30-11:00 Do you see a day coming when the Xbox, for example, has different branding for a set top box versus a TV?
11:00-12:00 Should they just release another product called Microsoft Television?
12:00-13:45 So this year at Christmas, would a consumer be able to buy a non-Internet enabled TV?
13:45-14:45 The estimate is that broadband will have 30% penetration of US households by 2013, is that right?
14:45-16:00 Will every home have this technology within the next 3 years?
16:00-17:00 Steven, why do you choose not to have cable? Can you find enough on Netflix to satisfy your consumption?
17:00-19:00 Let’s take a look at the Apple TV platform. Ashwin, is Apple going to make TV sets?
19:00-20:00 What price would you guess that an Apple TV set would come out at and who are its competitors?
20:00-21:00 How much does that Samsung set cost? How often does the price drop?
21:00-22:00 Is Vizio a respected brand?
22:00-24:00 What are the key features of the Apple TV? You’re controlling that with your iPad?
24:00-25:00 Do they support Hulu on Apple TV?
25:00-25:15 Did Apple make their TV as a proof of concept experiment?
25:15-26:30 Let’s talk about the Google TV. What’s the state of it?
26:30-26:45 Does a touchscreen TV exist?
26:45-27:30 Tell us what Airplay is?
27:30-28:45 Here we have the GoogleTV and you’re controlling it with an iPad app?
28:45-30:00 Is the touchpad going to be the dominant control for these types of devices, Ashwin?
30:00-32:00 Thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the show.
32:00-33:00 Why has Google TV been a failure?
33:00-34:00 What are the highlights of the platform? What are the favorite features?
34:00-35:00 Do people want to surf the Web on their TVs?
35:00-36:30 Ashwin: Forget having to navigate to YouTube, give me a native app.
36:30-37:30 Looking at the app selection, you can choose from TMZ. Did you write the code for this, Ashwin?
37:30-38:00 What does it cost people to use Flingo to make an app?
38:00-40:00 Has Google gotten anyone to put GoogleTV as the embeded platform?
40:00- What about making money? Does the Google platform have any built in pay-per-view?
41:00-41:30 Let’s take a look at the Roku. What are the features?
41:30-42:30 Is this an app platform?
42:30-44:00 How do they make their money, off the hardware?
44:00-45:00 So CrunchyRoll licenses their content and sells it only on this platform? You can’t get it on cable?
45:00-46:00 Boxee is a startup out of New York funded by Fred Wilson. Tell us about it.
46:00-47:00 Who is using this? Is it the geek choice?
47:00-47:45 What apps does Boxee run?
47:45-48:30 Ashwin, are you betting on the Web winning?
48:30-49:45 Is the best advice to make an app on each platform that points to the HTML experience?
49:45-50:15 Let’s move on to the TV sets.
50:15-52:30 What percentage of people bought an ethernet cable to run these TVs?
52:30-54:00 Do you have any idea about what the preliminary engagement on an app like this is versus on the TV?
54:00-54:45 So here you have another iPhone app to control this Samsung set?
54:45-55:15 Can the Internet handle have everyone in the world having one of these?
55:15-57:00 Steven, where does it pull your photos and videos from?
57:00- So you can use Samsung as the billing engine and buy everything from there?
58:30-1:01:15 Looking ahead at the landscape: Roku is coming out with a new model, Apple is rumored to be launching a set top TV in 2012, etc. Who looses in all of this?
1:01:15-1:03:15 Are people going to start building iPad-like devices to sell with the TVs?
1:03:15-1:04:00 What about streaming from HDRs and the concept of HDRs in general?
1:04:00-1:05:30 So now we have an arms race between Time Warner, Comcast and DirecTV?
1:05:30-1:06:30 What about first run movies? Will that be an actual trend to consume those outside a theatre?
1:06:30-1:07:30 Thank you to the producers and tech team. And thank you to GoToMeeting and Carbonite for sponsoring the show.
1:07:30-1:08:00 Thank you so much for joining us today Ashwin and Steven. And a special thank you to Executive Producer Mary Ann Halford for her contributions.
1:08:00-1:08:45 Free Aaron.

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