stb

ZDNet Resources

• sort by:
• Relevance
• Date
• Popularity

With web-based TV widgets, Yahoo will televise 'The Internet Revolution'

is this just another cable set up box?There are plenty of those already.If the cable box is included in TV's hardware than it becomes interesting.Conspicuously absent: the cable companiesNotice that nobody mentioned anybody like Time Warner, Cox, Verizon, ATT, or even DirecTV or Dish?Those companies have done their best to...

Tags: TVs, Network technology, TV & Home Theater, Web, STB, cable, Yahoo! Inc., TV

Discussion threads 2009-10-09

Ace Computers to release $999 CableCard-equipped home theater PCs

Ace Computers to release $999 CableCard-equipped home theater PCsHTPC must turn into iSTBThe concept of an HTPC makes perfect sense from the engineer's perspective... but it does not reflect the reality in terms of what the market demands.That does not mean that the market would not demand Media Center technology...

Tags: Media Center PCs, computer, STB, Media Center PC, iSTB, HTPC, PC, CableCard, home theater

Discussion threads 2009-01-01

Thoughts on Windows Media Center

I just finished signing up for the Media Center "Fiji" beta program discussed by Mary Jo Foley in a recent blog post. Media Center is the way I watch television these days. It provides guide and DVR functionality for my TV watching, turns my TV into a categorized jukebox for...

Tags: Vista, Television, Microsoft, Media Center, General, DRM, Digital Media

Blog posts 2007-04-18

Verizon's TV dreams

Verizon's TV dreamsWhat about DVR...And please let it not be the same interface/coding we see in the Cable DVR's (i.e. SA8300HD).They ain't no TiVo.I won't use itAs long as that technology is not open sourced for everybody, I refuse to use it.And that setup box must be running on Linux...

Tags: DVR, Digital video, Verizon TV, STB, open source, Verizon Communications Inc., TV

Discussion threads 2005-10-13

HDTV: Why it's only for true technophiles

What does it really cost to set up a high-definition home theater? And is it worth it? Maybe. COMMENTARY--In our last column, we regaled you with the many challenges Josh encountered on his way to setting up a high definition HD home theater. But now that it's all set...

Tags: Home Theater, HDTV, Programming, STB, Home Entertainment, Tv & Home Theater, Consumer Electronics, TVs, Personal Technology, John Morris and Josh Taylor, Technology News

News items 2002-01-18

Additional Resources

Mirage Nanosat 5.1

It's safe to say that the Mirage Nanosat 5.1 Home Theater sounds unlike any box-type satellite/subwoofer combination system on the market. While conventional box speakers project sound forward, the Nanosat speakers are designed to produce a ratio of 30 percent direct and 70 percent reflected sound. The direct sound heads...

Tags: Nanosat, speaker, Nanosat speaker, satellite, deflector

Product reviews 2009-03-25

AXMEDIS GRID Content Processing Tools LE 2.1.0 (Windows)

AXMEDIS editor and GRID AXCP tools, PnP, DRM editor, all you need to create and process any kind of content SMIl, HTML, content adaptation, fingerprint, crawling, indexing, CMS, search, retrieval, control of P2P, etc. Automating: content ingestions, processing, adaptation, protection, repurposing, database access, metadata mapping and processing, posting on database,...

Tags: Digital-rights Management, Consortium, P2P, Adaptation, Microsoft Windows, FTP, SMIL, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Digital Media, Peer To Peer (P2P), Security, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Internet

Software downloads 2009-02-09

Preserving Video Quality in IPTV Networks

Growing numbers of service providers are implementing video services over IP networks, and discovering the unique challenges of providing a high quality of experience QoE to subscribers. Delivering consistent QoE in packet-switched networks can be a complex proposition due to the high sensitivity of video traffic to packet loss, as...

Tags: Network, IP Television, IP, Video, Corporate Communications, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Networking, Marketing, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment

White papers 2008-11-01

Microsoft's Dynamic IT

While visiting Microsoft's STB Systems and Tools Business I guess meeting in Orlando, I had a chance to sit in an audience composed largely of industry analysts. Bob Muglia, Sr. VP of Microsoft's STB presented Microsoft's Dynamic IT vision. The vision, by the way,appears a bit more refined than when...

Tags: Information Technology, Vision, Microsoft Corp., Virtualization, Strategy, Storage, Hardware, Management, Dan Kusnetzky

Blog posts 2008-06-10

Netflix through your XBOX?

Netflix through your XBOX?Would that compete against Media Center Extenders?I realize the extenders and XBOX are really similar, but several new extenders were released at CES that are "quiet" and can also stream HD content over Wireless N.You can already watch movies through Vongo or Unbox I think on the...

Tags: Game players, HD DVD, DVD, Consumer electronics, Games, NetFlix Inc., Microsoft Xbox, Sony Corp., extender, Microsoft Corp., HD-DVD

Discussion threads 2008-02-19

Netflix through your XBOX?

I wish I could say I had inside knowledge about the veracity of this rumor, but sad to say, I do not. However, I desperately hope that this rumor is true, as it simply makes sense for Microsoft to do something like this. According to this article...

Tags: Game, NetFlix Inc., Console, Microsoft Xbox Live, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Xbox, Game Console, Game Players, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, John Carroll

Blog posts 2008-02-19

What+Microsoft+does+well

What+Microsoft+does+wellMice, fast food, and jet enginesSo how does a Microsoft keyboard fit into your theory?Or, looking at it from a company twice Microsoft's size at least financially: what is the "core identity" of General Electric?NOTHIINGWindows is garbage.NET is garbageSilverlight is a nonstarterXbox finally made mooney and is getting killed by...

Tags: Keyboards, PRODUCTIVITY, Game players, Strategy, developer, Microsoft Corp., keyboard, computer, new user, killer app

Discussion threads 2008-02-12

Developing a Hardware Platform for the Next Generation of Multimedia Products for a Very Large Electronics Manufacturing Services Provider

MindTree Consulting designed and developed the hardware platform for the next generation of multimedia products for a very large electronics manufacturing services provider and gave them the required competitive edge in terms of cost and time to market. The client wanted to move into the business of developing their own...

Tags: MindTree Consulting, Multimedia, Electronics, Hardware

Case studies 2008-01-26

CES: HD Camcorders, and set-top boxes, and cheap Blu-ray, oh my!

CES: HD Camcorders, and set-top boxes, and cheap Blu-ray, oh my!re:vod and cableCARDjust a headsup regarding cc's and dvr's. presently, cc's are capable of vod, its just the hardware is not enabled. on the various tivo forums, this has been discussed quite often. at some time in the future i'm...

Tags: TV & Home Theater, Blu-ray, DVD, Consumer electronics, HD-DVD, HD Camcorders, camcorder, set-top, set-top box, Consumer Electronics Show

Discussion threads 2008-01-10

Google rejects GPL in new gPhone alliance

Google rejects GPL in new gPhone allianceNot reallyUnlike the typical MS-license, the Apache license allows developers to do pretty much whatever they want with the source code, to include releasing derivatives under the GPL the two licenses are compatible.Sounds just like Microsoft "open source".;-)Their code, their licenseSounds fair enough to...

Tags: Mindshare, Google Inc., alliance member, GPL, gPhone alliance, new gPhone alliance, alliance, open source

Discussion threads 2007-11-06

All that AMD is left with is spinning the numbers

All that AMD is left with is spinning the numbersWhile I concur with your observationon the earlier performance of AMD, it's inevitable that eventually they would fall from the top. But I think this is only a short term issue (1-2 years) and that eventually the company will (I really...

Tags: Processors, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Honda Motor Co., Intel Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., AMD IS

Discussion threads 2007-07-04

The battle for the living room platform

Nintendo announced yesterday WiiWare, a program which will enable developers to create games that can be downloaded to the Wii console. Such games can be sold through the Wii Shop Channel, creating revenue opportunities for smaller-scale developers who wouldn't have the resources to create more labor intensive productions of a...

Tags: Digital Media, DRM, Media Center, Microsoft, Nintendo, PS3, Sony, Television, Wii, XBOX, XBOX 360

Blog posts 2007-06-28

Scoble: AppleTV "left the door open to its competitors"

Scoble: AppleTV "left the door open to its competitors"Proves why choosing OSX is so restrictive[i]Do we have a 16:9 1080-full-res MacBookPro out yet? No. Dell has one. So does Acer. Just look for an WUXGA screen. But Apple hasn't shipped one of those yet.[/i]I use Linux and Windows so when...

Tags: Desktops, Network technology, Apple Inc., hardware, AppleTV

Discussion threads 2007-05-30

Theories on Apple TV

Theories on Apple TVNo need to convertIf Quicktime can play it, so can iTunes. All you need is the right codecs for quicktime and you can play DiVX, AVI and WMV in iTunes without conversion.DVDs, being a physical medium, will need to be converted, though.No needSeems to me that with...

Tags: TVs, TV & Home Theater, Cyberthreats, Microsoft Xbox 360, theory, Apple Inc., Apple TV, TV, S-Video

Discussion threads 2007-02-19

Digital Transmission: Carrier-To-Noise, Signal-To-Noise & Modulation Error Ratio

This paper provides a background on several signal quality metrics applicable to CMTS and cable network operation and how they relate to overall performance. The CMTS upstream SNR and cable modem or STB downstream SNR estimates are explained. Noise, as discussed in this paper and unless defined otherwise, refers to...

Tags: Cable Network, Noise, Cable, Network Technology, Tv & Home Theater, Telecommunications, Personal Technology, Networking

White papers 2006-11-01