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A new Vudu device that streams content is set to hurt some big IT and CE players including Sony, Microsoft and Apple, with its new Apple TV.
Backed by some of the biggest of Hollywood Movie Studio’s a new streaming media box is set to be launched later this year that is set to cause problems for Apple, Microsoft and Sony. Called Vudu the box will be launched globally according to the technology web site Gizmodo http://www.gizmodo.com with thousands of movies from up to seven major studios. The Company behind the box is also negotiating exclusive deals with live sporting organisations around the world including Formula 1 and Indie as well as several football codes.
The device which does not require a connection to a PC or a streaming box like Foxtel is about the size of a sheet of paper. It streams MPEG-4 video, which is upscaled to HD. It has HDMI, composite, and S-Video ports. According to Gizmodo Vudu goes online via an ethernet cable, and the media stream is managed through a load-sharing distributed network, which should guarantee instant access to the movies without stutters.
The remote control has a scroll wheel and appears to have just five buttons. Hard drives will be optional with the base drive being 250GB. However SHN has been told that the drive bay is designed to allow consumers to upscale the size of their hard drive by walking into a local CE store and buying a standard hard drive which can be easily fitted into the Vudu device.
Missing from the device is Wi fi however insiders say that this will come in version 2.0 which will also store and stream music.
The company, Vudu, Inc., has been developing the streaming box for more than two years and in that period they have struck some major deals with several Hollywood studio’s who will allow the content to be streamed globally via host servers set up in various Countries.
The device is backed by some of the biggest names in the IT industry. The chairman of the Vudu, Inc. board is Alain Rossman, the same person who made it possible for consumers to browse the Web on a mobile device (WAP).
Originally employed at Apple hwe also founded Phone.com (now Openwave Systems), EO Corporation, and C-Cube Microsystems among others. The founder of Vudu, Tony Miranz, comes from Tahoe Networks and AT&T Bell Labs. The COO and VP of Engineering both come from TiVo. Vudu is funded by Greylock Partners and Benchmark Capital.
