Tag: set top box

Article

Now you can have access to the pictures and videos on your Dropbox account through this games console

Dropbox Debuts App for Xbox One | Windows Supersite

Dropbox Now Has An Xbox One App | The Verge

From the horse’s mouth

Dropbox

Blog Post

Download Link

Microsoft Store (Free)

My Comments

Some of you may be exploiting Dropbox as a media pool for the various special occasions in your family’s or friends’ life. This is because of the ability to share photos at best quality with those you want to share them with, including the ability for you to have people contribute photos and videos to the same Dropbox folder you have for that purpose.

In HomeNetworking01.info, I had outlined how you can integrate your Dropbox media-pool folders with your DLNA-capable NAS and Smart TV by copying them a folder on that same NAS. The use cases I was calling out regarding Dropbox media-pool folders include special occasions such as weddings or major birthdays, the children growing up including pictures of the new baby, or memorialising a loved one who had passed away including choosing the pictures to show at their funeral.

The Dropbox app for XBox One

This is how the XBox One can fit in to the Dropbox ecosystem

But you can have direct access to these media pools thanks to Dropbox’s first effort to target consumer-electronics devices. Here, they wrote up a native client program for the Microsoft XBox One games console. It has been achieved thanks to the ability provided by the Microsoft Universal Windows Platform to allow one to create a piece of software for a Windows 10 regular computer, a Windows 10 phone or an XBox with minimal effort to cater to that new device.

What you can do is that you can view the photos and videos and play audio files in all of the folders in your Dropbox account through your large-screen TV connected to the XBox One.

Here, you can operate its user interface using one of the XBox game controllers or the XBox Media Remote, presenting that kind of user interface expected for consumer-electronics devices such as heavy reliance on the D-pad buttons on the remote. As well, the visual interface is optimised for the 10-foot “lean-back” experience associated with the TV screen and software destined for that use case.

Ability to use USB storage devices with the Dropbox app on XBox One

You can also upload files from attached USB Mass-Storage devices to your Dropbox using this same client, which can come in handy when you want to deliver photos from your digital camera’s SD card to that media pool.

Similarly, you can download and copy the files from your Dropbox account to an attached USB Mass-Storage device. A use case for this function would be to copy choice photos from that Dropbox media pool to a USB thumbdrive that you hand over to a digital print shop like most of the office-supply stores or camera stores so you have snapshots to put in that album or show to others; or to show in an offline environment.

The ability to transfer files between your USB storage device and your Dropbox folders using the Dropbox app on the XBox One means that the largest screen in the house makes it easier to make a better call about what pictures and videos should be contributed or taken further. This is due to the fact that two or more people can see a larger image to make that better call.

Conclusion

What Dropbox is doing with their XBox application is to prove that they can write a native front-end program for their online storage service that is relevant to consumer-electronics devices and is presented with the 10-foot “lean-back” experience. Who knows if Dropbox will develop native client software for other smart-TV, set-top box and games-console platforms to allow users to gain direct access to this online service from the biggest screens in the house.

Article

Google bakes Cast capabilities into its Fiber boxes | Engadget

From the horse’s mouth

Google Fiber

Blog Post

My Comments

Sonifi, a hotel-technology vendor is working on a guestroom-TV solution that integrates Google Cast functionality in to the hotel room TVs with the ability to stream via the hotel’s public-access Wi-FI network. This was one of the first “integrated Chromecast” setups that I have heard of where you can benefit from Google Chromecast functionality without you needing to plug in a Chromecast HDMI dongle in to your TV.

Now Google have taken this concept further with the Google Fiber TV package where the set-top box has the Google Cast functionality integrated in it. Here, the client device such as your laptop, tablet or smartphone is connected to the same home network as the Google Fiber TV set-top box like what would happen with your Chromecast. You would also perform the same procedures for streaming your app’s output or Web page through the TV as you would if you were using a Chromecast.

This concept can work well if Google continues to license their Google Cast software to other companies who manufacture smart TVs or network-capable video peripherals so as to keep this functionality as a product differentiator. Similarly, pay-TV providers and multiple-play telecommunications providers could have Google Cast as a differentiator for their set-top boxes that are part of their TV services especially where the market is highly competitive. The Google Cast Audio concept can also work well with network-capable audio equipment and Google could extend the logic so that if you are “Casting” an audio-only source like Spotify, Pandora or TuneIn Radio, these sources are by default sent to the Google Cast Audio endpoints.

It certainly shows that Google can put forward their Chromecast technology as something that can viably compete with the Apple TV ecosystem and could even coexist with Miracast and other platforms that are “possessed” by a particular brand.

Article

Telstra TV media player (provisional design)

Telstra TV will offer Netflix, Presto and Stan | PC World

From the horse’s mouth

Telstra

Press Release

My Comments

Telstra are putting forward another online TV platform that will be sold alongside the T-Box PVR platform and the Foxtel pay-TV platform which they have a share in.

This will be based around a Roku-designed box which will represent the first time a Roku product has been offered in Australia. Telstra’s use of an existing platform for their Telstra TV service will allow for the quick rollout of new services to customers.

The headline feature for Australian customers is that this box supports all three main subscription video-on-demand service i.e. Stan. Presto and Netflix. They will be offered alongside Telstra’s BigPond Movies and various catch-up TV offerings.

As for network connectivity, The Telstra TV box connects to your home network via 802.11g/n Wi-Fi or Ethernet, which I would prefer people to use when they use these services if they want real reliability. Here, you can use Ethernet wired directly from your router or use it with a HomePlug AV powerline-network segment if you don’t want to deal with new wires.

The device uses an SD card and a USB port for removeable-media storage but also allows for Miracast and second-screen operation with Netflix and YouTube. Of course it comes with an infra-red remote control so you don’t always have to use your smartphone to control this device.

A question I am raising is whether it can support DLNA or VidiPath functionality for use with media held on your home network or if Foxtel bites the VidiPath bullet for whole-house pay-TV. Since this is a work in progress, one is not really sure.

It does show that Telstra want to have their fingers in many different online-video pies and they could make this box play with their existing T-Box or Foxtel video services if they want to really make it sing.

Article

Freebox Révolution – – to have a better integrated information system for video content

Les fiches de films et séries sont de retour sur Freebox Révolution | Freenews.fr (French language / Langue française)

My Comments

Free.fr have integrated Gracenote’s video-information resource in to their latest firmware for the Freebox Player which is part of the Freebox Révolution.

This is a sign where companies like Gracenote and Rovi create data storehouses of information about every movie, TV show and key celebrity. This accurate information is provided as a service to set-top box manufacturers and TV service providers so that viewers can bring up this information on the big screen relevant to the programme they are watching or are showing interest in on the EPG. These are also designed to be “source-agnostic” so you can link to shows available on air, on a video-on-demand or catch-up TV service and held on your PVR or home network.

For films and TV shows, you have access to rich synopses, cast / crew lists, mood information, genre information and the like. As well, you could bring up information about a celebrity’s biography or their filmography – which films or TV shows they were involved with. You could do this with IMDB on your smartphone or tablet. But these set-top-box / smart-TV solutions are more about having the information one click away from what you are watching or showing interest in while some implementations have the ability to work across two screens – your mobile device and the main screen.

They would also allow for the ability to highlight “like content” that is currently available to view so you can discover what else is worth watching. But a lot of these services don’t really support any externally-curated watch-list functions where a film critic, radio personality or similar person can supply a list of shows worth viewing. This is more so with people who follow sources of quality journalism like public broadcasters, broadsheet or “compact” newspapers or the good newsmagazines; along with those of us who follow blogs about films or TV content.

Personally, I would have this function based around a Webfeed that you can “send” across your home network or the Internet to your set-top box so you can see what shows to search for based on that film critic you are following.. It would also play hand in glove with movie reviewers who want to simply provide supportive reviews to these information services.

What I see of this is the ability to pull up more about what you are watching, especially when you are watching the content with someone who is a “walking encyclopedia” about films or you see someone in that show whom you remember seeing in other TV shows.

Article

Cube S OTT box from Canal+ | Advanced Television

Canal+ mise tout sur l’OTT avec son nouveau décodeur | Freenews.fr (French language / Langue française)

From the horse’s mouth

Technicolor (Thomson)

Press Release

My Comments

Most people who want to benefit from Canal+ in France were required to subscribe to this service via the telecommunications provider who would make it available via their existing décodeur equipment. This also depended on whether Canal+ had a direct partnership with their provider.

Now Canal+ is heading down the “over-the-top” route where they are able to provision their service via the Internet independently of whoever was the customer’s telecommunications provider.

This is based on a Technicolor-built DVB-T set-top box called the “Cube S” which can connect to the Internet via your Ethernet or Wi-Fi home network. It is primarily a small cube-shaped device that connects to your TV via a vacant HDMI or video input.

One of the advantages pitched by Canal+ is that the device is portable amongst locations and amongst carriers so you can keep your TV subscription even if someone offers a better broadband package than what you are on.  This is more so with a highly-competitive Internet-service market that is taking place in France where each provider races each other to provide the multi-play Internet service with the best value.

Canal+ could improve on this concept by offering the Cube S as a local PVR to record TV shows from free-to-air or their pay-TV service or work on “software-only” endpoints that are based around regular-computer, mobile or smart-TV platforms so that customers aren’t dependent on extra hardware to receive this service.

It is being seen as another way for a pay-TV provider to move away from an infrastructure-based model where a lot of money is tied up in their own infrastructure towards a model that is independent of that infrastructure. This also allows them to be sure that customers that aren’t in their infrastructure’s footprint can subscribe to the pay-TV service by virtue of their Internet provider.

Article

Time for Pay TV industry to get serious about Wi-Fi | VideoNet

My Comments

Could a smart TV like one of these be an access point for your lounge area?

Previously I have raised the idea of having integrated Wi-Fi access point functionality in consumer electronics devices as a way to provide infill coverage for your wireless network. This is due to an increasing number of network-capable consumer-electronics devices like printers, set-top boxes, smart TVs and the like having network functionality in the form of both an Ethernet socket and integrated Wi-Fi wireless networking.

Some of these devices actually repurpose the Wi-Fi network functionality as an access point during their setup routine so you can supply your home network’s Wi-Fi credentials from a smartphone or tablet for subsequent wireless-network operation. But I was drawing attention to situations like a Wi-Fi-capable smart TV installed in the secondary lounge down the back of the house where there isn’t the good Wi-FI coverage and this TV is connected to the home network via a HomePlug AV500 powerline segment, or a premium desktop printer with Wi-Fi and Ethernet used in the garage that serves as the home office and. again, is linked to the home network via a HomePlug AV2 powerline segment.

There was some attention in the TV-technology scene when AirTies put forward their Air 4920 802.11ac concurrent-dual-band wireless-network repeater which was considered capable of pushing out 4K UHDTV data streams reliably. It led to the device winning the Connected TV Award for the Best Consumer Device.  This was due to it also supporting Wi-Fi Mesh functionality which uses a mesh setup in a Wi-FI network.

But TV Connect also showed interest in a 4K set-top box which also implemented the Wi-Fi Mesh technology for receiving the data but having an integrated wireless access point. It was also targeted with the point of view of a broadband provider who provides a multi-play service that includes pay-TV being able to troubleshoot and service the Wi-FI connectivity if the connection is below par.

Of course, wired backbones are used by pay-TV providers to link set-top boxes to the home network typically to provide IPTV services, download video-on-demand content or stream content from a DVR to another set-top device servicing the bedroom TV. Typically this is facilitated using a “no-new-wires” technology like HomePlug AV powerline or MoCA  coaxial-cable which links back to the home network’s router. Why hasn’t the integrated access point functionality been investigated in these setups?

The concept can be easily implemented in to most of these devices using WPS-assisted “network-clone” functionality and automatic tuning for a simplified setup experience. As well, the ability to detect a wired-backbone connection can be used to determine whether to set up the integrated Wi-Fi functionality as a n access point, a standalone Wi-Fi network like a guest network or not run it at all.

At least those in the pay-TV scene are waking up to the idea that an access point which is part of Wi-Fi network infrastructure doesn’t have to be part of a dedicated network-infrastructure device. Instead it can be part of a device that makes use of the network.

Articles (French language – Langue Française)

Free: la prochaine Freebox sous ‘Android TV’ | ZDNet.fr

La prochaine Freebox tournera-t-elle sous Android? | DegroupNews

My Comments

Another Freebox to be the first Android set-top box

Previously, when Google premiered their Android Wear and Android L operating systems, they also premiered the Android TV operating system which was to be positioned for TV sets and video peripherals. Philips and a few other firms have showcased some TVs that run on this operating system, which can gain access to the Google Play Store, at IFA 2014.

But it didn’t take long for Free, one of France’s main telcos who are trading in a highly competitive marketplace, to put forward a Freebox décodeur (set-top box) that runs on this operating system. They are working on what the next iteration of the Freebox platform, especially when they want a second-tier model to replace the Freebox Crystal platform. They are also facing the prospect of seeing “n-box” devices that are highly capable being tendered by the competitors.

Personally, I would see certain problems appearing before Free’s eyes when it comes to supporting Google’s Play Store. Here, they would heave to support carrier billing with their accounting infrastructure so as to allow customers to buy apps and games for the Freebox décodeur through the Google app store yet have them charged against their Free.fr account. It is something that any carriers would need to support if they want to maintain the same level of integration.

On the other hand, there is the likelihood of it appealing to triple-play operators who don’t necessarily want to reinvent the wheel when it comes to working on the software for a customer-equipment platform. This may only target the set-top box (décodeur) like the Freebox Player but wouldn’t be able to target the gateway device like the Freebox Server. But with software already written for functionality like social media, video conferencing and the like, a company like Free could have people on board with these services with minimal hardware.