[Hooch Tan]

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/...p-box-with-ads/

"A company called ZillionTV is pulling the covers off yet another set-top box Wednesday that will let you watch movies and other video from the Internet on your TV. Yawn. That’s right, it’s just like boxes from Apple, Roku, Vudu, 2Wire and so many more. It won’t even be available until the fall. And at first, it will have much the same content you can get from other places — recent and old movies and some network shows starting the day after they air."

The set-top market must be seen as extremely lucrative.  It seems as if everyone and their mother is coming out with a set-top box.  ZillionTV's solution includes no hard drive and is intended for streaming video only.  However, unlike the Roku and Vudu, ZillionTV intends on selling their product to ISPs only.  To me, this seems to be the only way any company that doesn't have a big brand behind it can find any number of sales.  The complete reliance on an Internet connection and the personal details you may have to give up for free viewing does have me worried.  Also, no details have been given in terms of video quality.  I suspect that techdirt's analysis will probably be correct in that this may just be another in the line of failed set-top boxes.  Would any of you consider something like the ZillionTV over something from Apple or NetFlix?

[Hooch Tan]

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/...p-box-with-ads/

"A company called ZillionTV is pulling the covers off yet another set-top box Wednesday that will let you watch movies and other video from the Internet on your TV. Yawn. That’s right, it’s just like boxes from Apple, Roku, Vudu, 2Wire and so many more. It won’t even be available until the fall. And at first, it will have much the same content you can get from other places — recent and old movies and some network shows starting the day after they air."

The set-top market must be seen as extremely lucrative.  It seems as if everyone and their mother is coming out with a set-top box.  ZillionTV's solution includes no hard drive and is intended for streaming video only.  However, unlike the Roku and Vudu, ZillionTV intends on selling their product to ISPs only.  To me, this seems to be the only way any company that doesn't have a big brand behind it can find any number of sales.  The complete reliance on an Internet connection and the personal details you may have to give up for free viewing does have me worried.  Also, no details have been given in terms of video quality.  I suspect that techdirt's analysis will probably be correct in that this may just be another in the line of failed set-top boxes.  Would any of you consider something like the ZillionTV over something from Apple or NetFlix?

[Felix Torres]

Here!
I'd consider it.
But you need to understand that its not a Netflix competitor, exactly.
Its going after the Hulu market; its a competitor to cable TV subscriptions.
And they seem to be offering customers an ala-carte choice of channels and payment methods; you can sign up ad-supported "free" content (which is where the personal info comes in) or just buy individual pieces of content for ad-free viewing.
Given that its a competitor to traditional cable service, it is doubtful very many cablecos will support it or the big telcos.
Which leaves the dsl resellers and independent cablecos.
However, there is a wild card; if Wimax or powerline broadband ever amount to anything but a pipe dream or if they move to direct consumer sales, by-passing isps, then they'd have a shot at a large audience.
Otherwise they'll have a hard time getting enough scale quickly enough to compete with Hulu. Especially if Hulu pops up on XBOX 360.

Their control scheme is very interesting, though.