Wireless PC-to-TV product market is heating up

During last week's Webcast - Connected TV Outlook - I had looked at PC-to-TV connections as one iteration of a "connected TV" experience. The number of U.S. households making connections between a computer and their high-definition display to watch online video is not insignificant - it was nearly six million households at the end of last year and it's expected to exceed ten million households this year.

This could spell an opportunity for developers of wireless PC-to-TV links. We've seen reference designs from companies such as Alereon and icron, and now we're seeing end-user products from the likes of IOGEAR, NETGEAR, and Wisair. The latest entrant is ASUS, which will use AMIMON's wireless technology for its upcoming WiCast EW2000 PC to TV connectivity kit.

Following up with Icron after CONNECTIONS

In reflecting on some of the highlights of an outstanding CONNECTIONS™ 2009 event June 2-June 4, the introduction of new solutions to enhance the way in which entertainment content is enjoyed was a significant theme. I moderated a panel titled Extending the Reach of Wired Networks and Interfaces that showcased recent efforts in powerline networking, developing extensions to HDMI over twisted-pair, and Icron’s PC-on-TV solution. Rick Merritt at EE Times attended that session and wrote an article discussing the potential fit for the solutions offered by Icron Technologies, Silicon Image, Synerchip, and Valens Semiconductor.

When I was introduced to the Icron solution last September, I was intrigued by the solution that can basically extend a home computer desktop onto a high-definition TV using different types of standard networking solutions (be they Ethernet, “no-new-wires,” or wireless). I think that there’s good potential for products that allow consumers to access Web content on their TVs without going through devices like the digital media adapter or expensive solutions that don’t seem to work quite right.

Brian Donnelly, Icron’s vice president of sales and marketing, who walked me through a demonstration at CONNECTIONS last week, followed up on that article with some notes he wanted to clarify. Brian notes that Icron would be complementary to Valens or Synerchip, as their customers might implement Icron’s solution for whole-home video+USB-type of extensions. He also notes that Icron uses other company’s video chipsets (uncompressed and H.264 encoders/decoders) as part of their solution. So, they’re not looking to create a new video compression chip, but rather work with the solutions that are out there already and add remote USB functionality to enable a true PC on TV experience.

Icron’s “special sauce” – in wonky parlance – they multiplex all the data channels together (video, audio, USB) and perform various QoS and flow control optimizations as well as overall system optimization – this means that Icron has figured out how to ensure priority of the different data types so that your keyboard and mouse (and other USB I/O devices) are immediately recognized and processed as well as ensuring that video/audio are delivered in a very high quality format.

I’m told that products using the Icron PC-on-TV solution will be available in Q1 of 2010. I’ll look forward to seeing how the solution gets implemented.

ViewSonic ViePC/LinkPC - why bother with the home network?

This announcement from ViewSonic caught my eye. They've developed something called the ViePC (although it looks to go by the name of the LinkPC, too). It's a $399 low-cost PC that runs Windows XP and can attach to any VESA-compatible TV.

If companies can get into the low-cost PC market with computers that include at least some media capability (maybe it's the ASUS Nova P20 or the Mac mini), why wouldn't I use that to get media on my PC instead of a cumbersome and often disappointing home networking experience? You know the run-ins I've had with products like digital media adapters and even the ZvBox (buzz and all). I'm still hopeful that we'll see a decent (and affordable) PC shifting device come to market that will provide a low-cost and easy way to display what's on my PC on my high-definition television. I was pleased to have Robert Eisses from Icron on one of my CONNECTIONS Summit at CES panels last week, and they are doing work with different PHY networking companies to shift the PC to the TV. That may be a great solution for me to watch Hulu on the TV or listen to my favorite Internet radio station through the whole-house speakers.

However, I wonder if the real momentum will be made by PC manufacturers who marry some basic media capability, low-cost, and some basic industrial design elements to finally give us a feasible solution for the Internet TV. Why not provide the low-cost PC plus an RF-based remote control to access the content?

By the way, the title of this post wasn't meant to imply that home networking wasn't important. Obviously, these "AV PCs" are going to use a wireless or "no-new-wires" network to connect to the router and to the other home network devices to pull content.

Parks Associates adds value to TelcoTV with research workshop

Parks Associates will be hosting the workshop Business Cases for Emerging Video Services at TelcoTV 2008 on November 11. TelcoTV, November 11-13, the Anaheim Convention Center, is the premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy.

The workshop addresses the business case for emerging video services, including multichannel television and broadband video. Parks Associates forecasts that by 2012, almost 33 million U.S. households will have broadband services capable of streaming high-definition video. This finding adds new dimensions to the television services market, which grew to over 800 million households worldwide in 2007. Telco/IPTV services in particular jumped to more than 13 million households in 2007.

Presenters:
Jayant Dasari, Parks Associates
Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates

Sessions:
Building a Compelling Television Service
Broadband Video: To the TV and Beyond
How the Internet Meets the Television
The Business Case for Advanced Advertising Features
Building the Interactive Advertising Business Case

Speakers:
Nimrod Ben-Natan, Harmonic
Steve Borelli, Integra5
Jonathan Bokor, TANDBERG Television
Matt Cannard, Widevine Technologies
Brian Donnelly, Icron Technologies
Jason Harvey, ActiveVideo Networks
Leszek Izdebski, Cisco Systems
Howard Rubin, SeaChange International
Paula Suthern, Ensequence
Adam Tom, RGB Networks

Attendees receive information about the competitive environment for television services, insight into video trends and advertising business models, and consumer data on use cases and preferences.

During TelcoTV, Kurt Scherf is moderating the session Integrating the Social Network Experience: Fad or reality? on Wednesday, November 12, from 4:30-5:30 p.m.