TiVo++ from India 161
charmer writes "According to a story in rediff, a company in India, Divinet Technologies, have developed a set top box that plays video cds, offers sms, email, chat, plays mp3s, acts as a game box, has a web cam, video on demand, and a digital VCR, and has a multilingual interface (a necessity in India.) And it looks pretty good too :-) No pricing given though."
Real-Video-on-Demand, RealMedia (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Real-Video-on-Demand, RealMedia (Score:1)
Re:Real-Video-on-Demand, RealMedia (Score:2)
Amazing: read this (Score:2)
The shame is that it doesn't have an internet connection?
you can chat online (when you're not actually 'online')
Wow, thats pretty tricky
The email can be in any Indian language
No english then?
Seriously, it does look like it has everything.
I want one.
Me want one, too (Score:1)
ANd since tech jobs are moving to India...hmmmm
Available Out Of India? (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean I really can't be bothered building a small computer just to integrate into my home tv setup.
Of course the price could end up being more than building your own computer to connect up?
This is not a standalone unit - don't order this. (Score:5, Insightful)
From the article (you did, read it, didn't you?)
If you did buy one of these, you'd have to run that wire all the way back to India.yo.
Not for me (Score:2, Troll)
Not for me. If it's from India, I won't buy it. I'm tired of sending money to India.
Stretching (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong. I want one. Now.
Any plans to come to the US soon?
Re:Stretching (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Stretching (Score:1)
N
Re:Stretching (Score:1)
Re:Stretching (Score:2, Funny)
Are you kidding? The MPAA and RIAA want Bush to invade India next now. "IP terrorists!"
Re:Stretching (Score:1, Troll)
I bet it doesn't have deodorant.
Article Text (Score:4, Informative)
A TV set that combines the Internet with a VCR, Web cam, Karaoke system and more. Possible? Yes
To begin at the beginning, a couple of questions: What costs less than a dial-up connection, but gives you broadband Internet access upto 10 MB per second? What uses your TV set to offer Real-Video-on-Demand, SMS, email, chat, unlimited MP3s, online gaming, video-conferencing, telephony, and interactive education? What doubles up as your VCD, Web cam, Karaoke system, jukebox and VCR?
The answer: The WICE box.
Developed by P R Eknath, Sanjay Wandhekar, and B P Narayan -- founder members of CDAC, the brains behind India's PARAM-supercomputer, and currently the management team at Divinet Access Technologies Ltd, Pune -- this little gizmo is no larger than an overhead projector. Called the WICE (Window for Information, Communication and Entertainment) Box, or WICEMAN, it is Eknath's brainchild; his dream of creating a generic platform that can run any application.
The best thing is, it is a boon to India's Net users.
"The actual implementation was done by Sanjay Wandhekar, ex-coordinator of hardware technology group at C-DAC," says Eknath. Wandhekar has more than a decade of experience in systems and ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) design and is an expert in converting scientific concepts into marketable products. "Name the application and we will make it happen on this network," he adds, confidently.
The technology, also known as RAMNet (Remote Access Metropolitan Network), runs on a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). Eknath explains: "Being in a local loop, the speed is tremendous and a digital signal ensures the highest quality with zero distortion. It consists of a Distribution Module (DM) box installed in every building or multi-dwelling unit (MDU), with a WICE box in every user's house. Each DM supports 16 users. A single wire brings you all the services."
Plug your TV into the WICE box and a fluorescent green menu prompts you to select from live channels, Video-on-Demand (VOD), MP3 music, chat and learning, email and SMS. The joy comes from knowing that you pay only for the TV channels you watch!
"We are implementing a Conditional Access System (CAS)," says Eknath. "No more paying for 80 channels when all you want is Star Plus and BBC. Also, you can record your favourite TV programmes and view them at leisure, just like a VCR." You can also record remotely, using SMS!
VOD lets you watch your choice of movie at your convenience. You can fast-forward, rewind or pause, as if it's your own mini-movie theatre. "In fact, one client wants to build movie theatres with no regular movies running. You hire the theatre, select the movie and watch it with your own crowd," says Eknath. Stunned yet? There's more. Such as unlimited MP3 titles. You can also use the Karaoke function and re-record classics using your own voice.
The icing on this huge cake is the email and chat without an Internet connection. When Anupam, Divinet's multilingual software expert (and also the brain behind CDAC's GIST technology), actually sent me email on my cellular phone using the TV set I was staring at, I began looking at it as if it were the eighth wonder of the world.
The email can be in any Indian language, you can chat online (when you're not actually 'online'), and even see the person you're talking to if you choose video-conferencing. Your email address is Yourname.number@DivinetAccess.com [mailto], incorporating a unique identification number for every user.
If that's not enough, the RAMNet also allows you to SMS without a cellular phone. Type your message on the TV screen, enter the recipient's number and send. Since it runs on MAN, the services are within your city limits, but Eknath soon plans to provide inter-city access using content replication. "There is no need for movies and MP3 files to travel globally. They can be accessed from a l
Re:Article Text (Score:2)
While the box pulls together a couple of cool technologies, I don't think there is anything innovative enough here to make this product worth the hype given the privacy concerns. The big innovation is th
I have to wonder... (Score:3, Insightful)
I mean, the development of these type of technology used to be the patrimony of the US. Later on, it shifted to Far East (Japan) and now we see really cool gadgets being developed in India.
A sign of what's to come? Is this the result of the US losing their position as main providers of R&D? What will be left afterwards? An economy of service?
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:5, Insightful)
Oddly enough, American technology is to a large extent, devleoped by Indians. Consider this: about 30% of Microsoft employees are Indians. Similarly, NASA has more than 25% Inidans.Outside of Seattle, the only other development centers for MS is in Hyderabad, Inida and Israel.
Secondly, remember that American Corporate success depends on countries like India for their markets. Why'd you think Bill Gates spent 4 days in India? Philanthropy? AIDS aids? Think again.
"I mean, the development of these type of technology used to be the patrimony of the US."
See what this has led to... most of the innovation in the US suffers from this self-centred outlook. The Media-Center PC edition is an example. Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic etc. have now joined to put Linux onto their electronics. American tech focusses on 'lock-in' and 'lock-out' rather than 'features' and open-ness. Take GPS, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Adobe as examples.
Cellphones within the US are generally a few generations behind Europe, Japan and even India!!
" Is this the result of the US losing their position as main providers of R&D?"
On the contrary, it's the result of pampering a few US entities for actions which Americans wouldn't stand for, from other nations. I'd name Microsoft, Adobe, Qualcomm etc. in this list.
It's also a result of the American education system, though I'd need to write a lot to explain this.
"What will be left afterwards?"
The fruits of what's been sown. For starters, I'd suggest Americans need to be more understanding, tolerant and mature. There's no need to get angry at the French or paranoid about job-loss to third-world Indians. A little introspection will go a long way.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:4, Interesting)
I feel for the average American who has troubles to make ends meet. I feel for anyone, American or not, who works for a meager salary and this shifting into development to other countries rather than US will only bring poverty to people who do not have a safety net.
I used to be socialist, then I moved to Europe and saw first hand what a crippled, backwards system socialism can be and now I no longer know what I am... but one thing is sure, I sleep better knowing that there is a layer of protection between me and abject poverty.
Anyways, not to go off topic, what I meant to say is that if this trend continues, we can expect to see more troubles for the average American. That's never a good thing and not because they are Americans, but because they have the same rights than anyone else to make a decent life.
Forget about Top-Down socialism (Score:3, Insightful)
The two classic problems, as I see them come from BOTH sides... Capital is mis-defined, and Social planning for the "Common Good" makes no sense when it is being carried out by a priveleged class of managers.
So , redefine Capital as EVERYTHING you need to produce: ie, traditional capital + the bioinfrastructure we need for life on earth. How can
Socialism works... (Score:2)
As for Socialism, it has mostly been a lie. Most of what passes for "Socialism" is just an extension of the Capitalist Welfare State. Ie: let's have social programs run by bureacracy and private corporations. Meh. How are you going to guarantee the effectiveness of such programs if their MAIN stakeholders are SYSTEMATICALLY EXCLUDED from developing vision, mission, policy, and decision-making? How? You aren't.
I don't know where you get your information, but in most
Re:Socialism works... (Score:2)
As for soc
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:1)
I don't really know that that is true. Anytime anyone develops better technology, it generally helps the global economy regardless of the source.
Sure, they might make it and sell it here, and they might improve their tech i
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, what about the 'emerging markets' - China, India, ... ? Do you really think they are as stupid as just letting Western businesses in and take over eve
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:5, Insightful)
Western capitalist markets are based on continuous long term growth. Yet it is plain obvious that the markets cannot grow forever. This means that system is fundamentally flawed and will have to be modified in the future towards conservation of resources, controlled markets and zero-growth economies.
How this will be achieved, however, is unclear since the public has been brainwashed to believe that (representative) democracy and capitalism are the same thing. Just try saying that there is something wrong about capitalism or the reckless consumption based societies and you are immediatelly labelled as a luddite and communist who is hell-bent on replacing democracy with a Soviet-like dictatoriship.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:1)
Plainly obvious to who, exactly?
"This means that system is fundamentally flawed and will have to be modified in the future towards conservation of resources, controlled markets and zero-growth economies."
Ah, commies. I see.
Actually, almost all models have infinite growth.. (Score:2)
Three of the four fundamental parameteres, labor, capital and land (resources) are naturally bounded. But the fourth and final parameter, technology is usually considered unbounded in just about every economic
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:3, Insightful)
You are right to a point. The American economy has gradually shifted to servicing only the get-rich-quick markets. Now, the US may be in for a serious depression, but I don't think it's appropriate to call it the end of the line. Companies will simply (*GASP*) have to go back to making good products that consumers want, then all will be right with the world once again(tm). Until then, enj
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:1)
Which sounds rather like something someone in the 70s would have said about, say, the Japanese taking over the auto market and much of other US manufacturing industry. Oops, then we discovered personal computers and there came another thirty years of growth based on new technology.
America only has "nowhere to grow anymore" if people decide to sit on their backsides and whine r
CDAC setup to build supercomputers (Score:5, Insightful)
Hmm - No. Not due to job outsourcing... but its certainly a result of technology that was born in the US.
I said "No" because the people behind this are (from the article) "founder members of CDAC, the brains behind India's PARAM-supercomputer". If I recall correctly, CDAC was setup [cdacindia.com] by the Government of India in the late 80s as a direct consequence of the US *withholding* export of supercomputers to India for fear it would be used for defense research (more specifically, nuclear research). As a result, the CDAC people built massively parallel supercomputers from off-the-shelf CPUs (IIRC, they still used American CPUs - off-the-shelf 8086s (?) to begin with). They have some very cluey guys with a lot of experience born from research efforts [cdacindia.com] like creating the complex electronics for interfacing supercomputers. Now it seems some of those people are moving to the private sector - kind of like with Govt. spending jumpstarting the computer revolution in the US.
A sign of what's to come? Is this the result of the US losing their position as main providers of R&D? What will be left afterwards? An economy of service?
I think every country needs a *balance* of free trade and protection of weaker industries. A "we can sell to you, but you can't sell to us" mentality is ultimately is bad for everyone concerned; from what I understand, 2/3rds of US income derives from exports.
At the end of the day, I'm sure your leaders have an eye on industry and employment figures. If not, you elect new ones.
Re:CDAC setup to build supercomputers (Score:1)
Sure, if you want to be poor. In the short term, allowing weak industries to fail may be harmful to the people who work in them, but in the long term, "protecting" them makes everyone poor.
No-one benefits from having to pay artificially high prices for the goods they buy due to protectionist policies, and the money spent on those weak industries could much better be spent developing real, profitable new products tha
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:5, Insightful)
Do you seriously think that US companies could not have invented a convergence box like the one above? Absolutely not. Afterall, US perfected the use of TiVos and other flavors of PVRs, which got hacked and modified initially. Then if you remember, TiVo bent under the Advertising Corporations' pressure and went from a hacker-friendly box preducer to an essentially a closed, DRM device producer with Series 2. You can't easily hack it anymore to fetch the data, modify software, etc.
So this move from lobbies and corporations who felt that TiVo was cutting into their advertising pie, seriously hampered the ability of producers to put out better, cheaper, open devices. No one is willing to give market something which would be designated to please both the population and the corporate entities who feel they're getting ripped off (For the record, I believe these allegations hold no ground). There are no companies dumb enough to go against already-established PVR makers, additionally opening second and third fronts with DVD and console producers in the competition department. MPAA, RIAA, DMCA and other 4-letter evils will rain down on this producer till they crack under pressure.
So yeah. You should first and formost blame the corporate forces for slowing down technology for the sake of few millions in advertising revenue.
That's my take on it.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:3, Informative)
The thing that the advertiser hates is the 30 sec. skip. All Tivos still have the 30 sec skip disabled. To enable it, press select, play, select, 3, 0, select. The Tivo will chime 3 times. Now, when you hit the the key marked ->|, instead of going to the end of the show, you get a 30 second skip. I don't see any indicat
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe they've skipped actual innovation and gone straight for management and marketing.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:1)
ROFLMAO.
Sorry, had to say it.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:2, Insightful)
RIAA/MPAA is a reason this.
It would be very easy for US company to put ASIC for enconding/decoding MPEG-4, off the shelf CPU, standard replacable IDE hard-drive, ability to fetch program information via XMLTV, Linux, ethernet connection, etc.. in a single box.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:1)
And then, they'd sell it exactly once, with no further revenue. Better to bemoan the RIAA/MPAA and claim that the devices must be locked down to be sold at all, then charge a subscription fee for the decryption keys . . .
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:2, Interesting)
Still, it sounds like a neat gadget to put next to my TV, and as we here inNorway uses PAL... all I have to do is to convince my cable-provider to support it.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:4, Interesting)
If the US ideology had been isolationist and protectivist (and it hadn't tried so hard to "open up" markets in the rest of the world) I could sympathize with your position. But it wasn't, and I don't.
Re:I have to wonder... (Score:1)
That's pretty much it, yes. Manufacturers have been bailing out of the US before the ink was dry on NAFTA [nafta-sec-alena.org], in the name of competitive balance. (Thanks a bunch Bill Clinton! Couldn't you have stuck to shafting interns instead of the rest of the country?)
H1-B is going to cease to be an issue because the Fortune 500 doesn't need programmers to actually live in the States. No
Convergance and Colour (Score:4, Interesting)
"Appreciate the technology and efforts but reality is that no convergence device other than clock radio has succeded. Put the consumer first and you will
Also I don't like the red....
Rus
No DVD (Score:4, Informative)
"This is a wonderfull machine but it can only play these sing-cry-kiss movies from Bollywood"
Re:No DVD (Score:3, Informative)
Thanks, MPAA! You're everybody's pal!
Re:No DVD (Score:2, Interesting)
Sounds like a hack waiting to happen :)
I'm not sure why, but the VideoCD format is much more popular in India than the DVD format. At least, this was true a couple of years ago when my dad was there. It could be because of the region lock, but then there are plenty of players [dvdrhelp.com] that have workarounds for that. Note that not all players on that page support many regions, but it's a good place to find out if yours does.
Ravi
Re:No DVD (Score:2)
Sounds Useful (Score:5, Funny)
Or you can read an SMS that tells you to check your e-mail that contains an chat log reminding you to record a show tonight.
Or you can chat with your web cam. Wait, that's not right. This device can do so many goddamned things I'm getting confused.
Stupid question (Score:5, Funny)
To begin at the beginning, a couple of questions: What costs less than a dial-up connection, but gives you broadband Internet access upto 10 MB per second? What uses your TV set to offer Real-Video-on-Demand, SMS, email, chat, unlimited MP3s, online gaming, video-conferencing, telephony, and interactive education? What doubles up as your VCD, Web cam, Karaoke system, jukebox and VCR?
Linux!
But it doesn't run linux, does it? (Score:1, Funny)
not because of outsourcing (Score:4, Interesting)
Links to da Box (Score:5, Informative)
Still no pricing though.
Check out their FAQ [divinetaccess.com] tho and it says one of the reasons PPL should prefer their services is:
"Future: Telephony @ affordable cost."
Re:Links to da Box (Score:3, Insightful)
If this thing works at all, I think it must be in beta phase of implementation (the site claims the box alone has been beta teseted). Don't expect it within th
Looks like I'm going to India! (Score:5, Interesting)
Is the American tech industry slipping because of copyright battles? Will we be importing more devices from India than Japan in the future or will devices like WICE be banned in the US because they may be considered a violation of the DMCA?
AllI know is that I would love to have a box like that without having to know all sorts of software and hardware hacks/tricks just to make it work on Linux. And they put it in such a pretty (but bright!) box!
Maybe they'll offer skins
HDTV (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:HDTV (Score:4, Interesting)
Considering that I can fit a 100+ minute movie at very-near DVD quality on a 700MB CD-R, I don't think HDTV will be a problem. Granted, set-top boxes will need more powerful processors to compress to MPEG4 rather than MPEG2, but it's not THAT big of a problem.
Personally, I would prefer to see more devices using VP3... It's open, and at low bitrates, I saw fewer noticable artifacts in a VP3 file, as compared with a similar size MPEG4 file...
RANT:
Maybe I'm the only one that notices, since everyone is all too happy to use them, but I hate all the video artifacts I see with MPEG-based codecs (compression blocks, aliasing of straight edges, rainbow discoloration of complex objects like pin-striped suits, etc)... What would be perfect (literally) would be to use MNG for video (I hear some people have successfully stuck MNG in an OGG wrapper along with audio). So you'd have (PNG) video, and in a size probably comparable to MPEG2, but no need for lossy compression that distorts the video (look at nearly identical consecutive MPEG2 frames and you will notice that solid colors are made up of a rainbow of colored pixels, and the pixels change color each frame).
So, MPEG has annoying artifacts, and all of the open codecs use the same ideas, hence similar artifacts. VP3 is the only codec I have experience with that didn't appear to have the same artifacts (and coincidentally looked better as well) but I admit I don't have as much experience with it as I'd like to. I can't difinitively say VP3 is better, but in multiple cases it has held it's own.
Hey do you know where you saw it? (Score:2)
If you got a link to a codec anywhere that could be used in Virtualdub or some other encoding program, please tell me about it. I've been looking for a high-compression lossless codec (huffyuv is a rather light codec for capturing) for archival purposes but not found any. I don't believe the fil
Re:Hey do you know where you saw it? (Score:2)
The only thing I have heard about is an experimental effort... You can find the same information in the Vorbis.com archives I believe.
I haven't heard any mention of a Windows codec, and even if I get involved, I wouldn't be working on a Windows version myself.
I still believe MNG vi
Re:HDTV (Score:2)
Considering that I can fit a 100+ minute movie at very-near DVD quality on a 700MB CD-R, I don't think HDTV will be a problem. Granted, set-top boxes will need more powerful processors to compress to MPEG4 rather than MPEG2, but it's not THAT big of a problem.
Personally, I would prefer to see more devices using VP3... It's open, and at low bitrates, I saw fewer noticable artifacts in a VP3 file, as compar
Found their website and more info.. (Score:5, Informative)
More Information on the Technology here [divinetaccess.com]
Hardware Costs (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, how is the networking the boxes depend upon better or cheaper or immune to the same problems with rolling out broadband or cable access, elsewhere? Surely it requires the same expensive upgrades to the wiring and nodes as any other networking upgrade, the expense having slowed down adoption of this kind of tech.
But the real problem is the software, the enormous virtual machine required to do all of these things. Programming software to do all the listed features well has taken years, and still isn't finished. I suspect this machine is not nearly as neat or as useful as the PC you are reading this on, especially if your PC is reasonably recent and has a fast, unrestricted, network connection.
Re:Hardware Costs (Score:2)
I have ++Tivo (Score:1, Funny)
Not quite there yet (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not quite there yet (Score:3, Insightful)
While I agree largely with you, I'm more interested in the general trend of things. Earlier, in more socialist times, we used to have, say, a single government-controlled Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) developing a decrepit television box that showed more static than actual TV pictures. Now we have a whole lot of other startups in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other places actually innovating stuff.[1]
Yes, it's important to remain sceptical until technological innovation can be converted to actua
Want to work for them? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not impressed (Score:5, Interesting)
The internet and movie claims are the only interesting aspect. But I'll believe that when I see it.
Re:I'm not impressed (Score:2)
Another medicore day on slashdot...
Good point, though. :)
Re:I'm not impressed (Score:2)
Help! I need patent advice about this invention! (Score:2, Interesting)
A mate of mine has a patent on the idea of using SMS to control a video recording device, which it sounds like these people are using - amongst many other cool ideas. I've texted him about this, but I'd like to find out more if you can help.
As I understand it, he obtained the patent for about £1000 in the UK, and has just been waiting to see if someone uses the idea. I don't know how this works. The invention is in India - is this a problem? How do the international patent treaties work? Is it possib
Re:Help! I need patent advice about this invention (Score:2)
Considering the way the patent arguement has been hashed out here many times he can follow two schools of thought.
1. Patents for the sole sake of patenting an idea should not be allowed. Your friend thought about patenting the idea for controlling a device with SMS. He has done nothing to develop it, but as you say"has just been waiting to see if someone uses the idea". So in essence he is like Amazon and many other entities out there. Jeff Bezos anyone?
2. Sue c
Re:Help! I need patent advice about this invention (Score:1)
I thought it was on shaky moral territory, myself. Then again if, as a skint recently graduated physicist, he manages to squeeze some money out of a system which currently seems to serve only the purpose of further lining the pockets of the already rich, I say good luck to him.
One point is that he had the idea first (hopefully). By patenting the idea, he published it. Although he has made no effort to develop the idea, if someone else does so - well, he still had the idea first, and told everyone about it
What does this mean? (Score:1)
What is this guy talking about? Why does he think this is not 'online'?
it runs on MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
And is that network not connected to the internet? If not, how does it work?
You forgot... (Score:2, Interesting)
Soemthing about having to apply for tha same patant in India seperately from your US and other patents.
I hope they can pull it off (Score:3, Interesting)
Their idea to provide conditional channel access rocks. The most common complaint I hear about digital cable (this is by the way the one thing that consistently pisses me off about my comcast digital cable) is not being able to tailor the channel package. I personally have the top package that comcast offers here, which is about $80 and has about 400 channels or so. Of these 400 channels I may watch 10 or so all the time and maybe surf thru another 20. The rest is garbage.
Also neat is how they let you upgrade your connection speed temporarily, so you only pay while you use this extra bandwidth.
Re:I hope they can pull it off (Score:1)
The barrier to video on demand: lack of demand. (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.09/cable.l
I supposed the lack of DVD support was calculated to ensure a built-in market for the VOD service offering.
I can't really see this device, or the service umbilical, going anywhere any time soon. It failed in 1994, it's fail today.
-- Terry
Scary stuff (Score:5, Funny)
Ah finally Friday.
Waste of time (Score:2, Interesting)
i've had one of these for years... (Score:1, Funny)
granted, my laptop doesn't have video on demand or a digital vcr, but my desktop with an ati radeon all-in-wonder gets awfully close. this box even has tv-pausing. once again, throw the s-vid out into the tv and we're all done. cost - ~$1800US
but unlike the "tivo++", these machines are not limited to what they can do. tell me this... can you
What I want... (Score:2)
But I do want to be able to choose to keep the TIVO software and the monthly access.
I love my tivo for it's great software & useability.
I love home-brew PVR's for their customizeability.
Why can't I have both? (And no, I'm not popping the case
Simpsons parody on the title (Score:1)
Re:Simpsons parody on the title (Score:2, Informative)
Doh!
Re:Simpsons parody on the title (Score:2)
Re:Simpsons parody on the title (Score:1)
Eh? Haven't you heard of Three men in a boat.
No, I haven't. Do you recommend it? I haven't read anything in english since I re-read lord of the rings.
Re:Simpsons parody on the title (Score:1)
Very highly. (Well, the link in my post above contains the full text, so you can at least get a flavour from the first page.)
I'm sure it's available in Portuguese and other languages, but of course it's worth reading in the original if you're comfortable with it.
But not only that, (Score:3, Funny)
Men only Tech (MOT) (Score:1)
WICE, MAN and RAMNET???
Looks like the Hustler staff couldn't have named this system better.
And I bet the number one use for it will be PR0N. Man's favourite Wice.
And don't get me started on the RAMNET. Well ok, you'd need the gumboots accessory for this.
As for convergence tech, are we not seeing all in one fax, photocopier, scanner, printer? Of course if it breaks you're stuffed. As usual.
Honestly, People... (Score:2)
That sword cuts both ways, people.
Priceing (approx) (Score:4, Informative)
Oh Great! (Score:1)
-- CodeZion
So what? (Score:1, Interesting)
Their concept of fast internet through local distributed nodes is OK, but it requires a large investment by the consumer to buy up these nodes. Lots of nodes! Only 16 users per node in a city of a million? In a country of 300 million? How a
The real juice (Score:3, Interesting)
*and* I happen to live in Pune, the home of
C-DAC, and the first city to get a sneak peek at
this hyped up device. he he he...
But cheap shots apart...
The real juice here is not the WICE box -- its the *network* (RAMnet or whatever). The websites of Silicon Mountains, the guys who will be, I guess, the content suppliers and Divinet Access, the box makers and network engineers, both make very ambitious claims about content replication and the sophistication of the network itself (its so sophisticated, its mentioned as one of the risk factors in this venture.)
As far as convergence goes, I personally don't
believe in a set-top box that does everything.
I would prefer a relatively simple access-point kind of device that allows me to plug my computer,
TV, VCR, sound system, coffee machine whatever
and intercommunicate between these systems.
The network should be sufficiently intelligent
and filled with enough active elements to do
the routing and delivery.
e.g. Can it allow me to schedule my TV
programming from my computer using my scripts or
maybe using an SMS from my cellphone?
This degree of convergence is really a bit too much for anyone, really. Especially for someone like me, who grew up on a single, state-sponsored
TV channel, and actually liked most of what was on offer then.
Well, guess all I have to do now, is fill up
the forms on the website
(http://www.smjet.com/smjet/Inquiry/inqu
and wait for them to reply...
Har har har...
Its two things. (Score:1)
2. A network to hook up the Set-top boxes into.
The things i don't understand is who installs & manages this network assuming its available in the cities.
Is there any place we can use this network today.
What is the network architecture.
Does it use open protocols.
From what i gather, they allow other set-top box manufactures to use this network.
But how about the content providers.
How does the content like TV channels are delivered.
Does the user still need outside cable connection.
Re:Its two things. (Score:1)
there are two entities right now who provide
the two parts of the whole system.
1.) Silicon Mountains -
http://www.smjet.com
These are the cable guys.
Check out their Board of Directors. Most of them are people who set up the cable industry in Pune. My guess is, these guys will provide the content (using tie-ups with Star, BBC, Discovery, Playboy, your local cable-wallah etc.). I suppose if this thing becomes a standard, there could be many other companies who cou
I can do the same thing and more with a PC (Score:2)
Programmer's Nitpick (Score:3, Funny)
After all, who wants to spend the money on a TiVo so that the NEXT person can get the incremented one?
"It Looks Pretty Good Too" (Score:1)
What about usability? (Score:3, Insightful)
Before trying this thing for a couple of hours, I can't even be sure I'd be willing to use this thing for free.
Only one problem with this box- (Score:4, Funny)
Re:From india? (Score:1)