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Television Media

Print From Your TV Set, Says HP 137

Posted by timothy from the imagine-the-new-face-of-spam dept.
futile.com writes: "Looks like the fine folks at HP are working on getting a printing system developed for your TV set. Seems like they're joining forces with AT&T to do so. I could see some interesting uses with this and Bay Watch." I can think of a few situations where this would be handy, but it looks like Idiot Box-printing (bane of WebTV users) may soon be the bane of everyone with a television. Think "solicitation."
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Print From Your TV Set, Says HP More

Print From Your TV Set, Says HP

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  • Gee, What a novel idea... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Back in 1992, I was able to do this with an Apple Quadra 840av (Badass 68k!) that had a DSP based AV system. It was just click "File -> Print" from the built-in Video Player and I could print anything on the old boob-tube. I don't really see all the fuss that in the year 2000 that you can print what you see on TV. I bet you could pick up a Quadra 840av [ebay.com] and a used HP Color InkJet [ebay.com] cheaper than the new HP TV printer on eBay. Or you could also try to bid on a Mac TV [lowendmac.net] which might be concidered the first TV that could print. But I rarely see those around and they were not the brightest color in Apple's rainbow at the time.

    For as much as some here think Apple sux [stileproject.com], they have in the past and still do today, make some of the coolest hardware -- at a cost.

  • cooking recipes (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    martha stewart, fat Paul P, YanCanCook and the rest of them can flop a recipe on the screen for 20 seconds and we can all print them out. woopee

  • Re:Only one use for this (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Quoted directly from the page:

    we will offer our customers the ability to print e-mail, shopping receipts, family photos, coupons, maps, event tickets and other content available through our Interactive TV platform, all with a simple click of the remote."

    I believe this does not imply that this device is capable of printing direct screenshots. Can you imagine what can of worms that would open up with regards to copyrights, etc? I can unfortunately imagine a situation where users are only allowed to print certain content, either related to a buisness transaction (reciepts, etc.), as part of a subscription or other paid service, or even (shudder) pay-per-print. New things just aren't as cool nowadays...

  • Coupons! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This is the only useful thing I can see--for 30 seconds they flip to a 30% off coupon for airline tickets, food, concerts, cds, mp3s, etc. Printing out coupons for the grocery store or printing the special offer code to reserve a discounted rental car, are the only things I'd use this that printer for. But there must be a cheaper way! The only printers I buy from HP are used.

  • If it is in full color I will finally have a use for the Playboy Channel and all these dvd pr0ns.
  • Isn't it ironic?

    :wq!

  • This sounds WAY to damned gimmicky for me. for the cost of this printer you could probably just get yourself a TV capture card, capture some frames, edit them if ya want, and then print off a picture of John Carmack with the body of (dare i say) Natalie Portman.

    Yes, YOU can do that (I probably could to). But that requires some technological knowledge on the part of the user. Besides, not everyone wants a computer in the living room.

    I find it rather logical for people using their TV`s to surf, to want to be able to print. I will ocaasionally print out emails, recipes, HOWTO's or whatever found on the net, why should that be different for other people.

  • Sony [sony.com] sells NTSC printers and so does Olympus [olympusamerica.com].
  • Oops. I forgot to put the paper in!
    Oops. I forgot to get new ink carts!
    Oops. I incinerated the damn thing and sent it back to AT&T with a venom-dripping letter!

    If AT&T tried push-printing, they'd get crucified. Either by lawyers applying the aforementioned fax-spam laws, or by consumer backlash.

    Every day we're standing in a wind tunnel
    Facing down the future coming fast     - Rush
  • Way ahead of ya. Of course, it's just a cheap-ass Hauppage WinTV card, but works fine under BeOS and Linux.

    Um, is there a picture of John Carmack anywhere? No reason at all, folks. No, don't mind the printout of the screencap of Padme that I'm not hiding behind my back.

    On a somewhat related note, in the province of New Brunswick in Canada a company called iMagicTV (their caps) is pioneering a revolutionary new technology that would allow someone to watch TV on their PC! WHOA!

    Idiots. Don't you just hate stupid users?
  • True, true. If I had moderator points, this would go up as insightful. Did they broadcast the source on prime time, or at night? I forget which. I'm guessing late at night, because of the advertising costs involved.
  • I agree with your whole post, except for this:

    >Not only does this finally let us all have the
    >2000000000000 channels we obviously so dearly
    >need,

    I never understood this resentment towards more TV channels. I mean, more TV channels is more choice! There actually might be interesting TV shows if we weren't limited to a few dozen channels by whatever local regulatory agency has a monopoly on the distribution of radio bandwidth. (I'm still waiting for the 24-hour science news channels. But they don't turn a profit, so we get stuck with the Outdoor Network and the Home and Gardening Channel instead.) C'mon, everyone, more is better when it comes to TV channels.

    Either more channels, or enough bandwidth in the world to stream real-time audio and video so we can all have our own "TV" stations. That's what I dream of. Voltron and Transformers reruns, anyone? :)
  • Hell, my 8-track has USB.
    --
  • How long till...
    • The "Get Rich Quick" creeps spam your TV-Printer?
    • TV commercials automatically print coupons to your TV-Printer?
    • The TV News comes with a summary of the headlines and URLs to the online vid-clips and script?
    • "Sweeps Week" means an endless streams of printed ads for "A Very Special Episode Of ..."
    • Another MS Outlook virus generates billions of copies of itself all CC'd to folks TV-Printers resulting in a 9-month print backlog of "ILOVEYOU"s...
    • After 10pm you recieve a pizza-delivery service ad every 15 minutes...
    • You come home and discover the neighbor down the street with a basement full of Ham & CB trnasmitters has accidentally hit the frequency that not only completely snows your cable but also generates page after page of solid black printouts from your nifty TV-Printer...
    • A bizarre and inexplicable interaction between your ITV, TV-Printer, TIVO, Cable Modem, DVD player, VCR and PC creates an autonomous entity that insists on watching TV-Judge shows 24 hours a day and messes with your home-banking if you so much as approach it...
  • I've got some HP calculators that are top-notch instruments.

    Oh, yeah; they make some killer testing equipment too, and don't forget about that oh-so-cool electronic stethoscope http://www.healthcare.agil ent.com/mpgsupplies/stetscope/ [agilent.com]!

    Yeah, they've made some pretty sucky decisions on the personal computing end of things, but that ain't all they are.
  • I hope there's some form of interaction required to initiate a print, otherwise you could end up with a TV/Settop box that spews out Advertising rubbish all over the floor for you or your kids to collect when you get home.
    I wouldn't want my kids, if I had any, to get home and find a nude portrait of some women/man on the floor from some kind sole spamming me.
    Here hoping they consider this.
  • wtf is my "entertainment center" and what makes them think I have or want one? is this the next step after the "home theater"? I've looked hard, but still can't find a theater in my home!
  • This, in my opinion is designed not to print stills from your favorite show, but for WebTV and other WebTVesque users to print those pictures and emails they got from Gramma. Although it could probably be used to print out stills, what would be the point? Low quality.

    This is more in the way of giving WebTV users the capabilities desktop users have. Just wait for a CDR for your WebTV, or something else stupid like that.
  • The next stage is when you are actually able to buy things through the glass teat.

    Already here - and I don't just mean the shopping channels. Here in the UK at least, the latest thing in TV is digital TV. Not only does this finally let us all have the 2000000000000 channels we obviously so dearly need, it also brings email and, you guessed it, shopping to the TV.

    AFAIK (I don't have digital myself), you access screens from your remote control, kinda like teletext but with real pictures and resolution, and flip through the pages. Once you find an item you want, you literally just hit buy on the remote (and enter a PIN, I assume), sit back, and wait for it to be delivered.

    So, your little flight of fancy is already a reality over here. A great boon to the housebound that don't have a computer and a net connection, I guess. OTOH, I can see it further entrenching future generations on the couch - it's not like the people of the developed world are in danger of exercising themselves to death any time soon...

    Cheers,

    Tim
  • All I need is another remote.
  • I could see some REALLY interesting uses for sports programming... not that /.ers watch sports or anything, but I'll bet there could be some pretty awesome armchair sports photographers.
  • Sounds like another long series of law suits for copying copyrighted material. The idea is great but we need laws to give us the freedom from prosecution to use it.
  • The uses of a printer hooked up to a TV,
    or a TV like item, were clear demonstrated
    in Blade Runner.
  • Just what I want to wake up to the morning, is coming downstairs, walking into my living room, and see a ream of paper all over my living room floor because some hax0r hacked into my TV set and printed '3y3 0wN3d j00r 14m3 hP pR1n43r' in banner size font 1000 times.
  • Who wants to buy yet another component for their entertainment center? To whom are they going to try to sell this stuff? People with computers might want the ability to print from their new interactive TVs, but many already have a good printer and don't want to buy another, nor do they want more space and power sucked into their entertainment center. People who want the technology because they don't want to buy a computer are going to be few and far between, I suspect -- these things won't be cheap (although presumably much cheaper than a recent computer), and they won't be as powerful. Typing documents, managing finances, etc would probably be less convenient, and playing games won't really be possible (as I understand it). From the article, it seemed that this will just be another webTV style device... with a printer.

    What I would like to see: the interactive TV should have an ETHERNET port! Ethernet is so standard and cheap that replacing a printer port (and maybe others) with ethernet wouldn't be too expensive... Also, they should make a printer with an ethernet port (again, only slightly more expensive) that can accept commands from the interactive TV. They can then sell the printers for use with standard computers as well and even allow a computer to connect to the device and act like a printer (and even control it -- added value!). Because the printer can connect to more items, it's likely that more would be sold and the price could be reduced, HP would make a larger profit, and more people could afford the printer. It also reduces the barrier to entry (they're really trying to sell their interactive tv) for a lot of people with computers -- you can just hook the iTV to your existing system rather than shelling out the money for a worse printer... And people with the system can buy a new computer and use their iTV printer with it, saving some money...

    Now if we could just get ethernet cables wired in the homes... ;)

  • Ack! (Score:1)

    by ricOS/2 ( 23121 )
    I missed the part where they say "supports both parallel and USB ports", seeing only "HP initially will provide four ITV-compatible HP DeskJet printers". :( I'm still a bit confused about how the ITV will interact with the printers... I guess it'll just be plain USB?
  • Yes, and the use of typewriters and TVs instead of computers was demonstrated in Max Headroom.
  • I saw devices that would print from videotape and laserdisc when I was in Japan 10 years ago. IIRC, Matsushita was making them.

    So what makes this news?

  • While I am not going to comment on the usefulness (or lack thereof) of this device, the first line almost caused my to choke on my lunch:

    "Hewlett-Packard Company, the worldwide leader in digital imaging"

    Now, I do not work for HP, or any of its competitors, in "digital imaging" or not. But, I would not have considered HP a contender for the title of "worldwide leader in digital imaging".

    Ken

  • The correct anchor is this one [terabyte.net], but you already figured that out.
  • The same way that Sony loses money on PlayStations, but makes it up on the sales of games, HP makes razor thin margins on the sales of inkjet printers, but makes it all back on the sales of the color ink cartridges. Their Instant Delivery application, which allows you to schedule websites to be printed overnight, was specifically designed to force users to expend their ink cartridges faster and they asked their program partners to present more color on their pages offered for overnight printing... this print-TV thing sounds like the same sort of program.
  • Sky Digital [sky.com] is already doing something similar in the UK, on some ads there is a little icon shows up in the top left of the screen saying click the red button now, this then takes you into their interactive service thing, click through a couple of questions it dials them and they send you through the coupon.

    This is probably going to be v.bad for people like me who like free things no matter what the cost or usefulness...

  • Something like this [freecolourprinters.co.uk] you mean?

    For those who don't want to click . . .

    Welcome to The Free Colour Printers Store!
    Here you have the opportunity to own a
    XEROX Colour Printer - FREE!

    The Printer is Free!
    Just order a full set of supplies and pay for delivery plus any additional supplies you fancy then we will provide the printer Free!

    now if only I could afford the supplies . . .

  • Hmm kinda dounbt that in absolute terms that anything is free, free beer would be a good example of this. How many of us if put into an environment with beer available at no monetary cost would not be doing some serious paying the next day (/week, whatever, after the supply has run out anyway).

    Also the coupons are free in the advertising/marketing understanding of the word, i.e., similar to the way anglers give free worms to fish.

  • ...which is where you would plug the printer into. (This is implied by the announcement page if you examine it closely).

    It is therefore exactly like printing from a WebTV - which is usefull.

    There are "video printers" that work directly from an NTSC video signal out there as well. My dentist got one, and now every time I have any dental work done, he insists on sending me home with a couple of photos.
  • Even if it isn't, this would still be very valuable to WebTV users, who usually don't have a computer(or at least in concept), and therefore they can't print stuff off the the internet.

    Um...most (all? I can't remember) WebTV boxes have a parallel port. IIRC from when I sold the things @ a certain consumer-electronics retailer [bestbuy.com] that will remain unnamed :-), the standard WebTV would work with HP inkjets, while WebTV Plus also supported Canon and one or two other manufacturers.

    HP even made a printer specifically for use with WebTV, the DeskJet 670TV [hp.com].

  • Ben and Jerry's was not amoral.
  • i don't like hp, but i can definitely see uses for this

    --
  • One product: HP DJ722C printer. The fact that there are now linux drivers is irrelevant, as they were reverse engineered and are not very good. If I ever buy another printer (don't use much paper any more...) it will be something that can do postscript directly, with none of this Printing Performance Architechture (winprinter) crap.

    --
  • It is difficult to predict the exact form that mass media will take in the future. It will surely be some combination of devices we already use. As Ho Hum as this sounds, it is stuff like this that narrows the gap between the devices of old and the devices we now have.

    I now see with more and more frequency web TV instructions on main stream programming. Soon it will be, if you want a print of this, hit the Print icon on corner of the screen.
  • But there must be a cheaper way!

    Absolutely...they're called TV capture cards, and can be had for under $100...
  • I believe this does not imply that this device is capable of printing direct screenshots. Can you imagine what can of worms that would open up with regards to copyrights, etc?

    Even worse! I just learned the other day of a device that allows you to record broadcasts from you television set onto magnetic tape. Once recorded, they can be played and replayed thousands of times! I believe it is called a Video Cassette Recorder. I believe this device is doomed!

    (I know the VCR faced a lot of unrest from the MPAA in its day, but I feel like being a smart ass, okay?)
  • Yes, we all know how well the intelligent, sensible lawmakers found they could easily apply the solicitation laws to email. It's just a simple matter of treating this device the same way.

    IOW, doing jack-squat about it until average people are driven mad to the point of insurrection, then hastily slapping together a loosely-bound set of poorly understood laws with loopholes large enough to drive a beowulf cluster through.

    But I couldn't care less. Because I doubt I'd ever subscribe to ITV. And even if I did, I wouldn't hook one of these up to it. Or at least, I'd find away to disable it. (Don't load any paper.) But I do like that they won't be ITV-exclusive. The low profile front-loading profile would do wonders for my desk space. Or you could have rack mount it, even.
  • Actually all their killer testing equipment, and that cool stethoscope was spun off as Agilent now HP only does computing/peripherals/storage. (Note the hyperlink goes to Agilent not HP)
  • Actually HP was a precision measurement and testing company. Their first product was an audio oscillator used to test radio equipment. They soon made very hgih quality microwave (read radar) and radio measurement and testing equipment. They didn't get out of the precision instruments biz untill 1984 when they developed their inkjet technology. They have now spun off this core business as Agilent, so now Hp is in the imaging/ink delivery business and Agilent is a company respected by scientists and engineers for their quality testing and measurement equipment.
  • I'm sure I'm not the only /.er looking forward to having the windows logo on toilet paper. ;)
    ___
  • In the article, they couldn't stop plugging 'AT&T Broadband Interactive TV'... too bad they didn't actually explain they were talking about.

    Regauardless, I'm guessing it's a sort of high- speed WebTV which goes through cable (just like cablemodems). Even if it isn't, this would still be very valuable to WebTV users, who usually don't have a computer(or at least in concept), and therefore they can't print stuff off the the internet.
  • Well, by symphony orchestra has FireWire!


    -----
  • Even though this promises to turn into a unsolicited TV-mail spamfest, I sure like the sound of that printer.

    Entirely front loading, black, and VCR-shaped... I wonder if they could be hacked to bolt into a 19" rackmount?
  • I'm getting a fax from Mr. Brown!
  • Don't forget Ticketmaster!
  • >It isn't
    >
    >1) NTSC or PAL/etc compatible.

    True, but part of the setup does rely upon "Interactive TV", which would imply some type of video signal compatable to US (NTSC), UK (PAL) and other broadcast formats, which all have different scan/refresh rates, and color intensity levels. While some of the means of the AT&T technology may be exclusive to their broadband service, the entire format itn't going to be entirely PC based, proprietary, or MPEG, Quicktime, etc.

    >2) It isn't WebTV

    Fair enough; "WebTV", like "Kleenex" and "Xerox" is a registered trademark, but the underlying principle is the same: a set-top client with a simplified browser, linked to a the provider's own (proprietary) portals.

    As the HP printer uses a four-color inkjet, I would safely say that even at PC-compatable levels, images from Metal Gear Solid won't be anywhere as good as the images you'd actually see onscreen.
  • There seems to be only one use for a product like this : making HP more money. There is a kind of wow factor to it, i mean, it would be kinda cool to be able to print whatever you see on your tv, but until webTV is completely mainstream there isnt that much use for a product like this. Even with webTV mainstream however, as far as i know, you can print from you webTV box. Perhaps one good use of it would be bragging rights tho........
  • Really, I think that there's enough, uh, ``dimensional enhancements'' of the ``important details'' on Baywatch, that even with a 16x16 pixel resolution on your TV they'd show up clearly.. ;-)

    -pf

  • That is truly, truly brilliant
  • Brilliant!
  • When people see hard copy evidence of how bad the picture is on a standard TV, they will be convinced to drop another $2,000 or so for a HDTV. After all, what's the point of printing Babe Watch screens if you can't see all the important details.
  • What if the device incorporates the ability for television commercials to print out documentation to your tv printer? Imagine watching a commercial for Charmin Toilet paper and all of the sudden your tv's printer starts shooting out a coupon for "buy 1 get 1 free". Lots of possible ideas here! Not so sure if they are good or not.
  • Now everybody, even those without a computer, can print out and post pics in their cubicle next time a certain monopolist multi-bilionare gets a pie in the face, Or, we could decorate the office with pictures of starving, war ravaged refugees from CNN.. What a way to spruce up the workplace! Just what I've been needing..

    ------------------------------------------
    If God Droppd Acid, Would he see People???
  • Seriously, I cant think of any practical use for such a device, I dont know about anyone else. If you can, please reply, i'd like to hear your thoughts.
  • ...its set as `0` in my `customise comments` box, but i still get -1`s up unless i change and save prefs on each discussion, each time.... why?
    anyone know - please help!

    a.
  • Just tried that....never usually log out so i had to get my password mailed to me! doh!

    still doesnt work! if this bugs me too much i`ll have to mail someone at slashdot about it...just wondered if it were me... this started happening last week when i got moderator status for a little bit... it suggests surfing at -1...didnt think it permanantly forced you to though!

    cheers anyway,
    Alex.

  • the scary part about this, is that alt.binaries.nospam.teenfem really exists, and I just thought it was a joke. I was actucally looking for the alt.binaries.spam.teenfem, portman covered in raw can meat Mmmmm

    that is alright, on the fun side of things, this newsgroup is now wondering why they have 600X the request for portman pics, and the "normals" are getting confused on if "Hot grits in the pants" is a viable option that really shoul be acted out and not just expessed.

    Since this is the #17 post, hopefully most trolls have left us already in search of naked portman pics, that reminds me.... uh I mean

    One of the cool things I was thinking this printer could be used for (besides p0rn) would be playstation/dream cast games. Take a snap shot of beating Metal Gear Solid on "Super freaking tough" mode without dying once and only using the "Neck Snap Move" (Weapons are for wimps, real men break necks with their bare hands).

    But the suck thing is, why not just get a video capture card, pull in the pic into the computer and print it out on your printer? This way you could also forge, I mean clean up any defects in the pic.

    Also, this is my idea to make millions, so no one steal it, it is copyrighted, well it will be, but I will post the idea first, I will get the copyright in a couple day ;)

    Have the ALL TEXT ALL THE TIME CHANNEL for people that own these printer. Just spew books across the TV screen, then the user can print them out!

    Seriously though, it is a neat geek idea, but really how usefull? I remeber when I was a kid (about 2 hours ago, I became I man once I checked out alt.binaries.nospam.teenfem) I just took a camera and took a picture of the screen and developed the film. It worked and I still have pictures of pictures on the TV of some guy hold a picture of close up's of saturn... and it looks dam good to!

    I bet webTV owns would dig these though. If my grandparents surfed the web though webTV, this would make a nice gift.

  • how can it be bad? (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Think solicitation

    Think "Spice Channel"

  • The specs say 'increased flexibility - supports both parallel and USB ports' but my TV doesn't come with either of these.
  • those ink jet carts used to come with a little plug on the top that you could punch out and refill w/ ink, sometimes it would work - naturally HP would have none of that, now, and the plug has disappeared but I think there are other refill options.
  • I don't get it; are they planning to make it print remotely triggered by the broadcaster? if so, may their printers burn and the ink rot. if not (as I would assume), then what are these fears of sollicitation all about?
  • You know I've got that exact unit, cost me $5 at a second hand store. It's real neat the first couple times you hit the print button.

    I sorta wish i knew how to replace the words "Mitsubishi Electric" with, well, anything else. They have a DIN connector on the back but who knows what plugs into it. Of course, I only wish i knew so that I could change it, print out a few more things, and then put it back on the shelf.

    My brotherinlaw says that he used to use these at Hart Scientific to print out test results from some piece of test gear that outputted NTSC video.

  • Huh? (Score:2)

    by SteveM ( 11242 )

    Folks, this "new strategic alliance" is about getting turning your TV into the prime Internet connection for the home. IN DIRECT COMPETITION WITH CABLE ACCESS. You might call this stupid, but they're going for the market that would use a set top box.

    Once the Media One merger is complete, AT&T will be the largest cable operator in the US.

    So you're claiming that they are trying to compete with themselves?

    Steve M

  • I've had a fax machine in my home for 10 years now, and we've never received an unsolicited fax. For some reason I don't believe that you're receiving spam via your fax machine, unless its your local pizza delivery man, in which case one phonecall would end it.

    Its like being mugged, not reporting it, and then blaming the police for not stopping the criminal, even though they don't know its happenning... but I don't believe its happenning from the get-go. Not 6-9 spam faxes per day atleast. I dunno though, maybe you work for a company thats reliant on those faxes.
  • There's a boat-load of laws against un-solicited faxes in the US. It could probably be applied to such a device. If not, then the the laws against it would come falling out of the sky.
  • Then it's about time you got a new TV. Man, my TAPE DECK has USB.
  • it also brings email and, you guessed it, shopping to the TV.

    Of course, you can only buy from certain places. Sky doesn't allow you a proper net connection from their black box, you can only view what they want you to view.

    All TV companies are terrified of the net, they're terrified of the choice it gives ppl, terrified that I might start doing something else, or productive.

    I hate TV.
  • HP is/was an imaging company. I'd think it would focus on it as a core strength; scanners, digital cameras, photocopiers, laser printers, deskjets, etc.

    But they seem to push PCs, big iron, a flavor of Un*x, laptops, PDAs, as well as services and support. Makes me think of a big department store waiting to be pushed aside by a Target or several smaller more focused corporations.

    If they want to do PDAs, they should probably look at Palm and such instead of Microsoft. They don't seem to have any major partnerships with Oracle or Cisco or any other 'big' server based internet company, yet they still have HPUX. The architecture is actually pretty good, I'd guess, given that Intel wanted it badly enough to implement as IA64, but the support infrastructure to sell big iron and services seems to be lacking. Does anyone else see this? Or am I missing something?

    Then the have their PCs and such... why? It's an excellent way to build brand name, I guess, but they don't seem all that special. Sorta feels like Chevrolet, serviceable, affordable, but nothing special.

    Maybe I need to go and talk to Carly or something

    -AS
  • Have you noticed lately how, at the end of a show on one of the major networks, the credits are scrolled by on one half of the screen, while an ad (usually advertising the next show) plays on the other half? Or how the network's logo sits in the lower-right corner of the screen during a show? Or the HTML frames-like presentation of sporting events, with scores and stats and what not scrolling by?

    Television is changing, slowly, but steadily, into a sort of WWW-Lite. Your favorite shows are going to start resembling your favorite web sites, banner ads and all. The next stage is when you are actually able to buy things through the glass teat. You like that basketball player's jersey? You push the appropriate button (probably labeled "buy") on the remote control that came with your set-top box, and a dialog comes up with the price, sizes available, and shipping options. You enter a PIN on your remote, the printer spits out your receipt (see, I'm on-topic :^), and you have the jersey in 6-10 business days.

    This is in development. I have seen the prototypes at my job. And it's not targeted at the sophisticated technophile. It's for Joe Sixpack, who already watches 4 or 5 hours of television a night, more on weekends. He doesn't even need a computer-- there's an email app embedded in that set-top (which, by the way, is reporting his viewing patterns to the advertising module in the Time-Warner front end).

    I don't know how the rest of you feel about this, but it is no coincidence that I got rid of my TV just over a month ago.
  • At least with their deskjet printers, HP is already being undercut by competitors on refill cartridges. These people [korectype.com], for example, will be more than happy to sell you their own catridges for $20, what HP charges $30 for. If their TV printers are incompatible by design (which would needlessly add complexity to HP's operations, but hey it could happen), then others will follow in a year or two with some healthy competition.
  • This would be so cool! Advertisers could remotely trigger their ad to be printed! In fact, I'll bet that they'd even *subsidize* these printers. And then we would iOpener them and create Yet Another controversy!
    -russ
  • the scary part about this, is that alt.binaries.nospam.teenfem really exists, and I just thought it was a joke. I was actucally looking for the alt.binaries.spam.teenfem, portman covered in raw can meat Mmmmm

    that is alright, on the fun side of things, this newsgroup is now wondering why they have 600X the request for portman pics, and the "normals" are getting confused on if "Hot grits in the pants" is a viable option that really shoul be acted out and not just expessed.

    ok, trolls, remember that requests goes to alt.binaries.nospam.teenfem.d, not alt.binaries.nospam.teenfem... see their website [abnt.org] for more info


    Zetetic
    Seeking; proceeding by inquiry.

    Elench
    A specious but fallacious argument; a sophism.
  • I will never buy an HP product. [...] They have sabotaged Sun and Linux at every chance.

    I could give a rats ass about Sun; in my opinion, they are the biggest detractor of Linux besides Microsoft.

    If HP is against Linux, then explain this:
    http://www.internetsolutions.enterprise.hp.com/lin ux/products/index.html [hp.com]
  • This c|net article [cnet.com] says that KODAK is working with Scientific-Atlanta to develop software that will allow cable TV subscribers to send and view photographs through their TVs. You could view pictures sent directly to you on a special cable channel.

    As far as I can tell the set-top box would interface with digital cameras, so the proccess may not work with tradional prints.

    But this would be a great companion device with the HP printer since you could send pix of the grandkids to Mom & Dad, and they could view and print them without getting a PC or Internet access. Assuming there would be a way to avoid printing the ads supporting the system.

  • I collect antique technology like TV's, phones, radios, clocks, etc. This product is just an interim kludge until PC's and TV's are integrated into a spectrum of related devices. (I think there will be boxes more geared to entertainment and others more geared to work and/or surfing, but all of the devices will have some capability at the other functions).

    Also, they will all be connected to some sort of home network. Why should you need to print from your TV when your PC uses the same cable to get its Internet access? Why not just put a TV card in your PC and use a monitor for your TV (especially for DTV or HDTV)?

    As indication of things to come, PC's outsold TV's in Japan last year. [excite.com]
  • I will never buy an HP product. They do not have my best interests at heart. They have consistently worked with Microsoft to limit my choices. They have sabotaged Sun and Linux at every chance.

  • Perhaps this is where Tivo would come into play. You could just pause the action, print, and resume watching the show. You have to know how to converge technology sometimes.
  • In the '70s, Philips had a thermal printer builtin to the front panel of one of their TV's, my Uncle had one. It was there for printing out the teletext pages. So, HP's idea is not 'new', but probably a bit more flexible.
  • It was a little 5 inch wide thermal printer with a composite NTSC input. Just hit the button and get a little 4x5 in. greyscale printout. I got the little toy along with a serially-controlled LD player from a real estate agency that had tried to do a video presentation system 15 years ago. Basically, they had a working realtor.com (with video walk-throughs) 15 years ago, but it just wasn't profitable at the time.

    I raped the HeNe laser from the LD player shortly after I got it (never planned to watch any LDs) and sold the video printer at a hamfest a few years later.

    So, like, how hard would it be to build one of these with a WinTV card ($50 new) an old 486 (free) and an old printer (free to $100 for a new color inkjet)? Of course you'd be running Linux on it...

    -p.

  • we used to take clear plastic wrap, tape it to the tv and draw, it takes a little longer to get really high definition pictures but its fun on a rainy day ;-)

    Capt. Ron

  • As the HP printer uses a four-color inkjet, I would safely say that even at PC-compatable levels, images from Metal Gear Solid won't be anywhere as good as the images you'd actually see onscreen.
    I fail to see the logic in this. Your printer, a four colour inkjet, is based on the CMYK model, combining cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to create just about any colour imaginable, just like other inkjet printers on your PC. It is not limited to only four distinct colours, rather, it combines those available to reproduce any shade... the quality would then only be dependant on how closely spaced the jets were (DPI) and the quality of the paper.
  • Hp makes me ill.
    Big hitech company? Pahha!
    They're goal is to come up with new and inovative ways to deliver ink. They are in the ink delivery bizz.

    Just one little tidbit to put this into perspective: more than 60% of HPs total company profit comes from one thing and one thing only. INK.

    These printers are just one more distrobution method for the ink. How much do you want to bet that the replacement cartrages for these TV printers are incompatible with any other.
    ___

  • IMSO, (In My Snotty Opinion),the picture this paints seems a bit blurry. (Crap pun intended.)

    Standard NTSC resoloution isn't all that hot to begin with, and the printer will produce (no doubt dithered) inkjet images. In spite of HP's confidence in color saturation, there's no mention of how - or what rate - the broadcast signals will be converted and rendered for the final result.

    Toshiba had something similar put out a few years back, except that it used photographic paper and had a price range in the way of 5 digit US $ figures...a few places, like chip manufacturing plants and research labs keep 'em on hand for electron microscope images, but other than that, their sales were dismal.

    This is no doubt a ploy to make the Web TV crowd feel more like actual computer users.
  • One printer in every room of every hotel that offers on-screen checkout. Instant hard copy for your expense report. Brilliant!

    Print out sale coupons from the Mega Grocery ad on TV. Brilliant!

    Print out hard copy of the Taco Bell Pizza Ad complete with phone number and menu. Brilliant!

    Print out tomorrow's weather forecast so you don't forget while you're sleeping. Brilliant!

    And I'm sure that pay per view will figure out a way to have it print money. For them. Brilliant!

    Those guys at HP are, well, they're ... Brilliant!
  • This sounds WAY to damned gimmicky for me. for the cost of this printer you could probably just get yourself a TV capture card, capture some frames, edit them if ya want, and then print off a picture of John Carmack with the body of (dare i say) Natalie Portman.

    This is BOUND to flop...oh well...i still have my Apple Newton. hehehehehehaAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHABBBWHAHAHAHAHHAHAH AHHAAHAHAHH

    sniff, sniff...ok. i'm better now

    BBBWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


    FluX
    After 16 years, MTV has finally completed its deevolution into the shiny things network

  • NetPD now has your name. They came up with some software that "acts like 5000 people scanning peoples printers for Metallica images"


  • I don't remeber the Atari's, but the group of geeks I ran with all had Commdore64s, my freind got the "pimped out" Commodore128 also about the same time a new VCR with the non-cable (2 plugs, 1 video, 1 audio) and she tweaked it out to push though her TV, it was really sweet. TV was good for computer back then though, because even the LASTEST HOTTEST AND GREASTEST games couldn't do over 256 color at 320x200, so it worked out nice. I have doubts if they could do 16 colors now that I think about it

    On of the cool things about her commondore going though the VCR like that, is you could record what she did, I remember watching about 2 hours of her write a small BASIC program, I remember thinking that I should have borrowed a BASIC book :)

    BASIC was 1337 when it was also your OS!

    Can I get an ASM, C++ or JAVA shell please? (there is actucally a Perl shell btw, seriously)

  • This would brings a new meaning to the term "paper jam"

  • Yeah, well, my mom has USB! I mean, uh, yo' momma. I mean, um....

  • A summary (Score:3)

    by Elvii ( 428 ) <david1975.comcast@net> on Monday May 08, 2000 @05:31PM (#1083910) Homepage
    Noone seems to be talking about what this is actually about, so here's a brief summary of what it is and isnt.

    It isn't

    1) NTSC or PAL/etc compatible.
    2) It isn't WebTV

    It is

    1) Designed for use with AT&t's upcoming set-top box/boradband service, one or both of those being called ITV.
    2)Linked to a e-commerece site dedicated to deals, coupons,maps, tickets, etc, apparently.
    3)Apparently also compatible with parellel port and usb print sustems.
    4) Seems that's about all it is, it's a fairly short PR article.

    Thou I do agree with the poster who said it should be able to take a regular video input... I'd love to print out some metal gear solid secenes, with C4 blowing up walls, maybe. :)


    bash: ispell: command not found

  • Citation (Score:3)

    by / ( 33804 ) on Monday May 08, 2000 @04:27PM (#1083911)
    For anyone interested, the Federal law in question is Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II (Common Carriers) 227 subsection (b)(1)(C) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 [terabyte.net]. With a name like that, it sure looks like Congress has had practice in security through obscurity. :-)

  • Obviously, this device encourages piracy! (Score:3)

    by ikekrull ( 59661 ) on Monday May 08, 2000 @04:47PM (#1083912) Homepage
    Woohoo! Now I can print out those sexy shots of the cast of 'Friends' and share them with my greedy little hacker mates.

    These devices will be able to print out hundreds or thousands of copies for easy distribution via the US Postal system!

    Better open every letter and check it in case it contains copyrighted material...

    They'll turn off their TV sets!! LOST REVENUE!! LOST REVENUE!! WHy would they sit through hours and hours of boring shite when they can see just the images they want printed out in GLORIOUS PHOTO-REALISTIC COLOUR!!!

    I just hope the paper that these printers use will have an MPAA tax on them like audio media intended for recording does.

  • Re:Cool, but why? (Score:4)

    by Jonathan ( 5011 ) on Monday May 08, 2000 @03:58PM (#1083913) Homepage
    Just print out a picture every fraction of a second, and you can have a nice flip-book of your favorite show!

  • Print from Your Toilet, Says Quilted Northern (Score:4)

    by hypergeek ( 125182 ) on Monday May 08, 2000 @05:02PM (#1083914)
    "Looks like an industry consortium headed by Quilted Northern, Charmin', and America OnthejohndammitI'llberightout! are working on getting a printing system developed for your home restroom. Seems like they're joining forces with American Sewer and Septic, Inc. (AS&S) to do so. I could see some interesting uses with this and Microsoft Force-Feedback Low-Flush Toilet(TM)."

    I can think of a few situations where this would be messy and impractical, but it looks like Throne Room-printing (bane of WebToilet users) may soon be the bane of everyone who doesn't own a chamberpot or outhouse. Think of how badly inkjet blots would spread on 2-ply paper!

    Critics shook their heads in shame today, cryptically muttering that this is the stupidest development since the ill-fated "TV Printers" promoted by Hewlett-Packard.

    CEO Vladimir Foonly of EuroBidet, AG, slammed the consortium's efforts, saying that this was "a giant step backwards in the quest for a paper-free oriface."

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