Crowded Digital Streaming Market Getting More Crowded Amid June Product Launches

Streaming media devices were out in full force at Pepcom’s Digital Experience in New York Thursday night. TiVo underscored its efforts to expand further into the cable operator market (CED June 1 p1), displaying its upcoming IP set-top box that will enable multi-room streaming from a main TiVo recorder to other TVs in the house. TiVo also showed Stream, a small module that will enable users to download content from a TiVo DVR to a tablet or smartphone.

Prices haven’t been set for the tiny boxes, which will be available through cable companies and at retail. A TiVo spokeswoman said her company hasn’t established retail prices or monthly fees for either unit, which are due on the market this fall. The IP set-top box works with the TiVo Premiere Q and uses MoCA for home networking and multi-room applications, according to literature. TiVo Stream delivers content from a TiVo Premiere or Premiere Q DVR -- including content from other streaming video services available through TiVo including Netflix, Amazon and others -- to tablets and smartphones, the spokeswoman said. The Stream is the first product to enable streaming or downloading of shows simultaneously to multiple portable devices without interrupting what’s playing on the television, TiVo said. The company also introduced an Android app at Pepcom.

Western Digital showed its first line of wireless home networking products, which are based on FasTrack quality of service prioritization technology. FasTrack identifies audio and video entertainment traffic on a network and “fast-forwards” it to gaming consoles, media players, smart TVs, tablets, PCs and other connected Wi-Fi devices to ensure smooth streaming, the company said. The new My Net router line leads with the $79.99 MyNet N600, a dual-band 600 megabit-per-second router with five Ethernet ports, and tops out with two high-speed DLNA- and UPnP-compatible 900 Mbps routers designed to be used with multiple devices simultaneously. The MyNet N900 ($179.99) is available now, and 1TB and 2TB versions of MyNet N900 Central add storage for wireless backup and remote access, according to literature. The N900 Central router/storage drives will be available in Q3 for $299.99 and $349.99, the company said. Western Digital, known for hard disk drives, is calling the storage routers “NAS personal cloud” storage as an alternative to fee-based cloud services, a company spokesman told us. Users can access their data on “all their devices.” with the MyNet Central products, he said.

D-Link introduced MovieNite Plus, which will allow users to stream movies and TV shows at up to 1080p resolution from video sources including Vudu, Netflix, YouTube, Facebook, and later in the year, Hulu Plus, said Joseph Renini, director of consumer product marketing. In all, more than 130 channels and apps are available via the device, including Picasa for display of family photos. D-Link’s spin on the media streamer is the ability to access live video from D-Link cameras equipped with mydlink-enabled security cameras via the device, Renini told us. D-Link is currently taking pre-orders on MovieNite Plus, which will be available next month for $79.99 at Amazon.com, he said.

Audyssey was on hand with its latest audio dock, which streams content from iPhones and other iOS devices via AirPlay to a single stereo speaker packing two 3/4-inch tweeters, two 3-inch midrange drivers and a pair of 4-inch bass radiators. The Audyssey Audio Dock Air ($399) just arrived at retail in Fry’s, Best Buy, Crutchfield and Apple stores, a company spokesman told us. Audyssey’s narrow speaker docks, which measure less than 5 inches wide, were designed to fit on an end table or another small space, he said. He credited the company’s audio engineering expertise, first employed in high-end AV receivers before the company decided to offer its own audio products, with enabling the speaker docks to deliver high sound output from small drivers. The tweeters inside the Dock Air were angled at 45 degrees to enable a stereo soundfield from the narrow cabinet, he said.

Samsung showed its hybrid analog/digital audio dock with vacuum tube amplifier and wood finish that it announced in spring. The $799.99 2.1-channel system will stream music from Samsung and Apple smartphones using AirPlay or Samsung’s AllShare Play. The DA-E750, along with a non-tube $229.99 Bluetooth system, pack connectors for iPhone and Samsung smartphones and will ship later this year, a spokesman said.

Elsewhere at Pepcom, Best Buy introduced an HD Radio under its Insignia brand that’s designed for vision-impaired users. The radio provides voice responses to button presses, letting vision-impaired users know the function they've pressed, a spokeswoman told us. Best Buy is currently taking pre-orders online for the $99.99 radio, which can deliver narrated radio reading service content over subcarrier channels that are broadcast from universities and public radio stations, the company said. Best Buy also displayed a Modlet SmartAC starter kit ($69.99) that the retailer launched along with utility company Con Edison in New York late last month. With the Modlet, customers can control an air conditioner from a smartphone and set on/off schedules to reduce peak energy loads, the spokeswoman said. At the end of the summer, users will receive a $25 “thank you gift” in addition to the $25 rebate they receive after purchasing the kit, according to the company website.

Magellan used Pepcom to launch its debut in the personal health market with a line of GPS-based fitness watches due in stores next month, Jeffrey Caulfield, product trainer, told us. The $229.99 Switch ($279.99 with heart monitor) and $299.99 Switch Up ($349.99 with heart monitor) come with an activity pacer that reads out to users whether they're on pace toward time goals and what pace to use to achieve desired goals if they're lagging behind, Caulfield said. The higher end watch is modular, enabling users to set up individual profiles for different activities including running, swimming and biking, he said. Magellan is supporting the watches with a fitness website launching next month, which users can use to store and distribute data to social networks and third-party fitness websites, Caulfield said. Fitness watches are a “natural fit” for Magellan to extend its GPS technology, he said, adding that the lineup will expand at the low- and upper ends. Magellan will sell the watches through REI, Eastern Mountain Sports, Amazon and Road Runner Sports, he said.