Icontraband

It was inevitable, but via Roku, Netflix has released a set-top box that streams a chunk of its library over the internets to your teletube. It’s cheap, rolling in at $99 and does not require any other subscription fees as long as your regular Netflix subscription is at least $9 a month. When it comes to the interface, it does things a little differently than all the other set-top-video-on-demand-box hyphenates out there: the Netflix library is not listed through the box, rather you use your browser to put selections into the Netflix Queue in your account. Advantageous in that the box does not rely on clunky on-screen keyboards, loading long lists of potential choices, but perhaps irking when you’re too drunk to go fetch your laptop in the other room. At the end of the day, the price point and the sheer simplicity (think of all the less savvy users who have come to master Netflix in recent years - they won’t have to learn a new interface) makes this a formidable entry in this over-saturated and underselling market. Step it up, AppleTV.

Technorati Tags: appletv, netflix, queue, roku, set top box, video on demand

Tivo is vastly superior to cable DVR in function, but not necessarily in form. Too many features buried in too many similar menus have made TiVo a prime candidate for a UI upgrade for years now. Their website has been no cakewalk either, and after running incoming surveys on usability last week, TiVo.com has something of a new look (at the top levels at least). Cooler, less “preschool” colors and FrontRow reflectyness have brought it up to 2008 standards. Given the aesthetic parity between the device UI and the site, does this mean that we may be seeing a cleaner, easier TiVo UI in the near future?

Link to TiVo.com

Technorati Tags: dvr, frontrow, television, TiVo