Media companies argue that the market has become increasingly competitive and uncertain for many reasons, including internet piracy and tumbling box-office receipts.
Soon enough, Reisman found herself in a world of blandishment and betrayal, of half-truths and machination worthy of Hollywood, as venture capitalists jockeyed for the chance to crown a winner in the latest Internet game (see box, p. 139).
Details are a little hazy at the moment, but apparently Dean Takahashi over at San Jose Mercury News posted and then quickly pulled a post from his blog about how Robbie Bach and Bill Gates were going to announce that the Xbox 360 will soon be able to double as a set-top box for Internet Protocol Television.
Imagine downloading a software upgrade for your cable box from the Internet or upgrading your printer with a mouse click (for more on PLDs click here).
So far, no one has solved the most basic drawback: Most people regard TV as an entertainment box and the Internet as a separate place to get information or to buy things.
The battle for the online TV market has gathered pace this year after BT joined forces with other big names in the industry such as BBC to develop YouView, an internet connected set-top box.
So far, no one has solved the most basic drawback: Most people regard TV as an entertainment box and the Internet as a separate place to get information or to buy things like books and airplane tickets.
TiVo's Premiere box can access some internet services, in addition to recordings.
Anyone on the Internet is familiar with the search box and can find the data they are looking for without knowledge of any programming language.
The Wall Street Journal has anonymous sources saying the company will unveil an Internet-connected set-top box that combines live, on-demand and recorded TV to compete with the likes of Apple and Google.
That means he doesn't put much stock in all the hype at the Consumer Electronics Show around the almighty trend of convergence: systems that can shuttle your movies, songs and photos from the Internet to the set-top box to the PC and back without calling an IT specialist.
Whatever the form of connection, television makers are doing away with a set-top box for dialling into the Internet.
Eventually, those two worlds will merge, and music, movies, games and the Internet will all be funneled through one box.
This has allowed internet companies to poach sales from big box stores, and crater profits for brick-and-mortar companies that are drowning under high fixed costs.
Dell and Gateway have changed the way computers are sold by allowing customers to configure their own systems, by telephone or over the Internet, and simply shipping them the box.
It stuffs a hard drive that can store music, photos and video into a box with a DVD player, Internet access and a satellite or digital cable decoder.
Big Box stores are driving consumers to the Internet and into the stores using this strategy.
An Epix subscriber can also invite other nonsubscribers to watch a movie with him on the Internet at the same time complete with a chat box.
The Boxee Box, a cubelike device that shares internet content with your TV, was awarded the title of "Last Gadget Standing" at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Vudu general manager Edward Lichty joined the company from TiVo just before the box launched and helped shift the strategy, abandoning the box and getting the service embedded into Internet-connected TVs and DVD players.
TiVo ( TIVO - news - people ) just before the box launched and helped shift the strategy, abandoning the box and getting the service embedded into Internet-connected TVs and DVD players.
The box, which provides a way to get Internet video on traditional televisions, also has a new interface and the ability to sync some movies purchased on iTunes across Apple devices.
Intel is not only producing a TV set top box, it plans to provide streaming content over the internet.
Orders drop from the Internet right to the factory floor, where Dell can assemble and box a custom-configured PC in less than four hours.
We created Qualcomm StreamBoost to recognize and optimally allocate network traffic, providing users with the best Internet performance possible on all connected devices-right out of the box.
Each of these companies wants to strengthen its position in the corporate Internet software market, and all would benefit from buying Netscape (see box, opposite).
"Two years ago, there were grand plans to have a very expensive set-top box in which everything was converged - the telephone, the internet and the TV, " said Mickey Kalifa, UK general manager of OpenTV, which makes the software sitting inside many set-top boxes.
"This company is a leader in a nascent market with a technology lead over their competitors, " says Collins, referring to the release last September of Blue Coat's latest version of its ProxySG platform: a stack-mounted box that enables companies to keep tabs on their employees' Internet use.
The Boxee Box and two-faced QWERTY remote are designed to transform the Internet into something you'll love watching on your HDTV from the couch.
ENGADGET: Boxee Box ditches NVIDIA's Tegra 2 for Intel CE4100, pre-orders start today at $199
There are a few subtle, telltale internet startup signs, like several bottles of liquor hastily packed in a filing box on the lower floor, sitting next to a small CD mixer.
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