Venus boxes will supposedly allow the majority of TV owners to leapfrog that stage and enter the information superhighway almost immediately. (The devices, developed at Microsoft's Beijing lab, are expected to be ready by the end of the year.) This, say Venus boosters, is a modern device with Chinese characteristics.
Each device has distinct security characteristics, which can pose significant technical challenges to authentication, but by offering a unified, comprehensive content security service, the industry can eliminate this first major hurdle to TV everywhere.