Telly - Open Source, hackable "Tivo" and much more.....
 

http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,59690,00.html

Tired of the Telly? Reprogram It

By Leander Kahney | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1

02:00 AM Jul. 22, 2003 PT

A Colorado startup, Interact-TV, has released a hacker-friendly digital
entertainment center that plays, records and archives TV shows, DVDs, music
and even digital photo albums.

The Telly MC1000 Digital Entertainment Center, available now from the
company's website for $900, can also surf the Web and act as a home media
server.

And -- if the company successfully courts the open-source programming
community -- it may soon play computer games, turn the lights on and off,
or automatically fetch music lyrics from the Net.

Based on Linux, the Telly is a radical departure from other digital
entertainment systems on the market.

Unlike TiVo or ReplayTV, the Telly is designed to be easily upgraded and
expanded by the consumer and third-party software developers. Most other
set-top boxes are expressly designed not to be hacked, and their warranties
are voided if the owner opens them up to tinker.

By contrast, the Telly is expandable like a PC. Consumers can add bigger
hard drives, more memory or even swap out the motherboard. In most cases,
the machine automatically detects and configures itself to run the new
hardware.

"We wanted a box that could grow, that would not be locked down with storage
or any particular technology," said Interact-TV CEO Ken Fuhrman.

The Telly automatically records TV shows, and can pause and rewind live TV.
Programming information is provided over the Net through a free
subscription service.

The Telly also plays music and displays photos. Thanks to a built-in
CD-RW/DVD drive, it can rip and burn CDs, and play DVDs. The company said
DVD burning will be added in the near future. Consumers will be able to buy
and install their own DVD-burning equipment, and the necessary software
will automatically be pushed to the device using the Net.

The Telly is designed to connect to a home network, and it will share media
between connected devices. It works with Mac OS, Windows and Linux, and it
can be controlled from any Web browser, even one running on a wireless PDA.

The Telly comes with a wireless keyboard. However, Fuhrman emphasized that
the primary interface is the remote control.

Fuhrman said the company is courting the Linux community, hoping developers
will create applications and features for the device. For example, he said
he'd like to see game emulation, support for high-definition playback and
recording, home automation and automatic information retrieval for media
such as music lyrics or movie reviews.

"And then, of course, there's all the other stuff we've not thought of,"
Fuhrman said.

Kurt Scherf, vice president of research at Parks Associates, said the Telly
looked impressive, although pricey, and its upgradability makes it a safer
buy than closed machines like the TiVo.

"It looks like it combines the best of both worlds: PC expandability with
set-top ease of use," he said. "I think expandability is going to be key to
selling convergence devices into the home. It's frustrating to buy a
product and know it's obsolete before you walk out the door."

Scherf said Interact-TV is entering the market at just the right time. The
market for digital entertainment centers is finally about to see a growth
spurt, Scherf said.

Scherf predicted sales of 12 million units in the next five years, though
many of the devices won't be high-end units like the Telly. Many will be
lower-priced devices that connect TVs to PCs acting as digital video
recorders.

Forrester Research is more aggressive. Forrester predicts 39 million units
in 2007, up from 1.7 million in 2002.

"Consumers are no longer asking what these things are," Scherf said.
"They're finally showing an interest in getting one. The question is, with
something like the Telly, do consumers want all this stuff?"


--
Steve
--
"Naturally, the common people don't want war;
neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,
nor for that matter in Germany.
That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders
of the country who determine the policy and
it is always a simple matter to drag the people
along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist
dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist
dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them
they are being attacked and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger. It works the same way
in any country."
- Hermann Goering, Nazi Reichsmarshall

Re: Telly - Open Source, hackable "Tivo" and much more.....
 

Steve,

I suspect that hollywood will try to close them down faster than you
can say Telly if it dosen't incorporate draconian copy protection
systems..


Steve <steve@nospam4me.org> wrote:

>
>http://www.wired.com/news/technology...,59690,00.html
>
>Tired of the Telly? Reprogram It
>
>By Leander Kahney | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1
>
>02:00 AM Jul. 22, 2003 PT
>
>A Colorado startup, Interact-TV, has released a hacker-friendly digital
>entertainment center that plays, records and archives TV shows, DVDs, music
>and even digital photo albums.
>
>The Telly MC1000 Digital Entertainment Center, available now from the
>company's website for $900, can also surf the Web and act as a home media
>server.
>
>And -- if the company successfully courts the open-source programming
>community -- it may soon play computer games, turn the lights on and off,
>or automatically fetch music lyrics from the Net.
>
>Based on Linux, the Telly is a radical departure from other digital
>entertainment systems on the market.
>
>Unlike TiVo or ReplayTV, the Telly is designed to be easily upgraded and
>expanded by the consumer and third-party software developers. Most other
>set-top boxes are expressly designed not to be hacked, and their warranties
>are voided if the owner opens them up to tinker.
>
>By contrast, the Telly is expandable like a PC. Consumers can add bigger
>hard drives, more memory or even swap out the motherboard. In most cases,
>the machine automatically detects and configures itself to run the new
>hardware.
>
>"We wanted a box that could grow, that would not be locked down with storage
>or any particular technology," said Interact-TV CEO Ken Fuhrman.
>
>The Telly automatically records TV shows, and can pause and rewind live TV.
>Programming information is provided over the Net through a free
>subscription service.
>
>The Telly also plays music and displays photos. Thanks to a built-in
>CD-RW/DVD drive, it can rip and burn CDs, and play DVDs. The company said
>DVD burning will be added in the near future. Consumers will be able to buy
>and install their own DVD-burning equipment, and the necessary software
>will automatically be pushed to the device using the Net.
>
>The Telly is designed to connect to a home network, and it will share media
>between connected devices. It works with Mac OS, Windows and Linux, and it
>can be controlled from any Web browser, even one running on a wireless PDA.
>
>The Telly comes with a wireless keyboard. However, Fuhrman emphasized that
>the primary interface is the remote control.
>
>Fuhrman said the company is courting the Linux community, hoping developers
>will create applications and features for the device. For example, he said
>he'd like to see game emulation, support for high-definition playback and
>recording, home automation and automatic information retrieval for media
>such as music lyrics or movie reviews.
>
>"And then, of course, there's all the other stuff we've not thought of,"
>Fuhrman said.
>
>Kurt Scherf, vice president of research at Parks Associates, said the Telly
>looked impressive, although pricey, and its upgradability makes it a safer
>buy than closed machines like the TiVo.
>
>"It looks like it combines the best of both worlds: PC expandability with
>set-top ease of use," he said. "I think expandability is going to be key to
>selling convergence devices into the home. It's frustrating to buy a
>product and know it's obsolete before you walk out the door."
>
>Scherf said Interact-TV is entering the market at just the right time. The
>market for digital entertainment centers is finally about to see a growth
>spurt, Scherf said.
>
>Scherf predicted sales of 12 million units in the next five years, though
>many of the devices won't be high-end units like the Telly. Many will be
>lower-priced devices that connect TVs to PCs acting as digital video
>recorders.
>
>Forrester Research is more aggressive. Forrester predicts 39 million units
>in 2007, up from 1.7 million in 2002.
>
>"Consumers are no longer asking what these things are," Scherf said.
>"They're finally showing an interest in getting one. The question is, with
>something like the Telly, do consumers want all this stuff?"
>
>
>--
>Steve