Internet content will be arriving on televisions in a multitude of ways at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with the Popbox getting out ahead of the field as a smarter than average set-top box.
Announced today by Syabas, maker of thePopcorn Hour streaming device for enthusiasts, the Popbox has more mainstream appeal in its looks and features and introduces the concept of internet apps for the TV.
The device itself is a stylish, silent black box – its low-power profile means no fan is needed. There is a video processor capable of full high-definition decoding at 100 megabits per second and an HDMI connector. Slots for USB devices and SD cards mean photos and video from local external devices can be plugged in and played, with a plethora of formats covered.
The software is the most innovative aspect – an app platform has been created with more than 20 “Popapps” available at launch.
While Yahoo introduced widgets for the TV and Roku chose internet channels for its box , the Popbox seems to offer a combination of the two.
There will be Netflix streaming and FrameChannel, Blip TV and Revision3 content, as in the Roku offering, but there will also be apps such as games, Twitter and even home control software.
Syabas launched its platform in May and has recruited more than 200 developers to its community. Some of the apps are known as “infopops” and can always be running and present – such as a time and day applet or weather one.
The box also allows you to play anything on your TV stored on computers in your home network and has a more sophisticated interface than its rivals. For example, if it finds a movie to play it can show the DVD cover and a synopsis courtesy of metadata provided by the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
The Popbox’s obvious competitors are the Roku box and Boxee’s forthcoming device, made for it by D-Link.
“Boxee’s created a lot of buzz, but it’s one thing to serve a user interface on the PC, it’s quite another to build a device,” says Alex Limberis, Syabas chief operating officer.
The Popbox will be available in March in the US only, for a recommended price of $129.
