CES 2011: I’ll have a D-Link with a Boxee and a Yahoo

Saturday at CES, the good folks at D-Link invited me to their booth for a quick tour of their new stuff. I own lots of D-Link gear (switches and routers) so I was curious to see what they have planned for 2011 for TV and media.

The Boxee Box

D-Link’s entry into the set-top box battle is the Boxee Box – a geometrically intriguing device running the very powerful Boxee media center software. The Box goes does both wireless and wired on your home network while the Boxee software connects and plays your in-house media as well as out-of-home TV shows, movies and 3^rd party content. What’s cool? – the remote has a full keyboard on the back. Great for typing in “Schwarzenegger” when searching for a Dad-friendly film. Also, the Box supports passive 3D content with appropriate 3D glasses – more on those glasses later this week.

What’s Lame? – Netflix will not be available until “later in 2010.”

Yahoo connected TV by D-Link

When was the last time you read the words Yahoo and innovative in the same sentence? This one falls into the interactive TV category – an area that has been fraught with valiant efforts and little success over the past 25 years.  This time, however, Yahoo and Dlink may have cracked the code …. literally … with the Yahoo connected TV by D-Link. While you are watching some content, the D-Link box analyzes the media stream going to your TV. Key words/phrases are recognized which then brings up relevant content directly from Yahoo on your screen – without your intervention. An obvious scenario; you’re watching a Friends re-run with your spouse and you’re sure that you’ve seen that actor before – your spouse makes fun of you because … duh … it’s George Clooney. You win the day, however, by recognizing him as Oliver from “Return to Horror High” (one of his less-appreciated works). When the Yahoo-connected content pops up his complete filmography – confiming your superior film knowledge, you look like a true cinemaphile.

The photo shows a working engineering unit in the booth with commercial availability later this year. Good to see Yahoo getting back in the game – with an assist from D-Link.

Ron Remy