It seems that one of the big trends at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year is turning your TV into a full on Internet device.
Yesterday we brought you the news that Skype was launching services for TVs that would turn them into communications devices, and today brings us the news that DivX, a leader in video encoding, is launching DivX TV to bring even more content to your television set.
The new software will allow you to browse through various entertainment sources from TV shows and major films, to content from your favorite Internet video sites. Also, it isn’t limited to just TVs, the software will also be appearing in Blu-ray players, cell phones and other devices, allowing you to hop between devices and watch what you want, when you want.
The first companies to be announced as worikng with DivX include:
- ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast)
- Bluestreak
- Brightcove
- Broadcom Corporation
- Innovative DTV Solutions
- Iomega
- LG Electronics
- Viewsonic Corporation
And content providers include:
- Associated Press
- blip.tv
- Break
- CNET
- Roxio CinemaNow
- Dailymotion
- Diggnation
- Pandora
- Picasa
- Revision 3
- Rhapsody
- TED
- Tekzilla
- The Street.com
- VBS.TV
The problem, as I see it, is the same with the Skype TV system: Your TV has to be near your Internet connection. It’s wonderful that all of this additional content is coming to TVs, but unless you want to run cables all over your house, are you really going to be able to take advantage of it? Luckily I do have Internet near my TV, but how many people really do?
The service still sounds quite exciting, and you can see a demo video below.
