Archive for November, 2010
OnLive Gaming – The Perfect OTT for MoCA
Haven’t heard of OnLive? Then you’re probably not into video gaming or cloud based computing. OnLive was started by Apple/WebTV pioneer Steve Perlman to provide an HD gaming service that would never require updating your game console. How do you do that? By putting all the gaming hardware in the “cloud” ie Internet servers so that the hardware required at home is minimal. It’s essentially an HD TV channel that reacts to your joystick/gamepad moves – a TV channel that interacts with you.
And just how do they perform that magic? Start by locating data centers 1000 miles or less from every customer, using the most advanced GPUs and servers, and squeezing out every bit of latency (delays) from your system. OnLive started out on the PC only and is now introducing their $99 microconsole for HDTV play. And how do you connect your living room to the Internet – via MoCA of course! Aside from wired Ethernet, MoCA has the lowest latency of all networking technologies, typically less than 3.5 milliseconds, so your gaming session goes as smooth as silk with no interruptions. Good luck with using powerline or wireless with this system if someone turns on a blender.
As more advanced over-the-top (OTT) services like OnLive launch, the more consumers will clamor for a reliable wired home network like MoCA.
The Whole World is Moving to MoCA – Comcast
via Tech Workshops: Home Networking, Upstream Capacity And Doing The Splits :: Cable360.
Hey don’t take our word for it, MoCA is catching on like wildfire in Cable TV-land and everyone is seeing the value of having a wired home network that can stream HD video. Probably a more telling quote from Comcast’s Director of Home Networking:
We at Comcast have made the decision that all new products will have MoCA embedded into them
Seems like a good idea, knowing that virtually all of the consumer electronics companies are heading towards having a network port on every TV, bluray player and game console. The wave of connected electronics won’t stop at stationary devices but will also support mobile devices as well. The article goes on to describe how wireless access points will be connected (through MoCA) to connect iPhones, iPads, and other mobile equipment. There’s no question that having a reliable network “backbone” like MoCA will enable all kinds of new audio/video applications for the consumer.
BOXEE adding VUDU, Netflix and Hulu Plus
Boxee Box now shipping, Netflix and Hulu Plus coming soon – CNN.com.
Adding to it’s already formidable content lineup, BOXEE is now adding VUDU, Netflix and Hulu Plus access to it’s current platforms as well as the BOXEE BOX which is now shipping. With the introduction of Google TV and Apple TV, many of the “other” content and hardware providers may see the need to create alliances in order to compete with the behemoths. Certainly the addition of these new services make the BOXEE platform much more competitive with Apple and Google.
One possibly overlooked advantage of BOXEE is the ability to play virtually any HD content up to 1080p, from other PCs or a NAS in the home. This feature is a real consideration for users who already have their own video libraries in various formats and resolutions. With the higher resolutions and better quality services, MoCA is a must have for even the average BOXEE customer looking to stream HD video from the Internet or home server.
