The “Break it Down” Blog

I had never heard of XstreamHD before, but saw a quick note on EngadgetHD that the press event is scheduled to start at 11am PST today. It was then that I suddenly became painfully aware of what XstreamHD is promising to deliver… and how crazy it would be if they succeed, give it a glance:

Includes a feature-rich Personal PBX business-class phone system; also supports VoIP calls and offers free calls between XStreamHD subscribers

• Satellite-based delivery
• “Latest content from leading studios”
• 1080p (MPEG-2, x.264)
• 7.1 lossless DTS-HD Audio (96kHz/24bits)
• Personal PBX business-class phone system; also supports VoIP calls and offers free calls between XStreamHD subscribers
• Front panel USB port for MP3 audio downloads
• Content stored in “personal library” on set-top-box (STB)
• Set Top Box Supports…
  • Streaming stored content to 4 other DLNA-enabled devices (PS3, maybe XBox 360)
  • User-expandable storage to 2TB by adding extra hard drives
  • Recording OTA HD using 3 ATSC tuners
    • Assumption is that recorded media is added to the “personal library” of content that can be streamed around the house.
• Starting at $400

As soon as I read that, and my brain fell out of my ear… I got very interested in whatever this press event is going to discuss.

The points of contention I see are:

• Satellite delivery. Is this part of DTV or Dish or a new service?
• “Latest content”, how new is it? How much is there? What does this do to the Netflix STB?
• 1080p/7.1-lossless, where is this bandwidth coming from?
• User-expandible hardware, streaming to DLNA devices, personal library, etc. etc., I think the MPAA/RIAA/TV Studios are too greedy to actually let this work as advertised. For the same reason the new PS3-to-PSP Blu-ray download support won’t be enabled for all Blu-ray movies (Except likely Sony’s).
• VoIP integrated… whaaa? Vonage can’t even make a go of it, how’s this going to work? Can I hook my home phone up to it?
• Auto-downloading of MP3s… I’m sure Apple/RIAA will love that. No way that’s gonna work with protected media.

Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted…